Art in Social Work Practice

Theory and Practice: International Perspectives

Ephrat Huss, Eltje Bos, Ephrat Huss, Eltje Bos

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351386272
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Lavoro in ambito sociale

This is the first book ever to be published on arts use in social work. Bringing together theoretical connections between arts and social work, and with practice examples of arts in micro and macro social work practice from around the world, the book aims to inspire the reader with new ideas. It provides specific skills, defines what is social rather than fine or projective art use, and explains the theoretical connection between art and social work. It has chapters from all over the world, showing how arts are adjusted to different cultural contexts.

SectionI explores the theoretical connections between art and social work, including theories of resilience, empowerment, inclusion and creativity as they relate to art use in social work. SectionII describes specific interventions with different populations. Each chapter also summarizes the skills and hands-on knowledge needed for social workers to use the practical elements of using arts for social workers not trained in these fields. The third section does the same for arts use in community work and as social change and policy.

Using Art in Social Work Practice provides theoretical but also hands-on knowledge about using arts in social work. It extends the fields of both social work and arts therapy and serves as a key resource for students, academics and practitioners interested in gaining the theoretical understanding and specific skills for using social arts in social work, and for arts therapists interested in using social theories.

Section I

Introduction

Theoretical connections between art and social work

Ephrat Huss

‘Theory’ sounds like a nice pursuit for academics and writers, but social practitioners with a huge group of clients to deal with often feel they don’t have time to delve into theoretical issues. Theory and practice are often experienced as two disconnected areas: ‘practice knowledge’ as being different from ‘theoretical knowledge’. Theory raises the split between psychological and social theories and between social work as an ‘art’ and as a ‘science’ as described in the general introduction. Social work has been slow to embrace its theoretical connections with the arts, using arts more as a leitmotif, that is, as an illustration of words or as a general romanticized concept of creativity. Often it is used as the opposite of ‘science’ (although science is, of course, very creative, and arts can be very exact).

We have put this theoretical part first in the book as we believe it is vital to theorize the arts connection to social work so that arts become another methodology within the epistemology of social work, rather than becoming a form of ‘doing’ an activity or illustration, or becoming a distraction from social work’s aims. That is, practice must always emerge from clear theory. In this case, this will enable social workers to harness the arts to their own aims in their work and to utilize their own creativity. Rather than following recipes of ‘what to do’, they will think of ‘why to do’ and will work from this (Wang & Burris, 1994; Martinez & Endz, 1997; Chamberlayn & Smith, 2008; Story, 2008; Huss, 2015, 2017).

As stated, each psychological and social theory used in social work, including dynamic, object relations, ego psychology, humanistic, existential, gestalt, narrative, mind-body, CBT, systemic empowerment, critical theories, positive psychology, conflict negotiation, community organization and intervention, and cultural theories, to name a few, has a conception of what is a problem, what is a solution, and what is the role of art in relation to these. This provides a basis for understanding the relationship between art and social work.

The use of art through theory enables the deconstruction of the concept of using art according to a specific ‘population’, which is problematic as it provides a static definition of service users according to the single parameter of their presenting problem. Additionally, all types of problems that define populations are conceptualized differently according to different theories. For example, if addiction is understood as an illness, then art will be used to self-regulate the system. If addiction is understood as a defence against traumatic memories or is understood as a lack of hope due to social marginalization, then art will be used in a different way. The good thing about art is that it can hold all of these understandings simultaneously, thus providing a broad hermeneutic and integrative space for social workers to implement their interdisciplinary understandings.

An example I use to explain this is the story of the coat of many colours of Joseph in the Bible (Genesis, 37, p. 3), as a symbol familiar to many. Joseph is one of twelve brothers, ten of whom are his half-brothers born to four different mothers. Joseph’s own mother, Rachel, died giving birth to a younger brother. Joseph was his father’s favourite son and, consequently, his brothers’ most-hated sibling. They threw him into a pit because of their hatred. His most treasured possession was a coloured coat, a gift from his father that he wore at all times. He is described in the Bible as a troubled boy wondering around in this brilliantly coloured coat. How can social workers use this art object, the coat of many colours, through different theories?

Using psychological theories, from a dynamic perspective, the coloured coat could be understood as a transitional object, or in terms of object relations, as a metaphor for Joseph’s narcissistic compensation for his lack of an interjected mother object. From a Jungian perspective, the coat is a kind of mandala, or expression of self, and the pit into which his brothers throw him can be understood as his meeting with his ‘shadow’. From a humanistic perspective, the coat is a metaphor for a disturbed young man trying to define his specific ‘colours’ and holding on to his holistic potential. From a narrative and CBT perspective, the coat is a symbol that gives him strength to continue in the face of his brothers’ rejection. The meanings attributed to the coat can be explored with Joseph, and the coat can be changed as needed, for example, by modulating the intensity of its colours, deciding when to wear it, or by creating a set of different coats.

Using social theories, from a systemic perspective, the coat is an expression of Joseph’s dominant role within the family system and of the coalition between him and his father. From a social–cultural perspective, considering Biblical tribal culture, the coat is an accepted sign of bestowing the social role of leader of the family onto the most suitable child even in the face of competition over who will lead the family. From a queer-theory perspective, the coat can symbolize gay pride. From an empowerment perspective, the coat can symbolize the rejection of accepted ways of dressing or a defiance against feeling invisible as a marginal Jewish group that becomes slave or visually signifying social responsibility to others. Again, these meanings can be understood and extended into actions, such as making a coat for all of the brothers in the family, defining social actions for each colour of the coat, or thinking where to wear it so that it is most visible and effective. The coat can be understood through these and through many additional theories, but most importantly, it can hold all of these different theoretical perspectives together. The social worker, if she understands the theoretical meanings of the coat, can decide which direction to take in terms of utilizing this art object for the aims of intervention at that particular time, and maybe can shift between the different understandings throughout the treatment period.

From the above, we see that the arts can be extremely useful for social work, if, as outlined in the general introduction, it is defined broadly as a type of visual culture that goes beyond individualized and expressive arts (i.e., the service user’s coat). All of these ideas are present with the chapters of this section. The first chapter, by Eltje Bos of Holland, points to the connections between arts and resilience theories. The second chapter, by Emma Brodzinski of England and Tony Evans of the United States, explores the concept of creative thinking in decision-making in social work policy. The chapter will argue that dramatic forms have the potential to capture and represent aspects of practice, which are often missed or ignored in more static, language-focused accounts of expertise. This chapter thus touches upon the creative and embodied aspects of arts as enriching social work decision-making. The third chapter, by Paola de Bruijn and Erik Jansen of Holland, shows how arts can be used to create a personal narrative with the elderly that integrates the spaces between a person’s sense of identity and his social context and interaction with others.

The fourth chapter, by Susan Levy of Scotland, explores the use of arts as a humanistic prism that helps to broaden the lens through which practitioners view what people with disabilities and other marginalized groups can and can’t do. The arts are used to create spaces for meaningful activities that focus on the individual’s strengths and personality, thus destigmatizing and enriching the interactions with special-needs service users. The fifth chapter, by Mieko Yoshihama of the United States, shows how photovoice becomes a way to co-produce knowledge with silenced groups of service users about their traumatic experiences that is embedded in their specific cultural context. Leanne Schubert and Mel Gray of Australia, in the sixth chapter, connect arts to social theories, and Ducca Cisneros of Spain, in the seventh chapter, describes how theatre of the oppressed becomes a method to raise critical consciousness.

The eighth chapter, by Shelley Cohen Konrad and Lori Power of the United States, focuses on arts as a way to connect and activate social change initiatives by using the growing recognition of the influence of entertainment and the arts on social opinion and politics, showing how art serves as a visible reminder of injustices that provoke critical thought and, at times, social action. In the final chapter of this section, Noa Barkai-Kra of Israel describes the use of arts as a feminist empowerment method for the predominantly female field of social work to fight for their professional rights.

References

Chamberlayn, P., & Smith, M. (2008). Art creativity and imagination in social work practice. London, UK: Routledge.

Huss, E. (2015). A theory based approach to art therapy. London, UK: Routledge.

Huss, E. (2017). Arts as a methodology for connecting between micro and macro knowledge in social work: Examples of impoverished Bedouin women’s images in Israel. The British Journal of Social Work, 48(1), 73–87.

Martinez-Brawley, E., & Endz, M. (1997). At the edge of the frame: Beyond science and art in social work. British Journal of Social Work, 28, 197–212.

Story, L. (2008). SwART a natural pairing. Journal of Creative Work, 2(1), 172–185.

Wang, C., & Burris, M. (1994). Empowerment through photo-novella. Health Education Quarterly, 21, 172–185.

1 Why are arts-based interventions useful in social work practice?

Eltje Bos

Introduction

The social worker, since she is close to the people she works with, either in a neighbourhood or in more or less institutionalized settings, can inspire, seduce, accompany, help, and coach people to change the way they see themselves and their environment. Welfare workers in neighbourhoods listen and pay attention to what happens in daily life, knowing how the various inhabitants live together. They observe them in their best and in their most vulnerable moments and support individual participation and social cohesion as well as they can (Bergen & Wilken, 2016). In care-oriented settings, social workers support service users according to their needs, also involving their support systems. In all cases, it is about assisting people to achieve outcomes in their lives that reflect their capabilities and enable them to lead a life they choose (Sen, 1999; Nussbaum, 2011).

This contribution explores how and in what context the use of arts-based interventions can contribute to the enhancement of individual, group, and community empowerment. To explore this, we first turn to the domain of positive psychology. Scholars such as Csikszentmihalyi (1997) and Frederickson (1998) explored the impact of positive emotions. In doing so, they reacted to the dominant focus on negative emotions in psychology. These emotions tend to narrow people’s focus, thinking, and ‘thought-action’ capacities. Negative emotions are also the cause of problems for people and their environment. Positive psychology looks at positive emotions and their impact on an individual and her environment.

Positive psychology

In 1998, Frederickson published an article titled ‘What good are positive emotions?’ The purpose of the article was ‘to introduce a new model of the form and function of a subset of discrete positive emotions’ (Frederickson, 1998, p. 1). Not only did she level the uneven knowledge base between negative and positive emotions, but she also intended to enhance ‘applications and interventions that might improve individual and collective functioning, psychological well-being, and physical health’ (Frederickson, 1998, p. 1). She refers to a wide range of research literature to show how—repeated—positive emotions influence people’s thinking and acting (thought-action repertoire). People that experience repeated positive emotions feel better and are more open. This, in turn, has the effect of building individual’s physical, intellectual, and social resources. Frederickson refers to this finding as the ‘Broaden and Build’ model. The model thus assumes that positive emotions are necessary for sound individual and collective functioning. Frederickson focuses on a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment, and love. She considers these emotions to be fundamental human resources with multiple advances.

Positive emotions build and broaden the thought-action repertoire and counter lingering negative emotions. They also fuel psychological resilience and help to develop this resilience; thus, they contribute to an upward spiral to enhanced emotional well-being. These positive emotions she refers to can be evoked by a wide variety of activities, among them being the active and receptive participation in arts and culture (Bos, 2016). According to Csikszentmihalyi (1997), people are happiest when they experience a state of ‘flow’. This state is described as ‘being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. This is a feeling everyone has at times, characterized by a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfilment, and skill’ (Geirland, 1996, n.p.). Csikszentmihalyi suggested that people are happiest in a—repeated—state of flow.

Nonetheless, the idea of positive experiences needs to be elaborated a bit more, since positive experiences do not have a similar effect on individuals. We know there are differences in how traumatized people react to therapeutic interventions. In the nineties of the last century, there were findings in psychology that showed strong relations to genes and weak relations to environmental factors (Haidt, 2006). In the late nineties of the last century, Martin Seligman started his research in positive psychology, and his team researched what external factors, next to genetic factors, matter for happiness. Lyubomirsky (cited in Haidt, 2006) found two main factors: the conditions of one’s life and the (voluntary) activities that one undertakes. These conditions consist of matters that are impossible or hard to influence, such as age, gender, ‘race’, and factors that are influenceable, like the place one lives, income, whether one is married/living with someone, and so on. Voluntary activities are activities one chooses to undertake, such as sports, meditation, photography, painting, or learning a language. Lyubomirsky brought these factors together in what was called the Happiness Formula:

H = S + C + V

1 H is happiness.

2 S is the biological (genetic) set point.

3 C are the conditions/circumstances.

4 V are voluntary activities, the things one chooses to do.

It is posited that the social professional can inspire, seduce, and support people to undertake voluntary activities and change their circumstances. She can support people to find out what activities they might enjoy or stimulate people to look for those activities, and she might even facilitate o...