Relationship based social work practice: the case for considering the centrality of humour in creating and maintaining relationships

Abstract

Relationship based social work practice has received increasing attention in recent years. The use of humour has infrequently been considered in relation to social work, and humour use is a neglected aspect in examining relationships in social work. As humour conveys humanity, is grounded in our earliest attachments and in the management of emotions, the purpose of this paper is to consider how humour operates in social work relationships. Importantly humour can help facilitate relationships with service users, and become a tool to help service users, social workers and their colleagues establish relationships.

Emotional Labour in Social Workers’ Encounters with Children and Their Families

“…In the TLC research study, some social workers appeared to use a range of techniques to manage their feelings and to mitigate against such dissonance including the use of humour; self-care through a focus on bringing in and sharing food together; and distraction (focus on social lives and social activities). A finding in this study that echoed in other social work research studies was that humour performed many functions including the release of tension, the creation of group cohesion and the venting of feelings such as anger, frustration and anxiety (Gilgun and Sharma, 2011;Jordan, 2016). In the example from TLC data below, it is notable the social worker uses humour to manage her emotional responses to the bleak reality of children's lives (explained below).…”

Affective spaces, humour and power in 24-hour care institutions for young people in vulnerable positions

“…Humour also has the capacity to highlight and make visible the less obvious dynamics of interpersonal, asymmetrical power dynamics. Jordan (2017) states that humour ought to be considered as a central aspect of social work, on a par with more commonly recognised features, such as empathy, perseverance and legislative competence (Jordan, 2017).…”

“…Jordan (2017) argues that humour always has played an essential role in social work practice but not necessarily an exclusively positive one because, while it can be conceived as a coping mechanism in managing the complexities of social work, it can potentially risk undermining what is otherwise a serious situation. Moreover, using humour deviates from standard approaches and may be perceived as unprofessional, especially if employed inappropriately with people in vulnerable positions (Jordan, 2017).…”

“…Jordan (2017) argues that humour always has played an essential role in social work practice but not necessarily an exclusively positive one because, while it can be conceived as a coping mechanism in managing the complexities of social work, it can potentially risk undermining what is otherwise a serious situation. Moreover, using humour deviates from standard approaches and may be perceived as unprofessional, especially if employed inappropriately with people in vulnerable positions (Jordan, 2017). Sullivan (2000), who draws a similar conclusion in a study on social workers’ use of gallows humour, finds that, although using humour can diffuse a difficult situation, gallows humour contains the risk of being prejudiced or patronising if used without reflection and used carefully.…”

“…Expanding the discussion, Bell (2009) underlines that research on the absence of humour is notably non-existent from research in general. Admittedly, to some extent, humour has not been a core issue in research focussing on sociologically oriented social work (Jordan, 2017). One possible reason for this oversight is that social work typically is not associated with humour and laughter (Morriss, 2015; Witkin, 1999).…”