Relational & Cultural Theory & Social Work Practice

Introduction
 Grounded in feminist theory
 Developmental approach
 Shift from separation to relationship as the basis of development

Relational Theory
 Based on idea that men & women experience the construction of the “self” in different ways.
 Women’s sense of “self” becomes organized around relationships.
 Contrasts with other theories of human development that focus on individuation & autonomy

Traditional Theories of Psychological Development
 Growth involves a process of separating from relationships.
 Growth is the process of becoming more independent, autonomous,
self-sufficient.

Developmental Perspective
 Childhood:
 Attachment focuses on relationship between child and mother
 Industry vs Inferiority
 girls invested in relationships, boys learning rules fo the game

Adolescence
 Increased capacities: cognitive, sexual, sense of agency, aggression
 Boys: period of “opening up”
 Girls: period of “shutting down”
 Conflict potential: Girls seek to use all their capacities, but seek to do so within a context of “self - in- relationship”.


Adolescence
 Perceived goal of adolescence= Distinctly separated self

Relational-Cultural Theory Proposes:
 Growth-fostering relationships are a central human necessity throughout our lives and chronic dis-connections are the source of psychological problems.
 Relationships are highly defined by the cultural context.

Reflecting on Relationships
 Think of someone who contributed positively to your growth…How did that person make a difference?
 Think of a time that you felt you contributed to the growth of another person…What did you do that made a difference?

What are the outcomes of a growth-fostering relationship?
• Energy
• Action
• Clarity
• Sense of Worth
• Desire for More Connection

Five Outcomes of Disconnection
 Diminished Energy
 Diminished Action
 Confusion
 Diminished Sense of Worth
 Avoid Relationships; Isolation


Key Concepts in RCT
 Mutual Empathy
 A two-way (or more) dynamic process that functions as a central component of psychological growth.
 Connection based on the authentic thoughts and feelings of all the participants in the relationship.

Mutual Empowerment
 A two-way (or more) dynamic process that functions as a central component of psychological growth, which grows out of mutual empathy in a relationship (Jordan, 1986)
 The five good things lead to the outcome of mutual empowerment.

Authenticity
 “Authenticity is ever-evolving, not achieved at any one moment—
it is a person’s ongoing ability to represent herself in relationships more fully” (Miller, 1999); with awareness of the possible impact on the other person (Jordan, 2003).
 “…authenticity is a process in movement—we move in and out of more or less authenticity as a consequence of the relational dynamics” (Miller, 1999).


Movement Toward Mutuality
 A dynamic process in which the individuals
engaged in a relationship are increasingly able to be authentic and authentically
responsive to each other’s thoughts and feelings.
 Movement toward emotional and cognitive action that benefits both people in a relationship, which involves mutual empathy, authenticity, mutual empowerment, and mutual responsiveness.


Culture and Connection
 Each Person in a Relationship Embodies the Culture
 Each person has multiple social identities.
 race, gender, class, sexual orientation, etc.
 Social identities are stratified.
 dominant – subordinate, better than – less than (Walker, 1999).

Difference and Power
 “Differences are profoundly stratified. The stratification, not the difference, constrains our capacity for authenticity and undermines our desire for connection” (Walker, 2002).
 Power-over practices
 Suppress difference.
 Interpret difference as opposition.
 Diminishes authentic engagement in relationships.
 Impedes movement toward mutuality in relationships.
 Limits one’s ability to find and engage in growth-fostering relationships.

Growing-Fostering Relationships…Research
 A relationship with one supportive adult is associated with good outcomes when children are faced with:
 Parent mental illness (Rutter, 1979).
 Separation from a parent (Rutter, 1971).
 Marital discord (Rutter, 1971).
 Divorce (Wallerstein & Kelly, 1990).
 Poverty (Garmezy, 1991).
 Child maltreatment (Cicchetti, 1989).
 Multifaceted or combinations of risk factors (Seifer et al., 1996).
Parent-Family Connections
 Study of over 36,000 adolescents in grades 7-12 found that parent-family connectedness provided adolescents with protection against emotional distress and suicide (Resnick, et al., 1993).

Parent School Connections
 Study of 12,000 adolescents, independent of race, class, SES, connection reduced an adolescent’s risk of violence, substance abuse, depression, early sexual activity, suicidal behavior (Resnick et al., 1997).

Connection Throughout the Lifespan
 Berkman & Syme (1979)
demonstrated that men and women
who have contact with close friends and relatives,
who are married, or who participate in formal or informal groups, have “lower mortality rates than respondents lacking such connections” (p. 188).
Community/Social Connectedness
 In his national analysis of social connectedness, Harvard professor Robert Putnam (2000) noted that studies:
 “...have established beyond reasonable doubt that social connectedness is one of the most powerful determinants of our well-being” (p. 326).
 “...happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections” (p. 332).

Relational-Cultural Therapy in Practice
 Developing mutual empathy
 Attending to the quality of connection in the relationship
 Attending to the impact of power on therapy and other relationships
 Understanding and honoring strategies of disconnection
 Understanding relational and controlling images

Reversing the central relational paradox:
 Defined: In the face of repeated experiences of disconnection, people yearn even more for relationships. However, they also become so afraid of engaging with others that they keep important parts of the themselves out of relationship, i.e., they develop techniques for staying out of connection
(Miller & Stiver,1997)

Relational Theory
 Dichotomous relationship
 self-differentiation and interpersonal connection viewed as distinct
 People create lives within web of relationships to others ( contextual)
Relational Theory and Aboriginal Women (Paprowski, 1997)
 “Separation” noted as predominant risk factor for suicidality
 culture, community, families, spirituality,
 Identity formation is altered as a result of loss of cultural and social contexts.

Themes
 All women were separated from parents, and community
 Caregivers did not form emotional connections with women (isolation)
 Suicide attempts viewed as act of “dis-connection” (central relational paradox)

Separation & Connection
 Choosing to “not attempt” resulted in feelings of connection with others
 Separation from harmful people/places contributed to healing
 Reconnecting to family, ancestry and/or culture part of healing process
 Reconnection with nature significant
Definitions
 Biological Sex: refers to the physiological and anatomical characteristics of maleness & femaleness
 Gender Identity: refers to one's psychological sense of oneself as a male or female
 Gender Role: refers to the socially constructed & culturally specific behaviour & expectations for men & women
Feminist Theory
 Continuing struggle for women’s equality has had profound impact upon the institutions of Canadian society
 Anti-feminist backlash
 Increase in violence against women
 Increase in pornography
The Myth of Equality
 While women have increased their representation in most professions, significant patterns of job segregation and wage gaps persist.
 Examples?
 Women-headed households represent increasing # of families living below the poverty line.
The Myth of Equality (continued)
 Unequal distribution of domestic labour between men & women.
 Poor women, working class women, and women of colour have had the least benefit from increased economic opportunities.
 Women are generally last to benefit from job expansion & first to suffer from job contraction.
Sex Role Theory vs. Gender Theory
 Sex role explanations assumes packaging of structure, behaviours and attitudes based on one’s sex, the gender model analyzes the construction of these packages.
Gender Theory

 Context of Patriarchy
 Assumption of Androgyny
 Different Constructed as Less-Than
 Traditional Theories of Human Development
 Feminist Theories
 Many Feminist Theories
 Context of Sexism - the cultural, institutional, and individual set of beliefs and practices that privilege men, subordinate women, and denigrate values and practices associated
Changing Gender Norms
 Gender is a fundamental organizing principle
 Gender is dichotomous
 Gender is socially constructed: historically, politically, and economically
 Gender norms are rapidly changing
Changing Gender Norms
 Becoming a man or woman has traditionally been understood as natural process
 Biologically differences replicated gender roles - viewed as natural
 Differences between descriptive norms and socio-cultural norms.
 Gender norms are actually the cultures’ list of prescriptions and proscriptions considered appropriate to that sex.
Changing Gender Norms
 Both maleness and femaleness are narrowly defined.
 Differences are constructed as opposite and complementary.
 Dichotomized categories of gender are granted unequal value & serve as basis for power differentials
 Intersection of race, class, sexual orientation, religion and oppression

Why do gender differences exist?

 Liberal Feminism
 Socialist Feminism
 Radical Feminism
 Lesbian Feminism
 Black Feminism
 Cultural Feminism
Contributions
 Identifying & developing legislation against sexual discrimination & harassment.
 Improving maternity & parental leave benefits.
 Introducing affirmative action programs.
 Planning & acting to end the absence of certain groups of people from certain opportunities.
Contributions
 Educational reforms
 Reproductive rights
 Highlighting issue of violence against women & children
 Affirming women’s sexual freedom in relationships.

Examples of Feminist Applications & Social Work
 Policy
 Anti-pornography legislation, family policy
 Casework
 Assisting lesbian/gay couples to adopt children, working with battered women
 Social Work Research
 Examining experiences of different groups of women
 Community Organizing
 Birth control clinics, documenting license plates of men who use child prostitutes

Gender & The Family
 Family is primary institution for the socialization of each generation toward their gender-specific roles & behaviours
 Boys & girls are typically treated differently in the family.
 Examples?
 Differences are then extended into social realm.
 Examples?

Assumptions of the “Separate Sphere Ideology”
 Men are viewed as “naturally” suited for employment
 “Good” men = good economic providers
 Women viewed as “naturally” suited for caregiving and domestic labour
 Homemaker = Identity
 Workplace policy/ practice based on expectations that workers (men) did not have caregiving responsibilities
Consequences of Gender-Divided Families
 Restrictive roles for men & women
 Restrictive role modeling for children
 Gender relations are based on power and power differentials
 “His” & “Hers” marriages
 Domestic violence

Family Work
 Gender is intricately interconnected with determining the division of labour & work (paid & unpaid) in families and households.
 Gender myths
 Choice and ability or shared equally
 Selfless wife and mother
 Superwoman
Changes in Family Life
 Dichotomization of work & family restricts both men & women.
 Families are currently being challenged to confront the power differentials between men & women.
 Increasing expectations of shared parenting, domestic labour
 Expectations have yet to translate into practice.
Barriers to Equality in Families
 Pervasiveness of gender-based ideologies in media
 Economic system
 Ideologies about motherhood
Changing Gender Norms


 “I will always do more than my father and you will always do less than your mother” (Gary Trudeau)
Gender & Social Work
 Majority of information addressing issues of sex & gender focus on women, gays & lesbians, not- heterosexual males
 As practitioners, need to question how concepts of masculinity shapes the lives of men
 Cultural prohibitions against self-reflection for men.
Gender & Social Work
 How does gender affect the allocation of labour, power & rewards in this:
 relationship, family, extended family, school, workplace, organization, or community?
 How do gender stereotypes & the consequent allocations of labour, power & rewards interact with the presenting problem?

Practice Issues for Social Work
 Identification of the gender message and the social constructs that condition behaviour & sex roles.
 Recognition of the real limitations of female access to social, political and economic resources.
 An awareness of sexist thinking that constricts options of women & men to direct their own lives.
 Acknowledgement that women have been socialized to assume primary responsibility for family relationships.
Practice Issues for Social Work
 Recognition of the dilemmas and conflicts of child bearing and children rearing in society.
 An awareness of the power differentials that exist between men and women.
 Affirmation of values & behaviours characteristics of women.
 Recognition & support for possibilities for women outside marriage and family, and for men outside of the public sphere
Practice Issues for Social Work
 Recognition of the basic principle that no intervention is gender-free, and that every intervention will have a different meaning for each person.