Applying the Just Practice Framework to a Social Justice Case
This paper applies the Just Practice Framework developed by Finn and Jacobson to a case study involving Ann, a single mother, and her son Christopher, a young man with autism transitioning out of high school. Using each of the framework's core processes — engagement, teaching-learning, action, accompaniment, evaluation, critical reflection, and celebration — the paper demonstrates how social justice-oriented practice can be brought to bear on the intersecting challenges of disability, poverty, housing instability, and caregiver mental health. The author emphasizes collaborative, non-linear praxis and draws on critical theory to argue that meaningful change requires centering the lived experiences, history, and strengths of clients.
- Introduction: Theory, Practice, and the Puzzle Analogy: Critical theory, puzzle metaphor, and constricting frameworks
- Case Study: Ann and Christopher: Single mother, son with autism, poverty and transition
- Engagement and Teaching-Learning: Building trust, co-learning, and identifying service needs
- Action and Accompaniment: Life Planning Session, collaborative action, accompaniment
- Evaluation and Critical Reflection: Catalytic validity, inclusion, and social justice praxis
- Celebration and Conclusion: Quarterly celebrations, transition support, collaborative outcomes
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds abstract theoretical concepts in a richly detailed case study, making the Just Practice Framework tangible and applicable rather than purely academic.
- The author is transparent about their own positionality and reflective process, modeling the critical self-awareness central to just practice.
- The opening puzzle metaphor elegantly frames the tension between hyper-focused problem-solving and the kind of open, iterative thinking that critical social work demands — and the author returns to it at the end for coherence.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied theoretical analysis: the author moves systematically through each core process of the Just Practice Framework, using direct citations from Finn and Jacobson (2007) to anchor each step while narrating first-person practice encounters. This technique — weaving framework terminology with narrative case description — shows how theoretical categories translate into moment-by-moment clinical and advocacy decisions.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a theoretical framing section using a puzzle metaphor, followed by a standalone case study introduction. The body then moves through each core process of the Just Practice Framework (engagement, teaching-learning, action, accompaniment, evaluation, critical reflection, and celebration) as discrete but interconnected sections. A brief conclusion synthesizes the framework's value for collaborative, justice-oriented practice. The structure is explicitly acknowledged as simplified-linear for clarity, though the author notes the processes are iterative in practice.
Introduction: Theory, Practice, and the Puzzle Analogy
There is a reason that jigsaw puzzles are so often used to represent complex processes and enduring problems, the solutions to which are not immediately evident to the puzzler. It is a curiosity how, at some point, each piece in a puzzle reveals where it fits in the frame. Most people have their favorite strategies for solving puzzles, and these generally do contribute to a more expedient solution — or at least, they give that illusion. Oddly, spending time not puzzling over the fit of the pieces seems to bring about a solution, and the ease with which understanding comes after such a break never ceases to astonish.
Why is it that when we cannot find a fit, we do not gain greater clarity through forced, hyper-focus on finding the missing piece? Indeed, our use of theory — as explained in Chapter 5, Just Thinking: Theoretical Perspectives on Social Justice-Oriented Practice — can be equally constricting (Finn & Jacobson, 2007). It is through the application of critical theory that we are able to see how we try to force the fit of theory to practice, as we know it to be or wish it to be. This analogy is discussed in greater detail in the section on Critical Reflection below.
References
Finn, J. L., & Jacobson, M. (2003, Winter). Just practice: Steps toward a new social work paradigm. Journal of Social Work Education, 39(1), 57–58.
Finn, J. L., & Jacobson, M. (2007). Just practice: A social justice approach to social work (2nd ed.). Eddie Bowers Publishing Company.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.