18 From ‘LAC’ to ‘Service User,’ there are terms Social Work Action Group would like to see gone for good
THE LANGUA OF SOCIAL W Within social work, language is everything,” explained Jason Barnes.
“It sets the tone for the relationships we build, and yet we know, from talking with people with lived experience, that many of the terms we use are actually creating a barrier to building trust and understanding. “Service User, LAC, Placement some of these have been around so long they’re part of the professional furniture, but it’s time to rethink.” After eight years working on the frontline, as a social worker and practice manager, Jason knows of what he speaks. In 2016 he launched ‘Social Work Development Group’ to bring together practitioners from across Sussex, side-stepping institutional barriers to connect and learn. A YEAR AGO, HE DECIDED HE COULD DO MORE, FORMING THE SOCIAL WORK ACTION
GROUP, TO BRING ABOUT
MEANINGFUL CHANGES IN SOCIAL WORK CULTURE, EDUCATION, AND PRACTICE. Jason joined forces with Tammy Mayes - an activist and parent with lived experience - and social work students Diana Katoto and Omar Mohamed. Together they created working groups to support anti-poverty, anti-racism, LGBTQ, disabilities, and parents - those with lived experience and social work education. Jason says: “SWAG’s focus is on collaboration, and advocating for and taking necessary steps towards authentic changes in our profession, centring families as the experts of their own lives, and amplifying the experiences of minority groups. “We introduced Rep roles, to head up each working group, and Eric Banks, Vikki Walton-Cole, and Rich LynchSmith have taken on three of these roles with great enthusiasm.”
