Good morning Janet,
Having power is not bad in itself, it is what you do with it. In your role
as the 'tres d'union' between the haves who are shakers, not nodders, and
those who need help, your role is not just to facilitate. We carers now have
a real expectation that to have credibility and respect, you also have to be
our champions. Not a comfortable role as you may have to bite the hand that
feeds you. On the other hand by example it may penetrate upwards, slay the
humphrey appleby dragons, and bring with it a culture of enablement.
May the force be with you, rgds John
-----Original Message-----
From: Janet Iles <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 21 July, 1999 03:41
Subject: Recent postings
>The power that is bestowed on professionals such as social workers etc.
>by our capitalist society is something which sits uncomfortably with me
>(as I am a Social Worker). I have, so far, tried to work in areas where
>I feel that I can work in a more "enabling" way, such as with parents
>and disabled children, in my current work (which is within a voluntary
>agency) and prior to this when I worked with lone parents and their
>children (not necessarily with disabilities).
>
>In all cases I feel that I have tried to put people in touch with the
>services they require, listen to what they really want and need for
>themselves, and try to help them achieve it.
>
>I am learning all the time, even after 12 years in this profession, and
>would wish that the expertise and knowledge of parents was more valued
>by the so-called professionals, particularly within the medical
>profession, which still seems to be at the top in the hierarchy with
>regard to whose judegements are accepted.
>
>I could have stayed being a volunteer, but chose to train for a
>profession which I, at the time, believed would enable me to be a more
>effective advocate for people. Even now the letters that I write on
>behalf of families are often taken more notice of than those sent by the
>families themselves - that doesn't seem right to me, but in a system in
>which certain people are bestowed with power, whilst others are not, you
>just try to make that system work for those people who cannot access it
>easily.
>
>Embarking on Disability Studies has been a conscious decision to try
>and understand more fully the issues and struggles which many disabled
>people experience in our society. I should like to think that this will
>both increase my knowledge and not make me either arrogant or complacent
>about what I am doing.
>
>Whilst Laurence might believe that many people are attracted to such
>professions because of the power it bestows on them, I for one find it a
>burden (except where I can use it to the good of the people for whom I
>advocate), and have considered long and hard recently whether I can
>continue in Social Work because of the way in which it seems to have
>developed into a tool for gatekeeping the provision of services, in
>order to keep everything within the budget rather than a service which
>users can access and find useful in addressing their needs.
>
>Janet Iles
>BSc.Hons, C.Q.S.W.
>Student, M.A. Disability Studies (Leeds University)
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