Reflexivity of Social Workers and the Ethnicity of Clients

Jan Lisnik

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to explore the interactions between social workers‘ reflexivity and their perception of their clients‘ ethnicity. THEORETICAL BASE: The text is based on the polemics between the anti-discriminatory approach and the ethnically-sensitive approach in working with Roma clients, and applies the concept of social worker reflexivity according to D’Cruz, Gillingham, Melendez. METHODS: The text is based on a qualitative research strategy, the constructivist grounded-theory method, and semi-structured interview technique. OUTCOMES: Based on an ntidiscriminatory approach as the default position, some shifting occurred between types of reflexivity conceptions and their respective strategies among research participants. There were also changes in the level of relevance that the participants attributed to clients‘ ethnicity. The text explores the interactions between these two levels and discusses their further implications. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: Reflexivity proves to be crucial for the effective integration of the theoretical approaches involved. The article expresses support for its development in education by incorporating both qualitative research.

Keywords
reflexivity, practice wisdom, anti-discriminatory approach, ethnically sensitive approach, ethnicity

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