Social work in Africa: Decolonizing methodologies and approaches

Abstract

Decolonizing social work requires becoming genuine, returning to one’s cultural roots for direction. Decolonization entails resistance to social work’s ‘West to the Rest’ movement, which seeks to ‘internationalize’ and ‘standardize’ the profession. For social work to be useful in Africa, reorientation of its methods toward facilitating holistic and indigenous intervention is mandatory. This conceptual article analyzes literature on decolonization, indigenous methodology, and social work in Africa, stressing that decolonization of social work requires challenging dominant models of practice and research, while integrating traditional values and practices that have withstood centuries of oppression into culturally consonant forms of service and inquiry.