Abstract

Gabriel Marcel‟s thought is applied to social work practice in the fields of restorative justice conferencing for young people and working with male perpetrators of family violence. Existential ideas have helped to shape social work from its beginnings, but with the one exception of Jim Lantz, the philosophical ideas of Gabriel Marcel have not been utilised. I argue that Marcel‟s existential concepts speak to the vocation of social work and the challenge to fully participate in the world in the 21st century. These concepts include the concrete value of people‟s lived experience, which includes elements of mystery and problem, the importance of being accessible and present to others, and seeking to respond to the cry of the world heard in our communities.