Disciplining “Girl Talk”

ABSTRACT

Although empowerment is frequently invoked in social work discourse, it is nevertheless a complicated and contested practice method. A critical minority of social work theorists and practitioners point to the paradox of empowerment practice that reifies power differences and infringes upon client self-determination (Gruber & Trickett, 1987; Hartman, 1992; Pease, 2002; Simon, 1990). Despite the acuity of this critique, it has neither fully penetrated the discourse of social work practice nor been employed in close analyses of empowerment interventions. In order to address this gap, we conducted an ethnographic study of a feminist empowerment program for young adolescent girls. Our findings suggest that despite some evidence of success, there were also noteworthy instances in which program staff subverted the goal of empowering participants' voices and instead disciplined girls' talk along particular discursive lines. This study explores these practices and discourses and based on this illustration, calls for incorporation of critical reflection into empowerment-based social work practice.     

Gendered perceptions of power and decision‐making in rural Kenya

Development policies and programmes rest on assumptions about what constitutes power and how to change power dynamics. However, they rarely consider local understandings of power. In this article we ask how these common assumptions correspond with socially and culturally specific ideas about what power is, who can hold power, and how power can be transferred, in rural communities in Kenya's lake region. We find that men and women are constantly negotiating for power in the household, within the bounds of their gendered limitations. And the predominant zero‐sum conception of power may undermine common development approaches to empowerment. However, the results also highlight some exceptions to this conceptualization, as well as the value of taking a whole‐family approach to empowerment.     

Assessing Power and Control Differentials

ABSTRACT

A critique of unidirectional understandings of power and control in social psychology, conflict theory, critical theory, and social work empowerment theories provides the framework for a new synthetic conceptualization of power and control in human behavior. A criminological theory called control balance is enlarged as an explanation of non-conforming behavior. Both a surplus of autonomy and an excess of repression provide subjective motivation for subversive acts that empower the actor. This dual-tension model is a theoretically useful predictor of human behavior, and in concert with symbolic interactionism, provides a theoretical frame for consideration of secondary socialization as a potential means of Social Work intervention     

Threshold Theory and Social Work Education

Critical reflection is a concept in social work education that holds a significant place—it provides both foundational theoretical ideas about the practice of social work, and is also a process used in career-long learning. Understanding critical reflection as a threshold theory concept—a higher education learning and teaching concept—providing a framework which assists educators in teaching critical reflection. Threshold theory identifies certain concepts as foundational within a discipline—these are transformative in profoundly altering the way students understand the subject. As with critical reflection, they are also integrative, conceptually difficult or ‘troublesome’ and difficult to forget.

The intrinsic nature of critical reflection makes its use as a conceptual model in practice a complex task: it requires the integration of theoretical knowledge, in a multiple-step methodology. Students must fully engage with the process, in identifying the impact of their lived experience, values and beliefs on their practice, as well as power, social structures and influential discourses. This article argues that threshold theory assists educators in understanding the nature of learning that is required for students to master critical reflection in social work education     

The Power Behind Empowerment: Implications for Research and Practice

The 1990s have been called theempowerment era, yet growing evidencesuggests that empowerment programs often fail to meetthe expectations of both managers and employees. Toprovide a better understanding as to why empowerment programs often fail andto suggest how such failures may be averted, we examinethe power behind empowerment. Ironically, although powerand empowerment are inextricably linked, much of the work on empowerment in the businessliterature has been devoid of any discussion of power.We present a four-dimensional model which shows themultifaceted way in which power works. In it, we observe the similarities and differences in the waysthat different theorists have approached the study ofpower, notably those ascribing to mainstream , critical, and Foucauldian perspectives. We then use this power model as a lens with which to examineempowerment practices in business. This analysissuggests a number of possible reasons for the failure ofbusiness empowerment programs and provides directions for future research and practice which mightaddress these shortcomings.     

Culture and classification: A history of the Mozbieker community at the cape

This paper reviews the concept of race as applied in southern Africa, and with particular reference to the idea of the “Negro”. After examining earlier work in the field of physical anthropology, more recent theoretical concepts are applied in a critique of modern practice. It is concluded that the revolution in physical anthropological theory has been largely “silent”, with the consequence that new ideas have not been systematically applied in archaeology. It would seem that there is little firm, and still acceptable, evidence for the identity of early farming communities in southern Africa.     

Perceptions of power: An exploration of the dynamics in the student-tutor-practice teacher relationship within child protection placements

Challenging the abuse of power is seen as a fundamental issue within child protection work which makes unique demands upon the practitioner. Within this context, the authors explore the dynamics of power that exist within the triangular relationship between student, tutor and practice teacher when practice placements take place within child protection settings.

The authors reflect upon three years of experience of co-ordinating student placements in the NSPCC in the North West, using their own first-hand experiences as well as retrospective evaluations of placements completed by students, practice teachers and tutors. They analyse information from a questionnaire designed by the authors to focus students', practice teachers' and tutors' thoughts on issues of power. The authors reflect on how these issues of power have both positively and negatively affected the quality of the placement and hypothesise that issues of power existing in the triangular relationship can mirror and replicate those present within families and systems where abuse occurs. The implications of the above for the development of anti-oppressive practice learning are discussed and various models presented as practice tools to be used by students and practice teachers.     

Omniscience at the Edge of Chaos: complexity,defences and change in a Children and Families Social Work department

ABSTRACT

This paper will explore a period of organisational change in a Children and Families Social Work team, applying ideas from complexity theory and psychoanalysis to explore the changes that occurred. In doing so it will critique the Newtonian concept of cause-and-effect linear causality, instead positing a nonlinear model of an organisation as a complex adaptive system in flux as it interacts with its environment. The paper will go on to posit that Bion’s psychoanalytic concepts of Omniscience and K Activity are self-organising forces in social care organisations, and when anxiety is not managed effectively, reductionist technical-rationale approaches to Children and Families Social Work dominate practice. It will conclude by outlining how the organisation’s effective management of anxiety through the creation of containment, created a series of organisational changes. These changes better supported the management of the complexity and uncertainty inherent in the social work task, raising possibilities of improvements in social work practice beyond the organisation.     

Teaching Family Policy

Abstract

Preparing students to engage in family policy education and advocacy is a challenge and opportunity for departments that teach family studies and family policy courses. Students not only need to know theoretical implications of family policy and how research enhances the theory, but also understand the policy process and how research-based information about family can inform policymaking. These students also need to acquire advocacy skills in order to work effectively in different policy arenas. This article illustrates how university family policy educators can structure curricula to provide students with both knowledge and skills vital to effective participation in family policy formation, analysis and critique.     

A Simple Approach to Complexity Theory

This teaching note presents 7 basic ideas that are drawn from complexity theory. These ideas are designed to help students appreciate and work with the complex systems that they often face in practice. Although complexity theory may be presented using mathematical language not easily accessible to non-mathematicians, it also may be presented by using everyday language and easy-to-understand examples. This note offers a straightforward presentation of basic concepts that help students to recognize, appreciate, and work with the complexity of situations faced in practice settings.     

Evaluating a social work introductory programme

Many social work programmes spend considerable time at the end of the course consolidating learning experiences, looking to employment issues, the nature of supervisory contracts, future training needs and so on (see for example the Janus week at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen). On a social level students also experience a round of parties, a graduation ceremony, the collection of certificates and formal farewells. Such activities are fairly predictable rites of passage. Whilst the importance of beginnings in social work practice is part of the folklore, little has been said or written about the actual process of induction onto social work training programmes. In this article we focus on the beginning of such a programme leading to an award of MA and Diploma in Social Work. We analyse what happens, describe the structures and under-pinning theories and conclude by arguing that the start of a course is an important land-mark for students' relationships with each other, with teaching staff and their own self-perceptions and sense of empowerment. Our reflection on these processes has been useful in looking at the conscious and unconscious messages given by ourselves and our institution.

Firstly, we briefly explore perspectives emanating from broad sociological discourse about the nature of professionalisation. We can then reflect on the perspective of anthropology which raises useful notions of initiation, celebration and ritual. We are particularly interested in looking at the power relationship between staff and students and at learning styles. Theory therefore demands that we look at this introduction in other than mechanistic or rational ways.

The second part of this article considers a three day introduction to a social work programme, concentrating on styles of learning and the inherent issues of power relationships.     

Integrating youth participation and ecosocial work: New possibilities to advance environmental and social justice

ABSTRACT

This article reveals possibilities to expand the role of youth within ecosocial work practice. The Where I Stand Youth Summit held in Chicago, Illinois, provided a safe space for young people to reflect upon their understanding of, and roles within, social and environmental justice movements. Drawing upon critical youth empowerment theory and participant observation, we note that youth shared experiences of oppression across unique social identities, while displaying authentic communication, acceptance, and desire for solidarity. Re-defining what knowledge matters, along with intention and self-restoration, also emerged as critical to building young people’s agency and power to effect social change.     

Merging Micro and Macro Intervention: Social Work Practice With Groups in the Community

Clinical or micro intervention predominates in social work education and practice. The prevailing assumption in social work practice and education is that one engages in either micro or macro intervention. In this article, we describe how these interventions may be merged into an integrated whole through social work practice with groups. The conceptual and evidence base of community work is summarized, as are efforts to identify practice skills that overlap both approaches. We assert that group work is ideally suited to promote individual empowerment and community change. Case examples illustrate the relative ease with which tasks and skills of group work at the micro level can be used in group work practice in the community. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

Linking research,theory and practice in personal and professional development: Gender and sexuality issues in social work education

It is important for social work students to learn how to articulate and develop their own personal theories for practice. It is also important for them to learn how to handle their own personal issues (which they often find difficult and prefer to avoid); and to incorporate them into their theories. In this paper we will explore some of the links between research, practice and theory by considering gender and sexuality issues in social work education. We offer some suggestions on introducing these issues to social work students in such a way that the development of personal social work theories is encouraged. Using examples from our current teaching practice about child abuse, bullying and domestic violence, it will be argued that the importance of theory for understanding and applying research, as well as for addressing difficult personal issues, has been seriously undervalued in social work education.     

How can We Enhance Productivity in Social Work? Dynamically Reflective Structures,Dialogic Leadership and the Development of Transformative Expertise

This article examines how to enhance the ability of managers to promote productivity through reflective structures and appreciatively evaluative dialogues based on front-line expertise and knowledge in social work practice. In order to discuss these ideas, we review the ideas of dialogical leadership and reflective structures, and the concept of productivity in relation to reassessing social work core tasks and the work-related well-being of social workers. We will present and reflect on our experiences and ideas generated from research that developed reflective tools, known as the Mirror method, for peer evaluation and practice development in social work. The Mirror method is designed as a tool for leaders and managers to enhance, through trialogic processes and structures, both the well-being of employees at the individual level and the productivity of social work and learning for transformation at the organizational level.     

Teaching Critical Reflection: A Tool for Transformative Learning in Social Work?

In an Australian Bachelor of Social Work degree, critical reflection is a process explicitly taught in a fourth year subject to students who have returned from their first field placement experience in agencies delivering social work programmes. The purpose of teaching critical reflection is to enable social work students to become autonomous and critical thinkers who can reflect on society, the role of social work and social work practices. The way critical reflection is taught in this fourth year social work unit relates closely to the aims of transformative learning. Transformative learning aims to assist students to become autonomous thinkers. Specifically, the critical reflection process taught in this subject aims to assist students to recognise their own and other people's frames of reference, to identify the dominant discourses circulating in making sense of their experience, to problematise their taken-for -granted ‘lived experience’, to reconceptualise identity categories, disrupt assumed causal relations and to reflect on how power relations are operating. Critical reflection often draws on many theoretical frameworks to enable the recognition of current modes of thinking and doing. In this paper, we will draw primarily on how post-structural theories, specifically Foucault's theorising, disrupt several taken-for-granted concepts in social work.     

Development Tracks: The Theory and Practice of Community Development

It was and is an important text, and looking back, it becomesclear how in many ways New Zealand was advanced in its thinkingon Community Development. The language and the concepts wereexpressed differently from today, but that is a comment nota critique. The editor, Ian Shirley, with a history as a community workerand later an academic had produced other writings on communitydevelopment, but little of the standing of this work had beenwritten either before or since on the theory and practice ofcommunity development in New Zealand. Twenty-three years on,this book is still read by students and teachers of communitydevelopment. So, has it that stood the test of time or is therenothing to take its place? The book does not     

Critical social work and competency practice: a proposal to bridge theory and practice in the classroom

Social work education in North America is increasingly focused on competency criteria and micro skills training for future practitioners. Market forces are transforming the nature of social work practice in Canada, and social work regulators are concerned about the lack of evidence-based competencies in social work education. Since the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy was proclaimed in 2017, social work practitioners are in a position to offer psychotherapy services; as a result, universities are under greater pressure to shift to competency-based learning that meets the requirements of a regulated profession. This has raised concerns about the narrowing focus on critical social work theory in preparing students for practice. The divergence between anti-oppressive and direct practice schools is widening with the result that many students have difficulty bridging the gap between critical theory and competency-based practice. This paper attempts to integrate both traditions by offering students a course that directly links critical analysis of structural barriers and client centered interventions. The course is part of a developing critical competency curriculum that focuses on methods of facilitating empowerment and change in the helping process by articulating key relational components between service user and practitioner from a critical-competency perspective.