Radical Social Work is a bit of a challenge when we live in interesting times. But hey, don't we always live in interesting times? Last night I attended Pam Trevithick's talk in Brisbane about radical social work. She is visiting Griffith University's School of Human Services and Social Work. She reckons that there is room for those with grey hair and nothing left to loose to take on the issues.
A social worker seasoned in mental health services in various settings claimed her established credibility enabled more radical solutions now she was part of the system, while others mentioned actions they'd undertaken in their early pre-credibility days that had a workable audacity.
Pam noted that the image of a gracefully floating swan for SWAN (Social Workers Action Network ,UK) did not capture the radical intentions, but perhaps the action is all happening beneath the calm surface...
As a grey haired recent graduate I think I could combine the audacity of not knowing what to fear in the existing systems with the sense of urgency that comes with knowing I don't have endless years to muck around with.
http://www.socialworkfuture.org/
http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/school-human-services-social-work
Ha! found you purely by chance! what fun!
ReplyDelete