Operacija A: Raziskovanje življenjskega sveta in omogočanje dostopa do sredstev (operacije 2, življenjski svet 1)

V socialnem delu gre za dostop do sredstev. Tako je bilo vsaj klasično pojmovanje socialnega dela, ki pa še vedno velja. Uporabniki socialnega dela še vedno večinoma pričakujejo, da jim bodo socialni delavci in delavke priskrbeli, torej, omogočili dostop do sredstev, ki si jih ne morejo priskrbeti sami – službo, stanovanje, denarno pomoč, storitve, ki jih potrebujejo, itd. Namen tega ni nič drugega kot izboljšanje svojega življenja, sveta, v katerem živijo, svojega življenjskega sveta.

Življenjski svet

Življenjski svet (nemško Lebenswelt) je fenomenološko pojmovanje sveta kot ga neposredno in subjektivno doživljamo v vsakdanjem življenju – posamezno, družbeno, zaznavno in praktično. To je svet, v katerem živimo v in ki ga doživljamo (erleben) mi sami.

Pojem življenjskega sveta je pomemben v socialnem delu, saj je to zanj izhodišče, temelj za začetek, je mesto, na katerem se socialno delo »sreča z ljudmi« in začenja skupno delo. Čeprav nekatera orodja socialnega dela sodijo v »druge svetove« (svet socialne varnosti, teorije družbe, politike, ustanov ipd.), je končni kriterij uspešnega in učinkovitega dela prav to, kar se zgodi prav v življenjskem svetu, kar se v resnici dogaja ljudem in kar ljudje doživljajo. Življenjski svet je torej temelj in mera socialnega dela.

Pri tej operaciji gre torej za raziskovanje življenjskega sveta, da bi ga bolje spoznali, a tudi v njem dosegli večjo stopnjo suverenosti, predvsem pa da odkrijemo, katere vire vsebuje in pa tudi tiste, ki manjkajo, da bi živeli bolje. V nasprotju z antropologijo, to ni voajeristična vaja zgolj spoznavanja, kako ljudje živijo, je usmerjen v prenos manjkajočih sredstev v življenjski svet od zunaj, navadno s pomočjo dajatev države blaginje. Gre torej za povezovanje življenjskega sveta z drugimi svetovi, ki so preveč abstraktni, da bi jih neposredno doživeli, kot gre v primeru sveta socialne varnosti.

Lahko bi rekli, da je socialno delo dvoživka, ki živi tako v življenjskem svetu kot v abstraktnejših domenah zakonodaje, ekonomije, politike in predvsem socialne države. Socialnega delavca ali delavko lahko imamo za posrednika (brokerja) med temi dvema stvarnostma. Omogoča porazdeljevalni tok sredstev iz družbene akumulacije tja, kjer jih ljudje lahko uporabijo. Socialni delavci in delavke pa delujejo tudi kot prevajalci med vsakdanjim jezikom in jezikom abstraktnih sistemov dajatev in upravičenosti.

Jezik delovanja v življenjskem svetu

Socialno delo nima svojega posebnega strokovnega jezika, tehničnega žargona, ki bi imel služil v strokovno liturgične namene, podobno, kot so svoj čas uporabljali latinščino v cerkvi. Deloma zato, ker socialno delo nima svojega hrama, posvečenega prostorja, v katerem bi izvajalo svoje poslanstvo (kot so sicer bolnišnica, sodišče, zapor, kasarne itn.). Deloma pa zato, ker v socialnem delu ne gre za to, da bi zagovarjali neke višje resnice oz. jih prenašali ljudem.

Dejansko mora socialno delo storiti prav nasprotno običajnim operacijam drugih strok. Medtem ko se morajo varovanci posebnih ustanov najprej naučiti ezoteričnih jezikov in pravil ustanov, se morajo socialni delavci in delavke, da bi razumeli, kaj se dogaja med ljudmi, naučiti njihovih jezikov, govorice, pa tudi pravil, odnosov in običajev, ki so jim podlaga. V tem je socialno delo podobno antropologiji. Vendar antropologi spoznano prevedejo v globje pomene struktur ali funkcij, socialno delo pa se mora zanesti na neposredne in imanentne pomene ter zemljevide, ki jih taki pomeni ustvarjajo in se ukvarjati s tem, kako jih spremeniti v akcijo, delo. Z vprašanji, kot so: »Kaj storiti?«, »Kaj se bo zgodilo?«, »Kaj bomo naredili?« itn. ustvarjamo nove in drugačne pomene istih besed.

Namen te operacije je torej zagotoviti, da so ljudje preskrbljeni in opremljeni, kar naredimo z omogočanjem dostopa do virov zunaj življenjskega sveta, hkrati pa z aktiviranjem lastnih.

Socialno delo potrebuje dva seta trdnega znanja, da bi to lahko uresničilo. Prvi je o življenjskih svetovih uporabnikov, drugi pa o tem, kaj je na razpolago, kakšne dajatve so dostopne. Umetnost socialnega dela v tej operaciji je povezati eno vedenje z drugim. Tovrstno znanje navadno ustvarimo z izdelovanjem zemljevidov.

Zemljevidi

Izdelovanje zemljevidov oz. kartografija je ena izmed osnovnih metodologij v socialnem delu. Je način, kako predstaviti stvarnost na celosten način z uvrščanjem pomembnih zadev na »zemljevid«, s tem pa tudi oblikovanje prostorsko predstavljenih odnosov in razmerij, ki omogočajo »orientacijo« oz. »navigacijo« po doslej neoznačenem ozemlju, pa tudi dajejo celostno, integrativno razumevanje trenutnih vprašanj, ki so potemtakem temelj potrebnega dela.

Kakor v zemljepisu lahko zemljevidi predstavljajo tako različna ozemlja kot tudi različne vidike planjav, ki naj bi jih orisovali. Lahko so prostorski zemljevidi, ali, kot v sociometriji, zemljevidi osebnih razmerij, lahko ponazarjajo tok pogovora, teme, lahko kažejo na razlike v moči, tokove dobrin in dejanj, virov, predstavljajo načine dela, življenjske okoliščine. Lahko so preproste skice ali podrobne ponazoritve številnih parametrov. Uporabiti se jih da kot ozadje akcije, splošni vodnik delovanja, lahko pa jih uporabimo za to, da izostrimo specifična vozlišča, vprašanja, s katerimi se je treba ukvarjati.

Imamo že narejene splošne zemljevide človeškega ravnanja, kot na primer zemljevidi uživanja drog, opis strategij preživetja starih ljudi, načini sodelovanja otrok v delovanju šol itn. Take zemljevide lahko uporabimo, tudi če le za podlago za specifične zemljevide, ki jih je treba izdelati z določenega človeka, skupino ali skupnost, da bi z njimi odgovorili na njihove dejanske življenjske razmere in ponazorili njihovo življenjsko stvarnost. Na drugi strani pa obstajajo spiski dajatev (tam, kjer jih ni pa jih je treba skicirati). Tudi te je treba posodobiti, zarisati glede na njihovo relevantnost in ustreznost zemljevidov življenjskega sveta. Taki spiski, ki jih sproti ustvarjamo, morajo biti karseda obširni (ustvarimo jih lahko z možgansko nevihto – »brainstormingom«), da maksimiramo izbiro in ustreznost odgovora.

Operation A: Investigating Life-World and enabling access to resources (operations 2, Life-World 1)

Social work is about resources. This was at least the classic outlook on social work, but still valid. Social work users still mainly expect social workers to provide, i.e. to enable them to access the resources, which they could not access on their own – to get a job, a flat, financial benefit, service they need, etc. The finality of it, is nothing but improving one’s life, the world one lives in, his or her Life-World.

Life-World

Life-World (German Lebenswelt) is a phenomenological concept of the world as immediately or directly experienced in the subjectivity of everyday life – individually, socially, perceptually, and practically. It is the word we live in and is lived (erlebt) by us.

The notion of Life-World is important in social work since it is its starting point, its base of departure; it is where social work “meets people” and starts working together. Although social work uses tools that are pertaining also to the “other worlds” (world of social security, social theory, politics, institutions) the final criteria of successful or effective intervention is what happens in the Life-World itself, what really happens to people and is lived by the people concerned. Hence, the Life-World is the base and the measure of social work.

This operation is, therefore, about exploring the Life-World, to get to know it better, also to acquire greater sovereignty over it, and to find out what are the resources it contains and what is missing in it to provide a better life. Unlike anthropology, it is not a voyeuristic exercise, just of getting to know the ways people are living; it is geared towards bringing the missing resources to a Life-World from without, usually from the welfare state provision. It is therefore a pairing of the lived world with other worlds, too abstract to be immediately experienced, like the world of social security.

It could be said that social work is an amphibious position based both in the Life-World and in more abstract domains of legislation, economy, politics and especially of the welfare provision. A social worker could be seen as a broker between the two realities. He or she facilitates the redistributive flow of the resources from social accumulation to where people can make use of them. He also acts as an interpreter between the everyday language of living and the language of the abstract systems of provision delivery and entitlement.

Language of action in the Life-World

Social work does not have much its own special language, a jargon, a professional slang that would serve as the professional liturgy, as Latin has been in church. Partly this is so because social work has no temple, no special grand place where it is being practised (like hospital, court, prison, barracks …), partly because in social work there is no higher truth to be defended and related to people. Most importantly because social work is practising in the LW of their users and needs to be understood. Not having a jargon of it is own in social work is an advantage and necessity.

The fact is that we have to perform an operation quite contrary to the standard operation of other professions. Namely, the inmates of the special institutions have to learn the esoteric languages and pertaining rules of the institutions. Social workers, in turn, have, in order to understand what is going on between people, to learn their tongues, talks and speeches and underlying rules, relations, mores etc. So far - similar to anthropology. While the latter translates the learned into the deeper meanings of structures or functions, social work relies on the imminent and immanent meanings and their mappings and their transformation into action. The new meanings will be acquired after the questions: “what is to be done?” “What will we do?” “What will happen?” etc., have been asked.

The rationale of the operation is to render people being provided and equipped and it is being done by enabling access to resources on one hand, and activation of own resources on the other.

In order to do so, social work needs two sets of solid knowledge. One is on Life-Worlds of social work users the other is on what is there on offer, what is the accessible provision. The art of social work in this operation is to match one with another. This knowledge is usually created by mapping. 

Mapping

Mapping is one of the main methodologies in social work. It is a way of representing reality in a wholesome manner by putting all important items ‘on a map’ thus forming spatially represented relationships and thus enabling “orientation” or “navigation” through hitherto uncharted territory, giving a holistic, integrative understanding of the issues at hand and thus informing the needed action.

As in geography, the maps can represent not only different territories but also different aspects of the plane they tend to chart. They can be spatial maps or, as in Sociometry, chart personal relationships, they can portray the discussion, topics and themes, they can point out power differences, flows of good and acts, resources, ways of doing things, circumstances of living etc. They can be simple sketches or elaborate depictions of various parameters. They can serve as an underlying background to an action, a general guide for acting or it can be used to pinpoint specific knots, issues needing to be addressed.

Already made general maps of human behaviour, like mapping of the drug use in certain area, like knowledge of everyday life and coping strategies of old people, modes of children participation in schools etc., can be used – but only to inform the specific maps that need to be made for a specific person, group or community in order to address their actual living condition and show their living reality. On the other side there are existing inventories of the provision (if there are not, then they must be sketched). However, they must be updated, mapped according to the relevance and adequacy to the maps of the life world. They must be made as extensive as possible (by e.g. a brainstorming) in order to maximise choice and adequacy of the response.

Štiri osnovne operacije socialnega dela (1 - uvod)

[slovenska verzija besedila v prejšnjem blogu, uvod v serijo blogov o osnovnih operacijah socialnega dela]

 

Najbrž je najboljši način povedati, kako dela socialno delo, s tem, da predstavimo njegove osnove operacije. Da bi bolje živeli, je treba življenje spremeniti, kar s seboj prinaša tveganja. Da bi vedeli, kaj spremeniti, je treba vedeti, kaj v življenju obstaja, katere vire lahko za to uporabimo in kaj moramo pripeljati od zunaj. Da bi sprožili spremembo, pa tudi obvladali življenje potrebujemo moč. Partnerstvo ali zavezništvo pa potrebujemo, ne le zato, da nas pri tem nekdo podpre, ampak tudi, da povečamo zmožnost razmisleka in ravnanja. Ključne besede teh štirih osnovnih operacij socialnega dela so torej: odnosi, moč, spremembe in viri, in uvajajo operacije, ki jih moremo poimenovati: 1) delovni odnos ali zavezništvo, 2) krepitev moči ali okrepitev, 3) analiza tveganja ali zmanjševanje škode; in 4) raziskovanje življenjskega sveta in omogočanje dostopa do sredstev.

Te štiri operacije določa njihov namen, kar tudi predodredi načine njihovega izvajanja. Namen oblikovanja delovnega odnosa ali zavezništva je dobiti vpogled in ozir na situacijo, v kateri se nekdo nahaja, hkrati pa tudi s tem na dialoški način sprožiti delo in spremembe. To pa storimo deloma z govorom in razmislekom, predvsem pa s pomembnimi dejanji in delovanjem. Namen krepitve moči je je jasen – pridobiti moč – kar v glavnem storimo z zagovorništvom in pogajanjem zato, da bi povečali svoj družbeni položaj – osebni in družbeni kapital. Namen analize tveganja ali zmanjšanja škode je zanesljivost podviga (ne pa izogibanje tveganju) in jo izvedemo z analiziranjem, zavarovanjem in podporo pri prevzemanju tveganj. Raziskovanje življenjskega sveta in omogočanje dostopa do sredstev ima namen človeka preskrbeti in ga opremiti ter se izvaja tako, da se omogoči dostop do sredstev in aktiviranje lastnih virov.

Nameni, ki smo jih zgoraj pripisovali operacijam, so zgolj instrumentalnega značaj za uresničevanje osebnih namenov in cilje, so le orodja za njihovo uresničitev. Ne glede na to, kako majhen ali malenkosten je nek poseben osebni cilj, bo v sebi zajel in povzel splošne namene osnovnih operacij kakor tudi same operacije. Cilj operacije in želja, na kateri temelji, sta osnova operacij, njihov namen in cilj, njihov "raison d'être". 

Osnovne operacije socialnega dela torej ne moremo imeti za sredstvo doseganja nekakšnih metafizičnih ali transcendentalne namenov, temveč kot sredstva za doseganje osebnih, skupinskih ali celo institucionalnih želja, ki jih navadno oblikujemo kot cilje, pogosto kot potrebe, včasih v smislu nuj, včasih v smislu želje.

Four basic operations of social work (1 – introduction)

Perhaps the best way of presenting what social work does is by its basic operations. In order to have a better life, one has to change it, which brings about certain risks. To know what to change one needs to know what is there in one’s life, what are the resources that can be used and what needs to be imported from elsewhere. I order to induce change, but also to govern once life, one needs power to do so. A partnership or an alliance in a working relationship is needed in order to be not only supported but also increase the ability to reflect and perform. The key words of these four basic social work operations are therefore: relationship, power, change and resources introducing the operations that we choose to name: 1) work relationship or alliance, 2) empowerment, 3) risk analysis or harm reduction; and 4) investigation of the Life-World and enabling access to resources.

These four operations are defined by their purpose, which in turn presupposes their ways of doing them. The purpose of forming a work relationship or alliance is to gain an insight, a reflexion of the situation one is in, but also in a manner of dialogue to instigate  work, and change and is done mainly by speech and reflection, notwithstanding meaningful deeds and action. The purpose of empowerment is clear – to gain power – and this is mainly done by advocacy and negotiation in order to enhance one’s status – personal and social capital. The purpose of the risk analysis or harm reduction is security of venture (not so much risk avoidance) and is being done by analysing, securing and support in risk taking. The investigation of the Life-World and enabling access to resources has the purpose in being provided and equipped and is done by enabling access to resources and activation of own resources.

The purposes intrinsic to the operations as listed above are just instrumental to the personal finalities and are just tools to accomplish the latter. No matter how small and petty a specific personal goal may be, it has an overarching property regarding the purposes of the basic operations and the operation itself. The goal of an operation and its underlying desire is the basis of the operation and its purpose, finality and its “raison d’être”.

The social work basic operations are therefore not to be regarded as means of reaching some metaphysical or transcendental ends but means of reaching personal, group or even institutional desires usually articulated as goals, often as needs, sometimes in terms of necessities, sometimes in terms of wishes.[1]

---

[1] This blog is an introduction to a piece I am writing on the topic. There will be blogs following describing and analysing them in more detail.