NIASW World Social Work Day: Using service users to train social workers has ‘reciprocal benefits’

The concept of reparation for victims and survivors of the Troubles often focuses on monetary terms such as compensation, yet there are “other forms of reparation”, one survivor told NIASW’s World Social World Day event in Belfast.

Paul Gallagher, who was injured in an attack during the troubles in Northern Ireland and now uses a wheelchair, is himself now studying for a degree in psychological trauma and is part of a delegation from the WAVE trauma centre who educate Queens University social work students of the needs of people who have been bereaved, injured and traumatised by the Troubles.

Paul says that bringing service users into social work tutorials can have ‘reciprocal benefits’.

“There are other forms of reparation society can provide, these include satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition and can be rehabilitative”, he said.

Victims and survivors involved in the WAVE initiative felt they had been “listened to with dignity”, with one participant saying they felt they had been listened to for the first time in forty years and hoped it could “make a difference for future generations”.

Mr. Gallagher recounted how he had encouraged social work students also to consider their non-verbal communication skills by observing their reactions to his story:

“In one tutorial, I told the students about what had happened to me on the night that I was shot and how I have coped since, I went into a lot of detail about the incident, told them the truth, warts, blood, guts and all, I did not hold back.

“As I looked around the room I saw horror in their young faces. None of them had been born when the horrors here had been on-going. I was beginning to feel that I should hold back, that I was scaring them, however, on reflection I think it was right to shock them.

“Social workers will see and hear of many harrowing events in the course of their work and they should learn to regulate their emotions so as not to make their clients feel uncomfortable. This realisation is something they may not have learnt from a textbook”, he said.

Mr. Gallagher believes that social workers have a responsibility to tackle sectarianism, as they are expected to provide services to all. One student said he was glad that they had ‘poked the bear of sectarianism’ in a tutorial.

On the issue of providing services to ‘perpetrators or combatants’ of the Troubles, Mr. Gallagher takes a compassionate view.

“Many say ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ but labelling people is wrong. Some perpetrators may be victims themselves. We need to look at the big picture, see the complexities, avoid black and white thinking, embrace the grey and above all, be non-judgemental”.

“Social workers carry a big responsibility in society, the clue is in the name. They enter our homes, they deal with vulnerable, traumatised people, and they deal with their children. What they do and say can affect how these people cope with their lives. Helping to repair these people can in turn repair our divided society”, Mr. Gallagher said.