what is a dominant discourse in social work

In discussions of immigration reform, the most frequently spoken word was illegal, followed by immigrants, country, border, illegals, and citizens.. Dr. Nicki Lisa Cole is a sociologist. From this position, responsibility for the problems were located in the mother, who, in attachment terms, did not properly manage the separation and reunification issues. . Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. "Introduction to Discourse in Sociology." Disrupting the Dominant Discourse: Rethinking. If we define ideologysimply as ones worldview, which reflects ones socioeconomic position in society, then it follows that ideology influences the formation of institutions and the kinds of discourses that institutions create and distribute. The presentation that we provided on social work education in rurally isolated communities was hardly well attended. Neatly avoiding how workers are constructed, we ascribe burnout to hearing painful stories of others, to stress, doing more with less, dysfunctional organizations and other explanations that implicate individuals. In class, we worked to identify the existence of two, opposing discourses: one was the prevention and risk education approach of the school and the other was Ronnis libratory approach to girls and sexuality. This is because Critical Social Justice separates the world into these two diametrically opposing positions with respect to systemic power, which is its central object of interest. These were oppositional discourses. Actions that follow a Dominant Traditional model of Masculinity include risk behaviors (drinking and driving, fighting, breaking rules), not seeking help and not having desired egalitarian relationships, among others. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Corporation. After all, says Stephen Brookfield, Experience can teach us habits of bigotry, stereotyping and disregard for significant but inconvenient information. Ronni believed that such discourses silenced and disciplined not only young women such as Tara, but all young womens diverse and fluid experiences of sexuality. In social work, critical practice is crucial because social work is a nexus where social contradictions are manifest. Brookfield, S. (1996). Critical reflectivity in education and practice. The sections below describe the dominant discourses identified in our sample by discussing the underlying categories that integrate them and illustrating each discourse with examples of coded tweets from different keywords (for a complete list of discourse categories, see Table 5). Thus, Maxine is positioned to assess and discipline Ms. M. She cannot find room for the very insider knowledge she is supposed to have. This vantage point opens opportunities for practice that work towards Ronnis social justice goals. Maxine was devastated at her inability to put the relationship between mother and daughter to rights. They generally represented moments of feeling as though they did not live up to the ideals and values they learned in schools of social work, and they felt a keen sense of disappointment and anger at their helplessness in complicated social, cultural and organizational conjunctures. I will describe two examples of discourse-based case studies, and show how the conceptual space that is opened by such reflection can help social workers gain a necessary distance from the complexity of their ambivalently constructed place. This toolkit is meant for anyone who feels there is a lack of productive discourse around issues of diversity and the role of identity in social relationships, both on a micro (individual) and macro (communal) level. When we look outside the boundaries of discourses, we may discover practice questions which help us reflect on power and possibility. Such interventions are aimed at delaying sexual activity until appropriate ages and also educating around the risks of sexuality. Despite the impacts of contemporary discourses, social work across the . An ideology is defined as a system of beliefs and values that not only seek to describe the world but also to transform it. Ronnis analysis moved beyond opposition through a new discourse of health-oriented openness to girls sexuality in which protection is configured as part of healthy sexuality. Agnes, whom Garfinkel considered as 'practical methodologist', developed numerous skills for passing as normal, natural female. Yet, as Linda Weinberg (Weinberg, 2004), in her work on the construction of practice judgments, notes that to locate ethics within the actions of individual practitioners, as if they were free to make decisions irrespective of the broader environment in which they work, is to neglect the significant ways that structures shape those constructions and to erect an impossible standard for those embodies practitioners mired in institutional regimes, working with finite resources and conflicting requirements and expectations (Weinberg, 2004, p.204). Ronni sees such a health-based approach as capable of including protection from disease, harm, or sexual exploitation by its emphasis on openness, dialogue, and choice. We decry racism and declare our allegiance to anti-oppressive practice while working in primarily white agencies. transformed, its participation in the reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated. How do some discourses oppose or resist power? Dominant discourse demonstrates how reality has been socially constructed. Helping people learn what they do: Breaking dependence on experts. There may be ethical dilemmas that need to be resolved via ethics codes and decision-making schema, but practitioners will follow the prescriptions of liberalism by making correct decisions, craftily implementing theory through the right interventions, and now, even overturning racism, classism and sexism in the process. London: Routledge. Discourses delineate what can be said within a given set of ideas so that critical practice is exercised when we try to look at what is excluded by a particular discourse in order to alternative viewpoints. Ronni came to see that this discursive position cancelled out the possibility of calling on school personnel as resources for Tara - resources that had the potential to protect her as a young girl with particular vulnerabilities. Indeed, Carol- Ann OBrian (O'Brien, 1999) documents the history of prevention of sexuality as the dominate focus of social work literature related to youth sexuality. In Critical Social Justice, dominance is the yang to oppression's yin. What exactly does discourse "construct"? When "criminals" are "looting," shooting them on site is framed as justified. A dominant discourse of race often positions whiteness as . Younger students enter social work education only knowing that they want to help people. Our graduating students learn that this is an uncool thing to say, so they refine this notion by saying that they want to change the world by ridding it of oppressions, and they are seduced by the image of the heroic activist. Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. (2020, August 28). London: Sage. Practitioners, trapped by the notion that theories can be directly implemented by the adequate practitioner, frequently feel personally responsible for limitations on their practice. Further to this a task centred approach will be explained and how it could be used when approaching this case study. It thus shapes what we are able to think and know any point in time. (French social theorist Michel Foucaultwrote prolifically about institutions, power, and discourse. When we fail, we describe the result as burnout. Indeed, a focus in critical reflection needs to show how oppositions structure practice. Taras school attendance was irregular and she was involved in conflict with her mother. The concepts of discourse, power and governmentality have become important in understanding social processes. I would like to turn to two case studies which illustrate how discourse analysis was used by students. In doing so, we increase our choices or at least, our awareness regarding how we participate in the creation of culture. (1992). As such, discourse is imbued with attitudes and . In other words we challenged the god trick of an all-encompassing, unlocated perspective, in Donna Haraways terms (Haraway, 1988, p. 581). For example: A dominant discourse of gender often positions women as gentle and men as active heroes. Also, she was well-informed about the ways that prevention and risk education inherently set up a trajectory of sex as normatively heterosexual, age appropriate sexual experience. In particular, dominant structures are subject to question because of the ways in which meanings are constructed on oppositional lines (p. 203). This is noted as an area for development. Finally the strengths perspective will be . He notes that discourse is distinctly material in effect, producing what he calls 'practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak'. Abstract. We draw on theories within social gerontology whilst also . Spivak, G. (1990). Such an analysis might allow us to ask the kind of questions that are the heart of social work ethics: How, for example, could we think differently about child welfare practices with black families if our work were guided first and foremost by a desire to find forms of practice that take into account centuries of trauma from racial injustice? Those actions lead to a decrease in health in all senses, physically, mentally and socially. Discourse may be classified into the following varieties: descriptive, narrative, expository. Social workers are the bodies in the middle of this site and must act within the force field of contradictions. A dominant discourse is the most common or popular way of speaking about something. Mainstream media typically adopt the dominant state-sanctioned discourse and showcases it by giving airtime and print space to authority figures from those institutions. The case studies were stories of clients whom they remembered with a sense of failure or apology or shame. The summer of 2020 was a season of racial reckoning for journalism in the United States. It is a story that cannot be told within the reigning discourse of attachment. Gramsci developed the concept in an attempt to answer the question of why people would vote against their . Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. This paper concerns the relation between critical reflective practice and social workers lived experience of the complicated and contradictory world of practice. This discursive position effectively disallowed a subject position of another sort: solidarity with her client. These students either had significant work experience, or experience in a previous practicum to draw from. A conventional course on advanced practice should explicate practice theories, perhaps compare and critically analyze them and then devise methods for their application in practice. The hold of possessive individualism in the helping professions means that the target of practice is the individual, community, or family in the present . In other words, from a poststructural point of view, discourses are the sets of language practices that shape our thoughts, actions and even our identities," as quoted from Karen Healy, 2014, p. 3. Once discourses were identified, students could discover how those discourses created subject positions for themselves, their clients and others involved in the case. Thus, I have found myself on the terrain of a kind of critical ethics that views practice theories as stories about the cultural ideals of practice, and that treats practitioners experiences as stories that can teach us about the conduct of practice in relation to such ideals. Maxine pointed out, for example, that Caribbean women were previously allowed to immigrate to Canada to take up positions as domestic servants but were expressly forbidden to bring their children. . It was clear to me that the emotions described in these cases could only be exacerbated by introducing newer and improved practice theories, as if the proper application of such theories could have achieved different outcomes, thus alleviating individual failure. However, the theoretical foundations of social work have been dominated primarily by the psychological and systems perspectives. The second case study (Gorman, 2004) takes place during a practicum in a school setting. 'Oh' prepares the hearer for a surprising or just-remembered item, and 'but' indicates that sentence to follow is in opposition to the one before. Discourse refers to how we think and communicate about people, things, the social organization of society, and the relationships among and between all three. Understanding these Discourses allows you to develop the power and status you need to be successful, as well as making the bond stronger between you and that secondary Discourse. Rossiter, A. second revised edition ed.). Dominant is any Discourse that will help you in life, or acquire more "goods" (money, status, etc. Although ageism is prevalent in many forms, one significant manifestation is in and through common discourse. Major theorists such as Michel Foucault and Stuart Hall . Fook, J. This is because that insider knowledge is knowledge of historical trauma, injustice, racism and white privilege, and it is certainly outside the boundaries of attachment discourses. Case study: Lady Caribbean. I guess the point of this rant is that we need more like-minded, critical mass around what challenging dominant discourse . Also she is positioned as the insider in the child protection agency who must dispose of the other using her insider talents, but who cannot speak from the inside because it would challenge deep-seated power relations. (1999). Ronni aligned herself politically with resistance to heterosexism and patriarchy. Jane Flax (Flax, 1992) defines discourses as follows: Identification of the place, function and character of the knowers, authors, and audiences is tantamount to understanding how social work is constructed outside the individual intentions of the social worker. Assessing the impact and implications for social workers of an innovative children's services programme aimed to support workforce reform and integrated working. as "deviant," in opposition to a dominant desire for adaptation. Critical discourse analysis (or discourse analysis) is a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to its social context. . 16, Issue. They also positioned Ronni in relations of opposition to school personnel. Such critical analysis allows us to contemplate a major question at the heart of her practice: How can historical consciousness, left out of psychological discourses, contribute to forming relations of solidarity with our clients, thus enabling practice better aligned with justice? We know all too well the struggles of the child protection workers, welfare workers, and hospital workers who find it difficult to face the fate of their ideals within the construction of their practice. I understand these vantage points in the two case studies I have described in the four ways: 1) an historical consciousness, 2) access to understanding what is left out of discourses in use, 3) understanding of how actors are positioned in discourse, all leading to: 4) a new perspective which exposes the gap between the construction of practice possibilities and social justice values, thus allowing for field of limited and constrained choices which may either narrow the gap, or make clear the impossibility of options and choice in the particular case. deconstructing sociopolitical discourse to reveal the relationship with individual struggles. The dominant discourses in our society powerfully influence what gets "storied" and how it gets storied. In other words, they take different ontological stances.Extreme constructivists argue that all human knowledge and experience is socially constructed, and that there is no reality beyond discourse (Potter 1997).Critical realists, on the other hand, argue that there is a physical . as social subjects (e.g. Healy, K. (2000). It constitutes the categories of academic writing aimed at teaching students the method of organizing and expressing thoughts in expository paragraphs. Here, I want to gather strands of the previous discussion. ThoughtCo. While not eschewing the need to take positions in other words, without advocating relativism students could look at ways of thinking, at alternative perspectives that were outside the terms of the oppositions. Ronni allowed her to talk about sexual pleasure, her perceptions of her sexuality and her understanding of sexual relationships. Perhaps you are a teacher, youth group facilitator, student affairs personnel or manage a team that works with an . These discourses are effects of power, usually when an opposing discourse is mobilized to resist another. Crucially, it is underpinned by a critical . Flax, J. We frequently found that dependencies within competing discourses were obscured by oppositions. These behaviors and patterns of speech and writing reflect the ideologies of those who have the most power in the society. but by the demands of the dominant group within the . Discourse, as a social construct, is created and perpetuated . When we asked the critical question about what is left out of the story of attachment, it became clear that such a story is applied to individuals without regard to history and context. Following her immigration, she lived only for a short time with her mother, from whom she had been separated for most of her childhood. Pregnant with possibility: Reducing ethical trespasses in social work practice with young single mothers. The community discourse is consistent with the social work value base in emphasising social justice, community empowerment and the rights of marginalised groups (Ife, 2008). In taking up that alignment, she positioned herself as Taras protector her shield against school personnel with their regressive focus on prevention of acknowledgment of sexuality. 2) Such recognition allows us to examine practice for the ways that history reproduces itself in our daily actions and reactions. But how do we scrutinize knowledge claims? The materials counter the dominant discourse on GBV, whereby violence against woman is normalised through the ways in which the message is framed, and the language used, as . This desire is subjected to the strange twists and turns of which take place inside the institutions of practice. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/discourse-definition-3026070. . In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in the streets of Minneapolis 1 and the ensuing protests against police brutality, systemic racism and racial injustice, journalists of color were speaking out against institutional racism in their own industry (Farhi and Ellison, 2020). ), Transforming social work practice: Postmodern critical perspectives. The social reality that creates cultural binaries and unfairness. In J. Butler & J. Scott (Eds. The case involved a single mother originally from the Caribbean. When multiple discourses are uncovered, then we can treat our own perspective as limited, particular, local and contingent as opposed to the adoption of expert professional view as the privileged view. Another example of a dominant discourse is the discourse around climate change. Conclusion. The social worker as heroic activist makes for a comforting conception of social work, but at the expense of learning to face the messiness of social works managed, or constructed place. As such, discourse, power, and knowledge are intimately connected, and work together to create hierarchies. as doctors or patients), and it is these social effects of discourse that are focused on in discourse analysis. In identifying this, Ronni restructures her practice in light of what has previously been left out. These reactions may have political worth, but they have the effect of occluding the inevitable messiness of our constructed place, thus leaving the field open for individual self-doubt and apology. These wordsreflect and reproduce very particular values, ideas, and beliefs about immigrants and U.S. citizensideas about rights, resources, and belonging. The post-colonial critic: Interviews, strategies, dialogues . Underpinned by theories of social work . Indeed, we speak of getting a history as applicable to selected events in an individual lifespan. My students came to class as failed heroes. . In this case, the dominant discourse on immigration that comes out of institutions like law enforcement and the legal system is given legitimacy and superiority by their roots in the state. Narrative therapy is a style of therapy that helps people becomeand embrace beingan expert in their own lives. Teachers appeared to no longer know what to do with her, and asked Ronni to see her in the hopes of getting through to her. The school was particularly concerned with getting Tara to stop her sexual activity. Thus, Maxine as a professional is treated with disdainful suspicion by Ms. M. Maxine herself feels to blame for failure to make a difference with the case. Educators from oneTILT define social identity as having these three characteristics: Exists (or is consistently used) to bestow power, benefits, or disadvantage. New York: Routledge. For example, Tonkiss considered different explanations of juvenile crime constructed within discourses 14) through which certain social phenomena, such as 'need', 'knowledge' and 'intervention', are constructed. Dominant discourse is a way of speaking or behaving on any given topic it is the language and actions that appear most prevalently within a given society. In particular she called for educators to consider alliance with youth based on respect for youths own construction of their realities. Discourse theorists disagree on which parts of our world are real. How did some discursive positions conflict with their own self-knowledge? Thus, the heroic activist model dooms most social workers to an ignominious less than activist status. In turn, such assessments act against the internalization of the contradictions played out in social work practice. With the increasing prevalence of neo-conservative and managerial discourses, it is argued that a dominant focus on individualism diminishes the understanding of how the social context can impact on people's lives (Houston, 2016) and moves away from collectivist values . Her agency had neither an analysis of the sensitivity of her position in relation to immigrant clients, nor the racist assumptions that grounded these case allocations. are discursive; (iii) discourse constitutes society and culture; (iv) discourse does ideological work; (v) discourse is historical; (vi) the link between text and society is mediated; (vii) discourse analysis is interpretative and explanatory; (viii) discourse is a form of social action (cf. We administer welfare policies that cement poverty. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. What is a dominant discourse? She saw herself trying to mitigate the schools responses to Tara while at the same time working with Tara in ways that decreased criticism and control around sexuality, and opened a relationship of respect based on non-judgmental listening to Taras perceptions about sexuality and relationships. It aims to understand how language is used in real life situations. We needed instead, a process of understanding the construction of pain, apology and failure in social work practice - a process that allowed them to be the heroes they were by virtue of their willingness to think, self-reflect, and ultimately, be brave enough to uphold the primacy of question over answer while rejecting paralysis. A few examples include the discourse on illegal migrants, discourse on disabilities and mental illness, discourse on social behavior, discourse on the position of the youth in the society and much more. Discourses which augment the power of elites are called dominant or official discourses by poststructuralists. Discourse is not a neutral entity, but is the social construction of ideas based on culture, values and beliefs which are entrenched in practices such as ordinary narratives. Goodreads. Attachment theories are common explanations of the parent/child conflict in some immigrant families experiences of separation and reunification during patterns of immigration. We dont know how to know social work as a constructed place, and ourselves as constructed subjectivities within that political space (Rossiter, 2000). This distance from the immediate thought of practice is enabled by a focus on discursive boundaries, rather than the technical implementation of practice theories that are part of discursive fields. It focuses specifically on participant . He wrote and lectured on the interactions between discourse analysis and social relationships in social work. In this sense, sociologists frame discourse as a productive force because it shapes our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, values, identities, interactions with others, and our behavior. Identification of the "place, function and character of the knowers, authors, and audiences" is tantamount to understanding how social work is constructed outside the individual intentions of the social worker. In N. Miller (Ed. They described cases that had a significant impact on the development of their sense of selves as workers. She has taught and researched at institutions including the University of California-Santa Barbara, Pomona College, and University of York. Abstract. One of the advantages of identifying discourses-in-use in practice is that we gain access to how we are positioned within discourses. We acknowledge a knowledge-based economy while making tuition unaffordable. This paper is based on the results of an Australian survey of 5007 young women aged 13-25, which examined their experiences of menstruation and dysmenorrhea. This is why it is critical reflection. Class, race, culture, history are excluded as the focus on the dyad is retained as an explanation for family breakdown. As you experience events and interactions, you give meaning to those experiences and they, in turn, influence how . These alternative viewpoints are important because discourses are structured through power relations so that the identification of what is outside prevailing stories may give us a better picture of how power operates. Many times our investigations pointed to opposing discourses - discourses that counteract each other. This paper explores dominant discourses underpinning the social worker visit to children and families and their impact on their purpose, content and focus. Further, they suggest that reflexivity is not simply an augmentation of practice by individual professionals, but a profession-wide responsibility. In the book of abstracts, our abstract was 115 of 119. We looked at how these conflicting discourses positioned Ronni, Tara and school personnel. Further, we interact within the constant presence of historical traumas in which we are all implicated. A Perspective on Critical Social Work. Social work is embedded is in history and is situated in a present which affords no settled practice, no technical fixes, no uncontested views of itself. Social work is placed and places itself outside what are understood as the academic rules for A 13-yr old girl, Tara, was referred to Ronni Gorman for counseling. Mezirow, J. Ronni_Gorman@yahoo.ca. Rossiter, A. The purpose was to analyze how such discourses produced their conceptions of the cases and how they confined their thinking about the case. For some time now, I have been interested in the role of critical reflection in social work practice (Rossiter, 1996, 2001). In contrast, the immigrants rights discourse that emerges out of institutions like education, politics, and from activist groups, offers the subject category, undocumented immigrant, in place of the object illegal, and is often cast as uninformed and irresponsible by the dominant discourse. Teaching this class was a daunting prospect. Geography. Foucault believed that discourse is created by those in power for specific reasons and is often used as a form of social control. Indeed, many . ), Feminists Theorize the Political (pp. Discourse analysis can provide new vantage points from which to reconstruct practice theory in ways that are more consciously oriented to our social justice commitments. Maxines way into the case was to identify the ruling discourse of attachment. In order to provide a frame for critical reflection on their cases, I chose four elements of associated with discourse analysis: 1) Identification of ruling discourses in the case studies; 2) the oppositions and contradictions between discourses; 3) positions for actors created by discourses which in turn shape perspectives and actions; 4) and the constructed nature of experience itself. Work in social psychology has shown that the stereotype of blacks as violent and criminal is alive and well in American society (Eberhardt, Goff, Purdie, & Ms. M had immigrated to Canada when she was an adolescent. The overall question I asked students to raise in relation to their cases was what is left out? Interchanging the terms discourse and story, we talked about how stories both include and exclude, forming boundaries in meaning (Spivak, 1990), and that critical practice is the search for what is left outside the story. I am arguing that social work, because of its focus on marginalized people, is a concentrated site of social, political and cultural ambivalence and contradiction. Critical case study: My experience with Tara .Unpublished manuscript, Toronto. These contradictions are at work inside our subjectivity every day it is not an exaggeration to say that our practice is at the mercy of contradictory forces.

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