Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice

Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice
Sample Answer for Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice Included After Question
Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice
Description

An individual’s socioeconomic status and class can sometimes be identified by material objects, educational background, occupation, and access to resources; however, socioeconomic status and class, like other multicultural factors, are not always evident through visual cues. In fact, self-identification does not always match others’ perceptions. How might factors related to socioeconomic status and class impact your professional practice as a psychologist? How would these factors affect your ability to establish rapport with and develop a multicultural diagnosis for clients of different socioeconomic statuses or classes?
For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources. Consider factors related to socioeconomic status and class as they relate to establishing rapport with clients from the population you selected in Week 3. Then search the Walden Library for two articles not identified in the Learning Resources that further your understanding of socioeconomic status and class as they relate to the population you selected.
Write an explanation of the factors related to socioeconomic status and class that you need to consider when establishing rapport with clients from the population you selected. Further, describe how race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality relate to socioeconomic status and class within that population.
Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice
Resource:

Ballinger, L., & Wright, J. (2007). “Does class count?” Social class and counseling. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 7(3), 157–163.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Brown, S. D., & Lent, R. W. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of counseling psychology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 10, “Social Class and Classism: Understanding the Psychological Impact of Poverty and Inequality” (pp. 159–175)

Lott, B. (2002). Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor. American Psychologist, 57(2), 100–110.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

 
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice
Title: Factors of Socioeconomic Status and Class in Professional Practice
Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, September 2007; 7(3): 157 163 ORIGINAL ARTICLE ‘Does class count?’ Social class and counselling LIZ BALLINGER1 & JEANNIE WRIGHT2 1 School of Education, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK and 2Massey University, School of Arts Development and Health, Palmerston North, New Zealand Abstract This article explores the importance attached to social class by experienced practitioners taking part in a co-operative inquiry group. A review of the literature from the last thirty years indicates that there is very little research on class in relation to counselling and psychotherapy reported in the UK. Both authors position themselves as coming from working class origins. Nine co-researchers from both middle and working class origins joined the group. Eight meetings took place over a period of nine months. Extracts from the group’s discussions are represented and integrated with ‘presentational knowing’ drawn from contemporary culture, including poetry and popular music. This study suggests that social class is a neglected aspect of diversity in the counselling field. Implications of the study have relevance for the language of counselling and psychotherapy and class based values; social class and its impact on initial education; and ongoing counselling practice and access to therapy for working class people. Keywords: Social class, working class, middle class, co-operative inquiry, counselling and psychotherapy practice, counselling and psychotherapy training ‘Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not’ (Sillitoe, 1958) *Title of best-selling album by the Arctic Monkeys, 2006 Introduction ‘In the frequently incanted quartet of race, class, gender and sexual orientation, there is no doubt that class has been the least fashionable’ (Collini, 1994, p. 3). The starting-point for this inquiry was the perceived absence of research and discussion around social class issues within the counselling literature and counselling training. There are a number of potential explanations. One may be that the significance of class is dwindling. It is argued that traditional class barriers broke down on the back of large-scale social and economic change in the twentieth century. Alongside this, the rise of post-modernism invoked a reaction against such overarching notions as class (Milner, 1999). The absence may, however, reflect difficulties in defining class rather than its disappearance. Occupation is a widely-used measure and is the basis of the National Statistics Socioeconomic Classification, used for official statistics and surveys. However, other, more subjective and qualitative notions have strong currency. Class consciousness remains a feature of modern Britain (Milner, 1999). Alongside occupation, we use subjective factors such as the way people speak; where they live; their friends; the school they attended; their spending patterns; the way they dress; the car they own (Reid, 1989). Class also intersects with other aspects of a person’s ‘identity’ in terms of gender, race, sexuality and other constructs. In the US, the ‘multiple-lens’ approach to research on class is emerging (e.g. Liu, 2002). In the UK, the notion of intersectionality has been asserted as a both/and position so that race, gender, class and other dimensions of difference come into focus (Chantler, 2005). Skeggs’ (2004) sociological arguments that class division and power imbalance based on class are no longer simple economic or even culturally based phenomena draw on a wealth of empirical research. A ‘self’, in her terms, is always a ‘classed formation’. A mixture of subjective and objective measures led both authors to identify themselves as born/brought up working class in an East Midlands, UK context. These measures included father’s occupation, living in ‘council’ housing, neighbourhood, speech and educational aspirations. Both also identify themselves as having a personal and practice-based interest in social class. Correspondence: Liz Ballinger, School of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. E-mail: liz.ballinger@manchester.ac.uk 1473-3145 (print)/1746-1405 (online) – 2007 British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy DOI: 10.1080/14733140701571316 158 L. Ballinger & J. Wright What does this study explore? . The importance attached to social class by experienced practitioners taking part in a co-operative inquiry group For the purposes of this research, the initiators deliberately avoided defining class, wishing to explore whether, how, and on what basis experienced counselling practitioners saw self and other in class terms. Moreover, to attempt to impose a definition of class from the perspective of the various academic disciplines would fall into the trap that Alan Sillitoe’s (1958) working class character, Arthur Seaton (quoted above) derides. It would reflect the process whereby, in Marxist terms, the ideology of the ruling classes comes to dominate culturally. Also, as Skeggs (2004) establishes, the concept is complex and she suggests that class cannot be ‘made alone without all the other classifications that accompany it’ (Skeggs, 2004, p. 3) such as race, gender and sexuality. Social class and counselling We are interested in why class as a central construct in identity has been under-researched not just in counselling and psychotherapy, but also in related occupational areas/disciplines such as sociology (Skeggs, 2004), psychology (Liu, 2002) and social work (Dominelli, 2002). If we use occupational measures, the decline of class is not evident. Studies confirm its continuing significance in shaping life-style and life chances and, hence, its potential importance in the therapeutic process. Pilgrim (1991, 1992, 1997, 2006), Trevithick (1988, 1998) and Kearney (1996) comment on the lack of attention paid to the significance of social class in the world of counselling and psychotherapy. One crucial area relates to the existence of a mental health class gradient (Pilgrim, 1997). Put succinctly, the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with mental health problems (Cochrane, 1983). The social causation thesis posits social context as a root cause of mental health problems (Holland, 1979). Patterns of diagnosis are also cited: the greater the social gap between the labeller and the labelled, the more serious the label that is likely to be given (Horwitz, 1983; Wilkinson, 1975). Conversely, it is argued that mental ill-health can be a cause of economic hardship rather than its product, the so-called ‘social drift’ thesis (McLeod, 2003). The assumption might follow that the majority of counselling clients would be working-class. The limited available UK research demonstrates this is not the case (Bromley, 1983; Crouan, 1994). Factors are cited such as working class antagonism towards therapy (Trevithick, 1988); therapist elitism (Pilgrim, 1997); class-based referral patterns (Bromley, 1983; McLeod, 2003); and financial barriers to access (McLeod, 2003). There has been no significant research into the complexity of factors that might be involved in access issues. Similarly there has been little research into the experiences of working class clients and how perceived differences in social class between counsellor and client affect the therapeutic relationship. Proctor (2002) and Spong and Hollanders (2003) have commented on the lack of attention paid to the dynamics of social power within the counselling relationship. Balmforth (2006) highlights the potential for disempowerment when a middle class counsellor works with a working-class client. Communication can be hampered by the use of different language systems and codes (Kearney, 1996). Differing world-views and class-based experiences may obstruct the development of empathy (McLeod, 2003). The impact of the social context on the individual’s ability to choose and maintain a sense of their own agency can be neglected (Pilgrim, 1992; Trevithick, 1988). One important recorded piece of action research is that of Holland (1979). She details her involvement in the development of The Battersea Action and Counselling Centre, set up on the understanding that ‘the root cause of mental problems was to be found in the interaction between interpersonal relationships and the social context in which they occurred’ (Holland, 1979, p. 96). Methodology and ethical issues Co-operative inquiry was the chosen methodology. The broad starting-point was the question ‘Does class count?’ Co-operative inquiry is a way of working with other people who have similar concerns and interests to yourself, in order to: . understand your world, make sense of your life and develop new and creative ways of looking at things . learn how to act to change things you may want to change and find out how to do things better (Heron & Reason, 2001, p. 179) Sometimes referred to as human, participatory and collaborative as well as co-operative inquiry, this methodology fits within ‘new paradigm’ research. It is characterised by participation; all those involved are co-researchers, invited to join in the co-creation of knowledge about themselves (Heron & Reason, 2006). ‘A key feature of such a group is that the details of what is researched and how it is researched are decided by the group rather than by the researcher alone’ (West, 1996, p. 347). This was congruent with the initiators’ person-centred philosophy as well as with their desire to be involved in a research process that incorporated a ‘whole-person approach’ (West, 1996, p. 348). Three different forms of knowledge are explored and developed in co-operative inquiry: experiential, practical and propositional (Reason, 1994). Social class and counselling 159 In their up-dating and overview of paradigmatic controversies and convergences in qualitative research, Guba & Lincoln (2005) agree with Heron and Reason (2001) that participatory or co-operative inquiry stands alone. Sound participatory inquiry is judged in part by: ‘Congruence of experiential, propositional and practical knowing’ and essentially, the inquiry is linked to action, ‘. . . to transform the world in the service of human flourishing’ (Lincoln & Guba, 2005, p. 196). Ethically, co-operative inquiry ‘tilts towards revelation’ (Guba & Lincoln, 2005, p. 196) with different issues emerging as the inquiry progresses. As West (1996) points out, close parallels can be drawn between inquiry groups, personal development groups and counselling groups. As such, complex ethical questions can be raised, which is one reason it is rarely used in research with clients but is more likely to be found in studies with other practitioners and colleagues (McLeod, 2001). The inquiry The inquiry took place over the course of nine months, involving nine co-researchers and eight meetings. The inquiry was initiated by Liz Ballinger and Richard Saxton, both experienced counsellors with a declared interest in social class. A number of considerations shaped the way the group was enlisted. The group size needed to be limited in order to work effectively. Participants needed to be willing and able to meet together over an extended period. Informed consent required the provision of a large amount of information about the research process, given the high level of commitment asked of group members. The initiators opted to circulate written invitations to counsellors within the East Midlands. This was done opportunistically. Colleagues were asked to pass on invitations to interested parties and they were also distributed at local meetings of counsellors. In total, 25 invitations were sent out. Interested counsellors were invited to two introductory meetings to receive information about the research method as a basis for deciding whether and on what basis they wished to be involved. In total, 11 counsellors attended introductory meetings with nine counsellors electing to participate in the inquiry proper. Co-operative inquiry is a cyclical process. Of the six meetings that followed, three fell into the ‘project’ and ‘encounter’ phases and three into the ‘making sense’ and ‘communication’ phases of the cycle described by Rowan (1981). The project and encounter phases involve the group coming together to develop and then engage in agreed action plans. These meetings were recorded on audio-tape. The ‘making sense’ and ‘communication’ phases involve reflection on these experiences and the communication of learning from them. In these latter phases, three members assumed the major responsibility for the transcribing of the tapes, the identification of themes and the circulation of these within the group for agreement, amendment and addition. Thus the findings of the group were a product of cooperative endeavour. Findings Heron and Reason (2001) refer to critical subjectivity as personal, living knowledge saved from ‘self-delusion’ by critical reflection in collaboration with others who share similar concerns and interests. The expressions of ‘critical subjectivity’ that emerged from the co-operative inquiry were collected into twenty agreed statements and are here illustrated by quotes from individual participants. Some of the statements were comments on the processes that had characterised the inquiry; others were distillations of the content of the group’s explorations. They are presented here under a range of headings and linked to references from wider literature and/or differing cultural reference points. In keeping with ‘presentational knowing’ (Heron, 1996; Reason & Bradbury, 2006) using expressive forms, this study was presented at conferences using contemporary cultural frameworks, such as popular music, the media and some ‘multiple lens’ views. We have retained these expressive forms in this article. Visibility of class in counselling and counselling training 1. We had a very strong desire to talk about our experience of class and were aware that this was largely absent from our training and therapy: ‘I feel pissed off class is not talked about in counselling circles. It feels like hard work getting it up and moving each time needs cranking up.’ ‘And yet I feel I’ve found out so much more about people since we’ve started focussing on class. By ignoring class we’re ignoring huge bits.’ These comments resonate with Kearney’s observations. ‘. . . I will argue that the issue of class is almost never referred to in counselling at any level *in training courses, in training manuals or in books about counselling and I believe our failure to take account of class really matters.’ (Kearney, 1996, p. 9) The subjective experience of class 2. We focused on our subjective experience of class and all had our own very personal angle on it. 3. Our own assessment of another’s class was not uncommonly different to their assessment of their class. 4. As we grew up we were aware of hierarchical differences within classes . . . of being above and below people in the same class: 160 L. Ballinger & J. Wright ‘So mine is where I was brought up and everything in it *the environment, the people, and also I suppose I’d link in unemployment.’ ‘I was lower working class. I thought people were posh who were probably working class.’ Rattigan’s descriptions of his client’s reactions to him in class terms chime with the subjectivity of such statements. ‘A special feature of many early sessions was the verbal attacks on my Samsonite bag as the embodiment of bourgeois, white society. He speaks of the bag and of his phantasies of my home with withering tones of derision. My home, in his phantasy, is wall-papered and upholstered by Laura Ashley and furnished from IKEA.’ (Rattigan, 1995, p. 178) Class and identity 5. We had strong emotional responses to class. 6. Our parents’ emotional response to their class shaped our own emotional response to our class. 7. Some of us had a sense of our class identity shifting according to the context we were in. 8. We experienced education as a key class issue, with education and class inextricably linked: ‘My mother was ashamed at being the poor one in the family. That gave me an emotional imperative to be proud of my class background.’ ‘Going to university was above my station. I remember feeling fear, inferior, not belonging. I was waiting to be found out.’ ‘It’s part of me, either like it or lump it type of feeling.’ The emotional tone of these reactions is echoed in this poem: ‘I swear it to you I swear it to you on my common woman’s head This common woman is as common As a common loaf of bread And will rise’ (Anon. Cited in Trevithick, 1988, p. 79) Class and mobility 9. We had clear but differing ideas about whether or not it was possible to change class. 10. Some of us had a sense of shifting class over time. 11. We had strong emotional responses to changing class and the idea of changing class. ‘If class isn’t an issue for me, why have I changed my class position so wilfully?’ ‘When I was a kid with my dad in London . . . He said we could go to Harrods, buy a suit and sit in the Grosvenor Hotel and they’d kick you out like that . . .’ Steedman (1986) writes of such issues, linking autobiography, psychoanalysis, feminism, history and politics: ‘My mother’s longing shaped my own childhood. From a Lancashire mill town and a working-class twenties childhood she came away wanting: fine clothes, glamour, money; to be what she wasn’t.’ (Steedman, 1986, p. 6) Class, language and accent 12. For some of us there was a strong connection between class and language. Factors such as language used and regional accent affected our reactions to people and our perception of them. ‘I enjoyed working with a very working class client *something to do with her language. It was like working with my auntie.’ ‘. . . my parents never wanted us to have Birmingham accents . . . I don’t know whether they consciously said ‘clarse’ ‘grarse’ but it was definitely something not to do . . .’ The actor Tom Courtenay’s memoirs focus on his reactions to his working-class father’s use of speech: ‘I felt for him when he was self-conscious in front of people he thought were his betters. He would try and speak more correctly than was natural for him. Aitches would fly all over the place and ‘ings’ would crop up when only ‘in’s were required. Then I would think to myself, ‘‘You shouldn’t have to bother, Dad, they’re not better than you. They may not be as good as you’’’ (Courtenay, 2000, p. 292) Access to counselling and training 13. We saw financial, educational and emotional barriers to working class people becoming trained and accredited counsellors. 14. We identified barriers to working class access to counselling. ‘A working class obstacle is that it’s a sign of weakness.’ ‘As a client it would really matter what came out of my counsellor’s mouth *the accent, the words . . .’ ‘You need money to train as a counsellor.’ Jackie Kay, a black Scots writer, satirises the therapy industry. She uses Maw Broon, a character from the long-running cartoon strip in the Sunday Post imagining how a working class woman, a caricature, would take to the ‘talking therapies’: Social class and counselling 161 ‘. . . Here *A’m quite guid at this therapy lark eh? Here, Maw Broon could be a therapist. Sit there like you are, glaikit, A box o tissues and a clock, A few wee emmms and aaas. Jings, it’s money for auld rope.’ (Kay, 1998, p. 47) Counselling, class and politics 15. We had strong and, at times, differing ideas about the relationship between counselling, class and politics. 16. Some of us thought that the link between class and income had repercussions for counselling practice. 17. Some of us thought there might be a correlation between class background and theoretical approach. 18. Some of us experienced a class-like hierarchy in terms of the status accorded to different theoretical approaches: ‘Listening is a political act *listening to the unlistened to.’ ‘I can get really cynical about the middle classes unloading their guilt by working for voluntary agencies and failing to see the social context of problems.’ ‘In the class system, the skilled labourer is above the labourer but well below the architect. Is being person-centred the equivalent of being a brickie, the architect the psychoanalytic practitioner?’ Statements such as these link in to Pilgrim’s questioning of therapy: ‘. . . Another example might be that a fee paying client’s reluctance to pay may be interpreted within the transference, but without reference to their relative poverty or the socio-political debates about taking money from people in distress.’ (Pilgrim, 1991, p. 52) The function of class 19. We saw class forming important boundaries for the individual and society. 20. Some of us sensed a link between class and biological survival instincts. ‘The tendency to pair with people from the same class fits with biological survival.’ ‘Is it animalistic *the pecking order?’ Jarvis Cocker’s 1995 hugely popular anthem ‘Common People’ deals directly with such themes: ‘Laugh along with the common people Laugh along even though they’re laughing at you And the stupid things they make you do Because you think that poor is cool Like a dog lying in a corner They will bite you and never warn you, look out They’ll tear your insides out ‘Cos every body hates a tourist Especially one who thinks it all such a laugh’ Reflections on the inquiry ‘In human inquiry it is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. It is also better to initiate and conduct inquiry into important questions of human conduct with a degree of acknowledged bias and imprecision, than to bog the whole thing down in attempts to be prematurely ‘‘correct’’ or ‘‘accurate’’.’ (Reason, 1988, p. 229) The findings of the inquiry need, thus, to be viewed in the light of the researchers’ stance. The inquiry was initiated by two counsellors with an acknowledged belief in the importance of social class. Invitations were targeted at counsellors who might be interested in exploring the significance of social class. There proved to be a majority of humanistic practitioners. Black or Asian counsellors were absent. There also emerged a class pattern in the group. Six of the nine participants identified themselves as of working class origin. Interestingly, five participants identified themselves as having moved classes and as having some ambivalence around this shift. Implications Bearing in mind these boundaries, some propositions from the inquiry can be summed up thus: . Class is a highly significant yet under explored and under acknowledged issue within counselling. . Energy for its exploration seems to come from counsellors with some working-class affinities. . Social class can be an important constituent of personal identity as well as an important influence in interpersonal relating. This would be as true for clients as counsellors. . The question of access to therapy and counselling training contains significant class issues. Equality of access is an important ingredient of ‘a power-sensitive approach to counselling’ (Spong & Hollanders, 2003, p. 221). This has a number of strands. The social basis of recruitment onto counselling training programmes needs to be further re- 162 L. Ballinger & J. Wright What does this study tell us? . Social class is a neglected aspect of diversity in the counselling field . Class has relevance for the language of counselling and psychotherapy; . For class based values; . For social class and its impact on initial education; . For ongoing counselling practice and access to therapy for working class people searched and addressed. Class awareness needs to be incorporated into training programmes, touching on areas such as language, class-based value systems, mental health issues, stereotyping, prejudice and power issues. The differing ways we incorporate class into our sense of ourselves and others is another potentially rich avenue for research. One result of the cooperative inquiry was that the authors ran workshops on social class with students in counselling training. Initial results of on-going research indicate to us that such awareness training does have impact, stimulating the development of more socially aware practitioners. Some approaches to counselling are more aware of the social and political than others; feminist and narrative models, influenced by social constructionism have tended to be in the forefront of challenging an ‘inner world’ view, raising issues of social and structural inequality (Bird, 2000). Recent critical debates within humanistic approaches (Proctor, 2002) are challenging the traditional tensions between individual and social change presenting a call to social action (Proctor et al., 2006). The study outlined here highlights the complexity and, at times, ‘embarrassment’ of talking about class differences. Hopefully, those barriers will not be enough to stop this work continuing. Acknowledgements With special thanks to Richard Saxton of Sheffield Hallam University, to the participants of the cooperative inquiry and to Bloodaxe Books for permission to reproduce stanzas from Jackie Kay’s poem ‘Maw Broon Visits a Therapist.’ References Balmforth, J. (2006). 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