Introduction

We have never needed a strengths approach more than we do now – when a climate emergency and the COVID-19 pandemic compete for public attention with global economic interests; when populism is fed by frustrated individual ambitions and the entitlement of the few triumphs over the common good. A strong incentive for writing this book stems from the resurgence of far-right populism, racism, homophobia, hate crime and division with the concomitant danger that ideas like the strengths approach are eroded and diffused. But it is in the power of such ideologies to change society for the better, not least because their consequences are so radical in shaping the way society functions. Just as the forces of greed and power are constantly re-made and repositioned, so, too, can practices that are mutually beneficial be re-made, reinstated and re-articulated. This book is a small contribution to the re-telling of that story.

This chapter introduces the strengths approach, its generic character as a whole systems response and its wider manifestations. Drawing on our specialist knowledge from the discipline of social work, we present its historical roots and applications. We explore an important component of the approach – that of our relationship with one another and with the environment. We critique the way it has been colonised in welfare services by government in mitigation of the neoliberal project. The scholarship presented here is also a defence against claims that the strengths approach lacks evidence of efficacy or that it shies away from problems.