AFROCENTRICITY - AN EMERGING PARADIGM IN SOCIAL-WORK-PRACTICE

Although several models of social work practice that can better assist people of color have emerged, the cultural values of this population generally have Mot been used as a theoretical base to develop new prac tice models. This situation not only prevents a truly diversified theo retical base in social work but also reinforces the hegemony of Euroce ntric concepts for explaining and solving human and societal problems. Recently the concept ''Afrocentricity'' has been used to describe the cultural values of people of African descent. This article presents t he values and describes the philosophical concepts of Afrocentricity a s a social science paradigm on which social work practice can be conce ived and built and explains the reasons for the emergence of an Afroce ntric social science perspective. Social workers are encouraged to emb race the Afrocentric paradigm because of its emphasis on eliminating o ppression and spiritual alienation.