Chase Rivera
Introduction
As a normal human being, I have met many people and communities throughout my lifetime. Throughout my experiences, there are many who strive for a more socially just and equitable society that provides stability and opportunities to live a fulfilling life. From work colleagues from the education and social service systems, to people who are trying to live through life’s challenges, and geeky fandom communities that gather to celebrate their hobbies, but bring their lived knowledge and experiences. I think that it’s awesome that many people today are becoming more aware of the structural issues that affect our daily lives, and the ways to not only continue such conversations – but to do something about it in however capacity they are able to.
However, these conversations can also turn into very strong disagreements – to the point where I witnessed social relationships and communities shattered, the willingness to resolve conflicts go out the window, and most tragically, people are disproportionately punished – just for having a different opinion or perhaps, committing an honest mistake they regret. Not to mention that people are being punished, just for not learning the necessary skills to avoid such mistakes in the first place with no chance of redemption.
I lived through many experiences where I was disproportionally punished for having a different opinion and making honest mistakes. Told I was stubborn and I deserved it, and been called many many labels. Lost many friends. I thought I was the one who was going crazy, despite being a social worker for 9 years who strives to validate lived experiences and advocate for an equitable society that respects everyone’s identities and cultures. I thought I was the one going nuts, for not agreeing with everything that’s told to me, or perhaps, for not providing what others want to hear if I do apologize. For just being a human with flaws.
And then came grad school – and learning through the wonderful Tina Wilson’s Social Work and Social Justice class about polarization. Since then, I’ve been on a rabbit hole in exploring how polarization can perpetuate many of the social issues that are prevalent today, and how that affects human relationships across many levels.
Thus begins my first blog entry -polarization. I will discuss the issue, and how it affects social workers on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. I will also discuss how this may affect marginalized populations, and steps we as social workers need to take in order to tackle the challenges of polarizations. I truly believe that understanding political polarization provides the context of learning, understanding, and the actions taken to address current social issues affecting social workers.
What is Political Polarization?
From what I learned, polarization is when political disagreements shift from healthy forms of disagreement into over distrust, rifts, and a focus on how losing disagreements becomes an existential threat that is most likely followed by exclusion and repression (Wilson, 2025).
However, from my perspective – – political polarization is a result of natural healthy arguments mutating into strong disagreements that perpetuate distrust and damages to relationships – to the point where disproportional punishments are handed via exclusion and repression. If there are any disagreements or honest mistakes made – they are perceived as a threat towards one’s sense of identity, being, and safety.
And the results? The political and cultural movements and mechanisms that are necessary for meaningful social change become fractured – to the point where many people elect people to power that shifts out cultural and political climate in perpetuating ongoing oppression, marginalization, and colonialism. The political climate in the U.S. and fractures within leftist political parties in Canada are huge examples. While this is all going on, people continue to argue and harm each other, in order to prove they are morally and politically righteous enough to decide and define social issues.
From my experiences, despite conducting many safety assessments across my professional experience that identifies thoughts, means, and timing of an unsafe situation that harms someone’s physical safety – polarization perpetuates this idea that whoever disagrees or makes honest mistakes is automatically unsafe to someone’s well-being. Polarization creates this us vs. them mentality – where people are dehumanized. It’s no wonder why polarization has the ability to switch democratic rivals to existential, mortal enemies with no chance to reconcile and resolve conflicts (Wilson, 2025).
Polarization can be a result ofpPrecarity – which according to Coultas, Reddy, & Lukate (2023) define as “That politically induced condition in which certain populations suffer from failing social and economic networks of support and become differentially exposed to injury, violence, and death.” In more simplistic terms, the feelings of insecurity stemming from today’s social and economic climate and the failed promises that fall short of fixing these issues. Thus, we need to acknowledge that one’s lived experiences – however they are shaped and regardless of social identity and location, are the drivers of precarity and the feelings of insecurity.
How does polarization affect social workers?
Micro
On a Micro level, polarization affects the interpersonal relationships between people, as described below:
Intolerance of different opinions – As mentioned, polarization leads to an intolerance of different opinions – especially when perceived as an attack. Relationships begin to deteriorate as polarization paints that person as the opinion they hold, and not for their lived experience or other, positive qualities. In the context of social work, polarization has the potential to harm both the professional and working relationships – especially in the context of the field where collaboration is important.
Avoidance of dialog – Within that Intolerance comes with the avoidance of dialog. When people dehumanize another due to disagreements, polarization creates a situation where people may avoid the dialogue necessary to resolve differences and conflicts. In a social work context, such dialogue is again, very important in collaborating for the purposes of supporting those harmed by the effects of oppression, colonization, and discrimination.
Performative actions – With polarization, some who avoid dialogue engage in social justice from a performative stance. Think for example, social media, where someone may claim that they advocate for a social justice cause while they engage in publicly humiliating someone who disagrees with their views. Do they truly believe in what they stand for, especially when they continue to accuse others of also being performative and in turn, disenfranchise others? Are they aware of their own privileges? Performative actions have the potential to control the narrative – and define social issues and problems for their own gain by punishing others who disagree. In social work, it is important to reflect upon one’s social location and actions in order to make meaningful change especially for those who are marginalized.
Mezzo
In the mezzo level, polarization may affect communities, organizations, and agencies, as a result of the following:
Priorities/Exclusion/pressure from privileged groups – Related to performative actions above, polarization has the potential to switch their priorities towards who gets support, and what is defined as an issue within their community/organization/agency. Those who are privileged may have the power to define who gets support and the issues community/organization/agency may choose to provide support towards – leading to social exclusion. This is illustrated from Thom’s (2019) experiences working in queer community centres that restricted trans women who live with mental health challenges and homeless people supports, as a result of their presence making middle-class queer individuals feel “unsafe”.
Retribution/Policing behaviours – As a result of the disagreements and punishments, polarization has the potential to mobilize a community to police others behaviours, punishing others via exclusion despite potential difference in life experience, skills, and social location.
Macro
Polarization may have devastating effects on a macro level, as described bellow:
Potential Violence – Disproportionate punishments can escalate and mobilize others to perpetuate violence towards those who disagree and those who make honest mistakes – just look at what just happened in the U.S. back in September. Kai Cheng Thom (2019) also shares her experiences of being stalked online and in person in activist communities in her book “I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl’s Notes From the End of the World”.
Policies and programs – According to Wilson (2025), polarization amplifies existential conflicts (militarization, free speech, abortion, etc.) over overarching social issues such as health care, education, social welfare, and policy. As I mentioned earlier, while others are busy arguing and punishing others, attacks on social welfare by those in power are being conducted as we speak. Alt-right movements and political entities continue to rise and stay in power. Meanwhile, fragmentation within progressive political movements that are meant to create equitable policies and systems divert themselves away from bigger social issues that affect us all. This has implications towards public policy and programs, as whomever has power gets to decide again who gets support and what issues are important – affecting the practice of social workers. Social policies become more reactive to social issues, rather than bringing about true, stable and equitable social change.
Collectivist to individualistic – Within fragmentation comes to the shift – from collectivistic movements that bring people together to movements that are individualistic in nature. Social movements get split into different camps that emphasize on different issues – which contributes to again, the rise of harmful political entities and social policy changes. With the shift to individualistic social justice, competition is created to decide who gets support and which social issues should be addressed.
Affects towards marginalized groups
With fragmentation, I believe polarization has a devastating effect on marginalized groups and individuals – in that those who may agree to disagree are being excluded from the process to advocate for a more equitable society – especially those who already felt that the system and promises made to them have failed. This is to the point where from experience – lived experiences are invalidated. Marginalized people are thus disenfranchised even further – to the point where they may end up supporting political entities that further perpetuate inequity. The culture of fear that comes from the punishments stemming from polarization creates a culture of fear – in that marginalized groups are forced to agree with those who think they are right and those who are in power. Going back to competition from the shift to individualist forms of social justice, marginalized groups may feel more oppressed by those who feel that their oppressions are more valid than their lived experiences. This creates an effect where once again – marginalized groups are denied services, leaving gaps within the resources they need to improve their lives.
I argue that the disproportionate punishments from disagreements are far more harmful to marginalized people as they may not have enough resources to recover from the punishment (unlike those who are privileged to have the resources to recover). Furthermore, this speaks to a bigger issue: those who have the means to punish, such as owning a phone, etc. can induce more harm than those who do not have these resources.
Implications for Social Work
If polarization is an issue in social work, then what should we do about it?
I think the first step is that we need to go back to the Canadian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, Values, and Guiding principles (2025), to remind ourselves to respect the dignity and worth of all people. As social workers, regardless of the difference of views, we need to ensure that everyone receives services in consideration of diversity and intersectionality. Polarization has the potential to dehumanize another based on their beliefs and mistakes, denying those who need support. This is especially relevant to marginalized populations who may have a different view from ours. From the guiding principles around the inherent dignity and worth of all peoples, us as social workers also need to recognize that regardless of disagreements, we need to respect and validate others’ contributions – without the need to resort to disproportionate punishment. We need to consider that everyone can make mistakes, and are capable of change. And recognize that everyone will have their differences, based on their lived experiences.
Also within the code of ethics is the value of human relationships. This starts with actually creating dialogue with those who disagree with us in order to find ways towards equitable social change. I know – many people may feel discomfort, but it is through this challenging dialogue that we can improve our relationships with each other and others. After all, social movements and social justice starts within the relationships we have with others (Thom, 2019). These relationships should also be cultivated in nourishing ways – be it through spending time with each other to collaboration. Speaking to lived experiences, we need to remember that polarization appeals to those with lived experiences – and thus as social workers, we need to find methods to respond to these lived experiences in a way that validates such challenges and not contribute towards group hostilities (Wilson, 2025). Validating lived experiences also improves relationships, especially when disagreements happen.
Through relationship building, social workers can come together even if they disagree in order to advocate for true social change – especially in political entities that align with our values. Especially in placing more focus on social issues that affect many.
And finally, social workers need to continue advocating for marginalized populations and address the ongoing effects that disproportionate punishment has in perpetuating oppression and inequity towards those who are marginalized.
Perhaps creating mechanisms for facilitating restorative justice for those who made honest mistakes, can also be a first step to address potential wrongs from honest mistakes and harm from disagreements….
Conclusion
There’s a social media post that I saw months before when Trump was elected – by stating that people need more empathy in the world to create social change. I argue that true empathy starts with the willingness to improve interpersonal relationships, even with people who disagree or make mistakes. Paying attention to the process to which a person attempts to fix relationships, over the content by which it is expressed – is what can be a powerful driver towards equitable social justice over individualistic actions and punishments that benefit a few.
With improvements to relationships, social workers – and by extension everyone who advocates for social change can have a solid formation in understanding, identifying, and taking actions towards present day social issues.
Polarization is what inspired me to rethink my practice – one who strives to stay updated with the latest social issues that affect many – especially those who I will eventually encounter in clinical, micro level practice. I believe that more than ever, we need to value our relationships with each other in order to advocate for true social change.
Sources:
Canadian Association of Social Workers (2025). CASW Code of Ethics, Values and Guiding Principles 2024. https://www.casw-acts.ca/files/attachements/CASW_-_Code_of_Ethics_Values_Guiding_Principles_-_2024.pdf
Coultas, C., Reddy, G., & Lukate, J. (2023). Towards a social psychology of precarity. The British journal of social psychology, 62 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12618
Thom, K.C. (2019). I Hope We Choose Love : A Trans Girl’s Notes From the End of the World. Arsenal Pulp Press.
Wilson, T. “Political ideologies revisited” (SOWK 550 Social Work & Social Justice, University of British Columbia, October 1st, 2025).
