Social Work And Disadvantage: Addressing the Roots And Stigma Through Association

178 Pages·2006·1.04 MB·English

by  Peter Burke

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Social Work and Disadvantage
Addressing the Roots of Stigma
Through Association
Edited by Peter Burke and Jonathan Parker
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
First published in 2007
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
116 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JB, UK
and
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Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.jkp.com
Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2007
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Library ofCongress Cataloging in Publication Data
Socialworkanddisadvantage:addressingtherootsofstigmathroughassociation/edited
by Peter Burke and Jonathan Parker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-84310-364-6 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-84310-364-8 (pbk.)
1. Socialworkwithpeoplewithdisabilities.2. Sociologyofdisability.3. Stigma(Social
psychology) I. Burke, Peter, 1948- II. Parker, Jonathan, 1960-
HV1568.S696 2007
361.3'2--dc22
2006019502
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978 1 84310 364 6
ISBN-10: 1 84310 364 8
ISBN eBook pdf: 1 84642 555 7
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Contents
Introduction 7
Peter Burke and Jonathan Parker
1 Disadvantage and Stigma: A Theoretical Framework
for Associated Conditions 11
Peter Burke
2 Looked After Children, their Parents, Disadvantage
and Stigma 27
Catherine Deverell
3 Childhood Disabilities and Disadvantage: Family
Experiences 45
Peter Burke and Benedict Fell
4 A Drug User in the Family: Between Need, Dependency
and Desire 63
Philip Guy
5 HIV/AIDS: Challenging Stigma by Association 79
Liz Walker
6 Ageing against the Grain: Gay Men and Lesbians 97
Elizabeth Price
7 Constructing Dementia and Dementia Care:
Disadvantage and Daily Practices in a Day Care Setting 111
Jonathan Parker
8 Living with Chronic Illness: The Example of
Parkinson’s Disease 130
Margaret Holloway
9 Social Work, Disadvantage by Association and
Anti-Oppressive Practice 146
Jonathan Parker
10 Disadvantage as an Associative Concept; Reflections
and Some Further Considerations 158
Peter Burke
THE CONTRIBUTORS 170
SUBJECT INDEX 171
AUTHOR INDEX 175
Figures
Figure 1.1 The experience ofdisadvantage 17
Figure 1.2 Disability by association 23
Figure 7.1 Plan ofday centre 119
Figure 7.2 Constructing dementia in the day care setting 126
Figure 8.1 Person with Parkinson’s unable to travel alone and carer’s
employment 133
Figure 8.2 Effect ofproviding nursing care on carer’s emotional health 135
Figure 8.3 Effect ofmanaging finances on carer’s emotional well-being 136
Figure 9.1 Thompson’s PCS model ofoppression 153
Figure 10.1 Circle ofinfluence: Stigma, associative disadvantage and practice
relationships 160
Tables
Table 3.1 Perceived disadvantage 54
Table 3.2 Type ofdisadvantage 54
Table 3.3 Siblings caring for disabled brothers or sisters 55
Table 3.4 Type ofcare 56
Table 8.1 Relationship between severity ofsymptoms and social life 137
Introduction
Peter Burke and Jonathan Parker
Thebookexaminesdisadvantageasanassociativeconditioninsocialwork.
ThetopicofdisadvantageoriginallyrelatedtoresearchbyBurkeandMont-
gomery(2003)whichmainlyconcernedthesiblingsof disabledchildren,
and led to the more detailed exposition in Brothers and Sisters of Disabled
Children(Burke,2004)inwhichtheconceptof disabilitybyassociationis
introduced.Thistextbuildsontheconceptof‘disabilitybyassociation’but
broadensitsgrasptoreflectthesenseofdisadvantageexperiencedacrossa
spectrum of client and user groups, and explores the potential for the
positiverequisitionof associationasawayof understandingandworking
with others.
In expanding this, we have drawn on the expertise of professional
colleagues and, although this extends the original concept, it is not an
exhaustive examination, but sufficient to reflect the transferability of the
concepttootherareasofacademicinterest,researchandpractice.Inprovid-
inganexaminationof disadvantage,theareaswecoverincludechildhood
disability as an origination source, but we also explore in some detail the
stigmaofassociationinamuchwider-rangingsetofexperiences.Thetext
includes children in the looked after system, their families, drug users,
HIV/AIDS,issuesofsexualityforolderpeopleandage-relateddisabilities.
Inalltheseareas,thequestionof associatedissuesrelatingtoaninitiating
condition is addressed.
The need for social workers to be highly skilled and knowledgeable
abouttheconsequencesofpracticeisabasicimperativewithintheprofes-
sion.Socialworkeducationhasundergoneamajortransformationtoensure
that qualified social workers understand the complexities of the human
condition,andthisisreflectedbytherequirementssetbytheDepartmentof
Health(2002).ThechangesarefurtherstressedintheAssessmentFrame-
workutilisedinchildcare,thedevelopmentsheraldedbyEveryChildMatters
(Chief Secretary to the Treasurer, 2003), Valuing People (Department of
7
8 / SOCIAL WORK AND DISADVANTAGE
Health,2001)andintheWhitePaperOurHealth,OurCare,OurSay(Depart-
ment of Health, 2006), which together identify the centrality of the
individual experiencing some degree of need within the systems of social
care.Thecomplexityofsocialrelationsfeaturetoo,suchthatanyobjective
assessment of individual need must also consider the impact on others
within the systemic framework in which that individual lives; in concep-
tualising this extension we enter the genre of associative conditions.
Social workers work with people who are vulnerable, who are strug-
gling in some way to participate fully in society. In essence, we focus on
currentpracticeandresearch-informedknowledgetodevelopageneralis-
ablemodelof associativeconditionsthattransferacrossavarietyof social
care settings. The basic model is open to further evaluation; the examina-
tions made do not cover all possible situations, although the relevance to
many indicates some potential for the particular.
Itwouldappearthatthesenseofdisadvantagethatdistinguishesmany
individualsonthereceivingendof socialworkisassociatedwithpercep-
tionsofneed,identifiedbylocation,attitudesandbarrierstochange.These
structural issues and the stigmatisation of disadvantage are examined in
some detail. We will now outline the book’s organisation.
Chapter1,byPeterBurke,providesatheoreticalbackgroundtothesubse-
quentchapters,whichinturnreviewtheresearchevidencethatlinkstothe
experience of those encountering disadvantage through associative inter-
actions.
InChapter2CatherineDeverellexaminestheexperienceofchildrenin
the care system and reveals disadvantage and stigma associated with the
child’s experience and background.
PeterBurkeandBenedictFell,inChapter3,introducefurtherresearch
onthefamilyexaminingissuesforchildrenwithdisabilitiesandtheconse-
quences for siblings. This extends the research by Burke (2004) to show
that siblings experience disability as part of their lives and carry a social
identitythatincorporatesasenseofdisabilityasthoughtheysharedthedis-
ability of their brother or sister.
In Chapter 4 Philip Guy discusses drug use and the impact on the
family.Itissuggestedthatthisfamilydimensionisoftenoverlooked,indeed
undervalued, in considerations of the consequences of living with a drug
user. Families, it seems, are indeed stigmatised by association with a drug
user.