Practising Critical Reflection to Develop Emancipatory Change by Christine Morley

Author:Christine Morley [Morley, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Social Work, Political Science, Peace
ISBN: 9781317076483
Google: 4wntCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-04-08T06:02:08+00:00

Counsellors/Advocates Alignment with Victims/Survivors

Evident in practitioners’ original accounts was the notion that as practitioners, they often aligned themselves with their service users. Building on some of the unintended consequences of relying on a structural analysis in isolation, participants often indicated that they viewed their situation through a number of dichotomous constructions. They were hence faced with aligning themselves either with other professionals involved in the legal process, who can be seen as oppressing service users, or with victims/survivors, whom they are committed to supporting. Participants’ stories indicate that counsellors/advocates chose to side with the victim/survivor, which through this dichotomous lens, is assumed to be in opposition to the legal and medical professionals. As Olivia stated: ‘it’s been kind of like, you’re on the victim’s side, and then there’s the legal system on the other side – the side that has the power’ (Olivia, Interview 2).

This was evident in my own account as, ‘I felt I needed to situate myself as a buffer between her [the victim/survivor] and the police, to try and protect her’ (Christine, Reflection 1). Here, there is an implicit assumption about two dichotomous and mutually exclusive sides, in which I was united with the victim/survivor, in opposition to the police.

This was also a feature of Andrea’s story. Deconstruction of her interview indicated that she had aligned herself with the victim/survivor on the powerless side of the dichotomy in relation to the police and the FMO: ‘I guess, as the process in the crisis care unit unfolded, I became a bit more protective of the victim/survivor’ (Andrea, Interview 1).

The assumption that victims/survivors need the protection of practitioners aligns counsellors/advocates with victims/survivors and ties the two identity group together. As Olivia explains: ‘probably a part of the work entails some identification with victims’ (Olivia, Interview 2). While this construction unites practitioners with victims/survivors, it does so in opposition against seemingly powerful structural forces, which practitioners perceive as inaccessible and impervious to change, reinforcing the powerlessness of both themselves and victims/survivors. This can lead to a position that Rose articulated clearly: ‘I feel quite hopeless, like them’ (Rose, Interview 1). Olivia described how this identification with victims and experiences of helplessness and victimisation ‘kind of influences how you operate … You’re kind of identifying with that victim position, and not necessarily at a really conscious level’ (Olivia, Interview 2). She talked about this dichotomous discourse putting practitioners in ‘a marginalised position’ (Olivia, Interview 2). Highlighting practitioners’ participation in this unhelpful discourse, she defines it as ‘self-imposed marginalisation, in some respects’ (Olivia, Interview 2).

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