In a previous Chapter I mentioned how supporting people in general, but in particular families in the Focus Group, has a cultural dimension. I mentioned anger and language as two areas where the culture of the mainstream might differ from that of our Focus Group.
In another post I referred to our (Irish) love of indirect communication, and gave examples of our native tongue which suggests that indirectness, mixed with a little hesitancy, has been for many centuries, (and still is) part of our culture.
Now, no matter who we are, it is true to say that we deserve the reputation we get – good or bad! While there are some negative stereotypes of Irishness, (excessive use of alcohol, general fecklessness etc.), there are two positive aspects that, I believe, come from our highly honed skills at indirect communication.
1. Consider the connection between feeling welcomed and feeling safe. Over many centuries of colonisation, (maybe because we were, during those centuries, a very hurt and often fearful people) we developed skills at temporarily hiding our true feelings so that strangers (i.e. agents of the colonising power) would feel safe in our company. After all, if they didn’t, it might have had negative consequences for us. Eventually we got so accustomed to this trait that we transformed it into a positive attribute. Nowadays, with the reputation that we have for the heartiness of our welcome (and friendliness in general) we may be reaping the rewards of what once could have been deemed to be a negative trait.
2. We have, considering our relatively small population, a well-deserved reputation (around the English speaking world anyway) for the quantity and the quality of our poetry, music, and other creative arts e.g. acting, drama etc. Poetry and art is full of ambiguity and suggestion, in that meanings are suggested rather than explicit. Did our skill at communicating indirectly, constantly practiced, foster the development of parts of our brain that appreciate the uncertainty and mystery of poetry, art, music, and outside the box type thinking? I believe that it is certainly a possibility.
I accept that the indirect communication that is part of our language may pre-date colonisation. Or it may not – I don’t know enough about the history of our language to decide one way or another. However it obviously worked for us because we kept doing it.
The second characteristic, (love of music and literature, the arts etc.) is a part of us that practitioners use a lot in designing responses, programmes etc. to assist young people who leave school early. It is great to see the growing interest in writing, free-form music such as rap, and different forms of art, grafted on to our more traditional types of music and song. (For example, I’d say that every town in Ireland has songs written about it).
But, in family support work our best use of our creativity is using it to build respectful, warm and consistent relationships with isolated and marginalised people. I will not dwell on creativity now, as an entire Sub-Chapter is devoted to it in Section Five.
I mention it because I believe that creativity can sometimes be enabled or facilitated by unassertive, indirect communication.