Policy Press
5 Narrative and social policy
Abstract
Of all the areas explored in this book, social policy is the one that most likely seems the least amenable to being understood as a narrative enterprise. After all, policy operates at a level of abstraction far from individual narratives or concerns and policy documents do not always have an obvious narrative structure. Nevertheless, I suggest that policy documents can be understood narratively – both as narrative constructions in themselves and as being embedded in, and drawing on, other narratives. This is important as social policy narratives form a major part of the environment in which social workers must operate, framing the possibilities for the development of legitimate social work narratives. In this chapter I explore some of the narrative features of social policy and examine one area of social policy in more detail.
Narrative policy analysis is also less well developed than narrative approaches to other areas. The literature on narrative policy analysis has remained, predominantly, within the confines of specialist publications, unlike, for example, issues around narrative and politics that find expression not only in academic and professional journals but also in popular media. Further, the rather limited literature is also somewhat abstruse, being written about technical debates concerning, for example, national budgeting systems (Roe, 1988) or the implementation of telephone number portability (Bridgman and Barry, 2002).
Consequently, my intent here is rather modest – to provide an outline of narrative policy analysis, its key uses and its strengths and weaknesses. Following this, I seek to apply such an analysis to the UK’s National Dementia Strategy (NDS) and related documents as an illustration of method.
Abstract
Of all the areas explored in this book, social policy is the one that most likely seems the least amenable to being understood as a narrative enterprise. After all, policy operates at a level of abstraction far from individual narratives or concerns and policy documents do not always have an obvious narrative structure. Nevertheless, I suggest that policy documents can be understood narratively – both as narrative constructions in themselves and as being embedded in, and drawing on, other narratives. This is important as social policy narratives form a major part of the environment in which social workers must operate, framing the possibilities for the development of legitimate social work narratives. In this chapter I explore some of the narrative features of social policy and examine one area of social policy in more detail.
Narrative policy analysis is also less well developed than narrative approaches to other areas. The literature on narrative policy analysis has remained, predominantly, within the confines of specialist publications, unlike, for example, issues around narrative and politics that find expression not only in academic and professional journals but also in popular media. Further, the rather limited literature is also somewhat abstruse, being written about technical debates concerning, for example, national budgeting systems (Roe, 1988) or the implementation of telephone number portability (Bridgman and Barry, 2002).
Consequently, my intent here is rather modest – to provide an outline of narrative policy analysis, its key uses and its strengths and weaknesses. Following this, I seek to apply such an analysis to the UK’s National Dementia Strategy (NDS) and related documents as an illustration of method.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- About the authors ix
-
Narrative
- Introduction 3
- Introduction to narrative theory 13
-
Narrative and social work
- Narrative, human rights and social justice 31
- The narrative Self and social work 47
- Social work ethics and narrative 59
- Narrative and social policy 73
-
Application
- Plot, characterisation and rhetoric in child protection 85
- The narrative Self in mental health discourse 103
- Meta-narratives of disability 117
- Conclusion 133
- References 139
- Index 159
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- About the authors ix
-
Narrative
- Introduction 3
- Introduction to narrative theory 13
-
Narrative and social work
- Narrative, human rights and social justice 31
- The narrative Self and social work 47
- Social work ethics and narrative 59
- Narrative and social policy 73
-
Application
- Plot, characterisation and rhetoric in child protection 85
- The narrative Self in mental health discourse 103
- Meta-narratives of disability 117
- Conclusion 133
- References 139
- Index 159
