I’ve presented at conferences on the topic of the importance of social networking and social media for human services providers, and I have posted on this blog many times about our efforts at Keystone Human Services. Now, many human services providers are on Twitter and Facebook, and it has me thinking about social networking and the people we support. (For an example of the growing number of service providers on Twitter, see my list http://twitter.com/#/list/jbuford/intellectual-disability.)
People supported by human services providers are all vulnerable in one way or another—some only temporarily, others more systemically—and one of our important tasks is to shore up their areas of vulnerability. Those efforts can sometimes lead to a blurring of the lines from a professional relationship to one that looks more like friendship. The ethics of that are clearer in fields such as social work, psychology, and psychiatry (i.e. the principles of confidentiality and dual relationships) than they are for the people who directly support people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, autism, or other challenges in the community. In this setting the guide posts are far murkier .
True to form, I have no answers to these myriad ethical dilemmas. In fact, I don’t even have the questions. I have a strong sense, though, that those of us who think we have an obligation to make sure our communities are welcoming to all people, need to think through the hazards, and the benefits, of “friending” people we support. Already the digital divide disproportionately excludes many people from the community we all enjoy in the social media.
In my organization I’m putting together a diverse panel of people to begin to define questions and an ethical framework, but I’d like to have the conversation here in the social media as well. Do you or your organization struggle to find the right answer to how to help someone with an intellectual disability navigate Facebook safely, without paternalism or odd blurring of lines? Have you already answered questions about how to respond when someone you support “friends” you? Please let me know how you are framing the questions, and maybe we can work together to craft answers.
Thanks!
January 12, 2010 at 12:02 am
Well, no I haven’t tried to help a client navigate facebook or other social media. And I do come at this from the social work side of things, which defines boundaries very clearly. However, you might want to look at critical theory, because I think these questions of marginalization and access and boundaries between helpers and clients might have been formulated already. The answers are still debated, of course, but the questions might already be in a form that’s helpful for you.
If you want a pain in the neck -but sheer brilliance- look at Freire. For brilliance that’s also fun to read, you might look at bell hooks. She’s more about formal education, but her work could apply. If neither of these works, call me. We’ll think of something.
January 12, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Thanks for the direction. I’ll read and report back.
January 14, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Those are great references, Andrea. Both, as you know, speak powerfully about themes of oppression and to the harm that can be done by and through the “helping” professions.
Neither, though, at least as far as I can see, speaks to the important difference that comes into play when supporting people with intellectual disabilities. The ideas of these authors are important to have on the table, and maybe even ARE the table, but they are limited in their usefulness here, I think, because of the focus on literacy as the key to meaningful community participation.
It may appear odd (it may, in fact, be odd) that I would be writing about and thinking about how to open social media communities to our non-literate and non-verbal neighbors, but that’s an important part of what I think we need to be struggling with.
I’m tending to think that the line of inquiry I would like to follow will lead to a different set of conclusions.
Thoughts?