Mellow Star ConsultingBrenda St. Germain – I am ….• Cree woman, born and raised in Red Deer but follow

traditional Cree ways• Both parents, older generation and most Elders passed

away – mom born in Hobbema, dad on homestead in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, great moshum born Whitefish FN

• Mother of two sons, Chad and Mason; grandmother of 5 grandchildren, ages ranging from 1 year old to 22 years old;

• Red Deer College diploma graduate; UVIC BSW graduate and MSW graduate with University of Victoria

• Background in business, profit/non-profit social sectors, active volunteer community member; experience in federal, provincial, municipal, urban and First Nations

• Business includes Buyer and Administration in chemical company; social work in community development, policy, child welfare, foster care, research, grants/proposals/ funding; community work in government initiatives (FASD, child welfare, domestic violence, addictions, housing/ homelessness, youth at risk, women)

A New Way of Thinking is about Changing …

AGENDA1. Egg or Chicken First Syndrome: Government or Society2. The Social Worker - self location, conceptual baggage,

contextual meaning3. Complexity Science and Public Policy 4. My personal Indigenous social work practice (as an

example)5. Define your SW practice - AOP (Anti-Oppressive

Practice); clinical model6. New theories: Science, research, social work, etc.7. New Community Development models8. Transformation Theory9. Change at Mezzo Level

Egg or Chicken syndrome:Brief History on Influence of Government on society

or society on government? The fundamental principles from the cultural norms of

British colonial policies and practices were sanctioned through their legislation and laws.

- Beginning 15th Century: decline of the monasteries and the breakdown of the medieval social structure

- Early 1500’s: charity or religious duty to undertake mercy based on teachings of Jesus by parish

- Mid-1500’s: reformation and establishment of Church of England saw end of religious duty and regulation of poverty relief by law (Elizabeth I era) by parish

British social values and norms were incorporated into the Canadian government system when it was created under the British North America Act. These foreign values influenced the foundational beliefs now incorporated into our own legislative system in existence today.

Egg or Chicken syndrome:Brief History on Influence of Government on society

or society on government?

Elizabethan Poor Law (replaced Old Poor Law) designed to address: • those who would work but could not: these were the able-bodied or deserving

poor. They were to be given help either through outdoor relief or by being given work in return for a wage.

• those who could work but would not: these were the idle poor. They were to be whipped through the streets, publicly, until they learned the error of their ways.

• those who were too old/ill/young to work: these were the impotent or deserving poor. They were to be looked after in almshouses, hospitals, orphanages or poor houses. Orphans and children of the poor were to be given a trade apprenticeship so that they would have a trade to pursue when they grew up.

- Society perpetuates early influence by resisting to change and maintains “status quo” on legislation that is based on colonial and patriarchal values

- Some criticise that foundation of social work is based on these philosophies e.g. deserving/ undeserving

Society: “isms” of Government on society or society on government?

The legal system in Canada created laws through the lens of a patriarchal societal structure and has had a negative impact on women, children, seniors and immigrants in Canada. We see the long-term effects of this historical influence with Aboriginal women in Canada who have experienced the oppression under the domination of a male-centered legal system that devalues the female population and offers little or no protection against domestic violence, rape or murder. E.g. Stolen Sisters Campaign, Stalking Law

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh saw a “pattern running through the matrix of white privilege, a pattern of assumptions …passed on to her as a white person” that she was on her own turf and among those who could control the turf to systematically over empower certain groups to confer dominance because of sex or race – “isms” racism, sexism, classism, elitism, anti-Semitism, ageism, adultism, heterosexism, ableism, xenophobia, linguistic oppression, etc.

Linguistic Patterns and “power”

FOUR DISCURSIVE OPERATIONS IN LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE“The strategic use of language is indispensable to the

acquisition and exercise of power, even power that is acquired democratically…The ability of any group to advance its interests hinges in part on the group’s ability to publicize its perspectives as more truthful or reasonable than others” (p. 2). Richardson, (2008) quotes, “Words, said the colonialist writer Rudyard Kipling (1923), are ‘the most powerful drug used by mankind’” (p. 1).

Coates and Wade identify four significant patterns that demonstrate “how language is used to (a) conceal violence, (b) mitigate perpetrators’ responsibility, (c) conceal victims’ resistance, and (d) blame or pathologize victims”. The authors contend that the professionals, academics and journalists present information claiming authenticity under a flag of objectivity that cannot be neutral or impartial since writers “use the constructive power of language strategically to promote particular versions of persons and events over other versions in order to influence key decisions”. (2007. Coates, L. and Wade, A. Language and Violence: Analysis of four discursive operations. Journal of Family Violence, 22(7) pp. 511-522. New York: Sprinter Netherlands.

Linguistic Patterns and “power”“Words and ideas are important weapons of conquest,

subjugation, and extermination. If you want to care for something, you call it a flower; if you want to kill something, you call it a weed”. (2006. Coyhis & White. Firewater Myths: Ideas as Weapons of Colonization. In Alcohol Problems in Native America: The Untold Story of Resistance and Recovery – The truth about the lie. Pp 47-64. White Bison, Inc.)

Media and marketing use language to promote or destroy an image and has major influence on society.

Politicians now utilize linguistic tools through media and marketing strategies to promote an image, broadcast initiatives or ideas and counter campaign against negative perceptions about government

Words have the capacity to define and/ or limit conceptions of self but whose definitions do we use? Education plays a major role in defining values and belief systems to students.

Word selection has positive or negative impacts E.g. derogatory remark becomes universal truth. E.g. bullying, praise or criticism from a teacher/ parent

Society & Cultural Norms – Influences and Evolution

According to Cliff Notes, (2010) cultural norms vary between cultures and have been classified into four categories: folkways, mores, taboos and laws. The definition is expanded to clarify the significance of cultural norms in society with the following:

Members of a culture must conform to its norms for the culture to exist and function. Hence, members must want to conform and obey rules. They first must internalize the social norms and values that dictate what is “normal” for the culture; then they must socialize, or teach norms and values to, their children. If internalization and socialization fail to produce conformity, some form of “social control” is eventually needed. Social control may take the form of ostracism, fines, punishments, and even imprisonment.

Social Worker and Self-location

Self Location “Critical self reflection (i.e.) an understanding of how one's own social, political and historical location impacts practice especially with those who have been relegated to the margins (i.e. in regards to class, gender, sexuality, race, physical and mental ability etc.)” (2006. School of Social Work. Prior Learning Assessment. University of Victoria: BC.)

Factors influencing self-location (petals of power)- Status (prestige based on values/ norms of community)- Race/ ethnicity- Income- Education- Gender- Sexual orientation- Age

Social Worker and Conceptual Baggage

Conceptual Baggage is a term borrowed by Sandra Kirby and Kate McKenna in Methods from the Margins: Experience, Research, Social Change (1989, Toronto: Garamond Press)

Conceptual baggage refers to stereotypical assumptions, idiosyncratic concepts, and theoretical frameworks used or implied in sociological inquiry. Conceptual baggage is not always acknowledged and explicitly examined. However, it influences knowledge production and reproduction by affecting what questions are asked, from which angle issues are taken up, what social realities are considered worth pursuing, and which group's experiences are legitimized and theorized.

The self-searching process involves revealing (and making an explicit part of the analysis) where one is coming from, including one's research interests and curiosities, any personal agendas one may bring to the research, one's own life history and social position. (2010. Hsiung, P. Lives and Legacies: A Guide to Qualitative Interviewing, Toronto University).

Social Worker and Contextual Meanings

Context as meaning based on premise that …Human development is socialization over a lifespan as a

member of society and involves constant interaction with the sociocultural environment (1996. Kagitcibasi. Development in Context. In C. Kagitcibasi (Ed.) Family and human development across cultures: A view from the other side. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).

- Culture is the organizer of meaning: an individual’s worldview perception is gleaned through their experiences in society

- Interpretation is specifically unique to the individual- Socially defined and contextually situation meaning is

learned from social norms taught by parents in their society

- Parental beliefs are cultural constructions - Large percentage of urban demographics consist are

families from different cultures who attempt to retain cultural identity in a new country

Complexity Science

Complexity Science applied in the real world might help us develop new approaches to public policy and better address the extraordinary hard problems our societies face today” (2010, T. “ Homer-Dixon, Complexity, Crisis and Change).Complexity science was isolated until the researchers noticed they hadn’t integrated into a larger worldwide community and therefore, hadn’t received attention or acknowledgement of contribution to world. Premise of this theory is that the world has changed its character. It is no longer feasible to simplify the world by the rationale of “mechanics” i.e. like a “mechanical clock, which one can dismantle and understand completely… Complex systems are non-linear, flowing across thermodynamically open systems, with no boundaries and far from equilibrium… These systems, exhibit, therefore, a fundamental disproportionality between cause and effect…the emergence characteristic in complexity exists when a system as a whole exhibits novel properties that can’t be understood… (2010. Homer-Dixon, T. Complexity Science and Public Policy at Manion Lecture, National Arts Centre Ottawa).

A New Way of Thinking: Example – Indigenous Multi-theory framework

1. The challenge is for each social worker to self-locate and identify their own philosophical beliefs and values as both an individual and a social worker.

2. The next step is to determine where is your passion and what are your interests as a “helper” or social worker. What is the landscape in the environment where you are? Is it rural, urban, isolated etc; women, children, families, men.. What sector? – criminal, health, community, education, seniors, political…

3. Next – what is your approach or methodology in social work? Can you describe and define it in both, general language and academic terms? Clinical, AOP, structural, liberal, critical ….

My practice framework is an “Indigenous Multi-Theory” approach is based on my Cree teachings that “no one person is better than another”. It allows me to blend and expand my Indigenous theoretical framework and practice into the Western ontological philosophy or studies on existence within the realm of metaphysics

Theoretical Viewpoint Social work practice is the recognition

and acknowledgement of my accumulative knowledge in two worlds of epistemology: Indigenous and Western

Epistemology validates Indigenous philosophy that “learning occurs when student is ready to understand”

Practice has evolved into a complex and unique theoretical framework that is culturally relevant as an Indigenous social worker

Theoretical Viewpoint Synthesization of Anti-Oppressive, Anti-colonial, Post-

Colonial, Complexity Science, Transformation Theory Belief that federal government still operates from

within a colonial policy to maintain domination and oppressive relationship – modern colonialism

Colonial wall is self-perpetuating oppression Native Science, and conscientization blended with

Indigenous Knowledge Indigenous feminism – Respect towards women as “givers

of life” Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Laws are foundation of

principles Belief in traditional law as Indigenous orthopraxy Indigenous ontological perspective connected to nature

Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) – is a stance or perspective in your SW

approach“The ontological vision of anti-oppressive or difference-centered theorists is also multi-disciplinary in nature, using various rather than one framework of theorization…consider it important to form a strategy of resistance that is multi-disciplinary, using multiple positions, such as, formal, structural and cultural analysis in resisting oppression and moving towards a vision of a difference-centered society” (p. 29). (2005. Moosa-Mitha. M. Situating Anti-Oppressive Theories Within Critical and Difference Centered Perspectives. In L. Brown and S. Strega (Eds.) Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous & Anti-Oppressive Approaches. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press)

Thompson contends that anti-discriminatory practice is good practice and defines it as “An approach to social work practice which seeks to reduce, undermine or eliminate discrimination and oppression, specifically in terms of challenging sexism, racism, ageism, and disablism... and other forms of discrimination encountered in social work. Social workers occupy positions of power and influence, and so there is considerable scope for discrimination and oppression, whether this is intentional of by default. Anti-discriminatory practice is an attempt to eradicate discrimination from our own practice and challenge it in the practice of others and institutional strictures in which we operate.” (1997. Thompson, N. Anti-discriminatory Practice (2nd Ed), Basingstoke: Macmillan)

A New Way of Thinking: New theories, new approaches

1.Research Methods and Methodology- Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenological method used in analysis of research data to illuminate and distil essences of non-tangible feelings or thoughts through the eyes of participants- debriefing or interviewing the interpretive researcher in a qualitative study- Indigenous Research Frameworks are Indigenous studies completed by Indigenous researchers who blend traditional philosophies with Western theories

• adaptations to PAR using photovoice and film• autoethnography• Métissage• relationship-based approach to research is also

strategy to build community• story-telling• culturally- centered methodology

A New Way of Thinking: New theories, new approaches

2.Community Development – New, Evolving Models• Community-Based Communication: A new approach to

development communication (Jude William Genilo) demonstrates and asserts that “rural villages that have developed relatively complex communications systems have extensive local knowledge and practice systems” in which they “continuously improve on their local knowledge and practice system, accessing, evaluating and incorporating innovations and technologies from within or outside the community.

• Narrative Approach to working with skills and knowledge of communities: An approach to community work that requires engagement with at least two communities at a time and is characterized by a criss-crossing exchange of stories and messages (2006. Denborough, Kootmatrie, Mununggirritj, Marika, Shurrkay

& Yunupingu. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work: Australia)

A New Way of Thinking: New theories, new approaches

2.Community Development – New, Evolving Models• Social Analysis Systems (SAS2): A new international

initiative attempting to address the shift of large-scale problems facing the world. “Knowledge can no longer be generated, accredited or communicated only in scientific, corporate and university-based settings that exclude and ignore many segments of society.” The International Development Research Centre has developed an approach that “goes beyond conventional models of expert inquiry and linear approaches to planning such as Result-Based Management … and support a shift towards flexibly-structured processes that bridge the gap between conventional inquiry based on ‘hard evidence’ and participatory methods that emphasize ‘building consensus’ as the principal goal”.(2008. Chevalier, J & Buckles, D. A Guide to Collaborative Inquiry and Social Engagement. International Development Research Centre, SAGE

Publications: Ottawa.)

A New Way of Thinking: New theories, new approaches

2.Community Development – New, Evolving Models• Catalytic Community Development: A new model,

specifically designed for rural communities, that changes the role for the community developer who “helps many individuals to work together in a loosely coupled way” rather than the traditional approach which involved “mobilizing local resources to address community needs, with the developer bringing in the technical skills needed to execute the plans… and formed grassroots organizations, mediated community conflicts, built infrastructure, attracted firms into community and wrote grants to fund services”. (2006.Brown, D. & Swanson, L. (Eds). In “Catalytic Community Development: A Theory of Practice for Changing Rural Society, by Pigg (Univ. of Missouri, Columbia) and Bradshaw (Univ. of California, Davis). Rural Sociological Society (RSS): Pennsylvania

State University Press).

Transformative Theory

The transformative theory involves systemic and societal change caused by drastic and emotional shifts from one’s foundational belief systems that affects the basic premises of thought, feelings and actions. Regan (2005) quotes transformative scholar, Edmund O’Sullivan, “It is a shift of consciousness that dramatically and permanently alters our way of being in world” (p. 7). Regan, P. (2005). A transformative framework for decolonizing Canada: A non-Indigenous approach. Conference Notes. IGOV Doctoral Student Symposium, January 20, 2005.

Victoria: BC.

Many authors write literature and contribute to the transformation theory (Barker, 2006; Cavender Wilson & Mihesua, 2004; McNeil, 1994; Regan, 2005; Turner, 2006).

Cree ontological system of relationships

Each person is responsible for themselves first (you are self-aware of all your interactions and actions to all living things); you are part of a family (you need to be healthy to pick a healthy partner and raise healthy children); your family is part of a community and everyone is dependent and connected to each other (all connected and work collectively together); and you are part of your tribal nation (Cree, Blackfoot, Mohawk—but still all connected as “red people”) and assigned as caregivers of Mother Earth by the Creator, with each Nation responsible for their part of Mother Earth (Creation Stories).

Decolonization Colonialism is geographically distinct with variant

patterns of subjugation that differentiates processes accordingly (Pinderhughes, 2011)

Decolonization in 5 phases: rediscovery/ recovery; mourning; dreaming, commitment and action (Laenui & Salman, 2014)

Reclaim your true Aboriginal identity (4 steps): resist, reclaim, construct and act (Anderson, 2000)

“Create” an exit that does not model European ways (Gordon, 1995; Elia, 1996)

Revival of the 2004 Kelowna Accord (Alcantara, 2014) Indigenize the academic institutions (Bear Nicholas, 2001; Hart,

2009; Waters, 2004) Achieve political autonomy of First Nations (Alfred, 2002;

Gordon, 1995; Shewell, 2004) Self-reflection of internalization (Gould, 2008; McIntosh, 1990;

Poupart, 2008 )