Social Dialogue Magazine: Issue 22

[Published in April 2020]

While this issue explores past transgressions committed in the name of social welfare we can learn lessons from our past actions and inaction by committing to a profession that will never allow the politics and power structures that perpetuated this abuse and neglect be replicated in our current practices and contemporary health and welfare institutions. This is especially true as this current health crisis puts huge pressures on health and welfare services as the human cost of this virus impacts on so many vulnerable people.

While apologies for past harms have been sincerely offered and, in many instances, accepted by those who suffered physical and emotional damage there is still more work to be done. The guest editors of this edition, Vasilios Ioakimidis, Maria-Ines Martinez and Aaron Wyllie argue that to consolidate lessons learned and incorporate them into current practices the social work profession must establish a Global Truth and Reconciliation Commission (GTRC), not only to give survivors a space to share their experiences but for the profession to understand and reflect on the conditions that gave rise to and fostered harmful practices.