Search results for ‘Subject term:"vulnerable adults"’ Sort:
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Between empowerment and discipline: practicing contractualism in social work
- Authors:
- SOLVANG Ida M., JURITZEN Truls
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 20(3), 2020, pp.321-339.
- Publisher:
- Sage
As a contemporary development in welfare policy, contractualism stipulates discretionary rights and obligations for each client, some of whom are quite vulnerable. The contractual design promotes empowerment, but entails sanctions for non-compliance. This article investigates how rationales of empowerment and discipline shape social work practice and uses a Foucauldian governmentality perspective to investigate interrelations between political objectives and individual practices. Two contrasting cases are used to explicate how rationales of empowerment and discipline simultaneously operate in social work within the contractual design. Findings With its emphasis on clients’ responsibility and empowerment, contractualism is a subtle yet efficient mode of governance, but disciplinary actions both rely on and undermine objectives of empowerment. Applications Social workers and clients must manoeuvre complexities as they exert empowering and disciplinary practices. These rationales of governance should be explicit and subject to professional and ethical considerations in the same way as other forms of professional authority directed at reliant, vulnerable clients (Publisher abstract)
Crash: what went wrong at Winterbourne View?
- Author:
- OAKES Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 16(3), September 2012, pp.155-162.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
In 2011 a ‘Panorama’ television documentary raised the profile of unacceptable practice and indeed criminal abuse following the undercover filming of outrageous acts of cruelty in an independent hospital called Winterbourne View. This editorial represents a year of reflection on these events and the consistent failure to maintain minimum standards in services and supports for people with learning disabilities. It focuses on the events at Winterbourne View and sees them as a crash at the end of a journey that was strangely inevitable. It considers how people with intellectual disabilities become powerless and vulnerable to abuse. A small number of people got caught up in the horrifying events at Winterbourne View but it could have been any service for people who find themselves marginalised and disempowered. The article concludes by calling on everyone to reflect on what they need to do to prevent events like this from happening.
What does vulnerability mean?
- Author:
- PARLEY Fiona F.
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(4), December 2011, pp.266-276.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The protection of vulnerable adults has, over the last decade, received increasing attention. This paper investigated the views of 20 Scottish care staff relating to vulnerability and abuse of adults with learning disability. Using semi-structured interview informants perspectives were explored. Whilst the precise definition of vulnerability was hard to determine, the results revealed that most informants felt that people with learning disabilities were all vulnerable and that this definition gave staff the authority to take protective measures to ensure their safety. This desire to introduce protective measures however may result in people with learning disabilities being denied the right to self-determination, thereby limiting their enjoyment of some life experiences and lessening the excitement of life that others take for granted. The article concludes that a more consistent definition of vulnerability, across policy and practice would be beneficial.
Who decides now? Protecting and empowering vulnerable adults who loose the capacity to make decisions for themselves
- Author:
- JOHNS Robert
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 37(3), April 2007, pp.557-564.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The implementation of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales heralds a new era for social work practitioners and researchers. Protecting and empowering vulnerable adults - an important element of adult-care social work - relies on a legal framework that attempts to balance adults’ rights with the desire to protect them. The new Act is part of that framework, addressing the fundamental issue of when and how decisions can be made on behalf of people who lose decision-making abilities (‘capacity’). The Act encompasses the meaning of incapacity and best interests, advance directives concerning treatment, managing people’s affairs and making decisions for them, overseeing the delegation process, and research. In explaining how the Act addresses some of these challenges, the article alerts practitioners and researchers to the key areas in which the Act will make a major impact.
Are we Valuing People's choices now? restrictions to mundane choices made by adults with learning difficulties
- Author:
- HOLLOMOTZ Andrea
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 44(2), 2014, pp.234-251.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
In the UK, Valuing People ( Department of Health, 2001, 2010b) has shaped services for people with learning difficulties for the past decade. Promoting choices and independence are two of the four key principles that underpin this White Paper and its subsequent delivery plans. This paper assesses the impact that these changes had on the availability of mundane choices. It draws on empirical evidence from interviews with adults with learning difficulties. First impressions of the findings indicate that individuals are indeed able to make an increased range of decisions. At closer inspection, it does however become apparent that not all of these decisions are based on an infinite spectrum of options. Under the guise of choice-based policy rhetoric, some people with learning difficulties are at times presented with a pre-arranged ‘menu of choices’. For instance, a person may be free to choose activities at their day centre, but they may have limited control when deciding whether to attend the service in the first place. The wider implications that tokenistic choice-making processes have for the development of personal autonomy are highlighted. It is argued that a lack of control in respect to mundane choices is disempowering and leads to learned passivity. (Publisher abstract)
The potential for empowering homeless people through digital technology: a preliminary literature review
- Author:
- LEMOS AND CRANE
- Publisher:
- Lemos and Crane
- Publication year:
- 2013
- Pagination:
- 24
- Place of publication:
- London
Digital technology is increasingly ubiquitous in the lives of people in the UK, but its power has not yet been fully harnessed by those working with homeless and vulnerable people. Theories that predict that homeless people will be increasingly excluded as technology becomes more important underestimate the ability of many homeless people to access and use digital technology. 70% of homeless people now own a mobile phone. Many use computers, smart phones and laptops to blog, chat, network and play. Homeless people can be engaged and empowered to use digital technology. This technology can enable vulnerable people to voice their opinions, enhance their capabilities and facilitate communication. In turn it can be used to personalise and improve service provision. Where digital exclusion does exist, it is not due to itinerant and chaotic lifestyles but to problems of access, confidence and digital literacy. This literature review describes the role of digital technology in the lives of homeless and vulnerable people. It covers issues of access, provision, training and education, and has examples of good practice which utilise technology for the benefit of homeless people. It also shows how sites such as Twitter facilitate peer to peer discussions, as well as welcoming homeless people into the wider sphere of public discussion. Homeless people are increasingly able to make their voices heard through digital technologies; service providers need to start listening. Although product designers are increasingly finding innovative ways of helping vulnerable people through the development of new apps, websites and other technologies, there remain issues of access, internet security, personal safety, digital literacy, confidence, battery-charging, Wi-Fi provision, cost and stigma to be tackled. (Edited publisher abstract)
Safeguarding adults: the role of health service practitioners
- Author:
- GREAT BRITAIN. Department of Health
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department of Health
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 62p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This practice guidance supports the multi agency guidance 'No Secrets' and aims to assist health service practitioners in their role in safeguarding adults. Section 1 outlines safeguarding adults and why it is important to delivering health care. Section 2 lists the six main safeguarding principles: empowerment, protection, prevention, proportionality, partnerships and accountability. Following sections cover: empowering approaches to safeguarding adults; what needs to be in place; and responding to concerns; and developing a culture for prevention. The document provides principles and practice examples that can achieve good outcomes for patients.
Beyond trickle-down benefits to research participants
- Author:
- BAY-CHENG Laina Y.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Research, 33(4), December 2009, pp.243-247.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This research note discusses the social science researcher's ethical responsibilities towards study participants, some of whom may be among the most vulnerable in society. It is important for the researcher to protect the rights and wellbeing of participants and also to ensure that they are promoting the 'public good' in designing their studies. It has been demonstrated in many studies that participation in research confers benefits on participants, with many describing the experience as positive even when the study topic was sensitive or traumatic. Reported benefits were: insight, a sense of emotional relief and feeling supported. Online techniques for collecting research data have recently come to the fore, but research has shown that participants experience face-to-face interviews more positively. Participatory action research empowers research participants to become co-investigators with agendas of their own. Social scientists should try to cultivate research methods that not only facilitate their own insights into complex phenomena, but participants' as well.
Strengthening the law to protect vulnerable adults
- Author:
- JOHNSON Dwayne
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 12(1), March 2008, pp.27-30.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The author discusses the law in relation to adult protection. He then outlines seven areas of the law that the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have stated need strengthening as a priority to improve adult protection services.
Proposals for a 'Mental Incapacity Bill' to provide additional safeguards to vulnerable adults
- Author:
- DIESFELD Kate
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 1(2), April 1996, pp.34-37.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Although the Registered Homes Act 1984 provides some protection for people with learning disabilities living in registered homes, the Law Commission has identified the need for further safeguards. A draft Parliamentary Bill has been drawn up but as yet there are no plans to enact it. Using case studies, this article provides an analysis of Sections 36-44 of the Mental Incapacity Bill as it affects public law protection for people with learning difficulties who live in community settings. Asks whether we need any more protective legislation?