Hi All
I have just had a look at Andrew’s
presentation and did find it very interesting. (I would be interested to hear
what the audience’s reaction was too.)
Andrew has drawn attention to some of the
social forces impacting on lone female parents (who are frequently affected by
poverty) at the beginning of the presentation, which is something that we don’t
do enough.
The presentation goes on to show how a
narrative approach can be helpful to an individual parent and her children. It
also shows how the approach can take us into areas that may not always be
comfortable for workers like us.
The presentation then raises a dilemma for
me. Working with individual families, we are inevitably drawn into their specific
life story. Social deprivation is often a backdrop to this story but is rarely
centre-stage for the family. The family is often engaged with some of the more
immediate impacts of the stresses induced by these living circumstances, such
as drug-use and domestic violence.
There is an issue for me about how much we
replicate the stigmatisation of families in these situations by working with
them individually. How do we do this work in an ethical manner, so that working
with individual families does not further establish the social story of their
inherently flawed nature?
Are we saying that they need therapy?
Carl
From:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andrew Duggan
Sent: 24 June 2007 21:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Narrative Conference
Norway-1.ppt
Hi All.
I have just returned from
Warm regards
Andrew Duggan
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