Social Work as a political activity

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Social Work as a political activity

• June Sadd and Mark Baldwin
• (founder members of the South West region Social
  Work Activists Network)
• JSWEC - SWRA conference 2009
• University of Hertford

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Aims of the presentation

• To give you a flavour of what we have been
  presenting to teams of social workers and groups
  of students
• Social work as a political activity
• Asking is it true for you?
• Presenting a range of alternative activities that
  would inform a more positive political social
  work
• To give you an idea of the response from
  participants
• Workshops and meetings with a range of
  participants

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International Federation of Social Workers
values for social work

• Since its beginnings over a century ago, social
  work practice has focused on meeting human needs
  and developing human potential. Human rights and
  social justice serve as the motivation and
  justification for social work action. In
  solidarity with those who are disadvantaged, the
  profession strives to alleviate poverty and to
  liberate vulnerable and oppressed people in order
  to promote social inclusion.

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Social work as political activity

• Politics as the manipulation of power to control
  access to resources
• Social work can be seen as an aspect of state
  power in this sense
• Social workers are the gate-keepers to scarce
  welfare resources - resource management or
  advocacy?
• Increasingly assessment is of eligibility not
  needs?
• What about social work as social inclusion and
  social justice advocacy for marginalised people
  working in alliance with service users?

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and the injustice to be faced

• Target culture and perverse incentives e.g.
  rough sleeper initiative
• ASBOs and the criminalising of young people
• Poverty and health inequalities a boy living in
  the deprived Glasgow suburb of Calton will live
  on average 28 years less than a boy born in
  nearby affluent Lenzie (WHO August 08).
• 3 million below the official poverty line (54 in
  working households) (Toynbee and Walker 2008)
• Social work, personalisation and individual
  budgets empowerment or consumers in a market of
  care fragmentation of services?
• Section 55 2002 Asylum legislation
• Creating people outside of the welfare state
  safety net
• Children into protective care because the system
  has made them vulnerable removed the ability of
  parents to care for their children
• No right to community care assessment
• These are the people social workers work with

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Social Worker choice

• In the face of continued inequality and social
  injustice
• Accept the status quo (SW as resource manager)
• Work to alleviate problems caused by poverty and
  discrimination through current organisations. (SW
  as helper)
• Resist the status quo both in outcome and
  organisation (SW as changing the world)
• (3 part model for understanding social work
  practice (Payne 2002))

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Is it true for you?

• A rhetorical approach but is there an element
  of truth in your experience?
• Do you have examples of clashes between expected
  practice and your values?
• What opportunities are there for discussing
  these ethical dilemmas?

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Response from students and social workers

• General agreement that the IFSW definition of
  social work is what they came into social work
  for.
• Confirmation that the negative expectations from
  social work organisations is accurate in their
  experience.
• Addition of a number of new stories and anecdotes
  to illustrate the perverse effects of
  managerialist approaches. E.g. quick win
  assessments.
• In the hospital teams some countering of the
  negative with illustrations of positive practice
  developed.
• Students concerned about the mismatch between
  teaching and their experience on placement
  looking for advice on approaches to resistance

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Opportunities for resistance/modelling a more
engaged practice

• User involvement an alliance of equals
• Empowerment and dignity
• Legislation
• Codes of Practice
• Restatement of values
• Critical reflective practice
• Anti-oppressive practices
• Collective action

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Empowerment

• Remember
• People gain their own empowerment
• No one can give power to another person
• BUT
• You can STOP yourself and others taking that
• persons power away
• You can work in an empowering way to help people
• regain their own power

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Dignity

• We learn, when we respect the dignity of the
  people, that they cannot be denied the elementary
  right to participate fully in the solutions to
  their own problems.
• Self-respect arises only out of people who play
  an active role in solving their own crises and
  who are not helpless, passive puppet-like
  recipients of private or public services.
• To give people help, while denying them a
  significant part of the action, contributes
  nothing to the development of the individual. In
  the deepest sense, it is not giving but taking
  their dignity.
• Denial of opportunity for participation is the
  denial of human dignity and democracy. It will
  not work.
• Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky, 1971,
  Vintage Books, a division of Random House/New
  York, 1973

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Opportunities for resistance

• What were participants interested in/think was
  possible?
• Some discussion about service user involvement
• Equality legislation is poorly utilised
• Codes of practice are not used
• Restatement of values was a helpful exercise for
  social workers and students
• Critical reflection - good in theory but where is
  the time?
• Reminders of theoretical base to AOP seen as
  helpful
• Collective action e.g. SWAN seen as helpful
  an opportunity not to have to struggle alone.

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Conclusions

• There is a mismatch between social workers and
  student motivation and expectations from
  employers and government
• They feel pressurised and isolated by this
  situation
• They welcome the opportunities for discussion
  collectively to name and share the problems
• They seek opportunities for resistance - would
  like to work collaboratively within their
  organisations and with others (e.g. service user
  organisations)
• SWAN as a radical campaigning organisation is
  seen as a helpful organisation to be a part of
• . if they had the time.

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Opportunities for further discussion

• SWAN website www.socialworkfuture.org
• Regional SWAN groups e.g. in Scotland, Wales,
  London, South West, East Anglia and others
• Unison meetings glad to attend and facilitate
  discussion
• University seminars for students for partners
  and academics?
• SWAN 4th Annual Conference at the University of
  Bath on 10th and 11th September Social work in
  a time of crisis.