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From abused to abuser, inevitably?: Female inmates accounting for identity categorizations to distance themselves from violence
- Author:
- VIROLAINEN Vera
- Journal article citation:
- Qualitative Social Work, 21(1), 2022, pp.71-90.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Female inmates have encountered a great deal of violence during their life course, in most cases starting from abuse in the childhood home. In this study, I examine the accounts given by seven Finnish female inmates who have a two-fold relationship with violence: they have both experienced and perpetrated it. Thus, they have fractured the culturally dominant categorization of woman as nurturing and peaceful. They have an ambivalent relationship with culturally dominant discourses that narrowly depict violent women as either victims or perpetrators. By applying membership categorization analysis, I examine the kinds of identities that participants construct for themselves as both abused and abusers. The women mobilised interrelated yet non-linear and complex categorizations of abused child, substance user, object of intimate violence, perpetrator of violence and inmate. They accounted for their membership in the abused child, substance user and object of intimate violence categorizations, and thus constructed narrative accounts about why they were drawn into the ‘deviant’ category memberships of perpetrator of violence and inmate. By emphasising the category memberships or by resisting them, the participants distanced their identities from violence and were able to establish themselves as moral subjects. (Edited publisher abstract)
The scarred body: a personal reflection of self-injury scars
- Author:
- GUNNARSSON Nina Veetnisha
- Journal article citation:
- Qualitative Social Work, 21(1), 2022, pp.37-52.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Self-injury is deemed a pathology and a deviant practice that is not socially sanctioned and culturally accepted as soothing and healing the self. The marked female body is also pathologized and perceived as deviant; hence, having self-inflicted scars may easily lead to social stigma, shame, and the need to hide the scars. In this personal reflection I explore how self-inflicted scars can have the same meaning as self-injury to control the self and act as self-expression, and how the marked female body can be a resistance to the cultural idea of femininity. I draw upon my own personal experiences of self-inflicted scars and how these scars have become intertwined with my identity. I have carved or burnt my body in different situations and from different moods in the past, but they are all with me at the present and will be with me in the future. Without the scars, I am not the person that others see me as or I see myself as. I sometimes feel that I would be nothing without my scars. (Edited publisher abstract)
Sustaining professional identity during the initial post-qualification period: implications for retention strategies
- Author:
- MOORHEAD Bernadette
- Journal article citation:
- International Social Work, 64(6), 2021, pp.1009-1021.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article discusses findings from a phenomenological Australian study exploring how the professional identities of newly qualified social workers are fostered and/or eroded during the first 12 months post-qualification. A total of 17 participants each completed three semi-structured interviews. The participants revealed individual and systemic factors that impacted how and whether professional identity was fostered and/or eroded. It is proposed from the findings that a combination of multilevel approaches for sustaining professional identity could improve the experiences and retention of newly qualified social workers. The implications for action by educators, employers and the social work profession in Australia and other countries are outlined. (Edited publisher abstract)
How women on probation and parole incorporate trauma into their identities
- Authors:
- HOSKINS Kayla M., MORASH Merry
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(23-24), 2021, pp.NP12807-NP12830.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The many court-involved women who have experienced trauma in their lifetimes are particularly vulnerable to the negative outcomes of trauma. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry is to understand how women who have repeatedly broken the law incorporate traumatic experiences into their identities in such a way that they increase their agency, communion, or spirituality. The research also documents the types of traumatic experiences the women included in their life stories. Informed by narrative identity theory and the related theory of posttraumatic growth, the life stories of 118 women on probation and parole were examined for themes indicative of identity transformation through redemption or indicative of contamination and stagnation. The narrative accounts considered in this study involved sexual, physical, and psychological abuse; neglect; sudden or unexpected loss; violence exposure; and severe illness or injury. Nearly all women reported having at least one traumatic experience in their lifetime, and the majority incorporated the experiences into their identities. Posttraumatic growth most often included gains in communion (i.e., helping others and caring for others) and gains in individual agency (i.e., empowerment). Thirty women also described having generative concerns or taking generative actions to improve the well-being of others as an outcome of their traumatic experience(s). For women with children, becoming better mothers and protecting their children from victimization were the overarching themes of their redemption, communion, and generative narratives. The findings highlight the importance of community responses to traumatized girls and of counseling and therapy for justice-involved women. Several specific suggestions for supporting the development of trauma and survivor narratives as a therapeutic tool are provided as a means for clients to develop interpersonal connections and empowerment. (Edited publisher abstract)
Caregiver identity in care partners of persons living with mild cognitive impairment
- Authors:
- BEATIE Brooke E, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 20(7), 2021, pp.2323-2339.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Research on caregiver identity in the context of memory impairment has focused primarily on more advanced stages of the cognitive impairment trajectory (e.g., dementia caregivers), failing to capture the complex dynamics of early caregiver identity development (e.g., MCI; mild cognitive impairment caregivers). The aim of this study was to develop a nuanced understanding of how caregiver identity develops in family and friends of persons living with MCI. Using constructivist grounded theory (ConGT), this study explored caregiver identity development from 18 in-depth interviews with spouses (n = 13), children (n = 3), and friends (n = 2) of persons recently diagnosed with MCI. The overarching themes influencing MCI caregiver identity development included MCI changes, care-related experiences, “caregiver” interpretation, and approach/avoidance coping. These themes influenced how participants primarily identified, represented as I am a caregiver, I am not a caregiver, or liminality (i.e., between their previous identity and a caregiver identity). Irrespective of their current self-identification, all conveyed thinking about their “future self,” as providing more intensive care. MCI caregiver identity development in family and friends is a fluid and evolving process. Nearly all participants had taken on care tasks, yet the majority of these individuals did not clearly identify as caregivers. Irrespective of how participants identified, they were engaging in care, and would likely benefit from support with navigating these changes and their new, ambiguous, and evolving roles. (Edited publisher abstract)
Untroubling children’s identity in child protection and welfare assessment through a postconventional analytic
- Author:
- FLYNN Susan
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 21(6), 2021, pp.1450-1468.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Summary: The sustaining argument advanced in this paper is that postconventional analysis offers a constructive theoretical lens to contemplate identity in child protection and welfare assessment. Critical application of abridged post-conventionalism considers how identity and biodiversity in children and young people, operating across lines of racial, disability, gender and other identity markers, can be understood during informed assessment of needs. Findings: In the context of transformative postmodern influences, the intention is to provide an aid to students and practitioners who are increasingly impelled to think about traditionally biological-based identity categories, across more abstract lines of social, lingual and cultural construction. Four themes for professional development are presented. First, the complex origins of identity must be appreciated. Second, criticality and openness to the meaning of identity is preferable. Third, progress lies in courteous, sensitive and inclusive practice. Fourth, practitioners should acquire knowledge competency in identity categories. Applications: Overall, acceptance of the somewhat fluid and socially contingent nature of identity, without marked rejection of its embodied aspects, can promote more sensitive and inclusive ways of working with children and young people. (Edited publisher abstract)
Impact of organisational practices on the relationships between young people with disabilities and paid social support workers
- Authors:
- FISHER Karen R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 21(6), 2021, pp.1377-1398.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Summary: This article uses Ikaheimo’s concept of institutionally mediated recognition to explore how organisational norms and rules facilitate and constrain interpersonal recognition between a young person with disabilities and their paid support worker. The experience of recognition is important because it reflects the quality of this relationship and shapes the identity of both people in the paid support relationship. To understand the relationships between the pairs, Honneth’s interpersonal modes of recognition were applied as the theoretical lens. The data were generated from photovoice, social mapping, interviews and workshops with 42 pairs of young people and their support workers in six organisations. These data were then analysed for the ways institutional practices mediated the interpersonal relationships. Findings: The findings revealed four practices in which the organisational context mediated interpersonal recognition: the support sites, application of organisation policies, practices to manage staff and practices to organise young people’s support. Some organisational practices facilitated recognition within the relationships, whereas others were viewed by the pair or managers as constraints on conditions for recognition. Some young people and support workers also exercised initiative or resisted the organisational constraints in the way they conducted their relationship. Applications: The findings imply that to promote quality relationships, organisations must create the practice conditions for recognition, respond to misrecognition, and encourage practices that make room for initiative and change within the paid relationship. This requires supervision and training for and by support workers and people with disability. (Edited publisher abstract)
Making desistance real: implementing a desistance focused approach in a community rehabilitation company (CRC)
- Authors:
- KEMSHALL Hazel, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Probation Journal, 68(3), 2021, pp.347-364.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Desistance is now a key focus for probation practice in the United Kingdom. However, how to implement desistance in the workplace has remained challenging, particularly in the absence of practice guidance. This article presents the experience of ‘making desistance real’ in the context of Community Rehabilitation Companies. ‘Identity shift’ is presented as a core component of the desistance approach adopted, and practice designed to support services users to transition to a pro-social identity and their ‘best life’ is presented. The article examines changes in assessment processes and tools, outlines desistance informed interventions, and the engagement of practitioners in delivering desistance. (Edited publisher abstract)
The relevance of biographic narratives for social workers’ professional memory, reflexivity and identity
- Author:
- SILVA Pedro Gabriel
- Journal article citation:
- Qualitative Social Work, 20(5), 2021, pp.1374-1392.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The present article is about the use of biographic methods and oral history, and its contribution to developing processes of critical reflection and reflexivity. It is based on a set of oral data collected from Portuguese social workers who played an active role in the revolutionary phase during the transition from dictatorship to democracy in Portugal (following the 25th April 1974 military coup). The article explores how the use of biographic methods (integrated within a historical methodological framework), other than simply producing accounts of past experiences, allowed interviewees to re-capture, re-interpret and re-signify their own experiences in the light of changing professional paradigms and socio-political arrangements. It will demonstrate how resorting to oral history methods can contribute to produce critical self-reflective accounts, allowing intra-professional tensions, self-expectations, beliefs and disenchantment, as well as professional identification and deidentification to surface. Three examples will be presented that reveal how favouring an approach based on oral history, biographic methods and narrative analysis allows perceiving individual dispositions, its construction and the influence they have on the subjects’ relation with the canons of professional practice, while showing the ambiguities around professional representations and identification. (Edited publisher abstract)
Construction of the Index of Social Work Professional Identity
- Authors:
- DUAN Wenjie, LI Yumei, KONG Yansi
- Journal article citation:
- Research on Social Work Practice, 31(6), 2021, pp.653-661.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Purpose: The present study applied the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity to construct an index of social work professional identity. Methods: The data were obtained from a longitudinal study of social work in China in 2019. Exploratory structural equation modeling and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis were used to confirm the factor structure. Independent samples t test was adopted to test the difference among different groups. Results: The four-factor (i.e., social, role, target, and action perceptions) index of social work professional identity showed acceptable reliability and good validity. Measurement invariance was observed across different groups (i.e., gender, education background, professional certification, job position, and work seniority). Differences were observed on professional identity among different genders, educational backgrounds, and professional certification groups. Conclusions: The index of social work professional identity can contribute to policymaking, educational curriculum design, and evidence-based interventions aimed at promoting professional identity. (Edited publisher abstract)