Defenders

Social work. A profession where they train you to be a Swiss Army Knife, equipping you with skills and tools to be able to work across a broad range of fields, from mental health to homelessness to families to drug & alcohol to disability to unemployment to refugees to forensics to aged care to cultural diversity to whatever. We are fashioned into capable workers such that we can apply a multidimensional approach to whatever field we head into, to remain forever aware of the other areas of human life and diversity in order to provide the most beneficial services possible.

The two main criticisms of social work are that it [a] is undefinable, and [b] fosters dependence. While I agree with both these points, I also have strong opposing arguments opposing, and I'd rather talk about them

Firstly, social work is very broad and difficult to quantify. This makes it troublesome to promote, or sell. You ask an engineer what their profession is about and they'll have a quick answer for you. Ask a social worker and they'll fumble for a minute then talk about their own particular brand of work. As far as I can see, this is the simplest and most definitive answer:

"Social work is about helping to improve the lives of disadvantaged people, through direct practice with people and advocating for systemic policy change."

Still a bit of a mouthful, but you could shrink it further to "helping disadvantaged people" and you'd be pretty much on the money. If asked how you go about doing this, you could further add that it's through counselling, case work, community education, rallying community support, and informing policy change.

The primary model used is that person-in-environment model, which looks at the multitude aspects of a person's life including inner world (biology, psychology, spirituality), their family, their community, the services system around them, their culture, and the time period in which they've lived and currently live. Hope that clarifies.

Secondly, there is a common view that providing services to disadvantaged people will discourage them from forming their own coping skills as they can easily fall back on the service system to provide, therefore making them become a 'drain' on the economy. One of the most powerful features of social work is that it focuses on self-determination, and the best application of this is when people can foster their own resilience. If you take away the 'safety net' then many people will crumble, and this will create a ripple throughout generations of people who aren't able to learn how to cope because of their disadvantage.

Taking money away from the service system makes little sense, unless you are replacing it with something else. The sad truth is that so many people's lives are very fucked up. Limiting or removing their opportunity to access supports which can help them is the stupidest thing a government can do. For example, more and more research, reviews and analyses are informing government that money spent improving the healthcare system (including health education, counselling, specialist services) is a bucket load more money saved in other costs such as economic burden, acute healthcare, and counselling.

Whilst some people are dependent upon the system, it's important to put this into perspective: a great deal more people are not. Some people benefit from one or two short-term interactions with the public service system, and then go about their lives. For other people who require more intensive and longer-term support, think of the cost if they had fewer services. Acute healthcare costs would blow out of proportion; the prison system would be bursting at the seams; some suburbs would become veritable 'dumping grounds' for problematic groups, and then years later Australia would be faced with young people who have suffered significant intergenerational trauma and are perpetuating the cycle.

This already happens. The entire social services sector is unable to cope with the demands from the public. It is not possible to expect them to be able to meet these needs. Some people need significant support through case management and treatment, which further limits services' capacity to work with a greater number of people. Aiming for quantity over quality is not an option when people's lives and livelihoods are at stake, and failing to act in an appropriate and timely manner often leads to more entrenched problems which are more costly to address later.

For many people accessing a social service is something they only do when they aren't able to cope with all their current supports (i.e. personal resilience, family, friends, work, etc.). That is why they needs are so complex; they've exhausted several other avenues. Disallow them from accessing a service and the drain to their current supports will be even greater. Rarely will there be an 'elegant' solution such as they resolve their issues enough to function better, or they die without affecting anyone in any way. You don't live with disadvantage without learning some survival skills, even if their long-term impacts are destructive on yourself or on other people.

So anyway, social work isn't just what "do-gooders" do in their spare time. It's an incredibly challenging and incredibly rewarding field, often at the same time. Every day I alternate between feeling powerless to affect change, and feeling wholly inspired because I see someone positively influence their life and take back control. Curiously, my aim is to make myself redundant in their life: I hope that every one of them is able to deal with their own problems effectively and without having to fall back on someone else. Should they need, though, they can always ask for help.

-J

Consultation

Today I had a consultation with a psychologist. I had initially booked myself in for an assessment, however changed my mind for three reasons: [1] the appointment would be sooner, [2] it was $680 cheaper, and [3] I was unsure as to whether a full assessment was necessary.

I sat with him for an hour, explaining what my childhood and adolescence were like and why I'd come to see him now. We talked theories, clinical signs, what I could do well and what I struggled with. He ran a couple of preliminary tests, and they indicated that I was kinda halfway, not in one camp or the other. The end result was actually exactly what I'd expected but not what I'd hoped for. I left with all my intuitive beliefs confirmed, but without a proper resolution.

Turns out I have a number of traits of Asperger's Syndrome, however they are presently subclinical. Had I gone for this assessment 20 years ago, the results would more likely have been conclusive. Asperger's doesn't just appear out of nowhere - it tends to be present from birth. The major difference between now and then is, I've learnt a whole range of social skills, and therefore have enough Theory of Mind to survive and thrive in social situations.

Damn.

What I wanted was something definitive, pushing one way or another. I wanted some deep-seated issues to be brought to the surface so that I could deal with them directly, and begin to feel, well, normal. Instead, I've become so adept at functioning in public life through repeated exposure that not only can I get along well around others, but I've turned it into a great personal strength such that I now teach those skills to people.

I've learnt to act so well that often I feel a strong obligation to continue the performance, by spending all my time around people. I've managed to convince myself that this 'tethers' me to the world so that I don't retreat completely inside my own mind. I still do that to an extent, and am easily (and constantly) worn out by social situations, but still I do it, day in day out.

My most recent learning (yes, it took me a long time to come to this) was that I don't need to be around people so much. I've grown to think myself both invaluable to them and they so intrinsic to my survival. that I need constant contact. Since I began acting as if I had Asperger's I've been spending more time by myself, politely denying company in favour of solitude. Not overly so, but definitely more than usual. And I love it!

So maybe that's the next step. Act as if. I've been doing that my whole life around other people, so perhaps it's time to do it with myself. Tricky tricky, but I'm sure I can rise to the challenge. I've been pushing myself hard continuously since near the end of high school, so this shouldn't be any different. Except maybe it'll make things a lot easier for me.

It's a wonderful thing, to know you can relax in your own skin. I've always been quirky, and this seems like the prime time to allow myself to tone down the moderating of that in public. Watch this space!

-J

Shopkeep

Following an incident at a kebab shop, I wrote this on the tram:

"All these horrible stores and their angry shopkeeps, complaining they don't get enough trade throughout the day, or that the trade is insufficient and inadequate or just that the people they service are fallible and rude and despicable. These shopkeeps latch onto you and impress their misfortune upon you, the unsuspected and innocent visitor to their premises. You, of course, are just the clientele they desire; you possess their every desired quality you are a paragon of virtue, you represent a beacon of light and hope to them, tethered to their wave-washed rock in the storming sea of pitiful insignificance. They must be so glad to have your ear on these matters, you who are so very sympathetic and understanding of their plight and can recognise their many great strains as they battle this non-present tide of awful customers, none of whom are privy to such information. You are amongst their limited rollcall, a select few who are lucky enough to be bombarded by their travails and insufferable, intolerable pain.

The shopkeep rants on and on, indebting you with their knowledge, requesting in a subtle manner that you acquiesce to what they are saying, nod your approval to their claims, validate their temper and entire existence. But when they talk, it is at you, not to you, as you fulfil your dutiful role as a willing audience member who has dragged on stage for some macabre act, and for the delight of the sadistic performer, that ineffable shopkeep. You feel shrunken in their presence, in their clutches; merely a puppet to dance to their angry tune, the melody sombre and irascible, the speed increasing with every poison-barb word uttered and thrown with sheer aggression at the corrupted multitudes of other patrons who plague their business. Your silence begs them to proceed, unleashing another stream of vitriol directed at the world in general. They are miserable, and they love company that doesn't visibly get upset and walk away with impunity.

As you begin the gradual process of collecting your purchase, they increase the pace, in the vain hope you will stick around to listen. But they do not think, "You must have a life to go to!" They are far too internalised and narrow-sighted - mistaking blunt selfishness for introspective wisdom - and want tot have their unreasonable demands heard.

Yet, you recall the inevitable drift towards separation that is a necessary component of your engagement with this individual (not to mention, your sanity hastens this breakaway). You edge toward the door, having paid your dues and therefore officially terminated this economic relationship, turn your head longingly towards the exit door, and shorten your replies to monosyllabic murmurs. This shopkeep, reading the signals of their defeat, accepts your non-committal responses as rallying to their cause, and leaves you be.

You depart, not a moment too soon. You wonder at your staying power amidst the tirade you've just encountered. Your purchases lays in your hands, somewhere between a victor's spoils and an apologist's oblation. Was it really worth it? You hope so, and with a flickering thought to the shopkeep, that irrational being who unavoidably consumed your time, you stride forward, adding distance between you and them."

-J