Participation, discourse and power: a case study in service user involvement

Abstract

Drawing on the findings from a case study of a forum in which users of mental health services are brought into dialogue with officials, the author demonstrates the value of an approach to user involvement in which discourse itself is used as a primary data source. Using her observations of the forum’s meetings, as well as interviews with forum members, the author shows how power is exercised discursively in various apparently trivial ways, ensuring that the forum’s discourse remains within established normative boundaries and serving, ultimately, to reinforce existing institutionally defined power relations.

Participation in Decision Making: Disempowerment, Disappointment and Different Directions

“…see Hodge, 2005;Ramon, 2003) alongside a growing interest in research with hard-to-reach groups and particularly with young people (Dominelli, 2005;McLaughlin, 2005). This research project builds upon this work, focusing upon young people who are NEET and illustrates how ambivalence and power impact upon the research process and outputs.…”

“…Although there are now many examples of participative research projects (Butler, 2003;Hodge, 2005;Braye & Preston-Shoot, 2005), many tend to overlook complex practicalities and side-step emotional connections or shifting aspirations and understandings (Trevillion, 2004). However, a few studies involving young people have addressed these issues.…”

Co-production and the third sector: A comparative study of England and France

“…Thus the narratives of motivations, values and ethos that an organisation expresses can directly influence the importance of citizen participation and co-production within the organisation's structure, as discourses define distributions of power and systems of control within an organisation (Hodge, 2005). This type of analysis is however laden with methodological challenges given the comparative nature of the research, and the fact that data was collected in two languages.…”

Civicness in the Governance and Delivery of Social Services

“…It is used as an instrument for the responsibilization of citizens (Kearns 1992;Paddison et al 2008), as a means of policing and disciplining them (Hodge 2005;Cruickshanck 2003;Swyndegedouw 2005), incentivizing them to be prudent with public funds for example (Milewa 2004). Participation has even been labelled as 'tyranny', as it merely facilitates 'an illegitimate and/or unjust exercise of power' (Cooke/Kothari 2001: 4).…”