The purpose of this paper is to develop a rationale for the conscious integration of a political component into professional practice. The rationale involves a re-definition of professional roles in the human services as a powerful means of political struggle. The aim of the political strategy is to eliminate the sources of social, economic and political inequalities, the underlying causes of social problems with which the human services profess to be concerned. A model for the study of social problems and policies is illustrated by a chart of the forces which interact with key processes of social policies. The poverty syndrome is used as an example in investigating the sources of inequalities within capitalism. A strategy to eliminate such sources is to replace the economic and political system with an alternative, achieved through a fundamental change of consciousness of social reality and the perceptions of self-interest by much of the population. Consequently, professional practice in the human services would become an important factor in effecting this comprehensive cultural and institutional change. This paper is based on the author's book, "Unravelling Social Policy: Theory, Analysis and Political Action Toward Social Equality." (Author/KSM)