7.1. Professional distancing and emotion
In the literature review I referred to O’Leary et al’s (2013: 136) suggestion that the boundaries of the service user / social worker relationship need to be reframed to accommodate ‘geographical, socio-political, economic and cultural differences’. In
this study I examined the boundaries of the mental health service user / social worker relationship in relation to how religion and spirituality are engaged with in mental health social work practice in Northern Ireland. Analysis suggested that whilst the social worker participants did not question the place of religion and / or spirituality in the lives of some mental health service users, discussion focused around the legitimacy of engaging with it in professional social work practice. Analysis suggested that discussing religion, spirituality and mental distress may test the boundaries of the mental health service user / social worker relationship in two ways. Firstly, practitioners expressed that exploring religion and spirituality with the service user would lead the service user to “know” what denomination the practitioner belonged to. This “knowledge”, according to social worker participants, would have a negative impact upon the service user relationship, particularly if they came from different denominations. Secondly, some of the social worker participants talked about the high level of emotion the subject evoked for them personally. This prompted consideration about how the practitioner’s emotions are managed within the social worker / service user relationship.
Current discussions about religion and spirituality within social work practice consider the degree to which the practitioner’s spiritual life can and should remain separate from their professional life (Crisp 2010: 27 cited Crisp 2008; Lindsay 2002). There is now a growing suggestion that social workers need to explore their own spirituality if they are going to be effective in recognising the place of spirituality and / or religion in service users’ lives, as relevant to their current life situation. This approach is based on the belief that all persons have a spirituality whether this is based in religious or secular perspectives. It is interesting to consider how this sits alongside the idea that professionalism in social work practice requires the practitioner to separate personal life from professional practice (Turney, 2010: 135). This is an approach which I suggest must be critically examined not only in relation to religion and spirituality, but as an overall consideration about what it means to be “professional”. I discuss this further in relation to Green et al’s (2006) work on professional distancing and O’Leary et al’s (2013) call to re-examine the boundaries of the service user/ social worker relationship.
Throughout the interviews there was a tangible awareness of the emotion which this subject evokes in all participants. At the outset of fieldwork I expected that as
service users talked about religion and spirituality within their experience of mental distress they could become “emotional”. However, upon reflection the subject appeared to be more emotive for some social worker participants as they talked about religion and spirituality within their personal lives and in practice. It is this idea of how the practitioner’s personal life and professional practice intersect that is of particular interest here.
Whilst all social worker participants were clear about the inappropriateness of imposing their own beliefs upon a service user, otherwise known as proselytising, there was greater ambiguity about the emotional aspect of practice in relation to religion and / or spiritual beliefs. In chapter four I discussed professional boundary making and the idea of professional distancing (Green et al, 2006). There was significant variation amongst social worker participants regarding how to manage self within the social worker/ service user relationship. Some social worker participants were adamant that that you “leave yourself at the door” when you meet a service user. In this approach, analysis suggested that social worker participants sought to isolate and keep distinct, their own experiences and views about religion and spirituality from their professional practice, as mentioned above. These social worker participants appeared to separate their personal experiences regarding religion and spirituality, and explorations about the subject within their practice. Other social worker participants expressed a second approach, where they were aware of their own spiritual and / or religious beliefs and the experiences and emotions which surrounded them. Interestingly, these practitioners did not isolate discussions about religion and spirituality into personal life and professional life. Instead, they discussed the personal and the professional in tandem; they allowed the professional and the personal to interrupt one another.
This study suggests therefore that the exploration of religion and spirituality within mental health social work practice in Northern Ireland challenges the boundaries of the service user / social work relationship. O’Leary et al (2013: 136) proposes the need to reframe the bounds of the service user / social worker relationship is particularly needful in non-Western societies where professional socialisation may create barriers to social work practice. However, this study suggests this is also necessary when exploring subjects that are culturally sensitive as the social workers have also been socialised within this context. In this study is it clear that religion and
spirituality evoked various responses amongst social worker participants. It appeared that this sensitivity significantly contributed to the subject not being explored with mental health service users in practice. Thus, the study builds upon O’Leary et al’s (2013) call for a more ‘connected, inclusive, reflective and participatory approach’ to the social worker/ service user relationship which addresses the particular contexts of the relationship. I suggest that whilst a more connected approach in relation to religion, spirituality and mental distress might challenge existing approaches to the subject, it is only by addressing the particular contexts of the relationship that mental health service users and social workers are enabled to explore it in practice. This is discussed below.