was because social workers were more likely to feel intimated by social class, educational and career achievements of the service users, thus causing them to incorrectly assess the parent–child circumstances. This indicates therefore that the issues of power are not only a concern that service users should have about social workers, but also one that social workers should consider carefully with regard to their service users.
Mental health
The age-old discourse around ‘care’ versus ‘control’ in mental health practice is one that centres around power, and the use of power by social workers and other mental health practitioners. Tew (2006) suggests that issues of power are intrinsically linked to mental ill health, from eating disorders where people feel a sense of power to control what they eat, to the area of recovery where people are left thinking about how they might reclaim spaces from which they may have previously been excluded – for example, at work, within the family or in a relationship. Writing about the use of power by nurses in the mental health field, Cutcliffe and Happell (2009) identify several areas where power is used over service users. These areas include the removal of personal freedom, forced administration of medication, deciding what will and will not be discussed, use of language, and deciding what might be in the client’s best interest and what course of action should be taken. In social work, it is well known that service users from Black minority ethnic groups are overrepresented in mental health services in the UK (Jupp, 2005; Memon et al., 2016) and in the USA, African American men suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are more likely to be in prison than White men (Holden et al., 2012).
The area of mental health is one that illuminates issues of power in the practice and delivery of social work services. Anti-oppressive practice in mental health social work would require practitioners to develop and enhance their skills in reflection in order that they are better able to recognise and understand the sometimes invisible manifestations of power (Cutcliffe and Happell, 2009, p116) inherent in their practice. Consideration of anti-oppressive practice at the personal, cultural and societal levels will be critical.
Research by Memon et al. (2016) found that Black and minority ethnic service users felt that they were often being talked down to (p5) and did not have the power to make decisions about matters that were affecting them. One service user remarked: ‘We have to follow what the professional said; if we do not want to follow what they are saying, it is our problem.’ This feeling of helplessness was exacerbated when, as a consequence of being assertive, one service user was taken off the list and denied further services (p5).
Building trust and maintaining healthy, respectful relationships with mental health service users is a crucial first step towards enhancing anti-oppressive practice in the field of mental health. It is also important that social workers in this area understand what gives rise to inequitable service provision to specific minority groups, as well as identifying what steps they can take to enhance anti-oppressive practice.
Stigma is another area where professional social work intervention can support and advocate on anti-oppressive practice through anti-stigma work. A study by Arboleda-Flórez and Stuart (2012) found that stigmatisation is degrading and devalues people with mental ill health. Social workers need to be aware of how their own behaviours and attitudes could reproduce stigma within families and communities and should introduce robust anti-stigma practice that will not only be beneficial to service users, but will also enhance the image of the social work profession.
Homelessness
Sheikh and Teeman (2016) state that rough sleeping and homelessness will rise to 32 per cent by 2026 in the UK, and that homeless families and individuals are confronted with a few other challenges and difficult circumstances. In the area of homelessness, Johnsen et al. (2018) propose five types of power utilised as social control, which comprise measures which seek to mould the behaviour of targeted individuals (p1106). People who are homeless in the UK face multiple challenges and these challenges are exacerbated by other areas of their lives and functioning – for example, addictions and substance abuse, poverty, mental ill health, and many others. For this reason, social workers who may be working in this area are expected to reflect on their own biases and assumptions about homelessness and the causes.
Force strips people of the right to choose and can lead to behaviour change because of the sanctions and punishments associated with non-compliance.
Coercion overlaps with force because there is a threat that benefits will be removed if people are deemed to be non-compliant. The possibility of harsh penalties for non-compliance results in homeless people being left with no choice but to conform for fear of harsh penalties. In the UK, homeless people are said to be more likely to receive Designated Public Place Orders (DPPOs) for street drinking and other public disorders.
Bargaining impacts behaviour by offering incentives usually of a positive nature to affect behaviour change. In order to bargain, one needs a certain degree of power.
Influence involves gentle nudges or persuasion to affect change. Techniques of influencing do not include force or coercion, but rather the use of discussions and dialogue to alter people’s beliefs, values and the desire to change.
Tolerance is the final type of power in the area of homelessness, and this refers to the absence of any planned or defined coercion to conform. It involves an acceptance of the status quo. In relation to homeless service users, tolerance is about services being welcoming regardless of the circumstances of the homeless person.
Considering homelessness on a more global level, parts of the world that have experienced natural or man-made disasters will require their social workers to work within a different power context. Hurricane Katrina, which occurred in New Orleans in the USA in 2005, resulted in 49.6 per cent of citizens becoming homeless, with loss of lives and livelihood. The government response to this crisis was condemned by many, and social workers stepped in to work with many people who were left homeless by the hurricane.
Powerlessness
It is the case that many groups who consider themselves as minority groups experience a lack of power in relation to control and influence in their various spheres of life. Social workers also experience powerlessness when they are bound by institutional and organisational policies and guidelines which effectively prevent them from taking certain courses of action that they feel is beneficial to service users they are working with. Every one of us will feel powerless at some point in our lives, either at work or in the private spheres of our families. Recognising how it feels to be powerless is a useful experience for social workers.
Activity 3.2
Think about a situation or circumstance which left you feeling powerless.
How did that make you feel?
What did you do about it?
Discuss this with a colleague or reflect on your own.
We will now turn our attention to a practical tool to assist you in identifying how close you are to the dominant source of power.
The Power Flower was first introduced by Arnold and colleagues in 1991 and is presented as a daisy flower divided into 16 segments with each segment representing a category of our social identity. There are many different ways to use this activity, and the process described here is one that I have found to be effective. The flower has three layers. At the centre of the flower, write your name. The innermost layers show broad identity categories such as race, religion, sexuality and gender. The petals in the middle
