In the world of the Focus Group, academia’s current role is teaching about helping in general, researching the roots of disadvantage, and researching/evaluating programmes that might make a difference to very distressed and marginalised people. Generally (in my experience anyway) that is done really well in most educational institutions that I know.
But while teaching is necessary (and of great value) it can also be distant and removed from the problem.
When we learn about something without truly journeying with it we will be insulated from change to self that might come through the experience of the journey.
It’s a bit like an addict reading about addiction. Having head knowledge about it is, of course, helpful, but it’s only by doing something about it that he will garner the full benefits of the knowledge gained.
There is a Chapter on Research and Evaluation in Section Five where I do a critique of research in the social spheres, so I will not deal with it at length here. However, what I do want to say is that it is often used as a springboard for academics to promote programmes developed in their University that are supposed to assist very distressed people and families.
Now I believe that it is very good that programmes are being developed and sold. Many of them are very helpful to families who are grounded enough to participate fully and derive benefit from them.
However, in my experience, they often fail to reach the Focus Group, whose needs might have sparked the research in the first place.
I have been privileged to have been taught by excellent teachers and lectured by lecturers that inspired. And that is academics’ forte!
I believe that, however, designing courses to assist very vulnerable people is something that academics need a lot of assistance with from community people and particularly from people in the Focus Group. Just, I suppose, like I’d need a lot of assistance from people who worked on farms if I wanted to be a farmer, or from people who worked in garages if I decided to be a mechanic. (If either would have me).
There is a plethora of publications and programmes designed in academia by people who have a deep knowledge of the theories but don’t have to pick up the pieces when what they design and/or publish is not engaged with by the people that they are supposed to reach.
Community workers (often assisted by the wise and strong people in the Focus Group do that) – but usually they haven’t been involved in the design in a real, felt sense.