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emotional wellbeing

men in particular illustrate well the the community with the men and their the boundaries of professionalism that
tensions between policy intended to support workers, I would regularly see have become the defining means by which
equip young people with learning how they would try to take a support health and social care staff are expected
disabilities with all the opportunities worker’s hand. to relate to the people they support.
afforded to others of a similar age and the At an employment training service at a Just as I felt conflicted, there were times
reality that, as people with learning local farm I regularly attended with two of when staff also appeared to struggle with
disabilities, they could at times be highly the men, they would attempt to engage how to respond to requests to hold hands
vulnerable and reliant on others around their support workers in hugs. Generally, and for embraces from those they
them for support. The three men – Mark when this happened, I would watch as supported. When faced with the
Whyatt, Joey Tammer and Sam Treadwell* workers quickly pulled their hands away vulnerability of those in front of them,
– were in their 20s and living together in or refused to reciprocate in a hug. workers would sometimes momentarily
supported accommodation. transgress professional boundaries and
I saw how the three young men often respond to calls for physical contact.
struggled to achieve independence and “ However, these responses were not enough
The young men tried to
community inclusion. So much of this to have a significant impact on how such
appeared to be down to the limits their emotionally engage in a interactions were perceived more generally.
condition placed on them. Without staff physical sense but support The need to create distinct, professional
support, they tended to be unable to do workers would quickly pull boundaries between staff and people in
many things, such as cleaning, paying receipt of support has a logical basis. It
household bills, going to the shops and their hands away enables support to be transparent and
organising general aspects of life. The three men also attempted to ” accountable, ensuring that vulnerable
I also saw tensions and conflict develop people are not exploited or, at worst,
between the young men and their support seriously abused. Furthermore, placing the
workers, who would tirelessly attempt to engage with me in these physical ways. I person at the centre of support relates to
get them to engage in domestic duties. recall one day at the employment training concerns about paternalism and its limiting
These activities were not always of service when one of them leant his head effect on self-empowerment, autonomy
interest to the men but staff saw them as against my shoulder. I considered trying to and the right to be active citizens. As such,
important markers of living a normal life. ignore this. I felt conflicted as to how to staff are discouraged from engaging
Elsewhere, there was at times a focus respond: on one hand, I was aware these emotionally with people they support.
on the young men getting jobs in the kinds of interactions were not generally These concerns are valid and important,
community, but these aspirations were permitted yet, on the other, I felt particularly in the context of learning
not realised as their needs relating to compelled to respond to what felt like a disability care in which many people were
their learning disabilities meant they strong need for emotional connection and – and still are – unnecessarily detained in
could not perform tasks the roles reassurance from another human being. I segregated and poorly maintained
required. Unfortunately too, because they responded and put my arm around him. settings. Yet, in focusing so much on
were considered to be working towards At this point, a staff member walked transactional concepts of support and
independence, the funded hours of past, saw this and, after telling the young individual autonomy, we might
support provided were not enough to allow man he knew he should not be doing that, inadvertently be ignoring an inherent
some hours to be allocated to support turned to me and warned me that he human need to feel connected to others.
For people with learning disabilities,
them in carrying out tasks required in a job. might “get the wrong idea”. who tend to have limited social networks,
“ The men struggled to Ability versus aspiration the ability to engage in an emotional

In the examples above, I have tried to
sense with the people they see most days
– their support staff – is arguably crucial.
illustrate the tension between the policy
achieve independence and
inclusion. Without staff goals of independence and community You could argue that no amount of
living and the problems people with
independent freedom is meaningful if you
support, they were unable learning disabilities can experience in do not also have access to the kinds of
intimate relations with others that make
achieving these.
to do many things ” and, for some, physical impairments *Names have been changed
Quite often, I found people’s intellectual life emotionally meaningful. n
very difficult if not impossible for them to
Social and emotional connection appeared so embodied that it would be Dr Carys Banks is an anthropologist at the
In addition to trying to shape people as achieve these aspirations. In contrast, it University of Surrey. Her work explores
responsible and engaged citizens, policy was emotional connections that people relations of care between people with
imperatives shaped social relations with learning disabilities tended to seek learning disabilities and staff supporting
between individuals with learning from those around them, who were them. She was the 2016 recipient of the
disabilities and their support workers. This mainly support workers. Radcliffe Brown/Sutasoma award from
was played out as the young men tried to the Royal Anthropological Institute
engage with workers as friends, asking Boundaries become barriers Further reading
them to go for coffee or to the cinema. At an organisational level, calls by the Banks C (2018) Are People with Learning
Perhaps more affecting was when I saw young men for emotional connectedness Disabilities Really Being Empowered?: an
how the young men attempted to engage with support workers were viewed as Ethnography Exploring Experiences of
emotionally with their support workers in inappropriate, particularly when manifested Empowerment Policies in UK Social Care Support.
a physical sense. When out and about in physically. This was because they transgress PhD thesis. http://tinyurl.com/y4zhofmy

www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 33 No 1 | Autumn 2019 11