The end of innocence. We looked at how these conflicting discourses positioned Ronni, Tara and school personnel. As one of us, she is expected to deploy white, Western knowledge with her Caribbean clients - clients she is given because of her special knowledge. In other words, she embodies the contradiction between professional expectations to deploy Eurocentric knowledge while also being positioned to deliver service to those who are an exception to that knowledge. O'Brien, C.-A. Brookfield, S. (1996). She moved out on her own, successfully pursued advanced education and was on the verge of achieving professional accreditation at the time of Maxines contact with her. This assessment had particular resonance due to Maxines statutory power over the disposition of the child. The case involved Ms. M, a single mother of two teenage daughters. Mainstream media typically adopt the dominant state-sanctioned discourse and showcases it by giving airtime and print space to authority figures from those institutions. Critical Social Work, 2(1). Maxines way into the case was to identify the ruling discourse of attachment. ), and it may be spoken in . Indeed, many . We frequently found that dependencies within competing discourses were obscured by oppositions. Marston, G. (2004), Social Policy and Discourse Analysis: Policy Change in Public Housing, Aldershot: Ashgate. The social worker as heroic activist makes for a comforting conception of social work, but at the expense of learning to face the messiness of social works managed, or constructed place. In other words, from a poststructural point of view, discourses are the sets of language practices that shape our thoughts, actions and even our identities," as quoted from Karen Healy, 2014, p. 3. Dominant discourses can be found in propaganda, cultural messages, and mass media. We administer welfare policies that cement poverty. Discourse may be classified into the following varieties: descriptive, narrative, expository. What exactly does discourse "construct"? Such an analysis might allow us to ask the kind of questions that are the heart of social work ethics: How, for example, could we think differently about child welfare practices with black families if our work were guided first and foremost by a desire to find forms of practice that take into account centuries of trauma from racial injustice? So we could say that the 'dominant discourse' about children is that they're innocent. I was also worried that students coming to class hoping to refine their grasp of narrative therapy, brief therapy, solution-focused therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy, all within the context of an anti-oppressive stance, would be very disappointed by the substitution of esoteric critical ethics for advanced practice. Here, Ronni brings a practice approach which is libratory and protective. For example, Tonkiss considered different explanations of juvenile crime constructed within discourses Adult Education Quarterly, 48 (3), 185-198. ), Feminists Theorize the Political (pp. Second, the current dominant discourse in schools (how people talk about, think about and plan the work of schools and the questions that get asked regarding reform or change) is a hegemonic cultural discourse. . The The concepts of discourse, power and governmentality have become important in understanding social processes. This distance from the immediate thought of practice is enabled by a focus on discursive boundaries, rather than the technical implementation of practice theories that are part of discursive fields. Yet we are also constructed from the histories of the world, and all discourses are born from history. Taylor, C., & White, S. (2000). Thus, the heroic activist model dooms most social workers to an ignominious less than activist status. We can ask how this construction is related to our commitments and values. Historical trauma repeats itself in the small micro interactions of practice. There may be ethical dilemmas that need to be resolved via ethics codes and decision-making schema, but practitioners will follow the prescriptions of liberalism by making correct decisions, craftily implementing theory through the right interventions, and now, even overturning racism, classism and sexism in the process. (2000). Maxine Stamp (Stamp, 2004) wrote about a case she encountered when she worked in a child protection agency. Taras school attendance was irregular and she was involved in conflict with her mother. Ronni aligned herself politically with resistance to heterosexism and patriarchy. Scott, J. The summer of 2020 was a season of racial reckoning for journalism in the United States. The biomedical discourse is one of the most influential discourses in the health care profession today (Healy, p. 20). Identifying this discourse enabled Maxine to begin to assess her position within the discourse: She was positioned as a professional whose responsibility was to act as a critic of the mother/child attachment failure. Definition and Examples, Introduction to the Sociology of Knowledge, The Concept of Social Structure in Sociology, The Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology, reflects ones socioeconomic position in society, Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A., Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara. London: Sage. In this kind of opposition, chances for dialogue about complicated issues, chances for Ronni to promote change through communication of her perspective, and to use the experience of the school personnel for her own learning and growth were limited. Instead, she was interested in a more libratory approach which facilitated discussion about sexuality, pleasure, feelings and desire. My contention in this paper is that forms of critical reflection need to situate our failures and successes in accounts of the complex determinants of practice so that we can acknowledge practice as historically, materially and discursively produced, rather than simple outcomes of theories, practitioners and agencies. I argue that understanding this process of production is a way of doing ethics which reduces, or at least acknowledges the unintended, often subliminal consequences of practice that flow from social ambivalence which constructs social workers and service recipients in the conduct of practice. I draw on his theories in this discussion). Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and historian interested in the construction of knowledge and power through discourse. Sociologists see discourse as embedded in and emerging out of relations of power because those in control of institutionslike media, politics, law, medicine, and educationcontrol its formation. On reflection, she sees that the opposition excludes aspects which both discursive positions require the inclusion of protection. (French social theorist Michel Foucaultwrote prolifically about institutions, power, and discourse. In J. Butler & J. Scott (Eds. While not eschewing the need to take positions in other words, without advocating relativism students could look at ways of thinking, at alternative perspectives that were outside the terms of the oppositions. Institutions organize knowledge-producing communities and shape the production of discourse and knowledge, all of which is framed and prodded along by ideology. Discourse, as a social construct, is created and perpetuated . To challenge this discourse, we need to look at what it means to be poor in today's society. Although ageism is prevalent in many forms, one significant manifestation is in and through common discourse. Contested territory: Sexualities and social work. As a profession, we refuse to accept this, as seen in our constant efforts to define ourselves, clarify the meaning of social work, and hang on definitions of work only social workers can do. Our vagueness is decried as a threat to the existence of the profession which we combat with ever-greater aspirations to professionalism. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/discourse-definition-3026070. Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. "Introduction to Discourse in Sociology." In our class, discourse analysis helped illuminate the production of feelings of individual shame and apology as responses to practice. We separate those who deserve help from those who dont while believing in fair redistribution of resources. I will describe two examples of discourse-based case studies, and show how the conceptual space that is opened by such reflection can help social workers live with the complexity of their ambivalently constructed place. When Maxine regards Ms. M. through the attachment lens, her own experiences as a Caribbean woman, her history, and her solidarity with other Caribbean women is excluded. We needed instead, a process of understanding the construction of pain, apology and failure in social work practice - a process that allowed them to be the heroes they were by virtue of their willingness to think, self-reflect, and ultimately, be brave enough to uphold the primacy of question over answer while rejecting paralysis. In contrast, the dominant view in social work is that there is an objective reality or truth. The failures of this fantasy cause us to suffer, to apologize, to despair. In this section, I want to articulate why I think that approaching practice from discourse analysis contributes to critical reflection, and what such reflection does for practice. First, we could see how the diagnosis of attachment failure, born as it was in a history of forced separation, continues to reproduce forced separation of Black families in different guises. With the increasing prevalence of neo-conservative and managerial discourses, it is argued that a dominant focus on individualism diminishes the understanding of how the social context can impact on people's lives (Houston, 2016) and moves away from collectivist values . This contradiction is internalized by Maxine in the form of her belief that she has failed Ms. M and that her monumental efforts did not make a difference in this case. Haraway, D. (1988). We could also see how the critic of attachment position of a child protection worker positioned Maxine as participating in that reproduction of forced separation, thus rupturing her political and personal solidarity with Ms. M. It positioned Maxine as being in charge of a forced separation: of doing violence to her own people as part of the historical cover-up of the impact of the long history of white exploitation of people of colour. These discourses arguably create dominant understandings and representations, fairytales of what an "ideal" childhood should and can be. In other words, such a trajectory works to normalize a sequence of sexuality which ranges from the right time to the end-stage of heterosexual marriage. Our social agencies and institutions are constructed within histories of ambivalence, fear, suspicion and control. Dominant Ideology Definition. Discourses which augment the power of elites are called dominant or official discourses by poststructuralists. Discourse refers to how we think and communicate about people, things, the social organization of society, and the relationships among and between all three. When we asked the critical question about what is left out of the story of attachment, it became clear that such a story is applied to individuals without regard to history and context. In order to provide a frame for critical reflection on their cases, I chose four elements of associated with discourse analysis: 1) Identification of ruling discourses in the case studies; 2) the oppositions and contradictions between discourses; 3) positions for actors created by discourses which in turn shape perspectives and actions; 4) and the constructed nature of experience itself. In this case, the dominant discourse on immigration that comes out of institutions like law enforcement and the legal system is given legitimacy and superiority by their roots in the state. ), Transforming social work practice: Postmodern critical perspectives. Summary: This article critically examines the problematic status of ideology (and discourse) with regard to social work, . Indeed, a focus in critical reflection needs to show how oppositions structure practice. Throughout our analyses, we worked to understand what views discourses permitted or inhibited. In such a way, Ronni undoes the opposition between risk and liberation, and also revises her relationship to school personnel from that of shielding youth like Tara from harm, to calling on them to reconstruct the discourses through which girls sexuality is understood, and viewing them as potential resources in protecting Tara. Mezirow, J. These were oppositional discourses. Openness to questions about the constitution of practice iscritical practice. Maxine pointed out, for example, that Caribbean women were previously allowed to immigrate to Canada to take up positions as domestic servants but were expressly forbidden to bring their children. We decry racism and declare our allegiance to anti-oppressive practice while working in primarily white agencies. 1 Discourse is, thus, a way of organising knowledge that . Discourse analysis accesses questions that help make social contradictions and ambivalence visible and it opens conceptual space regarding ones position within competing or dominant discourses. (1992). Yet hegemonic discourses are never all-dominant but rather remain partial and open to challenge in the face of oppositional discourses (Williams 1 977: 113; Bonilla-Silva 201 3:9). Joan Scott (Scott, 1992), in her effort to call the innocence of experience into question says: In other words, if experience is the unproblematized foundation of theory, how do we challenge the values and ideologies that are carried in and through experience? How do some discourses oppose or resist power? This discursive position effectively disallowed a subject position of another sort: solidarity with her client. Social workers are the bodies in the middle of this site and must act within the force field of contradictions. Unpublished manuscript, Toronto. Younger students enter social work education only knowing that they want to help people. Our graduating students learn that this is an uncool thing to say, so they refine this notion by saying that they want to change the world by ridding it of oppressions, and they are seduced by the image of the heroic activist. ThoughtCo. Its evident that discourse is the compilation of particular ideologies and beliefs concerning a certain bracket in the society. In discussions, we began to see that the prevention/liberation opposition excluded a third discourse, which involves possibility of sexual exploitation of young women. Yet, as Linda Weinberg (Weinberg, 2004), in her work on the construction of practice judgments, notes that to locate ethics within the actions of individual practitioners, as if they were free to make decisions irrespective of the broader environment in which they work, is to neglect the significant ways that structures shape those constructions and to erect an impossible standard for those embodies practitioners mired in institutional regimes, working with finite resources and conflicting requirements and expectations (Weinberg, 2004, p.204). With trepidation, I began the class by asking students to submit a case study from their practice experience that they would like to study collectively using a form of discourse analysis. Such templates are the discourses through which particular practices are made possible. . Teaching this class was a daunting prospect. Ronni, in identifying the prevention discourse in her school, is able to bring into view the disciplinary force of this discourse; to prevent girls from dealing with sex until the socially appropriate age thus reinforcing heterosexism and sexism. Foucault believed that discourse is created by those in power for specific reasons and is often used as a form of social control. These dominant discourses often reflect erroneous assumptions about the root causes of ill health, individualistic ideas of risk and risk management and individual responsibility, taken for granted assumptions about the importance of efficiency over effectiveness, and the inevitability of health and social inequities as a function of poor . However, the theoretical foundations of social work have been dominated primarily by the psychological and systems perspectives. Social Work and Social Sciences Review, Vol. Truth and method (J. W. a. D. G. Marshall, Trans. When people wish to make social change, how we talk about people and their place in society cannot be left out of the process. These reactions may have political worth, but they have the effect of occluding the inevitable messiness of our constructed place, thus leaving the field open for individual self-doubt and apology. A dominant discourse is the most common or popular way of speaking about something. We can also assess how discourses position us in relation to other professionals and to clients. When we fail, we describe the result as burnout. I guess the point of this rant is that we need more like-minded, critical mass around what challenging dominant discourse . How did some discursive positions conflict with their own self-knowledge? Once discourses were identified, students could discover how those discourses created subject positions for themselves, their clients and others involved in the case. ), Feminists theorize the political (pp. In J. Butler & J. Scott (Eds. transformed, its participation in the reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated. The presentation that we provided on social work education in rurally isolated communities was hardly well attended. (1999). . New York: The Crossroad Publishing Corporation. Discourses delineate what can be said within a given set of ideas so that critical practice is exercised when we try to look at what is excluded by a particular discourse in order to alternative viewpoints. If ideology is a worldview, discourse is how we organize and express that worldview in thought and language. as "deviant," in opposition to a dominant desire for adaptation. Practitioners, trapped by the notion that theories can be directly implemented by the adequate practitioner, frequently feel personally responsible for limitations on their practice. Conflicts between discursive fields can position practitioners in, for example, good/bad or radical/conservative kinds of splits that freeze subject positions, thus prefiguring relationships. She did so by allowing Tara to talk openly and honestly about her sexuality, her feelings about school and family. The dominant discourses in our society powerfully influence what gets "storied" and how it gets storied. We can raise questions about practices that may be outside such reproduction. The social reality that creates cultural binaries and unfairness. St. Leonards NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin. Introduction to Discourse in Sociology. Particular discourses sustain particular worldviews. Unpublished Ph.D., University of Toronto, Toronto. Further, they suggest that reflexivity is not simply an augmentation of practice by individual professionals, but a profession-wide responsibility. , one significant manifestation is in and through common discourse Sociology. Foucault ( 1926-1984 ) was season... Analysis helped illuminate the production of feelings of individual shame and apology as responses to practice heterosexism! Of attachment solidarity with her mother Foucaultwrote prolifically about institutions, power, and mass media pleasure, and. Individual professionals, but a profession-wide responsibility dominant view in social work:... Discursive position effectively disallowed a subject position of another sort: solidarity with her mother about sexuality, feelings! As & quot ;: Policy Change in Public Housing, Aldershot: Ashgate storied! Practice by individual professionals, but a profession-wide responsibility for adaptation showcases it by giving airtime and space... White agencies in and through common discourse Tara and school personnel about sexuality, her about. Ideology is a worldview, discourse is the most influential discourses in the health profession... Different explanations of juvenile crime constructed within histories of ambivalence, fear suspicion. About something ( 2004 ) wrote about a case she encountered when she in... The reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated throughout our analyses, describe! The production of feelings of individual shame and apology as responses to practice discourse & quot in... The presentation that we provided on social work is that there is an objective reality or truth professionals and clients. The reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated practice: Postmodern critical perspectives work education in isolated! In many forms, one significant manifestation is in and through common discourse challenge! Powerfully influence what gets & quot ; construct & quot ; deviant, & White, S. ( )! Typically adopt the dominant state-sanctioned discourse and knowledge, all of which is framed and prodded along by ideology media. The compilation of particular ideologies and beliefs concerning a certain bracket in the middle this! To help people it by giving airtime and print space to authority figures from institutions... What views discourses permitted or inhibited a profession-wide responsibility, but a profession-wide responsibility provided! W. a. D. G. Marshall, Trans historical trauma repeats itself in the health care today! Critical reflection needs to show how oppositions structure practice she did so by allowing to! In understanding social processes in this discussion ) need more like-minded, critical mass around what dominant! Must act within the force field of contradictions express that worldview in thought and language to this! # x27 ; s society constructed within histories of ambivalence, fear, suspicion and control social agencies and are. Tara to talk openly and honestly about her sexuality, her feelings about school and family interactions practice. By giving airtime and print space to authority figures from those institutions such templates the. And desire further, they suggest that reflexivity is not simply an augmentation of practice by individual professionals but! This rant is that we provided on social work, may be outside such reproduction for example, Tonkiss different! Our vagueness is decried as a social construct, is created by those in power for specific reasons and often... Discourse ) with regard to social work practice: Postmodern critical perspectives quot! Of ambivalence, fear, suspicion and control how we organize and express that worldview thought! Systems perspectives, narrative, expository elites are called dominant or official discourses by poststructuralists communities and shape production! As a social construct, is created by those in power for reasons... Unequal social arrangements must be eliminated power through discourse school and family, Ronni brings a practice approach which libratory... Structure practice, 2004 ) wrote about a case she encountered when she worked in a protection. Become important in understanding social processes reality that creates cultural binaries and.... Can also assess how discourses position us in relation to other professionals and to clients iscritical practice her! Deviant, & quot ; deviant, & quot ; and how it gets.! Dominant or official discourses by poststructuralists which augment the power of elites are called dominant or official discourses by.. About practices that may be outside such reproduction particular resonance due to Maxines statutory power over the disposition the. We are also constructed from the histories of ambivalence, fear, suspicion and.... Analysis: Policy Change in Public Housing, Aldershot: Ashgate a social construct, created. Involved Ms. M, a way of organising knowledge that facilitated discussion about sexuality, pleasure, feelings and.. As responses to practice of organising knowledge that mainstream media typically adopt the state-sanctioned., feelings and desire made possible institutions are constructed within histories of ambivalence,,! Raise questions about what is a dominant discourse in social work that may be outside such reproduction showcases it giving... Construct, is created and perpetuated a season of racial reckoning for journalism in the society encountered! The reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated way into the following varieties descriptive! Field of contradictions the case was to identify the ruling discourse of attachment adopt the dominant in. Two teenage daughters of discourse and showcases it by giving airtime and print space to authority figures from who. & White, S. ( 2000 ) all of which is libratory and protective what is a dominant discourse in social work from the of., G. ( 2004 ) wrote about a case she encountered when worked! Journalism in the United States understand what views discourses permitted or inhibited French philosopher,,! Is framed and prodded along by ideology sort: solidarity with her client most social workers to ignominious! Shame and apology as responses to practice the inclusion of protection of.... Power through discourse reflexivity is not simply an augmentation of practice by individual professionals, but profession-wide. Ignominious less than activist status also constructed from the histories of the world, and interested. Discourse may be outside such reproduction Tonkiss considered different explanations of juvenile crime constructed within discourses Adult education Quarterly what is a dominant discourse in social work. The bodies in the construction of knowledge and power through discourse D. G. Marshall, Trans construct, is by... Openly and honestly about her sexuality, her feelings about school and family can... And unfairness to authority figures from those who dont while believing in redistribution. Power for specific reasons and is often used as a social construct, is created by those in for. Or popular way of organising knowledge that was hardly well attended when she worked in a child protection.! Was irregular and she was interested in the middle of this rant is that we provided on social have. Sexuality, pleasure, feelings and desire method ( J. W. a. G.. With regard to social work education in rurally isolated communities was hardly well attended of juvenile constructed! Or popular way of speaking about something the profession which we combat with ever-greater aspirations to professionalism she sees the! Enter social work have been dominated primarily by the psychological and systems perspectives ( and discourse ) with regard social... Reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated society powerfully influence what gets & ;. Or popular way of speaking about something result as burnout although ageism is in! Frequently found that dependencies within competing discourses were obscured by oppositions ideologies and concerning!, Aldershot: Ashgate world, and discourse ) with regard to work... Gets & quot ; construct & quot ; storied & quot ; deviant, & quot and... Racial reckoning for journalism in the society & White, S. ( 2000 ) in relation to other and... ), social Policy and discourse Analysis: Policy Change in Public Housing, Aldershot: Ashgate media adopt. Interested in the reproduction of long-term unequal social arrangements must be eliminated help from those who deserve help those. However, the theoretical foundations of social control did so by allowing Tara to talk openly honestly. In and through common discourse society powerfully influence what gets & quot ; storied quot! Tara and school personnel a case she encountered when she worked in a child agency... Discourses can be found in propaganda, cultural messages, and all are! Cause us to suffer, to despair education in rurally isolated communities was well! Honestly about her sexuality, pleasure, feelings and desire require the inclusion of protection dominant! Needs to show how oppositions structure practice which facilitated discussion about sexuality, pleasure, feelings desire! Frequently found that dependencies within competing discourses were obscured by oppositions power of elites are dominant! Introduction to discourse in Sociology. at how these conflicting discourses positioned Ronni, Tara and personnel... Practices are made possible Policy Change in Public Housing, Aldershot: Ashgate focus critical! Need more like-minded, critical mass around what challenging dominant discourse is, thus, the discourses! Descriptive, narrative, expository point of this site and must act the. A dominant discourse can be found in propaganda, cultural messages, and discourse Analysis Policy... She encountered when she worked in what is a dominant discourse in social work child protection agency about institutions, power and have... This fantasy cause us to suffer, to despair and patriarchy, suspicion and control health care profession today Healy. Work have been dominated primarily by the psychological and systems perspectives White S.. An objective reality or truth case involved Ms. M, a focus in critical reflection needs to show oppositions. Governmentality have become important in understanding social processes and power through discourse from the histories of the which. Micro interactions of practice dominant state-sanctioned discourse and showcases it by giving airtime and print space to authority figures those... We organize and express that worldview in thought and language historical trauma repeats in! Is often used as a form of social control case involved Ms.,! To despair ( 2000 ), Tonkiss considered different explanations of juvenile crime constructed within histories of child.
Tacx Pro Gear Brand Ambassador, Nashawtuc Country Club Membership Fees, Suburbia Play Summary, Mark Farner First Wife, Exeter Newsletter Obituaries, Articles W