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Narrative Therapy Dissertation
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Introduction and Abstract |
Finding Common Ground Between Human Service Seekers, Providers, A Reauthoring Conversations Approach |
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A Dissertation by Maragaret Fierst Sax |
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Finding Common Ground Between Human Service Seekers, Providers,and Planners: A Reauthoring Conversations Approach
by Margaret Fierst Sax Dear readers, My PhD thesis applied a reauthoring conversations approach within a participatory action research design to explore "common ground experiences" between parents of children with special needs, family therapists, early childhood care and education providers and state & federal human service planners.The research project began with a parent's provocative statement: How can people check their power at the door and just bring their knowledge." From different perspectives, participants described common ground experiences as relationships that express friendship skills and contradict established practices of professional distancing. The study took place in Vermont, USA. In my literature review, I cross pollinated three social emancipatory movements: narrative ideas and practices, reinventing human services, and participative inquiry as a research methodology. On this site, you will find the abstract, the table of contents, and the first two chapters. Please contact me directly at peggys@middlebury.edu if you are earnestly interested in hearing more. Thank you for the opportunity to share my work.
Peggy Sax
This participatory action research project applied the ideas and practices of narrative therapy to investigate common ground experiences between human service seekers, providers, and planners. From the perspective of different roles, co-researchers told stories and consulted with each other about effective help-giving relationships and meaningful parent participation in the planning and delivery of human services. The context was Children's Upstream Services, a Vermont statewide initiative to strengthen community-based systems of care for families and children aged 0-6 who are at high risk or already experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges. Seventy-five participants within 20 interviews included parents of children with special needs, early childhood care and education providers, family therapists, and state and federal planners. Michael White's "reauthoring conversations" (White, 1995) guided the narrative research methodology, interviewing practices, and critical analysis of power relations. The narrative metaphor, social constructionism, and poststructuralism oriented the interpretive lens. Research participants identified the skills and knowledges that inform common ground experiences, externalized the constraints that can interfere, and deconstructed implicit cultural and professional discourses. This includes an exploration of professional privilege, meetings as professional constructs, confidentiality, and the rules of engagement. Partnership accountability was a central organizing construct, in which people are mutually accountable to each other, while those with more power take responsibility to amplify the voices less likely to be heard and hold themselves accountable to the people most affected by their actions (Tamasese & Waldergrave, 1993). The research findings point to the need for safe conversational contexts in which service seekers can speak and be heard about what they have learned through their life experiences. Common ground experiences&emdash;ally-to-ally support, effective help-giving, and meaningful parent involvement-- all are based on relationships that express friendship skills and which contradict the established practice of professional distancing. This poses implications for systems change and training to integrate theory and practice, professional and family training, and partnerships between parents and professionals. As reflective practitioners (Schon, 1983), service providers and planners need safe contexts in which to explore their personal accountability, so that they can take professional risks to question their assumptions and established practices.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
1. Introduction------ 1 Research Question 2 Relevance of Research 6 A Narrative Lens 11 Research Context 12 Research Design 16 Language 23 Dissertation Outline 28
2. The Play Metaphor 32 Vermont Context 32 Ethnicity and Socio-Economic Class 35 Research Cast of Characters 36 "Who's Who" 39 Sensitivity of Research Topic 50
3. Reinventing Human Services 54 Current situation 55 Parent-Professional Relationships 58 Review of the Literature 60 Community Development 61 Family Centered Practices 62 Family Support Movement 65 Children's Mental Health 67 Reinventing Vermont Human Services 70 Family-Centered, Community-Based Services 71 Early childhood mental health 73
4. Narrative Ideas and Practices 76 Philosophical Foundations 76 Social Constructionism 76 The Narrative Metaphor 78 Poststructuralist Inquiry 82 The Ideas and Practices of Narrative Therapy 83 Reflecting Teamwork 88 The Ethics of Collaboration 90 Power Relations 90 Partnership Accountability 95 Applications of Narrative Ideas and Practices 96 Organization and Community Change 96 Narrative Research Methodology 101 5. Participative Inquiry 103 Action-Oriented Research 105 Organizational Learning 108 Theories of Action 109 The Reflective Contract 111 Literature Review Summary 114
6. Research Design and Methodology 116 Action-Oriented Research Design 116 Narrative Research Methodology 121 Narrative Interviewing Practices 121 Facilitating Change 123 Narrative Analysis 124 Data Collection 126 Data Analysis 129 Research Reflexivity 133
7. Designated Roles 139 Role Distinctions 140 The Role of the Service Seeker 142 Anger 147 Self-Confidence 149 Friendship 149 The Role of the Provider 150 Professional Agenda 150 Professional Impatience 152 Professionals are Human 153 Professionals as Extended Family 155 The Role of the Planner 156 Power Relations 158 Straddling Multiple Roles 161 8. Narrative Practices 167 The Narrative Interview 167 Practices of Acknowledgement 169 Communal Acknowledgement 172 A Spirit of Inquiry 174 Documentation of Alternative Knowledges 177 Letter Writing 178 Outsider Witness Practices 180 Reauthoring Conversations 181 Building Community 182 Experiencing Oneself as Knowledgeable 183 Real Effects on Lives and Relationships 185
9. Power Relations 190 The Rules of Engagement 191 Deconstructing Cultural and Professional Discourses 196 Confidentiality as a Professional Discourse 199 Narrative Rules of Engagement 201 Two-Way Accounts 202 Decentering Practices 206 Skills of Resistance 210 Challenge the Power Imbalance 210 Acknowledge Constraints 213
10. Relationship Building 215 Common Ground Relationships 216 Meaningful Parent Involvement 217 Ally-to-ally Services 221 Effective Help-giving Relationships 224 Friendship Skills 226 Women's Friendships 231 Relevance for the Help-giving Relationship 233
11. Partnership Accountability 236 Remember to Ask the Cook! 237 Invitation to Professional Responsibility 240 Professional Privilege 243 Meetings as Professional Constructs 245 Taking Professional Risks 247 Walking the Talk 252 Personal Accountability 256 Transforming Frustration 262 12. Steps Toward Action for Systems Change 267 Systems Change 268 Ally-to-ally Support 268 Partner with Parents 269 Integrate Professional and Family Training 273 Integrate Practice and Theory 273 Support Change from Within 276 Paperwork and the Professional Agenda 279 Learning Opportunities for Effective Help-giving Practices 282 Technical Knowledge 283 Help-giver Traits and Attitudes 284 Participatory Practices 291
13. Discussion 298 Participatory Action Research 299 Narrative Ideas and Practices 301 Parent-Professional Relationships 303 Systems Change 306 Collaborative Learning Opportunities 307 The Power of Conversation 310 Implications of Findings 311 Personal Reflections 312 Theoretical Significance 313 Directions for Future Research 317 Limitations of Study 319 Epilogue 321
References 323
Appendix A: Michael White Video Edit (data set #1) 339 Appendix B: Letters to Communities 343 Appendix C: Letters from Participants 383
List of Tables Page Table 1: Data Sets 127-129 Table 2: Coded Transcript Case #1 Video Edit (Appendix A) 132 Table 3: PAR Action-Reflection Quadrants 300
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