Theorising recognition and shame for social work practice

‘It was like I was embarrassed by my son’s behaviour and I was disgusted, thinking if I spoke to anyone they’re going to feel ‘what a crap mother…’ ‘Someone believes in me and like I’m glad she believes in me... [ view full abstract ]

‘It was like I was embarrassed by my son’s behaviour and I was disgusted, thinking if I spoke to anyone they’re going to feel ‘what a crap mother…’

‘Someone believes in me and like I’m glad she believes in me and I didn’t used to believe in myself until she told me I can do it…’

Embarrassment and shame; belief and recognition: two sets of concepts which potentially offer social workers a theoretical structure on which to build practice. This paper will critically consider contemporary theory in these areas, then explore how a more robust theoretical framework could support practice to ameliorate shame and enhance recognition.
‘Recognition’ should be the contemporary social work concept par excellence. Taylor, Honneth and Fraser’s political, social and economic theories of ‘recognition’ have secured a field in which e.g. inequality and exclusion can be analyzed. Social work theorists e.g. Garrett and Houston have also explored its potential. Shame, examined within contemporary symbolic interactionist accounts, e.g. Giddens, can be understood as a powerful force in limiting human agency, capacity, and improvement.

However the concepts are less than useful for practice because of the limited version of the human subject assumed/theorized. The subject of ‘recognition’ theory often remains a two dimensional, assumed to be rational, actor. Gidden’s work on identity, including shame, has been consistently criticised for volunteristic accounts of the subject. Without an understanding of how these modes are ‘lived’, social workers cannot grasp their impact.
The paper draws on contemporary psychosocial theory, for social structural and psychoanalytic thinking to understanding how experiencing shame and (mis) recognition can undermine agency and disempower the subject.
It will conclude by considering how social workers can engage with this model to enhance practices which initiate and support recognition, and minimise the impact of shame.