Great post Abdullah and thank you for prompting and continuing with this stream. You have gone about it in a very consistent and thoughtful way. I liked Wendy's reflection on how Craig's comment piqued her and made her respond with less reflection than normal - but made her respond nevertheless. Danny's subsequent contribution on ethics WAS A BEAUTY.

Like you I found Wendy's most recent post very thought-provoking (and not a little humbling) and it made me reflect on my own actions in my workplace.

Very little of this stuff is easy and we have probably all found ourselves doing things that we thought were in line with our values but then ended up in another uncomfortable place doing something else that makes us feel uncomfortable. See below for a couple of current examples from me:

I have recently, in an attempt to do my bit to defend the NHS (and some may wonder why this is important) been elected a staff governor in our trust. Is this me colluding with the increased marketisation of health in the UK?

I have been involved in early intervention with children and families for some time and am currently delivering parenting programmes. Am I contributing to the decontexualisation of the family from their material circumstances?

To return to your thoughts about the list, the way that you have used community and critical here is interesting. I suspect that some people wont respond on this forum because (as has been well documented) it doesn't always feel safe to do so. Whenever we post, we open ourselves up to criticism and that is certainly a large part of what we are looking for. We are also, however, looking for some solidarity too. If we experience the solidarity we usually find it easier to hear the critique.

Cheers

Carl





-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Community Psychology Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Abdullah Mia
Sent: 25 June 2013 19:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] Being uncomfortable in uncomfortable places

Thanks for the responses all, and apologies for the hefty response, I'm not quite so good at being succinct.

Thanks Wendy for sharing some of the attempts you made to ensure you continued to work in ways that were true to your values, ones that I imagine are shared here.  I think you are spot on by saying that it is uncomfortable to think about and to talk about too. Other than those that are visible here, I received two other messages, both with similar themes; that it is a situation they also find themselves in and challenged by, but also that they didn’t feel comfortable to post online for a different reasons.


My hope is/was to develop allies online, as trying to find and crucially connect with allies in the space I work would be challenging for a number of reasons. I think that its important to stress as well, knowing there are people that share your values is helpful, being unable to connect with them makes it somewhat less helpful! This is what I value about this space online, that whilst I am not closely connected physically with allies, this provides a forum in which one hopefully can develop connections and meaningful discussions about working closer to ones values. 

I have considered posts where I would work within a system which is more aligned to my values but I admit I like my income and am not keen to give that up!  In addition, there is a large part of me that likes the fight....even though it can be tiring.  This is obviously the subversive part of me!  In this way, I am aware of how I can create, maintain and empower the very disempowering practices that I don’t like.  Which obviously goes on to contribute to the challenges I feel.

I understand Craig’s point about the middle class having time to worry about ethics, I think we on the list spend time talking and thinking about ethics, the point that it is within the middle class only isn’t something connects with me.  Furthermore, I’m not entirely sure at what point I entered into middle class-dom; whether it was when I began to question ethics or when I qualified or at birth!  I think Danny puts this better than me though!

I wanted to touch on your point about trying to reconstruct ways in which the list can step away from collegial aims.  I am aware that it sounds like I’m disgruntled because I feel that my concerns are not heard, this is not the case.  There have been some great examples of collective action and thought provoking discussion on the forum, and I value that we don’t all share the same views, that would be boring.  Often though, I am reminded of this  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

I’m really interested in how many people are active subscribers to this list, and how we can continue to create a space that is inviting of critically evaluative voices and also voices that can enhance the community feel of the list.  I’d like the community psych list to have a greater community feel whilst retaining its critical perspective.

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