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WEEK 1 READING 2 - Small steps towards social justice: (THE DIALECTICAL…
WEEK 1 READING 2 - Small steps towards social justice:
FACTORS INFLUENCING SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTION:
The group's social and economic public policy environment
The administrative support for such goals the group can count on
Social workers can choose to interpret their knowledge base in a way that promotes social justice - a way that advances equality and fairness in society.
CONNECTING INTERNAL GROUP DYNAMICS TO EXTERNAL SOCIAL DYNAMICS:
Individuals gathered together cannot become a group unless group dynamics are acknowledged, set in motion and allowed to flourish.
Small group dynamics essential to their functioning:
Communication processes and interaction patterns
Interpersonal attraction and cohesion
Social integration and influence
Power and control
Culture
COMMUNICATION PROCESSES AND INTERACTION PATTERNS:
They vary a lot - they can be leader centred or member centred
There should be a free exchange between both members and members and workers, which is why participatory and democratic structures are established (to stop one individual controlling interactions).
WORKER'S ROLE IN THIS:
Workers encourage group members to apply what they learn in the group to the way they communicate and interact in their interpersonal relationships (families, schools, workplaces).
Workers can assist by recognising that group members are members of communities and thinking and helping the members think of communication processes and interaction patterns as also playing out in the community (eg. who gets listened to in your community? Who has the power to affect your life?)
SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND INFLUENCE:
Individuals have to feel accepted and have a sense of how they will fit in, before becoming a group.
The development of norms, the sorting out of roles and the ranking of individuals in various status positions consolidate the emergence of a group by lending predictability to the group experience (a necessary condition for individuals to feel comfortable in the group).
UNDERSTANDING MUTUAL AID:
Adding a community dimension to the way group workers conceptualise mutual-aid dynamics can help groups become engines of social change, capable of bringing about more social justice.
SHARING DATA:
In a group there are two types of data that can be shared: personal data and objective data.
Personal Data:
Members share personal data when they tell their individual stories
It is a source of mutual aid as it establishes the common ground and makes members feel less alone.
The stories reveal patterns that show the existence of shared factors in their social context (gender, race, class etc), that leads members to realise that their situations are not a pure reflection of person shortcomings.
Sharing personal data aids members to become helpers - they see, by the response of others in the group, that telling their stories is helpful.
It allows members to become aware that they have a voice, that they have the ability to use that voice and that in a democratic system they have the right to use that voice.
WORKER'S ROLE:
Once stories are told, the worker needs to introduce the idea that the members of the group are not alone in experiencing the kind of situation they have described - it should be done in a way that doesn’t diminish the importance of the members stories, but that gives their stories a resonance beyond the group, letting them know that there are others out there who are like them and have gone through the same/similar situations.
The main intention is to make the community relevant and to help the members of a group very early on begin to feel they are a part of a community.
Support groups can be a social action group. For example, parents of homicide victims who grieve together while also fighting for a more equitable criminal justice system.
THE DIALECTICAL PROCESS:
Ideally, this process becomes a means by which individual members free themselves from the fear of stating their genuine ideas and opinions and expressing their genuine feelings - a fear which may arise out of painful past experiences or out of a sense that they cannot possibly have anything worthwhile to contribute.
WORKER’S ROLE:
Workers know that group members may not have had previous satisfying debating experience
A lot the members may not have needed to join a social work group had they had the opportunity to air their feelings, ideas and opinions freely in their families, schools, among friends or in their workplaces.
When workers help members to assert themselves appropriately in the group, they typically introduce the idea that the member can transfer this learning to their interpersonal conduct outside the group (in their families etc)
When the members feel secure enough in their debating abilities, it is another small step to introduce the idea that members can make their feelings, ideas, and opinions known to those in the community who have the power to affect their well- being: politicians, bureaucrats, professionals
HOW TO INITIATE DIALECTUAL DEBATE:
Start by inviting people to come to a group meeting, as this is a not-too-exposed way of testing one’s debating skills.
You could eventually enable members to participate in town hall meetings, or to make a formal deposition to governmental committees to fight the social injustices of ageism and lack of affordable housing
DISCUSSING TABOOS:
Discussing taboo subjects can bring people closer and get to the heart of their more troubling issues.
Common taboo topics: authority, dependency, sexuality, income, prejudice.
As the taboos are identified and tackled, groups usually reflect on the fact that taboos are based in the larger culture.
THE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT PHENOMENON:
Group members who have taken the considerable risk of discussion taboo areas usually develop strong emotional ties.
By speaking about taboos, sharing personal data and expressing their different ideas, opinions and feelings (through dialect), members see themselves as “all in the same boat”
It reduces isolation and stigma
MUTUAL SUPPORT:
People need support from their environment in order to learn and change.
Kinds of support: protection, acceptance, validation and education
WORKER’S ROLE:
They must make sure there is appropriate use of mutual support amongst group members.
Get members to think about how supportive the extra-group environment is:
Has the group developed effective links with orgs?
Has the group looked into community resources that could help attain goals?
Should the group advocate for more or better organisation/community support?
MUTUAL DEMAND:
Mutual Demand Dynamic -
The expectations that group members develop vis-a-vis each. It rests on a culture for work.
INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM SOLVING:
This dynamic is based on the assumption that individuals are attracted to join groups because they face issues or have problems they want help with solving or at least managing.
When one member is helped to solve or cope with a problem, confidence builds in the other members that they too can resolve or cope with theirs.
It involves learning new ways of looking at and thinking about problems.
The process should allow members to see problems in their proper social context, which can create an incentive in the group to take action in order to bring about social change and tackle issues of social justice.
REHEARSAL:
A mutual-aid group is a place where it is safe to try out and practice new ways of thinking and behaving - this is why a culture of experimentation and risk taking is fostered in the group (along with the cultures of caring and of work).
THE STRENGTHS IN NUMBERS PHENOMENON:
It is a basic human reaction to feel stronger when one is not alone facing a dangerous, difficult or dispiriting situation. Feeling stronger makes it easier to get up to courage to do something about the situation.
As members share data, they feel closer and not as alone and vulnerable.
As members confront each other through a dialectal process, they become more sure of themselves and less timid or hesitant
When members discuss taboo areas they feel more bold
When members realise they are all in the same boat they feel more energetic and less stigmatised and marginalised.
When members support and challenge one another, as they acquire new ways of thinking about and solving problems and as they prove to themselves that they can do things differently when given a chance to rehearse in a group... their self-reassurance grows.
WORKER'S ROLE:
To be conscious of and facilitate the development of mutual-aid dynamics and in doing so, point out that their increasing sense of individual strength comes from being part of a group in which people help each other.
To encourage members to think about strength not only as an individual but as a social characteristic. Members can reflect on what makes for a strong community.
When people realise that they have become stronger because they are active members of a group and participate meaningfully in it, it is a small step for them to realise that they can become even stronger if they are active members of a community and participate meaningfully in it.