How does telling a story of oppression become an act of liberation?: liberated women's stories of their experiences with social workers

Abstract

In this thesis I have analysed the meanings that seven women attached to their relationships with social workers as they attempted to liberate themselves from violent and oppressive relationships with men. It goes to the heart of the casework relationship and asks the question How does telling a story of oppression become an act of liberation? The underlying assumption of this thesis is that the social work relationship should work towards the liberation of the client and I am arguing that the client must define their own liberation. In keeping with this philosophy I have used a self-reflexive research methodology and a feminist analysis to gather stories from research participants, and to analyse the data. I have done this so that my own thoughts, theoretical ideas and professional knowledges are transparent to research participants and the reader in order to support my argument that if social workers are to assist and enable women in violent relationships then we must suspend our faith in professional knowledges and sit in solidarity with women, giving them space to integrate their own story into their analysis of our social structures and decide upon the changes they want. The thesis examines the way research participant's defined liberation and argues that women in our society can not be liberated from male violence as long as the incidence of violence against women is so high and while so many stories in books, television dramas, films and computer games make pornography and the domination of women entertainment. It is through the cultural stories told in books, films and television dramas, poetry and song that we learn how we are expected to be members of our society. Traditionally these stories have told of male heroes and women auxiliaries, and many of them portray men and women in oppositional roles with the male as dominator. In this thesis I have argued that the stories women hear are limited, that women need to hear more hero stories with women as heroes. In fact, stories like those told by research participants. A spiritual dimension can be added to the social work relationship if social workers begin to think about the cultural stories of which they themselves are a part.