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FRONTLINE The Social Work Action Network (Ireland) Bulletin

ISSUE 4 AUGUST 2017

welcomed because issues, including high infant mortality rates in these Homes, warrant forensic analysis. Today Connections can be made between the treatment of ‘unmarried mothers’ in the past and women’s lack of reproductive rights in contemporary Ireland. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 permits abortion in Irish hospitals, only under limited circumstances: if medical experts assess that a woman’s life would be endangered were the pregnancy to go full term, or, following instances of rape or incest, if she appears suicidal. As a consequence of the lack of reproductive rights in the Irish Republic, thousands of women still travel to England for abortions. This situation needs to change and that is why SWAN Ireland fully supports Social Workers for Choice and the demonstration planned in late September.

Looking backwards Turning to the past in 1927, five years after Irish independence, the report of the Commission on the Relief of the Poor identified responses to ‘unmarried mothers.’ It delineated ‘two classes’ of ‘unmarried mothers’: ‘those who may be amenable to reform’, so-called ‘first offenders’, and ‘the less hopeful cases.’ For the latter, a lengthy detention was recommended. For example, in circumstances where an ‘unmarried mother’, pregnant for a third time, applied for relief to a poor law institution, the Board of Health should have the ‘power to detain’ for ‘such a period as they think fit, having considered the recommendation of the Superior or Matron of the Home.’ In contrast, the treatment of those amenable to reform would focus on ‘moral upbringing’ and be characterised by the ‘traits of firmness and discipline, but also charity and sympathy.’ They would be dealt with by special institutions, a prototype of which was founded in 1922 by the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Bessborough, Cork.

IN THIS ISSUE….

Pg. 1-2 - EDITORIAL: UNMARRIED MOTHERS’ AND THE MESSAGES FOR SOCIAL WORK TODAY.

Pg. 3 - SOCIAL WORKERS FOR CHOICE: THIS IS WHO WE ARE!

Pg. 4 - SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF FEMALE SOCIAL WORKERS by Aisling O’Reilly.

Pg. 4-5 - SWAN UK STATEMENT ON THE GRENFELL FIRE DISASTER: SOCIAL WORKERS MUST CRITIQUE NEOLIBERAL POLICY NOT SIMPLY DELIVER IT.

Pg. 5-6 - GRENFELL: THIS IS HOW I SEE IT by Ruth Appleton, Development Worker, UK.

Pg. 6-8 - FANCY A CUPPA? DILEMMAS CAFES: A NEW IDEA FOR CRITICAL AND RADICAL SOCIAL WORK.

Pg. 8-10 - THINKING ABOUT KEYWORDS: WELFARE DEPENDENCY by Paul Michael Garrett, SWAN Galway.

Pg. 11-13 - IT’S (NOT) ALL IN OUR HEADS-SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL APPROACHES TO MENTAL DISTRESS by Kerry Cuskelly

Pg. 13 - VELMA’S VIEW: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER FROM A VERY UNTIDY DESK ON SOCIAL WORK’S FRONTLINE

EDITORIAL: ‘UNMARRIED MOTHERS’ AND THE

MESSAGES FOR SOCIAL WORK TODAY

In June 2014, The Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil  that the treatment of many unmarried women and their babies from the 1920s onwards was an ‘abomination.’ A Commission of Investigation was set up with a report due in 2018. Costing an estimated €21 million, it is clearly to be rights in contemporary Ireland.

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Being sent to a Mother and Baby Home had substantial disadvantages for women, as these institutions were designed to serve male interests and reinforce the power and social advantages of men. Whilst the secrecy inherent in the arrangement was likely to intensify women’s sense of shame and guilt surrounding the pregnancy, it preserved the anonymity of putative fathers, safeguarding male reputations.

Although nuns were in charge of the day-to-day management of the establishments, it was men, particularly those laden with ‘symbolic capital’ such as priests and doctors, who referred women to the Homes and acted as gate-keepers.

Many women refused to go to such Homes because it meant, in effect, two years quasi-imprisonment. Many took ferries to England, hoping to spend a shorter period of time in a Mother and Baby Home and to have their children adopted. This specific type of Irish female migration had, moreover, featured as a recurring, if minor, theme in a number of official reports produced by the Irish government since the formation of the state in the early 1920s. Pre-occupation with the flight of the ‘unmarried mothers’ became especially more marked in the 1950s and 1960s, and this was reflected in the increased number of ‘repatriations’ with such women being sent back to Ireland. Even in the 1930s, the Irish State was alert to the high mortality rate in the Mother and Baby Homes. The Department of Local Government and Public Health stated that the ‘abnormal death-rate’ amongst ‘illegitimate infants’ was a matter of ‘grave concern.’ There is also suspicion that some deaths may have been bogus because of the practice of children in the Homes being taken to the United States by ‘adopters’.

Change in the 1970s Attitudinal changes began occurring in the 1970s. The Social Welfare Act 1973 ushered in the introduction of the Unmarried Mothers Allowance. The Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 ensured that women would not lose their jobs as a result of pregnancy, and in so doing provided some protection against social prejudice. The Status of Children Act, 1987 abolished the concept of illegitimacy and sought to equalise the rights of children including those born outside marriage. Such measures were due, in part, to the pressure applied by the embryonic women’s movement from the late-1960s.

Many women who spent time in these Homes are still alive and some of the allegations which have been made provide reasonable ground to believe that if not acts of torture, then acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment may have been committed. Similarly, some children born in these establishments are alive today. In July this year, the United Nations has sharply criticised the State’s approach to alleged abuse in Magdalene laundries. The UN rapporteur, Felice Garr stated: ‘The government seems to be walking back from the famous apology by Enda Kenny” to survivors of Magdalene laundries and going back to a view that the State is not liable’.

Messages

There is a need to remain alert to how an emerging narrative may now be seeking to relegate the issue to Ireland’s troubled past. It is vital, therefore, that social work practitioners and educators make the connection between the treatment accorded to ‘unmarried mothers’ during the twentieth century and women’s lack of reproductive rights today. Similarly, we need to make the connection between the treatment of so-called ‘unmarried mothers’ in the past and asylum seekers today. Segregation, poverty, and stigmatisation are the common threads. As the priest, Martin Pinder, told the Irish Times (25 July, 2017), the treatment of asylum seekers in Ireland is often worse that the way black people were dealt with in Apartheid South Africa.

SWAN Ireland, Summer 2017

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SOCIAL WORKERS FOR CHOICE: THIS IS WHO WE

ARE!

We are a grassroots organization  of social workers  who support  reproductive autonomy and choice for all women and girls in Ireland. We seek to uphold  the ethics of our profession  by advocating for Repeal of the 8thAmendment to the Constitution.    Under current laws,  abortion  can only be performed where  there is risk of death to the mother from physical illness  or suicide. In such  cases, a woman is forced to suffer the indignity of being assessed by up to six medical and psychological  ‘experts’ who have the power to determine  her fate.  This process grossly undermines the credibility and self-d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f w o m e n – t h e implication  being  that they are  not qualified to make decisions about their own bodies. 

  Restricted access to termination is a clear violation of CORU defined values of  right to self-determination, empowerment, dignity of the i n d i v i d u a l , a n d p r o m o t i o n o f h u m a n rights.  Furthermore, it is an affront to gender equality and feminism,  as the limits are placed  on women’s bodies only.  It is women that are given the same “right to life” as a foetus under the Amendment.   

Social workers  in Ireland  have an ethical obligation to stand against the  draconian approach to abortion, which disregards women’s autonomy and bodily integrity.  As agents of social change, we are ideally placed to pressure the Government to take a stance and call a referendum. Through a coordinated approach, w e c a n m a k e o u r v o i c e s h e a r d . O n September 30th we will march in the 6th Annual March for Choice, assembling at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square from 1.30pm, before we march on Dáil Éireann at 2pm. More details of the event a v a i l a b l e h e r e : F a c e b o o k : h t t p s : / /www.facebook.com/events/257070751427136/?ti=icl

A b o r t i o n R i g h t s C a m p a i g n : h t t p s : / /www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/2017/07/18/time-to-act-6th-annual-march-for-choice/

Join us in opposing the disempowerment  of women, and their  exclusion  in decision-making

processes that so profoundly affect their lives. Join us in supporting women to make the decision that is best for them, without interference from others.    If you are interested in contributing to our fight for reproductive justice, please get in touch on one of the platforms below. We would love to hear from you on: Facebook Page: SW4Choice Twitter: @SW4Choice Email: SW4Choice@gmail.com

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for such a crisis, and are frequently deployed to deliver the aims of the local government. The abandonment of community social work is highlighted as a disaster in times of great need such as this, the real skills of social workers should be used to give voice to the victims and not to hide the incompetence of authorities. SWAN extends a thanks to all frontline workers doing their best to empower the victims. We cannot ignore our duty to speak out. 

SWAN UK believes:

•The fire at Grenfell was not a random event, it was a disaster waiting to happen. It was the result of cuts, of austerity, of privatisation of council housing, of deregulation, of out-sourcing and of inequality. 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF FEMALE SOCIAL WORKERS

Prompted by an experience whilst on a student placement in the US, where sexual harassment was not responded to appropriately in professional supervision, the article focuses on female practitioners’ accounts of such harassment. Initially, the wider context is furnished by a brief overview of the definition of sexual harassment, the legal context, and responses in the Republic of Ireland. The focus then shifts to a small-scale empirical project garnering the perceptions. The study is clearly preliminary and tentative, yet it illuminates important findings relating to the sexual harassment of female social workers across professional workspaces in Ireland.

Read more… Aisling O’Reilly (2017) ‘ P l a y i n g t h e G a m e ? ’ : T h e s e x u a l harassment of female social workers a c r o s s p r o f e s s i o n a l w o r k s p a c e s , International Social Work’, International S o c i a l W o r k , D O I : 10.1177/0020872817706410

SWAN UK STATEMENT ON THE GRENFELL FIRE DISASTER: Social workers must critique neoliberal policy not simply deliver it. At a UK Social Work Action Network (SWAN) steering committee meeting, colleagues discussed the dreadful fire at Grenfell Towers. Our immediate thoughts were, and are, with those directly affected by this most traumatic of events.  Weeks have passed: victims remain scared to accept the available temporary accommodation; the decision to pursue an inquiry over an inquest with a judge who immediately declares the limitations of his reach has caused deep distress; neighbouring councils are feeling the after affects as the role of private companies in social housing is dissected. SWAN believes it is essential that the social work community reflects critically upon the origins and handling of this disaster. Social workers both have unique skills

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6. That the interests and needs of survivors and families of victims must always come first. People matter. Cost - in the richest borough, in the richest city in Europe - is secondary.

GRENFELL: THIS IS HOW I SEE IT by Ruth Appleton, Development

Worker, UK

The Grenfell Tower Inferno should be c a l l e d a t v e r y l e a s t c o r p o r a t e manslaughter and at worst holocaust.  Despite ‘official’ number of deaths, it is clear that the numbers of dead could have been suppressed to protect the guilty.  Performance artist Saku states on DVD that a fire fighter man reported 200 dead.  Repeated calls for K&C  to review of the safety at the block were ignored.  Moreover, a law was proposed to tighten safety regulations in tower blocks but it was blocked by the Tory government, many of whose members are corporate landlords, who make considerable donations to their party.  LowKey, another singer, lived on the 15th floor.  He escaped through black smoke preventing any idea of where he was and how to reach a fire escape, after treading on what felt soft and realising later it was bodies....now reports say the fire escape had been blocked off to make way for an Academy School next door.  See how the council buys off planning opposition, by offering priority education at the expense of safety measures.

A source of the neglect is the fact that the poor in the community are regarded as not just disposable or undesirable but targets for ethnic cleansing, in order to create a borough with up-market residences and up-market residents.  This would entail demolishing the old tower blocks rather than providing quality homes for them.  Quality homes cost, and no profit can be made on them

• That inequality meant that, in a Borough such as Kensington and Chelsea ((K & C), the lives of ordinary people matter less to local politicians and local Government officers than those of the fabulously wealthy who live in the Borough.

• The fire and the deaths stand as a symbol of all that is wrong with new-liberal social policy. This was an example of 'social murder' - the unnecessary deaths of ordinary working people by a system skewed to meet the interests if the wealthy.

• SWAN denounces the system of cuts, privatisation and deregulation that led to the catastrophe.

• We offer our solidarity to the Grenfell community, to the volunteers who have self-organised to support their brothers and sisters in this time of trouble, and to those public sector workers who have been on the frontline saving lives, tackling fires, and supporting families. 

SWAN UK demands:

1. That the government and Kensington and Chelsea Council provide full resources for the victims' families and survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster. 2. That all families should be rehoused immediately in suitable accommodation within the borough. Rehousing must take full account of the trauma people have been through - allocating families to high rise flats would not necessarily be in their best interests and the location of housing should be part of allocation procedures. . 3. That social services must be supported to provide fully funded services to survivors and their families. 4. That children who have lost their parents or carers should be housed suitably. This may be with family or friends or suitable foster homes. Whenever this is in the best interests of the child, this should be within the borough.  5. That  fully funded and supported trauma and psychological support services should be made available to all victims.

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if they're inhabited by the unemployed, so the obvious solution for a Tory Borough Council being starved of funds by the Government is to "accidentally" allow a tragedy to occur which disposes of the undesirables. Too cynical?  The K & C is the richest borough in London, in the UK.  For them to plead poverty is to ignore the plethora of community organisations which rallied round as soon as needed.  The BBC news broadcasts mentioned only the council-run services but not the grass roots organisations which know the area from within.  Maxilla and the other Under the Westway Youth Groups weren't credited with the food stall set up free of charge for the survivors, the mattresses brought out  for temporary respite for relatives and friends, nor the hundreds of helpers organised into t e a m s t o s o r t d o n a t i o n s a n d a c c o m m o d a t i o n i n s c h o o l s a n d community centres. The fire service has been decimated, with 3 station closures in the area.  Teams brought in from elsewhere couldn't get close enough fast enough because no local authority presence was there to assist and move parked cars.  The Management of the fire service is corporate now, with Commanders brought in from the Army etc., not working their way up from the grass roots as in the past.  Corporate Management took advice from the US re: restricting tenants to their own flats.  If they had been in the service like the officers they might have given different directions. They're divorced from the real work.  The fire fighters who tried their best were breaching rules to save lives, and at risk to themselves. Too few were available and those that were on site were over-age as union guidelines state.  Working conditions have been eroded. I talked to local people and observed the love and pride  in them.  One young woman holding her toddler and turning round to take a wide view,  told him: "Look. Remember this -  this is your beautiful community working together."  That says it all.

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FANCY A CUPPA? DILEMMAS CAFES: A NEW IDEA FOR CRITICAL AND RADICAL SOCIAL WORK Professor Sarah Banks, from the University of Durham in the UK,

draws attention to a new method for exploring ethical and political issues

in social work

Over the past year or so, a SWAN member in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (England), Lewis Roberts, has been convening a social workers’ group through the trade union UNISON, with the aim of raising collective awareness of workplace issues. The group invites speakers and promotes the role of the union. Staf f members from nearby universities have supported this group through giving talks. A lot of attention has been paid to the impact of austerity on service users and social workers.

Recently Sarah Banks (Durham University) and Merl inda Weinberg (Dalhousie University, Canada) facilitated a dilemmas café, which involved participants sharing some of the ethical and political challenges in their day-to-day work. A key theme emerging was the chronic lack of resources and the pressures placed on social workers to work in ways they felt were unethical. The social workers participating found the café useful in developing solidarity in the face of common workplace challenges and hearing a range of alternative perspectives and responses.

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dialogues. After this participants reconvene in a large group to share insights and learning.

A guide for facilitators is available on the web, with details of how to organise a café. https://www.dur.ac.uk/socialjustice/ethics_consultation/dilemmas/

Two models of working

1. Dilemmas chosen and prepared in advance. The description above and in the guide is based on a model that involves the facilitator seeking volunteers to offer dilemmas in advance of the café, and giving guidance about how to present their dilemmas. The advantages are that this allows the presenters time to prepare, considering if they really want to share their

dilemma and how they will anonymise it. The facilitator c a n a l s o a n t i c i p a t e a n y sensitive issues that may arise. The disadvantages are that it r e q u i r e s p r e p a r a t i o n b y presenters and facilitators, it may be difficult to find people to volunteer in advance, and it removes the possibility of o t h e r m o r e i n t e r e s t i n g dilemmas being offered during the café.

2. Dilemmas chosen in the café. Another option is to choose the dilemmas on the day. After introducing the dilemmas café method and

agreeing ground rules with 1. the whole group, then at tables (comprising five to ten people with one person as facilitator), each person thinks for a few minutes about a dilemma they might be willing to share. Each person briefly shares their dilemma (if they have one) with others at the table and one is chosen that resonates with everyone and has potential for fruitful discussion. If a short time is available, people can remain at the same table and discuss the dilemma they have chosen. If a longer period is available, the people whose dilemmas have been chosen briefly summarise their dilemmas for the

A dilemmas café is a good way of enabling people to share experiences in a structured and supportive environment. The issues raised can then be taken up by a SWAN group or trade union and used as a basis for actions or campaigns. This article briefly describes the method, which may be of interest to other SWAN groups.

What is a dilemmas café?

Dilemmas cafés involve people coming together to discuss their experiences of specific situations that raise challenging ethical and political issues for them. The idea was developed by Durham University’s Centre for Social Justice and Community Action to explore dilemmas in participatory research, but can be used in any context – including with groups of professional practitioners, service users or managers. Dilemmas cafes are a means of identifying and raising awareness of ethical and political issues in particular areas of life, uncovering exacerbating factors at personal and structural leve ls , and of fer ing a supportive environment in which to discuss alternative understandings of issues and possible courses of action.

What happens?

In a facilitated gathering of 15-40 people, set up with round tables in caféteria style, two or three people in turn present a specific dilemma (anonymised) from their own experience. Participants choose a dilemma to work on, and join a table with the presenter of their chosen dilemma and a facilitator. They tease out, discuss and record the issues. After 30 minutes, participants either move tables and tackle a different dilemma or remain at the same table. Presenters and facilitators stay at their tables and brief new participants on the earlier dialogues. Depending on time (allow two to three hours if possible), there can be two or three rounds of dialogues. After this participants reconvene in a large group to share insights and learning.

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Smith, 2005; Garrett, 2009). The coupling of ‘welfare’ with ‘dependency’ provides a good illustration of the shifts taking place given that recourse to the income support from the state was not always, of course, was not always so stigmatised and coupled to notions of dependency and deficiency (see also Schram, 2015: Ch. 4).

‘Welfare dependency’ circulates around the assumption that people are stuck in the quagmire of dependency because of personal deficits and shortcomings.

My forthcoming book highlights the role played by neoliberal intellectuals in playing a pivotal role in defining and amplifying politically and socially retrogressive ideas on ‘welfare dependency’ (Garrett, 2017).

Significant here are US academics such as Charles Murray (1990) with his ‘underclass’ construct. Lawrence Mead also endeavoured to

intervene in welfare politics in the UK and elsewhere in Europe to shape debates.

Whilst maintaining the US as his prime focus, Mead’s analysis in The Politics of Poverty (1992) encompasses a broad geopolitical framework. He contextualised his perspective on welfare by noting that the ‘age of proletarian politics’ was passing and with it the ‘myth of the left, largely derived from Europe, [which] sees working class solidarity leading to democracy and then an ambitious welfare state’. Despite this global and post-‘cold-war’ dimension being afforded little attention in most Left critiques the evolution of ‘welfare

the whole group. Participants then decide which table to go to, according to which dilemma interests them. After 30 minutes they can change tables and discuss another dilemma. The disadvantages of this model are that people may find it difficult to think of good examples and do not have time to consider carefully about sensitivity and confidentiality issues. The advantages are that this allows for spontaneity on the day and requires less advance planning.

If you are interested in progressing the Dilemmas’ Café idea, then please contact us at SWAN Ireland!!!

THINKING ABOUT KEYWORDS: WELFARE DEPENDENCY by Paul Michael Garrett, SWAN

Galway Last year marked the 40th anniversary of Raymond Williams’ Keywords. Initially published in 1976, it was comprised of 110 concise essays on words which he perceived as significant in the mid-1970s and into the following decade (Williams 1983). Since his death in 1988, his work has possibly been neglected. Certainly, he is little known within social work. However, Williams’ interrogation of the taken-for-grantedness of specific words furnishes critical insights for radical social work.

In the 1990s and into the first quarter of 21st century, a number of William’s keywords have had their meanings re-worked and used in the ‘war of position’ waged by the political Right to win consent for its often retrogressive, but invariably ‘modernising’ and ‘reforming’ policies (Hoare and Nowell

Remember also our social media stuff…Twitter (SWAN_IRL) and

Facebook (Social Work Action Network Ireland) page

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In 2013, an accessible report from Baptist Union of Great Britain and a coalition of churches succinctly rebutted some of the main assertions promoted by the mainstream parties and shared by a seemingly ill-informed public (Baptist Union of Great Britain et al., 2013). For the churches, public perceptions crystallised into six embedded and related myths rooted about the ‘poor’. They are:

• lazy and do not want to work; • addicted to drink and drugs; • are not really poor, but simply are incompetent in managing their money; • on ‘the fiddle’ and often illegally working or claiming benefits that they are not truly entitled to claim – A claim echoed by Varadkar; • enjoying an easy life; • responsible for the ‘deficit’ prompting the ‘austerity’ measures impacting on everyone.

This publication from the Churches is a really good social work and social policy teaching aid and it should be widely used.

Clearly, there is a pressing need to question and interrogate focal words and phrases within the neoliberal dictionary. By not questioning the ‘welfare dependency’ construct social workers and social work academics risk solidifying dominant conceptualisations and retrogressive politics. In short, as the 40th anniversary of Keywords reminds us, we need to continue to expose and unravel the deeply ideological underpinnings of ‘welfare dependency’ talk.

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

politics’, it remains significant.

Although the neoliberal agenda was discernible before the 1990s, it is post-1989, with the fall of the USSR, that it became more emboldened and strident. Against this backdrop, Mead’s triumphalist discourse reflects the hegemonic politics of the ‘new world order’ confidently spanning the presidential term of George H W Bush.

Nevertheless, Mead’s coolly scornful and patronising pronouncements betray a whiff of unease about, what Foucault (2008, p. 196) termed, ‘revolts of conduct’. Perhaps, the spectre haunting his book is the Los Angeles riots sparked, the very same year it was published, by the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent acquittal of the police officers who had been filmed committing the act. The largest uprising to occur in the USA since the 1960s, the riots were initiated by those residents of South Central LA, whom Mead had deemed to be too ‘passive’ and indolent to rebel or constitute any serious threat to social stability.

Mead’s ideas on benefit conditionality echoed and amplified the ideas of behavioural economists, Nichols and Zeckhauser (1982) who argued that cash assistance should only be available to the poor in the context arduous ‘restrictions on the choices made by intended beneficiaries’. According to these influential Harvard-based Reaganite scholars, ‘ordeals’ had to become more structurally embedded in welfare benefit systems and should not simply function as unfortunate and regrettable side-effects. This understanding might also inform the perceptions of those, in the UK, who have protested about the harsh impact of the ‘work capability’ assessments. The fact that many claimants are confused, distressed and humiliated is not an accidental by-product of such assessments or indicative of a fixable malfunction. Rather, the inconveniences caused to claimants, some immensely serious, even catastrophically fatal, are evidence that the system purposefully laden with ‘ordeals’ is actually working (Black Triangle, 2014).

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Foucault, M. (2008). The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the College de France, 1978-79, Houndsmill: Palgrave Macmillan. Translated by Graham Burchill.

Hoare, Q. and Nowell Smith (eds.) (2005). Antonio Gramsci: Selections from Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence and Wishart, 10th reprint.

Mead, L. W. (1992) ‘The Wider Meaning of Dependency’ in The Politics of Poverty: The Nonworking Poor in America, New York, Basic Books.

Murray, C. (1990) The Emerging British Underclass, London, Institute of Economic Affairs.

Nichols, A. L. and Zeckhauser, R. J. (1982). Targeting Transfers through Restrictions on Recipients. The American Economic Review, 72(2), 372-378.

Schram, S. F. (2015). The Return of Ordinary Capitalism, New York, Oxford University.

Williams, R. (1983). Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society. Norton: New York. 2nd edition.

Reading list

Baptist Union of Great Britain, Methodist Church, Church of Scotland and the United Reformed Church (2013). The lies we tell ourselves: ending comfortable myths a b o u t p o v e r t y h t t p : / /www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Truth-And-Lies-Report-smaller.pdf

Black Triangle Campaign (2014). UK Welfare Reform Deaths, Press Notice, 24 O c t o b e r h t t p : / /blacktrianglecampaign.org/2014/10/21/uk-welfare-reform-deaths-updated-list-october-21st-2014/

Fritsch, K., O’Connor, C. and Thompson, A. K. (eds.) (2016). Keywords for Radicals. Chico, CA & Edinburgh, Scotland: AK Press.

Garrett, P. M. (2009). ‘Transforming’ Children’s Services? Social Work, Neoliberalism and the ‘Modern’ World. M a i d e n h e a d : M c G r a w H i l l / O p e n University.

Garrett, P. M. (2017). Welfare Words: Critical and Radical Social Work, London: Sage.

Website page (http://www.socialworkfuture.org/who-we-are/ireland-swan)

Our blog (https://socialworkactionnetworkireland.wordpress.com/)

If you have any questions or comments on what you read in this bulletin, please feel free to get in touch with us at socialworkactionnetworkireland@gmail.com. We are also delighted to receive any submissions for future bulletins to this email.

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IT’S NOT ALL IN OUR HEADS – Social Work and

Social Approaches to Mental Distress by Kerry

Cuskelly

This is an adaptation of an article written for the publication, Recovery: A Journey for all Disciplines (2016). The emphasis of this piece is on the value social workers bring to the sphere of mental health and how we must openly and strongly articulate our commitment to the social approach to mental distress. By doing this we can provide a viable and much-wanted alternative to the medicalisation of people’s trauma’s and to the pervasive practice of framing of structural problems as individuals problems.

S o c i a l w o r k p r i n c i p l e s a n d t h e fundamentals of the (original) recovery approach have some similarities. These include:

A Social Understanding of Mental Distress

The original concept of recovery was used by users of mental health services as a m e a n s t o c h a l l e n g e m e d i c a l i s e d approaches to mental health care (Morrow, 2013). In the sense that the original concept of recovery emphasised a social understanding of mental distress and of social approaches to mental health, principles of social work and recovery have much in common. In a 2015 report, service users clearly identified that social approaches to recovery are vital to recovery from mental distress. The project found that, “…most service users who took part in the project feel that social approaches to mental health, which take account of the whole person and wider societal issues affecting them, are the most helpful” (Beresford, Perring, Nettle and Wal lcraf t , 2015: 7) . This hol is t ic understanding of people’s experiences and the interaction between the individual and their environment is intrinsic to the

practice of social work in mental health.

Empowerment and Partnership

As Anthony (1993) advises, “Recovery is not something that professionals can do to the person, it is something that service users do for themselves” (in Higgins, 2008: 7). Social w o r k e m p h a s i s e s t h i s c o n c e p t o f empowerment as a core function of our work. Social workers work in true partnership with people; we aim to work in collaboration with people, alongside them as opposed to “to” or “for” them. To me therefore, the concept of recovery is something that is integral and core to the area of mental health.

C o l l e c t i v e a s o p p o s e d t o Individualised

As a social worker I view recovery as a wide and encompassing concept. When I think of recovery in mental health, I think of recovery as it pertains to the service user, of the recovery of the carer(s)/family(s) and of the recovery of whole communities such as the Traveller community or Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities. I think of the recovery of marginalised p o p u l a t i o n s s u c h a s l o n e p a r e n t s experiencing mental distress, of the homeless population, of older persons and younger persons. I also think of the recovery of mental health professionals, in so far as those who work in the helping professions not only need to be proficient in providing recovery-oriented services, they also need support and compassion while they strive to deliver these services. From my perspective, the concept of recovery in mental health is a collective issue. In social w o r k i n g e n e r a l , t h e n o t i o n o f understanding individuals in the context of their environments, of the interactions of various systems e.g. environmental, cultural, economic, social, political and the impact those systems have on the individual are fundamentals of the theoretical underpinnings of the work. As noted by Higgins (2008: 7), broadly-speaking half of recovery literature focuses “…on the

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iterative relationship between the person’s e x p e r i e n c e o f r e c o v e r y a n d t h e organisational/societal conditions that may facilitate recovery”. As a social worker t h e r e f o r e , w h i l e r e c o v e r y c a n b e experienced as an individual journey, it should not be individualised. In other words, social workers view recovery in mental health as involving not only individuals but families, communities and services, all interacting on multiple levels. To me, recovery is the responsibility of everyone and involves complex dialectical interactions between individuals and the systems they belong to and vice versa.

The Right to Participate

Another core function of social workers’ ethics is to promote the right to participate (CORU, 2011). The Department of Health and Children (2006) and Mental Health Commission (2005a) advises that ensuring people’s right to participate in society is core to the recovery approach, “…the recovery approach acknowledges the person’s rights to meaningful participation in community life and moves beyond the individual and organisation level to address the wider social, attitudinal and economic barriers to citizenship. Consequently, emphasis is placed on removing barriers to social integration and inclusion, such as stigma and lack of access to suitable h o u s i n g , e d u c a t i o n , w o r k a n d friendships” (in Higgins, 2008:10). In the mental health field, these are areas in which social work practice is directed as it is understood that social issues such as housing, education, work, relationships and social capital have a strong bearing on causing or contributing to, a person’s mental distress.

Conclusion

As noted by Beresford, Nettle and Perring (2010), there is a strong wish for a broader understanding of mental distress amongst service users and for more social approaches within the mental health services. In this sense social workers can

and should take a lead on promoting an understanding of the structural barriers to service users’ recovery e.g. the lack of equitable access to safe and secure housing for all populations, the lack of equitable access to a l iv ing income for a l l populations, the discrimination and oppression faced by persons from diverse backgrounds who experience mental health difficulties.

References

Beresford, P., Nettle, M., Perring, R. and Wallcraft, J., (2015), From Mental Illness to a Social model of Madness and Distress. UK: Joseph Rountree Foundation. (Forthcoming).

Beresford, P., Nettle, M. and Perring, R., (2010), Towards a Social Model of Madness and Distress? Exploring What Service Users Say, [online], UK: Joseph Rountree Foundation, available, https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/towards-social-model-madness-and-distress-exploring-whatservice-users-say#jl_files_0 [Accessed 20th December 2015].

Collins, P. (Ed.), (2016), Recovery: A Journey for all Disciplines [online], National Office for Advancing Recovery in Ireland, HSE Mental Health Division: Dublin, available, http://www.lenus.ie/h s e / b i t s t r e a m / 1 0 1 4 7 / 6 0 8 4 5 5 / 1 /Recovery.pdf, [Accessed 08th August 2017].

CORU, (2011), The Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Workers, [online], CORU: Dublin, available, http://c o r u . i e / u p l o a d s / d o c u m e n t s /typeset_Social_Worker_Code_Feb_2010.pdf. [Accessed 20th December 2015].

Higgins, A., (2008), A Recovery Approach Within the Irish Mental Health System, [online], Mental Health Commission: Dublin, available, http://www.mhcirl.ie/File/framedevarecov.pdf [Accessed on 14th December 2015].

Morrow, M., (2013), “Recovery: progressive

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health care before moving from that portfolio.

What is more, Varadkar has affinities with policy circles in the US which have been responsible for promoting ‘welfare dependency’. In his early twenties, he was even an intern with the ‘Washington-Ireland Program  for Service and Leadership’.

I’ll tell you, it’s a good job I did’nt catch him when he was out jogging the other day with Justin Trudeau!

Anyhow, back to work. I don’t want CORU after me again xx

The Frontline Editorial Collective (FEC) do not necessarily share all of Velma’s views, but we like her enthusiasm and willingness to contribute to Frontline. Also, her Uncle owns the printing press down in Buttevant which produces our bulletin. She also bakes some gorgeous blueberry muffins and knows her Marx inside- out!

Paradigm or Neoliberal Smokescreen?” in LeFrancois, B., Menzies, R. and Reaume, R., Mad Matters: A Critical Reader in Canadian Mad Studies. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press Inc.

VELMA’S VIEW: Speaking

truth to power from a

very untidy desk on social

work’s frontline

So we got a ourselves a new Taoiseach then. I must admit, I almost wet myself in July when Leo got the gig. Aren’t we such a cool, liberal country now! Only joking lads…

Gay and from an ethic minority, Varadkar’s complex identity may suggest he might be more willing than many other Blueshirts to create progressive social policies. BUT it is important to recall that he entirely fits the Irish neoliberal template. The ‘welfare cheats’ campaign he fronted totally entirely fits his feckin politics.

He attended the prestigious King’s Hospital private school located on a leafy 80-acre campus in Palmersotwn,  Dublin. Those able to attend the King’s Hospital can afford to fork out €14,600 each year for 7-Day Boarding at the school!! After that he was off to Trinners.

This is a world of posh privilege very different from the world of those on ‘welfare’ who Varadkar took the piss out of when he was a Minister for Social Protection. The current weekly rate for Job Seekers Allowance is just €102.70 each week for 18-14 year-olds on my caseload.

A feckin dismal Minister for Health, Varadkar – a GP!!! – cut €12 million out of the €35 million from the budget for mental

To join SWAN Ireland or to speak to us about setting up a local SWAN group in your college,

workplace or area, email us on: socialworkactionnetworkireland@gmail.com

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