Promoting Competence Through Voter Registration

Abstract

Recently, the social work profession speardepartment considered sponsoring for the headed a national voter registration caminstitution a lecture by a prominent ex paign. Such a drive on the part of the pert or activist. The goals of the plan profession operationalizes the values that were to raise institutional consciousness, underpin its work and that include a belief educate other hospital staff, and stimulate in and commitment to persons as agents broad-based support for the drive. As the of change who can effect their environassets and limitations of the setting were ment. Although there has been considerassessed (and after already having tested able professional discussion of the pros the water through previous advocacy con and cons of voter registration and of the cerns, such as abortion and third-party obstacles to mounting a registration campayments), this initial strategy was re paign in a variety of settings, to date, little evaluated and rejected. Given the nature has been written on this topic. This article of the setting, the plan appeared poten describes the successful voter registration tially explosive and too provocative, drive for the 1984 national elections that Thus, in their preliminary discussions was undertaken by a department of social with the hospital's administration, the work in a traditional psychiatric setting, authors focused instead on the program's within a major medical teaching hospital, therapeutic benefits and concern with pa The authors provide highlights of the registient rights. They stressed that the program tration effort and several clinical vignettes built on the concept of the patients' ego that illustrate the meaning of the drive to strength as well as reinforced the belief psychiatric patients. In addition, they disthat people have rights and responsibilities cuss the implications of both for the social outside their role as patients. They main work profession within the large medical tained that the project deemphasized a institution and for the education of social sick role and took on instead a rehabili work trainees in mental health. tative position for the patients. Moreover, In any thoughtful and rigorous examithey pointed out that the voter registra nation of the role of social work in mental tion project included the issue of reality health settings, social workers need to testing, because it recognized that the keep attuned to those projects and ideas patients have a life outside the hospital, that are linked to the basic beliefs of the In presenting the therapeutic rationale, profession.1 It is the authors' view, therethe authors were aware that as social fore, that sponsoring programs related to workers, they were taking on an advocacy the rights and strengths of patients is imrole—one that focused on patients' needs portant and particularly so in a psychiatric and rights as opposed to political organiz hospital. In psychiatric settings, social ing. The latter might have raised a con workers are challenged to maintain a flict of interest in the host setting, psychosocial focus that includes attention The director of the psychiatric social to issues concerning ego strength as well work department took on the role of senior as pathology. This focus has impact on negotiator with the hospital administra service delivery, program planning, and tion. In so doing, she enhanced the profes education. Social work agencies and unisional legitimacy of the project, which versities alike have addressed the issue of decreased some of the institutionally based voter registration as an important area of anxiety about radical intent or political clients' rights. In planning the voter regisorganizing. Throughout the discussions tration program, the authors found the with the hospital administrators, the de idea of clients' rights compatible with partment's staff emphasized that every other treatment issues for the psychiatric care would be taken to offer a service that patient population. was neutral in tone but affirmative of the rights of patients and staff alike. They were particularly careful not to exploit the . ,T»TT1.T„ _TI„ transferential aspects of the worker-client PLANNING THE relatinnshin REGISTRATION DRIVE The discussions among the department In the initial plan for undertaking the staff were stormy. Issues such as patient drive staff of the psychiatric social work confidentiality, the rights of psychiatric patients, and individual political bias were discussed. Indeed, the staff had to re mind themselves that psychiatric patients— whether voluntary or committed to an institution—still retain their legal right to vote.2 This process allowed the staff to work out their differences prior to the inception of the project. The authors em phasized consistently that nothing would be imposed on the patients or staff; instead a service would be offered in a natural