‘When I Look I am seen, so I Exist’:
Supplementing Honneth’s Recognition
Theory for Social Work
Stan Houston, Professor of Social Work,
School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social
Work, Queen’s University Belfast
(content not to be reproduced without author’s permission)
Honneth’s Theory of Recognition
• The theorisation of human identity in the
social sciences
• Identity-formation and inter-subjective
recognition
• Honneth’s contribution to the debate
Honneth’s 3 Forms of Recognition
Forms of
Recognition
Primary relations
of positive regard
Legal relations
involving rights
Community
relations that value
strengths and build
solidarity
Dimension of
personality
Needs and
emotions
Moral standing
Sense of personal
worth
Mode of
recognition
Emotional care
Showing respect
Validating strengths
and contribution to
the community
Developmental
potential
Security and
resilience
Empowerment
Competence
Practical relationto-self
Self-confidence
Self-respect
Self-esteem
Forms of disrespect Abuse
Denial of rights and
exclusion
Denigration and
insult
Threatened
component of self
Social integrity
Dignity
Physical and
emotional integrity
Honneth’s Contribution
• Comprehensiveness and inclusivity
• Building on Habermas’ communicational
approach
• Honneth vs Taylor vs Fraser
• Key gap in theory?
Enlarged Model
Forms of
recognition
Primary relations
of positive regard
Legal relations
involving rights
Community
relations that value
strengths and build
solidarity
Facilitative
relations
encouraging
personal change
Dimensions of
personality
Needs and
emotions
Moral standing
Sense of personal
worth
Cognition and
emotion
Mode of
recognition
Demonstrating
emotional care
Showing respect
Validating a
person’s strengths
and contribution to
the community
Instilling hope and
belief in the
capacity for selfchange
Developmental
potential
Security and
resilience
Empowerment
Competence
Optimism and
internal locus of
control
Practical relationto-self
Self-confidence
Self-respect
Self-esteem
Self-belief and selfefficacy
Forms of disrespect
Abuse
Denial of rights
Denigration and
insult
Reinforcing learned
helplessness
Threatened
component of self
Physical and
emotional integrity
Social integrity
Dignity
Human agency
Implications for Social Work
• Use as a counter-factual tool
• Identity-formation as a founding principle in
social work?
Implications for Social Work
Intervention
Primary
relations of
positive regard
Legal relations Community
involving rights relations that
value strengths
and build
solidarity
Facilitative
relations
encouraging
personal
change
Forms of social
work intervention
•Relationship-based
social work
•Social work as
‘object-relations’
•Social work as care
and accurate
empathy
•Social work as
building pride
•Anti-oppressive
social work
•Rights-based social
work
•Critical social work
•Political social
work
•Multi-cultural
social work
•Strengths-based
social work
•Social work as
mentoring talents,
interests and skills
•Community social
work
•Social pedagogy
Social work as:
•Forging a
therapeutic alliance
•Instilling hope and
optimism
•Enhancing selfefficacy
•Social
constructionist
helping
Outcomes for
service users
Builds selfconfidence
Builds self-respect
Builds self-esteem
Builds self-belief
Conclusion
• ‘When I look I am seen, so I exist’
• Recognition for social workers as the precondition for recognition-based social work
practice?