NEW BOOK!

A. Salvini, A. J. W. Andersen (Eds.), Interaction, Health and Community, PLUS, Pisa, 2011.

In 2009, the University of Pisa and the University of Agder (Norway) signed an agreement of collaboration in order to enhance relations between the two universities and develop academic and cultural interchange in the areas of education, research and other activities within community studies, psychosocial work and mental health. The agreement emerged from a longer collaboration between user-organisations and mental health practitioners in the two countries. The collaboration was extended and strengthened by an Erasmus agreement in 2011.
As the first concrete result of our collaboration, we are proud to launch a new book synthesizing reflections on “Interactions, Health and Community” (Eds. Andrea Salvini, Anders J. W. Andersen, Edizioni PLUS, Pisa, 2011).

SUMMARY

Preface

NORWAY, ITALY

di Mario Aldo Toscano

Introduction

di Andrea Salvini, Anders Johan W. Andersen

Part I

DISCOURSES

I. Governing Health. Discourse Analysis in Public Health Research

di Anders Johan W. Andersen

II. Network Theories for Healthier Communities

di Andrea Salvini

III. Recognition. A Question of Morality or Professionalism?

di Janneke Quarles van Ufford

IV. The Qualitative Interview. From Romanticism to Social Enactment

di Anne Ryen

Part II

ISSUES AND RESEARCHES

V. Social Control as a Form of “Care”. The New Function of the Nation-State and the Role of the Prison

di Andrea Borghini

VI. Do I Have a Healthy Faith? When Religion Affect Health

di Carolina Nuti

VII. Materiality Talks. Including Materiality in Mental Health Research

di Inger Beate Larsen

VIII. Obesity and Its Consequences

di Tor-Ivar Karlsen

IX. Social Exclusion and Social Capital. Can the Concepts Enrich Each Other and Are They Relevant for Studies on Children Living in Low-Income Families?

di Anne Brita Thorød

Part III

PRACTICES

X. What about Practice? The Recurrent Question in Social Work Education

di Torunn Alise Ask

XI. Notes on a Possible “Post-University” Program of Psycho-Social Training for the Social Worker

di Roberto Mazza

XII. “Dance Me to the End of Love”. Theories and Practice of Dance Movement Therapy

di Malvern Lumsden

XIII. Health Coaching as an Intervention During Crises or Times of Stress

di John O. Bjørnestad, Anne Valen-Sendstad Skisland, Rune Høigaard

XIV. Network Perspectives for Community Building

di Irene Psaroudakis

XV. Social Networks: Body and Voice of the Community. Network Intevention in Italian Social Work

di Barbara Montanaro

XVI. Integration and Public Health. The Experience of the “Società della Salute” (“Society of Health”)

di Giuseppe Cecchi

Part IV

VOLUNTEERING FOR COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

XVII. The Contradictions of Volunteer Work. A Factor of Fragmented Social Cohesion? The Case of the VOs in Tuscany

di Luca Corchia

XVIII. From User Participation to User Interface. Reflections On The Need For New Metaphors In The Mental Health Field

di Odd Volden, Anders Johan W. Andersen

XIX. Groups and Associations of Self-Help/Mutual Aid as Instruments of Individual and Collective Empowerment

di Mario Serrano, Paolo Pini

XX. Volunteering and Social Cohesion

di Dania Cordaz

Presentation

The book consists of 20 papers drawing from Italian and Norwegian scientific work. The papers cover a broad variety of issues, and use different methods in the search for new understandings and insights. At the same time, the readers will discover some recurring themes throughout the book, and may identify shared positions and perspectives. These perspectives might be broken down into four main themes:

Beyond medicalization and standardization of life

It is possible to identify two dominating positions in the Western world regarding questions of health and social problems. On the one hand, there are advocates who strongly believe in the triangle of “assessment, diagnosis, treatment”. Here the leading idea is that problems have individual roots, and need to be examined thoroughly in order to find the right solution. In its purest form, it rests on a quite simple understanding of causality. On the other side are critics who argue that this thinking and working method, this scientific discourse, puts pressure on the individualization, standardization, and medicalization of social problems. They underline the concept of variation, and highlight the danger of losing the social and political aspects involved in the understanding of social work and health care. It becomes necessary to go beyond the concept of medicalization, and work against tendencies to standardize the “good” way of life.

Reinforce the silenced voices

Democracy is a form of government that requires sustained attention towards marginalized groups within the society. It is easy to ignore the fact that not all are included in the majority, or have the necessary capacity to set the public agenda and represent their own interests. One important goal for both the health and social sciences is to give attention to marginalized individuals, and to reinforce their – often silenced - voice. From a methodological point of view, this means to study the ways in which people define situations, build solutions to the problems of everyday life, and interact within their own networks.

Volunteerism as a way of building social networks

Support of social communities makes people strong. This way of thinking has given power to the working class, to women, to migrants – in short, to a number of oppressed and marginalized people throughout history. Social work and volunteerism comprise two ways in which it is possible to build supportive communities, to 16 build practices of solidarity with vulnerable people while at the same time pursuing social justice. It is a way of connecting people, to establish and strengthen social networks, especially if they assume the citizens’, the users’, perspectives in their projects of action.

Development of practical knowledge

Over the last 20 years, the Greek philosopher Aristotle has gained renewed attention in the more practice-oriented sciences, e.g., nursing, social work, and teaching. He emphasized the importance of a multi-faceted concept of knowledge, and presented the different aspects in terms of episteme, techne, and phronesis. These aspects are both closely intertwined with one another and in need of specific attention. The practical sciences have eagerly seized upon the concept of phronesis, valuing situated, practical knowledge. It underlines the necessity of adopting theories (discourses), methodologies, and practices of intervention that give importance to people’s definitions of situation, feelings, and interactions.

Alla Sezione aderiscono principalmente docenti, ricercatori e giovani studiose e studiosi del Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali di Pisa, ed è ovviamente aperto alla collaborazione con tutti coloro che, a diverso titolo, adottano la prospettiva della SNA nella propria attività scientifica o hanno interesse a"saperne di più"; per questo uno degli ulteriori obiettivi della Sezione è quello di promuovere l'utilizzo della SNA nella ricerca, come anche nell'intervento sociale.

Questo sito nasce per segnalare le attività compiute dalla Sezione, ma anche per fornire un punto di riferimento per coloro che vogliono approfondire l'analisi delle reti sociali in Italia, proponendo percorsi di approfondimento tematico, offrendo alcuni strumenti di base per avvicinarsi agli orizzonti concettuali e metodologici della prospettiva, ed informare circa gli eventi più significativi che, in Italia e nel mondo, riguardano direttamente la social network analysis.

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