6 Sympathy and micropolitics in return-to-work meetings
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Pia H. Bülow
Abstract
One of the key tenets of this edited volume is that the study of communication patterns during multi-agency welfare meetings is pertinent to the understanding of current social policies and their implementation and practices in everyday life. In this chapter, multi-agency return-to-work meetings are explored with a focus on the emotional underpinnings of institutional practice assembling various parties of the rehabilitation process. In particular, attention is paid to alliances and the ways in which various alliances may or may not reflect sympathy towards service users and their troubles. To this end, the chapter leans on the concept of ‘sympathy’ as an emotion that bonds, especially in difficult times. However, as Candace Clark (1997) elaborates, sympathy or rather its lack thereof can magnify differences between those who are better off and those who are worse off. The aim is to discuss the context of multi-agency welfare meetings via the prism of sympathy and the role of alliances between service users, professionals and employers in promoting or discouraging spells of sympathy during such meetings.
The following section sheds light on the context of the Swedish work rehabilitation process and the institutional as well as emotional character of return-to-work meetings. Thereafter, the theoretical grounding based on the work of Candace Clark and her concept of ‘sympathy’ is presented. Following the presentation of methods is an analysis of several situations from two return-to-work meetings and a discussion about the place of sympathy and alliance in the institutional context.
Abstract
One of the key tenets of this edited volume is that the study of communication patterns during multi-agency welfare meetings is pertinent to the understanding of current social policies and their implementation and practices in everyday life. In this chapter, multi-agency return-to-work meetings are explored with a focus on the emotional underpinnings of institutional practice assembling various parties of the rehabilitation process. In particular, attention is paid to alliances and the ways in which various alliances may or may not reflect sympathy towards service users and their troubles. To this end, the chapter leans on the concept of ‘sympathy’ as an emotion that bonds, especially in difficult times. However, as Candace Clark (1997) elaborates, sympathy or rather its lack thereof can magnify differences between those who are better off and those who are worse off. The aim is to discuss the context of multi-agency welfare meetings via the prism of sympathy and the role of alliances between service users, professionals and employers in promoting or discouraging spells of sympathy during such meetings.
The following section sheds light on the context of the Swedish work rehabilitation process and the institutional as well as emotional character of return-to-work meetings. Thereafter, the theoretical grounding based on the work of Candace Clark and her concept of ‘sympathy’ is presented. Following the presentation of methods is an analysis of several situations from two return-to-work meetings and a discussion about the place of sympathy and alliance in the institutional context.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables viii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- From a collaborative and integrated welfare policy to frontline practices 9
- Examining talk and interaction in meetings of professionals and service users 33
- How chairs use the pronoun ‘we’ to guide participation in rehabilitation team meetings 63
- Working within frames and across boundaries in core group meetings in child protection 83
- Alignment and service user participation in low-threshold meetings with people using drugs 115
- Sympathy and micropolitics in return-to-work meetings 141
- Negotiating epistemic rights to knowledge concerning service users’ recent histories in mental health meetings 171
- Relational agency and epistemic justice in initial child protection conferences 197
- Conclusion 225
- Postscript 241
- Index 247
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables viii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- From a collaborative and integrated welfare policy to frontline practices 9
- Examining talk and interaction in meetings of professionals and service users 33
- How chairs use the pronoun ‘we’ to guide participation in rehabilitation team meetings 63
- Working within frames and across boundaries in core group meetings in child protection 83
- Alignment and service user participation in low-threshold meetings with people using drugs 115
- Sympathy and micropolitics in return-to-work meetings 141
- Negotiating epistemic rights to knowledge concerning service users’ recent histories in mental health meetings 171
- Relational agency and epistemic justice in initial child protection conferences 197
- Conclusion 225
- Postscript 241
- Index 247
