'n Narratiewe postmoderne bemagtigingsbenadering in maatskaplike groepwerk met voorheen benadeelde individue uit agtergeblewe gemeenskappe
Abstract
By means of a literature study, this article focuses on providing social workers with insight
regarding the process of empowering people from previously disadvantaged communities through
a narrative approach to social group work. Communities ought to be motivated to play a role in
their own development and be guided beyond their negativity and helplessness. The researchers
believe that the community’s active participation during the identification of their own needs, as
well as their own subsequent real-life experiences and achievements, will lead to further motivation
and empowerment. Although the narrative method is primarily used in therapy, the same
assumptions and principles can also be applied in the context of group work. The hypothesis of
the social construction theory on which narrative therapy is based, theorises that the “self” is
constructed within social interaction. Community members are given the opportunity to make
sense of their lives through the relation of their life experiences. Social group work gives the “self”
a piece of the bigger social network in which the “self” can develop. Social group work with a
narrative base is furthermore also studied through a postmodern (rather than modernistic)
approach, which similarly advocates the belief that events and experiences in everyday life have
a direct influence on the development of the “self”. In contrast with modernism which assumes
single truths, postmodernism is founded upon the assumption that there are no absolute truths
and that the world is a subjective experience. Community members are thus seen in relation to
their complex network of relationships with others and the “self”. Empowerment starts with the
relevant party, the way in which he/she gives meaning to it as well as the way in which he/she
wants to approach it. Complementing the narrative approach, postmodernism regards language
as fundamental, seeing that language constructs meaning and also influences the way in which
reality is viewed. The “self” is seen as a continuously evolving and developing entity. Through
postmodernism, the question of “how” the “self” plays a role in the way the relevant party creates
sense and meaning for himself, is addressed. The “self” is seen as a system which seeks and
creates meaning through dominant beliefs about the “self” (Monk, Windslade, Crocket &
Epston,1997:33-34; White, 2007:137). These thoughts place individuals in charge of their own
lives by creating alternative ways to understand their “self”. Individuals thus create the meaning
of their own lives. During therapy, new meanings with regard to the “self” are formed by
constructing alternative stories. Individuals make sense of their lives by relating life experiences within their context and relationships with others. Meaning is therefore attached to their lives
through the stories they construct about their lives. Thus, life and stories are recursive in relation
to each other; each influencing the other. Through interaction and the relaying of narratives, the
relevant individual’s life develops – which incorporates the idea of empowerment. The construction
of a self-narrative contributes to the therapeutic task, the redevelopment of personal narratives
and the reconstruction of identity (White & Epston, 1990:15). Therapeutic social group work thus
provides individuals with an opportunity to develop their lives through the construction of
alternative stories and new meanings. The “self” is described by the researchers as a construct
existing of a dynamic self, a social self as well as a preferred self, which are used in combination
to attempt a richer description of the way in which individuals make life choices. These three
selves influence each other continuously and reciprocally while the circumstances within which
a person functions also has an influence. Although the accountability of self-narratives depends
on the interpretation thereof by others, the researchers add that the “self” for the individual is
dependent on what he/she experiences in different situations. Social work requires an awareness
of the developing social self of others, but also carries an awareness of his/her own “self”. The
“self” of the social worker will have an influence on a relevant empowerment process, but the
researchers also describe how the worker’s own “self” will simultaneously be influenced. By
using the narrative approach, the involved parties are thus given an opportunity of personal
empowerment which refers to the individual’s own ability to generate development. The immediate
needs of the individuals are identified through the intense reality described by the individuals’
stories. If social workers consider and manage these descriptions seriously, it equips the relevant individuals with a feeling of control over their lives – with a subsequent increased quality of life.
The researchers strongly believe that this experience empowers community members. The narrative
approach challenges the social worker to overcome the client’s social construction of his situation
and needs. By use of externalisation, the individual gets the opportunity to investigate these needs
intensely, while he/she is assisted through the process to explore new and unique outcomes. These
outcomes for inspired empowerment might be lodged within an individual’s skills, talents, work
opportunities, values and hopes. The social worker can assist in identifying these outcomes through
facilitation of a group of individuals; and by so doing, leading them to improved social functioning.
The effects of a narrative approach on social group work within the social work environment are
thus studied with the intention of self-development and self-empowerment
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- Faculty of Education [741]