Does Social Work Oppress Evangelical Christians? a "New Class" Analysis of Society and Social Work

This article argues that social work, informed by "new class" ideology, oppresses Evangelical Christians. The article discusses the rise of the "new class," along with its attendant ideology, which sanctions and legitimizes discrimination against Evangelicals and other people of faith. The role of social work, a "new class" profession, in the oppression of Evangelicals is profiled, and its inability to extend tolerance to this population is traced to its "new class" ideology, which inhibits it from functioning in accordance with its professed values and ethics. Consequently, the article suggests that social work is losing touch with numerous ethnic and religious minority groups, and unless the profession deconstructs the ideology that informs it, it will be unable to provide services to or facilitate dialogue among the increasingly diverse populations of North America.