Mark Haydon-Laurelut

Intellectual disabilities, challenging behaviour and referral texts: a critical discourse analysis

The texts of referrals written by workers in residential services for people with learning difficulties 1 constitute sites where contemporary discourses of intellectual disabilities are being constructed. This paper uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine referrals made to a Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT). The study finds referral forms position the person with intellectual disabilities as a problem to be solved, as in need of surveillance, and show evidence of the routinisation of daily life, surveillance, and mortification of the self.

Intellectual Disability Trouble: Foucault and Goffman on ‘Challenging Behaviour’

On the night of the 19th, while the news was on television and the middle class was at home watching, seeing people from the most humble sectors crying, women crying in front of supermarkets, begging for or taking food, and the State of Siege was declared, then and there began the sound of the cacerola (the banging of pots and pans). In one window, and then another window, in one house and then another house, and soon, there was the noise of the cacerola.

‘The seal of approval’: referring adults with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour to community learning disability teams

This article describes a study that involved interviewing eight managers of residential services, who have made referrals to community learning disability teams (CLDTs) for challenging behaviour. Thematic analysis and a critical perspective are combined to analyse and interpret what referrers said about the process of the referral. The study found that managers referred people with intellectual disabilities to the CLDT primarily in order to manage organisational problems rather than to directly manage challenging behaviour. The referrals enlisted the services of professionals to legitimise the residential services, to confirm their practices and to provide credibility to existing decisions by managers. In referring a man or woman with intellectual disabilities to the CLDT, the managers submit themselves, their staff and the person with the intellectual disabilities to the power of the health and psy-complex professionals.

Causing trouble: the language of learning disability and challenging behaviour

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review two studies concerning referrals for challenging behaviour to community learning disability teams (CLDTs). The social constructionist approach to research taken by the studies is introduced. Design/methodology/approach – The studies used critical discourse analysis and thematic analysis to analyse referral texts and interviews with referrers. Findings – The studies found referral processes locating service problems within the bodies of persons with intellectual disabilities whilst constructing the actions of services as appropriate. This was in part achieved by employing the discourses of the total institutions. The referral process often served the purposes of the referring service. Research limitations/implications – The research took place in a small geographical location across two learning disability teams. Originality/value – The process of referring to CLDTs and the language used in these referrals is an under researched area. This paper shows how the language and documents of services are rich sources of data. Services exist in a network and understanding how this network functions is important to understanding the function of referrals.

Book Review: Clinical psychology and people with intellectual disabilities

The second edition of this edited book aims to be of use to clinical psychologists, those in training and other professionals working with people with intellectual disabilities as well as being an academic review of the field. The book’s 17 chapters are divided into three section areas: ‘Setting the Scene’, ‘General Clinical Issues’ and ‘Working with …’. This second edition includes new chapters on ‘Working with People with Autism’ and the ‘Social Context’. , second edition, edited by Eric Emerson, Kate Dickson, Rupa Gone, Chris Hatton, Jo Bromley and Amanda Caine, Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, 424 pp., £65.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-47-002971-8

Roundtable: advantages and challenges in using systemic approaches in ID services

In recent years, an increasing number of practitioners in the UK have applied systemic approaches in their work within intellectual disabilities services. Set within a postmodern paradigm, systemic approaches explore the beliefs and contexts that influence and give meanings to people’s actions and interactions. The approach assumes that all parties are acting in a way that makes sense from their perspective, however problematic the behaviour of any person in the system may appear to others. Practitioners aim to understand the perspectives of the people involved before exploring possibilities for change. Systemic approaches have wide applicability and can be used in a variety of settings: with individuals; families; paid carers; networks of professionals; and with staff teams. Evidence from a variety of sources including, importantly, service users themselves suggests that this approach has a lot to offer. In this roundtable we are aiming to initiate discussion and reflections around different ways of incorporating systemic approaches into service contexts and to share examples from our practice that have invigorated and inspired us as well as those that have presented challenges and dilemmas. Haydon will set the context for the discussion; Baum will describe how different services have found ways of applying the systemic approach in their local context; Rikberg Smyly will share the knowledge that has been accumulated by a range of practitioners; and finally, Lynggaard will highlight some common dilemmas that may arise in this work. Further discussion will be shaped by the questions and interests of participants.