Discursive Strategies to Negotiate Power Relations in Disability Services Client Juries

Area of Science:

• Social Work Research
• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Client collaboration is key for effective social service development.
• Client juries aim to increase service user influence but face power imbalances.
• The client-social worker relationship presents inherent challenges to equal collaboration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how participants negotiated power relations within client jury meetings.
• To understand the strategies employed to manage inherent power dynamics in client juries.
• To identify methods for improving service user involvement in social service co-design.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of four observed disability services client jury meetings.
• Application of action-implicative discourse analysis.
• Examination of communicative problems, interactional strategies, and situated ideals.

Main Results:

• Four primary strategies were identified for negotiating power: conflict avoidance, revealing injustice, taking responsibility, and broadening perspectives.
• Participants actively managed the inherent power imbalance between clients and social workers.
• Discourse analysis revealed specific interactional patterns within the jury meetings.

Conclusions:

• Understanding negotiation strategies in client juries can improve social service development.
• Addressing power imbalances is crucial for effective client involvement.
• These findings offer insights into enhancing participatory practices in social services.