Incorporating Feminist Theory into Social Work Practice: Group Work Examples

Feminist theories explain the structure and dynamics of women's experiences within sociopolitical and interpersonal sexual hierarchies. To enhance flexibility and responsiveness in applying the theories, social workers should be conversant in various branches of feminism. This paper reviews five branches of feminist theory and applies each one to social work practice, using group work examples. The practice examples are drawn from the author's study of women's groups in which facilitators described the goals and processes used to practice feminism or womanism in their groups.