Negotiation of user identity and responsibility at a prerelease conference

Abstract

Recent political changes in the field of social work have sought to incorporate values of independence and client participation into social work practice. Such an ideological shift stresses user roles, agency, and clients' responsibility to play an active role in their rehabilitation and participate in decision-making processes. This reflects a move away from traditional paternalism, dependency, and professional control. Based on a single case of a prerelease conference in prison, this article investigates the complexity of social work practice in relation to user engagement in the social interaction between the inmate, his parents, and frontline professionals from prison and various welfare institutions. We explore how the participants negotiate the inmate's identity and find that the professionals' intention of engaging the inmate as a user and accentuating his responsibility creates a process in which different identity positions are at stake. The aim of engaging the inmate as a user conflicts with the two other identity categories, namely “client in need of support” and “victim of ADHD,” demonstrating how different discourses are drawn upon by professionals and parents in talk. Despite the professionals' attempts to set the stage as client empowering, the analysis shows that the inmate is frequently presented as a dependent individual. This creates an ambivalent situation for the inmate, who responds with resistance against the situation. The findings discussed in this article highlight the complexity of engaging clients as users.