MENTAL HEALTH, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE – PERSPECTIVES OF A FRONTLINE SOCIAL WORKER

Questions• How does the cutting, shrinking and closing of public

services and community groups effect our mental health?

• How does discrimination, racism and prejudice effect our Dignity and Self-Worth?

• Where are the Fundamental aspects of Respect, Decency and Equality in our Governments approach to young people, minority groups, disabled persons and those who are homeless?

International Definition of Social Work• “The social work profession facilitates social change and

development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing” (www.ifsw.org)

Key phrases• Social change• Social development• Social cohesion• Liberation of people• Empowerment of people• Social justice• Human rights• Collective responsibility• Respect for diversity

Human Rights and Social Work in Ireland

• CORU – Code of Conduct and Ethics• Value No. 1: “Respect for the Inherent Dignity and Worth

of Persons”• Duty No. 1: “Upholding Human Rights in Your Practice”

by:• Respecting the Right to Self-Determination;• Promoting the Right to Participation;• Treating Each Person in a Caring and Respectful

Fashion”.

Social Justice and Social Work in Ireland

• Value No. 2: “Pursuit of Social Justice”• Duty No. 2: “You should promote social justice in your

practice, through:• Challenging negative discrimination and unjust policies

and practices;• Recognising and respecting diversity;• Demonstrating cultural competence;• Advocating for the fair distribution of resources based on

identified levels of risk/need;• Working towards social inclusion”.

What Else to Consider?• Legislation• National Policy• HSE policy• Local policy• Protocols, Procedures, Guidelines• Culture of the Organisation• Other Agencies and their PPPG’s• Interaction between agencies• Interaction between agencies and the community• Gaps – what’s not there and how/who fills in the gaps?

Oh, And Don’t Forget…• The people!! (both those who use the services and those

who don’t)

• When thinking about people...I’m thinking of;• Age, ethnicity, race, religion, social status, socio-economic

status, culture…

The Social Determinants of Health

How I see the Social Determinants of (Mental) Health Interact on a Practical Level

• Social Welfare• Housing• Education• Self-Harm• Suicide• Depression• Anxiety• Individualising• Relationships• Family• Friends• Discrimination• Prejudice• Suspicion

• Self-Esteem• Alcohol• Drugs• Downward Spiral• Poverty• Vicious Cycles• Self-Belief• A system that blames the

Individual• Social Isolation• Social Exclusion• Anger

Working on an Individual Level…• Working with individuals in mental distress due to social

and environmental issues e.g. housing repossession, loss of social welfare, inability to access social welfare, inability to access appropriate housing, inability to access homeless services, poverty (not able to buy food or clothes for self or family), inability to access education due to socio-economic status

• Seeing the clear connection between mental health/illness/distress and social/environmental issues

• How to alleviate this distress?• How to challenge these injustices?• How to challenge the medical approach to mental

health/illness/distress?

Working on a Group Level…• Working with groups to conscious raise on multiple issues

connecting to mental health/illness/distress• E.g. Carers Groups (to share information, empower people

to care for themselves, improve access to information, using peer support to bring common issues to the fore and to then collaborate on how to challenge/address these issues in a group as opposed to individual, way)

• E.g. Capacity Building Groups in the General Community (with BME groups around what mental health/distress/illness means, on what a euro-centric mental health service is and how it operates, on connections between mental distress/illness/health and social and environmental issues)

Working on a Community level…• Working with a community to address broader, structural

issues connected to mental health/distress/illness• E.g. The Traveller Community (establishing an action

group focused on mental health/distress/illness in the Traveller community, organising consultation days focused on mental health/distress/illness , organising lecture series focused on mental health/distress/illness as way of bringing together members of the Travller community, settled community and local service providers to talk in a non-hierarchical and equal space about mental health/distress/illness, working from a “bottom-up” approach to policy changes in mental health area

To work from a social justice and human rights ethos as a social workers you will:Be the lone voice, be the “annoying one”, have opposite views to those in power, challenge a lot of thinking, need to break new ground alone before others follow, be brave, be courageous, have strong values and ethics, not be afraid to admit mistakes, have a collaborative leadership approach, have strong peer support, be part of a similar mined grouping either in your system or outside it, be creative, be open to subversion of systems!

Knitting it all together• Addressing human rights and social justice inside the

“system”• Addressing human rights and social justice outside the

“system”• Being able to work to address human rights and social

justice at all! (being “allowed” to do this type of work e.g. dominance of individual/casework model in social work, fear of change, fear of challenging one’s organisation, fear of standing out from the crowd, fear of challenging one’s colleagues, manager, etc).

Bringing it all together

• Workers• People• Movements• Politics• Policy• Vision• Idealism• Dreams

• Values• Morals• Strength• Courage• Stubbornness• Anger• Defiance• Hope• Creativity

Bringing it all Together

• Theory and Practice – read it, think about it, use it, apply it!

• Radical and Critical peer consultation

• Seek out others who have a similar mindset to you and talk

• Use of self – self awareness, understanding of one’s values and morals, this is essential

• Ethics• Solidarity

Some concerns for Social Work in terms of Human Rights and Social Justice…

• That there is a dominance of individual casework to the detriment of group and community work approaches

• That social work is becoming more concerned with “proving” itself in respect of other professions and is losing it’s focus as a result i.e. in mental health being more concerned with being “experts” in individual therapies than the social causes of mental distress

• That social work is being forced into a more technocratic and bureaucratic role by outside forces i.e. government policy and thereby becoming an agent of the state and of social control as opposed to an agent for positive social change, human rights and social justice.

• That social work education is losing it’s central focus of social justice and human rights due to outside forces i.e. fear of loss of funding, loss of staff, increasing managerialist nature of academia, outside pressures to prepare students for “jobs and the market” as opposed to nurturing critical and thoughtful citizens of the future

Toolkit for Radical Action and Change• So, what can we do about this?