ABSTRACT

Smell is one of the many senses we deploy to act in and on our world. It is arguably the most visceral, ubiquitous, and immediately experienced, but simultaneously devalued and understudied, sense. Smell is often processed in an unconscious manner, exposing social class, gendered, age-based and racialised stereotypes. Smell therefore links to structural inequalities, affecting marginalised client groups who may emit certain smells, abide in malodorous environments, possess smell deficits, or exhibit strong emotional reactions to specific smells. Without relevant knowledge, social workers may associate various smells directly with negative individual personality or group characteristics or misinterpret situations. They could consequently unwittingly oppress subordinated groups, contravening value-based, anti-oppressive and reflexive practice. This article therefore explores the limited multidisciplinary literature on smell, supporting more informed and ethical practice decisions.

• IMPLICATIONS

• The senses, particularly smell, have been mostly overlooked in social work. As a result, social workers may often ignore, be unaware of, or react autonomously to issues involving smell.

• The multidisciplinary literature analysed and synthesised in this article illuminates smell’s, hitherto unrecognised, importance in social work. It begins to enable practitioners to identify when smell becomes a problematic issue, and reflexively respond in an informed, empathic manner.

• The article also strongly suggests that greater attention should be paid to smell in future social work education, practice, and research.

摘要

气味是我们在世界上和世界上采取行动所需要采取的多种感觉之一。它可以说是最内脏的，无处不在的，立即经历的，但同时又被贬低和研究不足。气味通常以潜意识的方式处理，暴露出社会阶层，性别，基于年龄和种族的刻板印象。因此，气味与结构性不平等相关，影响到边缘化的客户群体，这些群体可能散发出某些气味，在恶臭的环境中居住，缺乏气味或对特定气味表现出强烈的情感反应。在没有相关知识的情况下，社会工作者可能将各种气味与否定的个人性格或群体特征直接联系在一起，或者会曲解情况。因此，他们可能不知不觉地压迫下属群体，违反基于价值的，反压迫和反身的做法。

• 含意

• 在社会工作中，感觉，尤其是气味，被大多数人忽视了。结果，社会工作者可能经常忽略，不了解或自主地应对涉及气味的问题。

• 本文分析和综合的多学科文献阐明了气味在社会工作中的重要性，这是迄今为止尚未被认识的。它开始使从业人员能够识别气味何时成为有问题的问题，并以知情的，移情的方式反思性地做出反应。

• 文章还强烈建议在未来的社会工作教育，实践和研究中应更加注意气味。