Work

‘You Just Treat me like a Human Being’: Using Lived Experience to (Re)imagine Boundary Practices in mental health settings

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: The personal/professional dichotomy, present within dominant notions of professional boundaries, is an ongoing source of tension within social work. Peer workers, given their positioning as both service users and workers, are uniquely placed to contribute to pre-existing efforts in unsettling this dichotomy. Our analysis, informed by dialogic sharing and theorising with fifteen peer support workers, alongside post-humanist and critical mental health approaches, considers the oppressive effects of enacting a personal/professional dichotomy within mental health settings, and conversely, the emancipatory potential of unsettling the dichotomy. Rather than conceptualising such events as boundary ‘crossings’, ‘incursions’ or ‘transgressions’, we suggest (re)imagining professional boundaries as multiple, enacted through ever-shifting socio-material relations. Our analysis supports pre-existing calls for a relational ethic of social work and highlights how lived experience and post-humanism can support the discipline’s commitment to anti-oppressive practices. We recommend further research, informed by lived experience, to explore the complex relations that constitute boundary practices and their effects for both social workers and service users.

Source: The British Journal of Social Work

DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcad044

Authors: Aimee Sinclair, Lyn Mahboub, Sue Gillieatt, Christina Fernandes

Institution: Curtin University

Language: English

Topic: Mental Health and Patient Involvement

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Australian Government