Abstract

The notion of empowerment has been a common outcome of both liberation theology and anti-oppressive social work andprovided models for practice. These liberating movements rooted in the 1960s represented a challenge for traditionalpractices within the Catholic Church and social work practice, respectively. The concept of hope crosses both perspectivesrelating hopelessness and powerlessness, in a positive causal relation whose end point is the cessation of oppression. Theaims of liberation theology and anti-oppressive social work are to promote emancipation by identifying the structuralconditions wherein the roots of oppression lie.