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'We just call them people': positive regard as a dimension of culture in group homes for people with severe intellectual disability
- Authors:
- BIGBY Christine, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 28(4), 2015, pp.283-295.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: A dimension of the culture in group homes is staff regard for residents. In underperforming group homes, staff regard residents as being not ‘like us’ (Bigby, Knox, Beadle-Brown, Clement & Mansell, 2012). It was hypothesized the opposite pole of this dimension, in higher performing group homes, would be that staff regard residents positively. Method: Three in-depth qualitative case studies were conducted in higher performing group homes using participant observation, interviews and document review. Results: Consistent pattern of staff practices and talk, as well as artefacts, demonstrated staff had a positive regard for residents, who were seen as being ‘like us’. Explicit and continuing attention was given to sustaining positive regard for residents in everyday staff practices and to turning abstract values into concrete realities. Conclusions: This positive cultural norm was established, operationalised and embedded through structures, such as a formal policy about language, and processes such as peer monitoring and practice leadership. (Edited publisher abstract)
The informal culture of a direct care staff team supporting people with intellectual disabilities who present with behaviours that challenge
- Authors:
- BANKS Faye, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 26(3), 2021, pp.160-168.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Research into culture within intellectual disability services, has predominantly focussed on small group homes in Australia. The current investigation aimed to explore the transferability of the dimensions of culture identified in the literature, to a residential Intellectual Disability service in the UK. The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact of informal culture upon the behaviour of direct care staff, particularly around managing behaviour that challenges. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with direct care staff. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically using template analysis. Findings: Themes regarding leadership, perceptions of managers, team functioning, and relationships between direct care staff and service users, were identified, corroborating the existing literature. Additional themes relating to being aware of the risks posed by service users, and the emotional impact of behaviour that challenges, also emerged. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to explore informal culture within a community residential Intellectual Disability service in the UK. (Edited publisher abstract)
Choices for people with intellectual disabilities: official discourse and everyday practice
- Authors:
- ANTAKI Charles, FINLAY W. M. L., WALTON Chris
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(4), December 2009, pp.260-266.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Official policies on "choice" for people with intellectual impairments tend toward fundamental life choices (e.g., who to marry, what job to work at) at the expense of the minor but more frequent concerns of daily living (when to wash, what to eat, where to go in the evening). The authors undertook an examination of how choice policies are actualised in day-to-day activities in two group homes. Data were drawn from a broader ethnographic study of residential services for people with intellectual disabilities serviced by National Health Service Trust in the United Kingdom. Conversation analysis, used to explicate the interactions, showed how staff, although undoubtedly well-meaning, use the discourse of choice to promote institutional managerial objectives, thus demonstrating a gap between practice and overarching policy theory and recommendations.