Abstract:

As a historical and social reality, in many societies individuals are exposed to discrimination based on their social, cultural, political, and psychological backgrounds. Today, these discriminatory practices are considered as violation of rights. Citizenship as a human right includes participation in social life fairly and equally. This is important for the discipline of social work that aims to promote human rights and social justice. The body of literature on discrimination shows that vulnerable groups are at high risk to be exposed to discrimination. Social workers work with these vulnerable and disadvantaged groups like elderlies, women, disabled and chronically ill individuals, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ). Therefore, it is inevitable for social workers to embrace anti-discriminatory practices. The main purpose of this study was to represent key concepts of discrimination and to discuss the necessity of anti-discriminatory practice in social work.

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