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Call for Papers. Special Number “Comparative Public Policies: Innovations and Challenges in a Global Context Under Strain”.
Submissions in Spanish and English are accepted until November 15, 2025, for publication in Issue 11 of the journal on April 30, 2026. Read more

Social Work and Virtual Spaces: New Scenarios for Critical and Professional Intervention

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Vol. 5 No. 10 (2025): 100 años Trabajo Social: discusiones y perspectivas globales sobre el pasado, presente y futuro disciplinar
https://doi.org/10.5354/2735-6620.2025.78879
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Abstract

This article presents a review of the role of digital environments as emerging contexts for professional intervention in social work, from a critical perspective, situated in the Spanish context. It proposes and analyzes some of the ethical, political, and methodological challenges that arise with the growing digitalization of the social field, while reflecting on the opportunities that these spaces offer for emancipatory action and the reconfiguration of social ties and dynamics. Based on theoretical development and a review of existing practices and proposals for virtual social intervention, strategies for critical, inclusive, and transformative professional practice are suggested, and underline the urgency and importance of incorporating the digital dimension as a fundamental element in the defense and dissemination of social rights.
Thus, social work in the coming decades must position itself ethically in the face of the risks of digitalization, promoting digital justice, collective participation, and interventions that, far from dehumanizing, strengthen interpersonal relationships and mutual care in the new virtual scenarios.
In this sense, the manuscript makes an original contribution through the systematization of digital intervention experiences, the proposal of ethical and political principles for professional practice, and the formulation of a situated conceptual framework for social work in digital environments. It seeks to contribute to the debate through a theoretical and practical proposal for digital intervention.

Keywords:

Digital social work , critical professional intervention , virtual environments , digital justice

Author Biographies

María Concepción Unanue Cuesta, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Valladolid (Spain)

Permanent Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Valladolid (UVA). She holds a degree in Social Work, Sociology, and Social and Cultural Anthropology, and a PhD in Anthropology. She is a member of various recognized research groups, funded research projects, and teaching innovation projects. Her main research interests include gender, LGBTQ+ diversity, rural studies, ethics in research and social intervention, ethics and professional practice in social sciences, ethnography and its applications in different fields, implementation of gender and LGBTQ+ diversity perspectives in research, diagnosis and evaluation, narrative analysis, and underrepresented minorities. She is the author and co-author of articles and book chapters in internationally recognized journals and publishing houses.

Cristina Herrero Villoria, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Valladolid.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Services at the University of Valladolid. She holds a degree in Social Work and a Master's degree in Criminology and Social Intervention with Minors. She also holds a PhD in Applied Multivariate Statistics. Her research interests include violence against women, girls, and adolescents, focusing on human trafficking for sexual purposes; the rights of children and adolescents; digital social work; and community intervention by Social Services. She focuses on this from a feminist perspective. She has published several articles in high-profile national and international journals in the fields of Social Work and Sociology and has collaborated on various collective works. She has participated in various R&D&I projects and contributed several papers to national and international conferences.

Jezabel Amparo Lucas García, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Valladolid (Spain)

PhD in Sociology from the University of the Basque Country. She is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Valladolid (UVa). She is a member of the Gender Chair at the University of Valladolid and a member of various research groups. She has participated in competitive research projects and Teaching Innovation projects. With a CNAI research six-year period, she has published numerous articles in national and international indexed journals, as well as book chapters in prestigious publishing houses. Her main research interests are: Gender Sociology, Social Work, Social Policy, Qualitative Social Research, and Social Welfare.

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How to Cite
Unanue Cuesta, M. C., Herrero Villoria, C., & Lucas García, J. A. (2025). Social Work and Virtual Spaces: New Scenarios for Critical and Professional Intervention. Critical Proposals in Social Work, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.5354/2735-6620.2025.78879
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Critical Proposals in Social Work
Facultad de Ciencias Sociales
Universidad de Chile
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