Reflection

SOWK912 Diversity in Social Work Practice Workshop 4 (Week 8)

Social Work practice in relationship to interpersonal, cross cultural perspectives SOWK912 – Diversity in Social Work Practice

Cross cultural capabilities SOWK912 – Diversity in Social Work Practice

SOWK912 Workshop 2 (Week 4)3

Overview of Workshop 4 • Warm up exercise – escaping from a disaster zone – 20 mins • Lecture – 30 mins plus in class discussion - 10 mins • BREAK – 10 mins • The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration

– Rania’s Odyssey – 22 mins – Orygen webinar – Trauma Informed Care – 30 mins

• In class debrief re videos – 5 - 10 mins after each video • BREAK – 15 mins In class activity (1 hr 40 mins)

– Group discussion and presentation of case study

SOWK912 Workshop 3 (Week 6)4

You’re living in a disaster zone and need to escape What would you want with you?

• Imagine you’re in a bushfire evacuation center with a group of strangers who don’t speak your language – what 3 things would you want but couldn’t have with you?

• Discuss in pairs – can you come up with a common list of 3 things?

• What impact could this experience have on your mental health and well being?

Lecture – Workshop 4 Social work practice in relationship to interpersonal & cross-cultural perspectives

• Watch the lecture in class • Discuss lecture material…with the person next to you

and then share main points with large group • Note the slides from the lecture are included in this pp

so you can review them (slides 7 – 22).

The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration IMPACT ON MIGRANTS & INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION

Key points for social work practice. Forced migrants have experienced: • a significant degree of force

to leave their home • extreme stress and trauma • long periods of insecurity • and have ended up in an

unknown destination

Forced migration defined: “By forced migration, we mean migration situations where a significant force— political, economic, ecological, or social in nature—is exerted on people to leave their habitual place of residence, in circumstances often of extreme stress, resulting in departure for a comparatively unknown destination and under conditions of travel and entry that frequently offer little if any security to those migrating”. (International Social Work, Cox & Pawar, 2013 pg. 396)

The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration IMPACT ON MIGRANTS & INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION

Figure: Causes and categories of displacement (International Social Work, Cox & Pawar, 2013 pg. 397)

“Basically, it covers people whose movement away from their normal place of residence has not been of their free choice, due to factors beyond their control. People are regularly displaced by war, conflict, invasion, and the like— in other words, they are fleeing imminent danger. Others are displaced by persecution or the fear of such, and such displacement occurs commonly under regimes where the human rights of some sections of the population are regularly abused. Displacement may also be caused by natural occurrences, whether sudden such as an earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, or violent storm, or over a long period of natural change, such as desertification or salinity problems. It simply becomes impossible, either suddenly or gradually, for some people to survive in their previous place of abode, and many are thus compelled to move. Finally, some people are forcibly relocated as a result of development projects, such as major dam constructions, or because of a government-imposed transmigration program” (pg. 396)

The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration IMPACT ON MIGRANTS & INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION

Challenge for Social Work: • “The challenge to the social work profession and others is to

devise programs that will reach out in some or all of the above situations, and to evolve strategies that will prove successful in each of the contexts presented. This is no mean challenge. We are talking about millions of people in total, distributed across a very large number of countries, and existing often in circumstances that make even access difficult, let alone the successful devising and implementation of appropriate programs”.

(International Social Work, Cox & Pawar, 2013 pg. 421)

Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice (Payne, 2015, pg 373)

Anti-oppressive social work practice: • focuses on combating the oppressive effects of discrimination, in

which the powerful groups in society maintain power by creating negative stereotypes.

• seeks particularly to combat the exclusion of some social groups from social equality , from full participation as citizens and from social justice.

• may be distinguished from anti-discriminatory practice because it concentrates on processes of oppression and exclusion rather than on discrimination itself, but the terms can also be interchangeable.

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Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice - ideas (Payne, 2015, pg 374)

• Discrimination and oppression are important aspects of people’s experience in society

• Ethnicity and cultural experience constructs identity

• Cultural sensitivity and humility are core aspect of anti-oppressive practice

• For social workers from privileged backgrounds, working from the perspective of oppressed people is a guiding principle in practice

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Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice: Theories and Techniques (Payne, 2015, pg 394)

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Applying theory in practice settings 5 challenging contexts for anti-oppressive / critical social work practice: Discussed in lecture: • Mental health services • Child protection agency • Centrelink • Prisons • The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration

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Beyond dominant approach in Mental Health Noel RENOUF (CHAPTER 8 – PEASE ET AL)

• “Good critical social work practice has proved to be very challenging in the mental health field. Much of the challenge relates to the pervasiveness of medical discourses that frame the way that mental distress is assessed and the treatment response. Mental health services rely substantially on coercive power, especially around involuntary treatment…….

• Work of this kind requires an awareness of power relationships, and challenging assumptions and beliefs that are taken for granted and dominate the mental health field.”

(Refouf in Pease et al: p124 -5)

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Beyond dominant approach in Mental Health Noel RENOUF (CHAPTER 8 – PEASE ET AL)

• “Social work practice that is fundamentally committed to a partnership with consumers and their families goes beyond the dominant mental health discourse of psychiatry.

• Social workers need to learn about, value and engage with the ‘lived experience’ of the people they work with and their families.

• Alternative discourses in mental health: – Human rights – Consumer movement – Carer movement – Social perspectives – Recovery

(Refouf in Pease et al: p126)

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Beyond dominant approach in Mental Health Noel RENOUF (CHAPTER 8 – PEASE ET AL)

“The really important thing is an attitude of respectful curiosity about the experiences of the other person, not just what has been happening to them, but also their personal responses and emotions, or what is happening within. Often, depending on how much consumers choose to share this information, the social worker needs to be able to hear about and to bear intense inner pain and torment. Really respectful relationships of this kind have therapeutic potential if the social worker has the capacity to pay close empathic attention and engage with these feelings in a sustained manner over time. It is not just a matter of doing things with the person; it is about being with them” (pg. 128)

Critical social work in child protection practice Robyn MILLER (CHAPTER 9 – PEASE ET AL)

• “Social workers in child protection and family services work can have a potent effect when promoting the human rights of family members. Power is implicit and explicit in the statutory child protection role and the ethical, wise use of that authority has initiated a rights-based practice approach and whole-of- system reform in Victoria over the past decade.

• The ‘doing’ of critical social work in a statutory context is essential when considering the structural disadvantage and complexity of child abuse and neglect”.

(Miller in Pease et al:p137)

Critical social work in child protection practice Robyn MILLER (CHAPTER 9 – PEASE ET AL)

• Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Victoria) • Articulated a set of Best Interest Principles for Children’s court, child

protection and family services • “For the first time, the legislation focussed on the development of

children and cumulative harm, and the rights of Aboriginal families were specified. The willingness of government and non-government sector leaders to engage with the legacy of colonisation and the ongoing over-representation of Aboriginal children, both in child protection and youth justice services as a rights issue was significant.”

(Miller in Pease et al p141)

Critical social work in child protection practice Robyn MILLER (CHAPTER 9 – PEASE ET AL)

“ Best Interest Case Practice Model (BICPM) The essence of the BICPM is simple: the child and family are at the centre and the process of what we do as practitioners, and how we do it effectively, is symbolised in a circular and dynamic way. Practice is not a linear process where we tick boxes on computers. The BICPM acknowledges the structural inequalities inherent in the work with vulnerable families and of the interpersonal skills required to be effective.” (pg. 141)

Centrelink: an oxymoron or opportunity? Peter HUMPHRIES(CHAPTER 10 – PEASE ET AL)

“Most of those who have contact with Centrelink do so because they have to, as they need income support payments, rather than because they want to, but this contact does allow for other support to be offered. As an example, a sixteen-year-old person who is unable to live at home will come to Centrelink to obtain income support, but also brings a range of other possible issues and concerns. It is the extent of this contact with the Australian community that creates possibilities for critical social work practice in Centrelink, acknowledging that there is a strong view that these possibilities have been greatly reduced over the past few years” (pg. 151)

Practice in prison settings Sophie GOLDINGAY (CHAPTER 11 – PEASE ET AL)

“Some of the strategies which proved successful in shifting oppressive power relations and improving the quality of life for prisoners and their families could be theorised as being consistent with a critical post-structural approach due to a focus on changing oppressive dominant discourses, working to moving beyond polarized identity positionings (eg: compliant / manipulative) and creating possibilities for new identities for prisoners, custodial staff and me.”

(Goldingay in Pease et al p164)

Practice in prison settings Sophie GOLDINGAY (CHAPTER 11 – PEASE ET AL)

“Nevertheless, the goals of social work practice to reduce suffering and improve quality of life through emancipatory social change can be achieved in an institutional setting through analysing power relations and questioning dominant assumptions, especially our own assumptions as workers. In particular, carefully observing the localised practices of power, including discursive practices, enables social workers to develop a plan that can improve the overall culture of an institution over time. Such a plan may involve identifying where staff are polarised, what discourses are leading to oppressive uses of power, and where marginalised or silenced discourses may have the potential for being foregrounded in new ways” (pg. 173)

Lets take a 5 min break…..

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Trauma informed practice

Challenging contexts for social work practice:

The Field of Displacement & Forced Migration – Rania’s Odyssey – Orygen webinar – Trauma Informed Care

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Rania’s Odyssey https://youtu.be/EDHwt-ooAi4

Trauma informed care – Working with refugees and asylum seekers ORYGEN WEBINAR

• https://www.orygen.org.au/ Education- Training/Resources- Training/Webinars/refugees -asylum-seekers

Applying theory in challenging practice settings

• Class Debrief about videos……… – Take 5 minutes to share your reactions to these videos

with the person next to you – What do you think would be the main challenge in

working with asylum seekers and in other areas of trauma informed social work practice?

– Feedback / Discussion in large group

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Lets take a 10 min break…..

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Presentation activity DEVELOP POWERPOINT BASED ON A CASE STUDY

• Students will be divided into 4 groups • Note: 40 minutes prep time in small

groups • Undertake the prescribed case study

alongside the reflection questions • Create a PowerPoint presentation (10

mins - with visuals) based on: – your answers to questions AND – possible practical outcomes /

considerations from visual diagram / web link

• Each group will then present to class

1) Interpersonal relationship violence IDEAS AND BELIEFS ALONGSIDE POWER RELATIONS

Social Work Contexts & Practice – Connolly & Harm (2018) Working with Domestic & Family Violence (Chapter 9) pg. 132

2) Strengths-based interventions THERAPEUTIC INTENTIONS

Social Work Contexts & Practice – Connolly & Harm (2018) Working with Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Chapter 10) pg. 146

https://slideplayer.com/slide/4468450/

3) Change & empowerment WORKING WITH PEOPLE AFFECTED BY POLICY CHANGES

Social Work Contexts & Practice – Connolly & Harm (2018) Social Work and Disability (Chapter 12) pg. 172

4) Alleviating stress and strain PUTTING CONTEXT IN PRACTICE

Social Work Contexts & Practice – Connolly & Harm (2018) Working with Older People (Chapter 13) pg. 187

Reflection…on SOWK Workshops so far.. What has changed in your understanding of diversity and human rights (anti-oppressive) based approaches to social work practice?

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