From noise to voice: How social work can benefit from the knowledge of people living in poverty

This article presents three examples of listening to the voices and knowledge of people in poverty in the realms of research, policy and practice. Changing the professional attitude to what poor people say is a challenge. There are obstacles to be overcome and limitations to the approach, but those do not lie within the scope of the present article, which stresses the conscious will required in order to hear a voice rather than merely a noise. People who are not well educated, and who feel very angry and alienated, may speak in a way which sounds like noise, inarticulate and chaotic. As researchers, policy-makers and practitioners, social workers are society's delegates in the antipoverty work. Listening to people in poverty has great potential and should become our expertise.