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The way social workers discursively construct 'service user' identities in everyday interactions (interviews, conversations and text) can affect quality of relationships and practice outcomes. Even though research has focused on the construction of 'service user' identities by professionals and service users, little has been done to explore such discursive formulations by pre-qualifying social work students. This is especially relevant, given the strengthening of the 'expert by experience' identity in social work education. This paper seeks to make visible mechanisms of student identity constructions as to 'who a service user is', and implications for practice through the examination of student written work pre- and post- a module focussing on lived experience. A critical discursive psychology approach was followed, recognising the interplay between localised professional encounters and wider contexts of power relations. The findings show a shift in the 'service user' identities employed by the students mainly based on individualistic discourses and deserving/undeserving themes (substance misuse the result of vulnerability, rather than selfishness, domestic abuse narratives denoting resilience rather than victimhood). The effect to practice showed shifts between the reflective, expert, person-centred and critical/radical practitioner, mainly stressing the need for professional growth at an individual level, with less emphasis on addressing social inequality. The paper argues that predominantly individualistic discourses can perpetuate de-politicised or oppressive categorisations of 'service users' and calls for further critical engagement with the discursive micro-practises enacted and developed in the social work classroom, if we are to unveil and challenge narrow, or stigmatising categorisations early on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a well-established literature examining how perpetrators of child sexual abuse (CSA) neutralise the norms and beliefs that ordinarily prohibit such behaviours. However, there has been substantially less focus on how such techniques of neutralisation might also be applied by people and groups who were not directly involved in the abuse, who we might expect to be more supportive. Drawing on a thematic analysis of an open-ended survey (n=140) and semi-structured interviews (n=21) with adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse this paper examines societal responses to disclosure. Identifying three key techniques of neutralisation, it explores how families, professionals and institutions use wider discourses that deny the victim/survivor, deny or minimise harm and silence by appealing to loyalty. The results demonstrate how significant others can constrain, rather than support, the process of disclosure and recovering from CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods, exploratory study investigates the gambling activities of street youth in Mumbai, India. Data from surveys and brief interviews of 70 youth aged 12–24, two focus groups, and ethnographic observations offer descriptive snapshots of the gambling behavior of participants. The article includes details about games played, popular venues, initiation patterns, time spent gambling, and interactions with the police. Street youth gamble for social benefits, such as group membership and fun; it is also a leisure activity enabling time to go by quickly. Individual benefits include intermittent rewards and a high after winning or being referred to as a gambler. The inability to save, the lack of recreation options, living in groups, and the environment of the streets structure and sustain gambling. This study discusses the group and social dimension of gambling among street youth, and how this dimension makes their participation different from adolescent gambling in general and General Addictions Theory. It contributes to the literature by emphasizing that for street youth the social/group aspects of gambling predominate the psychological. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice, highlighting the need to develop recreational, income-saving, and educational awareness programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been a few articles discussing laughter in social work, social work is not normally associated with humour and laughter. The paper explores the use of non-seriousness in interview interactions with Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) using analytical insights gained from ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and socio-linguistics. Excerpts from empirical data from individual narrative interviews will be used to show how social work identity can be accomplished through humour and laughter. The significance of the key ethnomethodological concepts of unique adequacy, vulgar competency and indexicality will be used to inform the analysis of gallows or bleak humour, ironic banter about the ‘other’ and the telling of troubles. In the interviews, non-seriousness was successfully accomplished by two ‘strangers’. It is argued that as group members of a specialised group, we share a deep competence in the haecceity or the ‘just thisness’ of the social work trade. Thus, this can be seen as a powerful demonstration of the competencies involved in being a bona fide member of a collectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Critical approaches in psychology and social work criticizing the current mainstream psychotherapy discourse have been gaining more ground in recent decades. Yet, little empirical research has, to date, explored therapy in regular practice to identify the discursive resources employed during the clinical encounter and the way such discourses create and maintain power differences and the boundaries of the therapeutic interaction. This paper is rooted within a post-structural perspective based on Foucauldian analysis which sees power as dispersed throughout the social field and emphasizes the multiple ways in which power differences are created and maintained through accepted forms of discourse and knowledge. Data were drawn from a large study of mental health intakes in clinics in Israel working with culturally diverse populations. We conducted critical discourse analysis on a single dyad including transcription of a recorded intake session and post-intake interviews with the client and the therapist. Based on existing critique of psychotherapeutic discourse for its individualistic and apolitical view, we explored how the hegemonic psychotherapy discourse is negotiated in real practice, the ideology it carries, and the power differences it perpetuates. We shed light on the way this discourse conceals social injustice and contributes to the disempowerment of the client and ultimately to a poorer quality of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need for qualitative studies on motherhood and mental distress. Many mothers have a diagnosis of mental illness, and their motherhood exists in constant tension with their distress. This paper focuses on 10 mothers’ stories about motherhood in relation to being admitted as mental health service users in three different Norwegian community mental health centers. The study has a narrative approach, and through a thematic analysis of personal stories, we emphasize how the 10 women make sense of their experiences of admittance to mental health services in relation to dominant Discourses of good motherhood. Themes identified were: (1) being able to put oneself in the child’s shoes; (2) the emotional impact of being admitted; (3) being open with the children about the admission; and (4) being an emotionally available and present mother. Based on the results of our analysis, we suggest the mothers experienced their distress as a natural reaction to life strains over time, and that they relate to the admissions as interruptions. This underlines the necessity of a more holistic approach, with a support system that focuses on both personal and social aspects of motherhood and mental distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study examined the intersections of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) American cultural identity and attitudes towards mental health and mental health services. Fifteen in-depth narrative interviews with participants of MENA descent in the United States were analyzed using qualitative thematic content analysis, revealing five primary themes within these data: denial, lack of awareness, stigma/shame, collective identity, and resistance. These results indicate cultural identity plays a unique and significant role in how this population understands and responds to mental health and substance use challenges, in a way that often creates barriers to social service provision and success. Implications and suggestions for how these findings might be used to develop more culturally competent and effective social work interventions for MENA communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the issue of microaggressions has been studied for marginalized groups, research on microaggressions directed at Caribbean and Central American immigrants, a population whose identities are merged in the more visible Latinx, African American or Asian-American identities, is rare. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants – fourteen immigrants and six American-born adult children of immigrants. This research explores how ethnic and racial identification of black and brown immigrants and their American born children connect to experiences of daily microaggressions in the workplace. The results revealed that due to their intersecting identities they pay a heavy emotional price to assimilate into the workplace. This research has implications for organizations, human resources and organizational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a pilot qualitative research study, exploring the impact of bereavement experiences, on pre-qualifying social work students in two UK Universities with diverse demographics. The research study took place in the context of general concern about the mental health of UK University students and suggests that social work students may be at particular risk of developing emotional wellbeing issues linked to bereavement. Interviews followed a free association narrative technique, with analysis of the data highlighting four main themes. Firstly, bereavement is associated with practical problems which may trigger wellbeing issues. Secondly, there is an increased need for specific bereavement training and support to be embedded within social work programmes, alongside skills and knowledge of cultural diversity and the part this plays in the bereavement process. Lastly, the study demonstrated that bereavement experiences are not isolated but linked to other losses and therefore students may need effective support to process these before they can effectively support others. The study appears to be distinctive in its focus on the impacts of bereavement on social work students and has significant implications for the ways in which students are supported by social work education programmes, as well as paving the way for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapists are faced with the challenge of developing effective ways to advance cross-cultural engagement with a rapidly growing diverse client population. In this qualitative study, we characterized the way clients and therapists described the quality of working alliance during the mental health intake and examined whether these descriptions vary as a function of their social identities. We conducted in-depth interviews with Ashkenazi (socially advantaged group; n = 22) therapists and their Mizrahi (socially disadvantaged group n = 29) or Ashkenazi (n = 26) clients immediately following their intake session in four mental health clinics in Israel. We performed a thematic analysis. Overall, interrater reliability among three raters who coded the narratives was high (kappa = 0.72, therapist; 0.70, client). Across all client and therapist interviews, we identified eight central themes detailing different qualities of the working alliance: (1) feeling understood, (2) feeling comfortable, (3) openness and cooperation, (4) trust, (5) empathy and identification, (6) frustration and disappointment, (7) anger and hostility, and (8) emotional disengagement. On average, clients reported 2.56 (standard deviation = 1.17) and therapists described 2.65 (standard deviation = 1.45) themes in each session. Overall, concordant and discordant dyads described similar themes with few exceptions. In particular, being part of a discordant dyad may affect the client's interpretation of non-verbal communication as well as the therapist's evaluation of the client's openness and trustworthiness. Although less frequent, when anger and hostility were described by therapists, these characterized the interaction with Mizrahi clients. We discuss implications to care including the need to promote a culturally humble approach to providing care for minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sibling abuse remains under the radar despite its devastating consequences. Without the provision of child welfare statutes to identify sibling abuse and its lack of distinction from other forms of sibling conflict, child welfare workers, mandated reporters, and practitioners face challenges to make complete assessments of family violence. The narratives of 19 self-identified survivors of traumatic childhood and adolescent sibling abuse accentuate the need to identify and validate these experiences as a necessary aspect of protection and healing. Exploratory research of sibling abuse based in a grounded theory framework and phenomenological analysis uncovered critical incidents of physical and emotional sibling abuse underscoring its harrowing impact. The accounts give clarity to defining sibling abuse which includes unpredictable and relentless acts of intimidation resulting in a state of helplessness and isolation. The findings have protective and practice implications for child welfare and clinical social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to describe emotion work within a crisis resolution home treatment team in Norway. As defined by Hochschild, “emotion work” refers to managing one’s emotions according to what is culturally acceptable within a particular situation. A crisis resolution home treatment team is of particular interest when studying emotion work, because it represents a working environment where mental health crises and suicidal threat are common and where managing emotions is necessary for the team to function well. We aimed to expand current knowledge of the particular ways in which emotion work may be done by observing and describing the daily work of such a team. Our analyses showed that team members’ emotion work had five main features: (1) emotional expression was common and there seemed to be an informal rule that “vulnerable” emotions could be expressed; (2) emotional expression was most commonly observed in post-event discussions of challenging events or service users; (3) emotional expression facilitated digesting or processing of the event with the help of a fellow team member; (4) emotional expression was met with validation and support; and (5) this support seemed to increase mentalization and understanding of the situation and could be offered only by other team members. An implication of these findings is that informal exchanges of emotion are a necessary part of the work and cannot occur outside of the work context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study presents an in-depth and idiographic analysis of the lived experience of parent-caregivers with a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who exhibits challenging behaviours. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six parents of children with ASD and who met the Child Behaviour Checklist for Ages 6–18 (CBCL/6–18) Total Problems T score of 60 and above. The interviews were conducted at a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic in Singapore. Transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two dominant themes emerged: sense of responsibility and renewed appreciation of self. The caregivers’ sense of responsibility not only encompassed parental duty, spousal duty but also duty to the community. Through the process of meaning making and coordinating actions with their child, spouse and social relations, over time the caregivers developed a deeper appreciation of their personal strengths and resourcefulness. The findings suggest that clinical practice and future research would benefit from a family resilience perspective in understanding caregivers’ experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being in recovery from bipolar disorder involves work-related concerns. The specific aims of this study are to: 1) understand the role of work in recovery from bipolar disorders, and 2) understand how people with such disorders deal with work-related challenges. These topics are examined from the stance of the recovery process, in which work-related activities were explored. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with persons who had experienced recovery from bipolar disorder. Analysis was performed through thematic and phenomenological analysis, with hermeneutic phenomenology and reflexive methodology as a framework. The findings are presented through the following themes: 1) many types of work – finding meaning and a focus; 2) helpful roles and contexts – to be much more than a person with an illness; 3) making work possible – the role of supportive relationships and supportive medications, and 4) the costs of working too much – finding a meaningful and healthy balance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a given year, approximately 26 percent of persons in the United States 18 years and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. About six percent are diagnosed with a serious mental illness and 65 percent of these are mothers. Mothers with serious mental illness are at increased risk of losing custody of their children. This report represents findings from a qualitative study of the relationship between positive and negative social interactions as three such women went through the process of experiencing threats to their children’s safety, relinquishing custody, and working to regain it (or to adjust to a permanent placement). Data collection involved semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis of data was conducted. Among three conceptual models of social interactions – additive, moderating, and domain specific, the domain-specific model was prominent. Findings are discussed as preliminary to future similar studies involving larger samples. Tentative implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]