social graces research paper

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Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic Thinking and Practice?

Department of Psychology
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

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Social graces, Intersectionality, Systemic practice, Trainee therapist

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10.1080/01926187.2020.1830731

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in American Journal of Family Therapy on 07/10/2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01926187.2020.1830731

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Psychological Power Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
Family Therapy Medicine & Life Sciences 67%
Family Practice Medicine & Life Sciences 63%
family therapy Social Sciences 57%
trainee Social Sciences 48%
therapist Social Sciences 44%
trend Social Sciences 25%
literature Social Sciences 22%

T1 - Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic Thinking and Practice?

AU - Birdsey, Nicola

AU - Kustner, Claudia

PY - 2021/12/31

Y1 - 2021/12/31

N2 - The Social Graces framework is increasingly used within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to critically explore issues of social difference. Attending to issues of power and diversity is believed to help trainee family therapists become more alert to any biases that may impact on therapy. This review paper draws on the developing literature to examine what the social graces add and limit in systemic thinking and practice. It also considers an alternative approach for exploring power and difference in family therapy practice.

AB - The Social Graces framework is increasingly used within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to critically explore issues of social difference. Attending to issues of power and diversity is believed to help trainee family therapists become more alert to any biases that may impact on therapy. This review paper draws on the developing literature to examine what the social graces add and limit in systemic thinking and practice. It also considers an alternative approach for exploring power and difference in family therapy practice.

KW - Social graces, Intersectionality, Systemic practice, Trainee therapist

U2 - 10.1080/01926187.2020.1830731

DO - 10.1080/01926187.2020.1830731

M3 - Article

SN - 1521-038

JO - The American Journal of Family Therapy

JF - The American Journal of Family Therapy

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John Burnham’s Social GRACCESS – Culture and Class in Clinical Practice

This paper will identify and discuss John Burnham’s “Social Graces” (SG’s) by highlighting how the concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘class’ are an integral part of a therapist’s self-reflexive ability. A contextual background of the SG will be provided, and an overview of two SG’s and the impact on clinical practice will be explored, followed by a conclusion of this paper's topic.

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Popular on BASW

Social graces: a practical tool to address inequality.

On January 1st 2020, if you had asked the average social worker whether they operated in a fair and just society, the resounding answer would have been ‘no’.

Not after a decade of austerity, which saw poverty skyrocket to 1.2 million up from 41,000 in 2010. And certainly not after the referendum, which saw 71% of ethnic minorities reporting racial discrimination, compared with 58% in January 2016 before the EU vote.

If you asked the same question today, on 29th June as we approach the half-way mark of the year, the answer would be unequivocal. There is no question that the coronavirus has widened the schism between the rich and the poor. Coronavirus deaths are doubled in affluent areas compared with the most deprived.

Beyond our own shores, global events remind us that equality is but a distant dream. George Floyd’s last words, as he was murdered, will haunt us forever. ‘I can’t breathe’, he said.

As the minutes passed by, George reverted to system of hierarchy, to appease his killers. He began to use language such as ‘Sir’, addressing those who harmed him as though they were his superiors.

This interaction speaks volumes of institutionalised racism. No matter what platitudes we learn about equality and diversity at school, or in the workplace, it is clear that not everyone begins the marathon of life on the same footing.

Whilst some race forward in streamlined running shoes, unaware of the privilege lurching them forward, others are glued firmly to the starting line.

Ethnicity, class, disability or gender hinder their progress from the first millisecond of the race. And few can, no matter the amount of hard-work, realistically, close that gap.

It is easy to think:

“But just because I might conform to privilege, it doesn’t mean I’ve had it easy”.

And this is true. Human suffering is ubiquitous. But do you dare to ask yourself the following?

• Have you ever been rejected from a job application solely based on your surname?

• Has a disability ever prevented you from contributing to the workplace?

• Have you ever felt too intimidated to disclose your sexuality to colleagues?

• Have you ever been overlooked for a promotion because of your gender?

We need tangible tools we can use to fight against prejudice, to acknowledge privilege, and to redistribute power. The Social Graces is one of the tools which can help us to achieve this.

What are Social Graces?

In order to get to grips with the Social Graces tool, I consulted with Rowland Coombes, a family systemic psychotherapist, and a clinical lead at the Centre for Systemic Social Work.

[Figure 1 – NES].

Power imbalance

The term ‘Social Graces’, Rowland explained, is a mnemonic to help us remember some of the key features that influence personal and social identity (see figure 1), as developed by John Burhnham, Alison Roper-Hall and colleagues (1992).

Originally, the pneumonic was arranged as ‘disgraces’ to highlight the fact that such inequalities were ‘disgraceful’, but it was feared this could be rather off-putting. So, over time, the ‘dis’ was dropped, and the ‘social’ added to the front, to highlight the fact that the graces have an impact not only on an individual level, but are activated within the community.

One of the key aims of the graces is to ‘name’ power differentials. In doing so, it is far easier to identify (and work on) our own prejudice, or indeed on our own privilege.

Naming power differences can invite service users, colleagues or even friends to share the social graces which they feel can hold them back, or even cloud their judgement of others.

The graces in the figure about are not an exhaustive list, and can be adapted. They could differ according to place, time and culture. That’s the beauty of the graces; they are fluid. There is room for reflection and correction.

What Rowland says next is music to my ears – especially as someone who understands the pressures on social workers to produce Ofsted-pleasing statistics, reach targets, and tick the boxes required for inspections:

“The graces are about process, not procedure. It’s about the interaction between people, not data.”

For most of us, it is people, not spreadsheets, which ignite our desire to become social workers.

The social graces align with the BASW 80:20 campaign, which champions relational practice, with the desire to reverse the ratio of social workers spending 80% of the time at their desks, and just 20% with service users.

Ecology of mind

Putting the need for the social graces into a cultural context, Rowland explained that in our western, capitalist society, we have often tended to think of ourselves first and foremost as individuals, rather than as a cohesive unit.

This resonated with me on a number of levels; I only began to understand the self-centric nature of Western culture when I lived in Chile, where the first question asked to a stranger was not the typical ‘What do you do for a living?’, but ‘Tell me about your family’.

The social graces, however, recognise that we are not isolated beings. That there is such a thing as society –despite messages to the contrary which have seeped into our national psyche.

Rowland said:

The social graces remind us that we are like fingers which, whilst moving independently, are connected. If the tendons in one finger are strained, and it becomes less mobile, there is likely to be an impact on the others.

I like this concept, because it removes the urge to ‘pin down the blame’ on one individual; social work is rife with blame culture. Because the stakes are so very high. Because we fear the potential consequences should things go wrong.

In moving away from personal culpability, we begin to humanise each-other. To separate challenging or problematic behaviours from the individual (whilst not absolving them of responsibility).

How many times as a social worker did I hear the dreaded phrase ‘He/she is a challenging child’. Well, that’s simply not true. The child is not problematic. But there is something inherently problematic about labelling and stigmatising.

The Social Graces challenge the idea of a ‘fixed personality’. Think about it for a second. Are you the same person around your partner, your cat and with work colleagues you meet for the first time? No. As human beings, we feed off the energy and discourse of others.

Applying this to the example above, the Social Graces can help us to understand the child in the context of their relationships.

How to use the Graces as a time-pressed social worker

• Choose one of the graces you are drawn toward. Or ask service users to do so. Reflect on why this is – this is something you can share vocally, through writing, or any other creative outlet. To get you started, here is a personal example: I have selected ethnicity as a grace I am drawn toward.

As someone who is dual-heritage, but cloaked in white privilege due to my light skin tone, I am painfully aware of power differentials in terms of ethnicity; I have, throughout my life, been given different treatment to other family members.

I have no reason to fear the police; my dad does, and has been assaulted by them.

I was always encouraged to achieve my full potential at school; my dad wasn’t, and was bullied and humiliated by teachers.

I have travelled around the world with no fear that I would be singled out for my skin colour; my dad, on the other hand, is too fearful to travel to America for the fear of being attacked.

I have always been referred to by my first name at work; my dad, on the other hand, has been called by racist nicknames which have ‘stuck’.

I feel stuck between two worlds, in that I have been treated as a ‘white’ person my whole life, yet witnessed indirect racism throughout my childhood.

Attempt the above exercise with the grace you feel the least drawn toward.
Consider which of the graces mostly influences your relationship with a service user. Or a supervisor/supervisee. This may feel uncomfortable at first, but keep at it.
Rate the graces on a linear scale of 1-10, 1 being that they impact you only a little, 10 being that they impact you significantly. This is also an exercise which can be done with service users, both adults and children, to learn more about the way in which they see the world.

• In a group setting, or in pairs, attempt to roleplay the social graces from different perspectives.

This article serves only as a brief introduction to a tool which is far richer and deeper than has been outlined here.

To learn more about the Social Graces, further detail can be found below – I hope they serve you well in your journey of self-reflexivity and change:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-6427.2005.00318.x

https://www.camdenchildrenssocialwork.info/blog_articles/1967-first-systemic-concept-clip-live

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259686055_%27Which_aspects_of_social_GGRRAAACCEEESSS_grab_you_most%27_The_social_GGRRAAACCEEESSS_exercise_for_a_supervision_group_to_promote_therapists%27_self-reflexivity

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(Dis)gracefully navigating the challenges of diversity learning and teaching – reflections on the Social Graces as a diversity training tool

Publication date, published in, other links.

What are the Social Graces by John Burnham? (Explained for Students)

The social graces include:

G: Gender, Gender Identity, Geography, Generation
R: Race, Religion
A: Age, Ability, Appearance
C: Class, Culture, Caste
E: Education, Ethnicity, Economics
S: Spirituality, Sexuality, Sexual Orientation

The concept was developed by John Burnham in 1993. Burnham highlighted that we should be able to add extra identity factors to the G.R.A.C.E.S mnemonic and adjust them as the needs arise. Hence, it has since been built upon to create the clumsy term: GGGGRRAAACCCEEESSS.

Social graces is an acronym / mnemonic explaining the visible and invisible aspects of our identity . It allows us to examine the elements of identity that might impact our lives and behaviors.

Definition of the Social Graces

The social graces is a framework for understanding aspects of identity and how they shape our practices. It makes aspects of identity and asks practitioners (normally therapists, but also teachers, social workers, etc.) to be aware of how their identity influences their thinking.

Some scholars define it similarly as:

“A mnemonic that separates out different aspects of identity into separate categories.” (Butler, 2017, p. 17)
“Mnemonic for aspects of difference” (Jones & Reeve, 2014, p. 2)
“A suitable framework […] through which therapists can reflect on their own beliefs and prejudices in order to understand how they might bring these into the therapy” (Totsuka, 2014, p. 106)

Use these quotes (or cite these sources) in your essay on this topic.

The concept helps therapists, educators, councilors and psychologists talk through the elements of identity and how they might impact how we relate to others. It is designed to make identity factors a part of a discussion about privileges and disadvantages that are evident in society.

Burnham and colleagues often use the concept to help practitioners identify their own implicit biases. When their implicit biases are identified, they can help neutralize them to become more effective, thoughtful and fair practitioners.

As Nolte (2017, p. 4) argues, the framework:

… provides a helpful way for us to become intentional in our developing awareness of, reflexivity about and skillfulness in responding to sameness and difference.

Similarly, Partridge and McCarry (2017) argue that this model can help us to:

Reflect on action: Think about how identity influenced a situation.
Use or reflections to inform future actions: Think about how we can ensure we are fairer in future actions.
Subvert the dominant discourse: Consider ways to re-think ongoing behaviors that privilege dominant social identities (white, middle-class, male, able, etc.)
Consider new alternatives for future actions: Come up with new ways to behave that are fairer.

Key Features

1. makes aspects of identity visible and explicit.

The main feature and benefit of this concept is that it helps us talk about aspects of identity out loud. It gives us an opportunity to air our thoughts on aspects of identity that are ‘unsaid’ (that we don’t usually talk about) as well as aspects that we wear on our sleeve.

In sessions where the SGs are used to discuss identity, people will usually talk through each aspect of identity and consider which features they identify with. For example, when talking about ‘gender’, people can bring up their perspective as a male / female / non-binary person. When talking about ‘Education’, people can bring up how their educational background influences their views, etc.

2. All Aspects of Identity are Equally Important

Burnham (2003) states that all aspects of identity should be considered equally important within this framework. While the Gs come before the Rs, this should not be taken to assume that Gs are more important than Rs in the framework. Instead, the separation of each ‘grace’ is designed to ensure each one is examined sufficiently and not drowned out by any others.

3. Always Evolving

The acronym is constantly evolving as people add to and subtract from it. Burnham highlights that sessions should begin by asking people what other aspects of identity they could add to the framework. For example, in North America, many people may add their migrant experiences or Indigenous identities to the framework, thereby introducing new but equally important aspects of identity to the discussion.

Pros and Cons

1. helps people understand identity.

The framework provides a useful way to get people talking about identity. It is a clear and explicit (rather than abstract) way of examining various identity factors that may contribute to our perspectives and beliefs.

2. Makes unsaid and invisible aspects of Identity a Topic of Discussion

Without a clear framework for discussing aspects of identity, many aspects may be ignored or not spoken about. The aspects of identity that are most likely to be overlooked are ones that are invisible and unspoken. The benefit of this framework is that the teacher and students can talk through each aspect one by one, ensuring nothing is overlooked.

3. Helps us see our Implicit Biases

By examining aspects of our identities we can think about how they shape our perspectives and actions. If we can talk about this, then we can work on eliminating or minimizing implicit biases in our professional practice.

1. Fails to understand complexity of identity

Butler (2017) argues that breaking down identity into separate categories fails to understand the complexity of identity. The graces acronym sees identity as ‘the sum of its parts’ rather than a holistic and indivisible concept. Therefore, Butler argues that it is “fundamentally opposed by intersectional theory” (Butler, 2017, p. 17). This is because intersectional theory sees intersectional identities (such as black-queer) as inseperable and unique and impossible to discuss in separation.

Similarly, Totsuka (2014, p. 106) highlights that aspects of the graces are “complex and interwoven”. She notes that in one of her sessions a student noted that her “ethnicity, culture and religion were inseparable” and shouldn’t be separated out in the way they are in the graces framework. Nonetheless, the session made this point explicit, providing yet another entry way into a complex discussion of identity that was valuable to all participants in the session – so perhaps this is a good thing!

2. A Framework, not a Theory

The graces concept is a tool for thinking about identity, it is not a theory. It should not be mistaken for a theory of race (like, for example, Critical Whiteness Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectional Theory, etc.) This may be considered a weakness at times, or may simply be seen as a simple fact: it’s not to be used as an underpinning explanation of the world. It simply opens up discussion about social identities and biases.

Final Thoughts

The social graces concept by Burnham and colleagues is a useful way for looking at how our identities are formed and how they impact our implicit biases. It is most commonly used as a training tool to help therapists, teachers, and other practitioners think about how to counter implicit biases in their own practices in order to achieve social justice.

Examining the role of community resilience and social capital on mental health in public health emergency and disaster response: a scoping review

C. E. Hall 1 , 2 ,
H. Wehling 1 ,
J. Stansfield 3 ,
J. South 3 ,
S. K. Brooks 2 ,
N. Greenberg 2 , 4 ,
R. Amlôt 1 &
D. Weston 1

BMC Public Health volume 23 , Article number: 2482 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The ability of the public to remain psychologically resilient in the face of public health emergencies and disasters (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) is a key factor in the effectiveness of a national response to such events. Community resilience and social capital are often perceived as beneficial and ensuring that a community is socially and psychologically resilient may aid emergency response and recovery. This review presents a synthesis of literature which answers the following research questions: How are community resilience and social capital quantified in research?; What is the impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; What is the impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?

A scoping review procedure was followed. Searches were run across Medline, PsycInfo, and EMBASE, with search terms covering both community resilience and social capital, public health emergencies, and mental health. 26 papers met the inclusion criteria.

The majority of retained papers originated in the USA, used a survey methodology to collect data, and involved a natural disaster. There was no common method for measuring community resilience or social capital. The association between community resilience and social capital with mental health was regarded as positive in most cases. However, we found that community resilience, and social capital, were initially negatively impacted by public health emergencies and enhanced by social group activities.

Several key recommendations are proposed based on the outcomes from the review, which include: the need for a standardised and validated approach to measuring both community resilience and social capital; that there should be enhanced effort to improve preparedness to public health emergencies in communities by gauging current levels of community resilience and social capital; that community resilience and social capital should be bolstered if areas are at risk of disasters or public health emergencies; the need to ensure that suitable short-term support is provided to communities with high resilience in the immediate aftermath of a public health emergency or disaster; the importance of conducting robust evaluation of community resilience initiatives deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peer Review reports

For the general population, public health emergencies and disasters (e.g., natural disasters; infectious disease outbreaks; Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear incidents) can give rise to a plethora of negative outcomes relating to both health (e.g. increased mental health problems [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]) and the economy (e.g., increased unemployment and decreased levels of tourism [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]). COVID-19 is a current, and ongoing, example of a public health emergency which has affected over 421 million individuals worldwide [ 7 ]. The long term implications of COVID-19 are not yet known, but there are likely to be repercussions for physical health, mental health, and other non-health related outcomes for a substantial time to come [ 8 , 9 ]. As a result, it is critical to establish methods which may inform approaches to alleviate the longer-term negative consequences that are likely to emerge in the aftermath of both COVID-19 and any future public health emergency.

The definition of resilience often differs within the literature, but ultimately resilience is considered a dynamic process of adaptation. It is related to processes and capabilities at the individual, community and system level that result in good health and social outcomes, in spite of negative events, serious threats and hazards [ 10 ]. Furthermore, Ziglio [ 10 ] refers to four key types of resilience capacity: adaptive, the ability to withstand and adjust to unfavourable conditions and shocks; absorptive, the ability to withstand but also to recover and manage using available assets and skills; anticipatory, the ability to predict and minimize vulnerability; and transformative, transformative change so that systems better cope with new conditions.

There is no one settled definition of community resilience (CR). However, it generally relates to the ability of a community to withstand, adapt and permit growth in adverse circumstances due to social structures, networks and interdependencies within the community [ 11 ]. Social capital (SC) is considered a major determinant of CR [ 12 , 13 ], and reflects strength of a social network, community reciprocity, and trust in people and institutions [ 14 ]. These aspects of community are usually conceptualised primarily as protective factors that enable communities to cope and adapt collectively to threats. SC is often broken down into further categories [ 15 ], for example: cognitive SC (i.e. perceptions of community relations, such as trust, mutual help and attachment) and structural SC (i.e. what actually happens within the community, such as participation, socialising) [ 16 ]; or, bonding SC (i.e. connections among individuals who are emotionally close, and result in bonds to a particular group [ 17 ]) and bridging SC (i.e. acquaintances or individuals loosely connected that span different social groups [ 18 ]). Generally, CR is perceived to be primarily beneficial for multiple reasons (e.g. increased social support [ 18 , 19 ], protection of mental health [ 20 , 21 ]), and strengthening community resilience is a stated health goal of the World Health Organisation [ 22 ] when aiming to alleviate health inequalities and protect wellbeing. This is also reflected by organisations such as Public Health England (now split into the UK Health Security Agency and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) [ 23 ] and more recently, CR has been targeted through the endorsement of Community Champions (who are volunteers trained to support and to help improve health and wellbeing. Community Champions also reflect their local communities in terms of population demographics for example age, ethnicity and gender) as part of the COVID-19 response in the UK (e.g. [ 24 , 25 ]).

Despite the vested interest in bolstering communities, the research base establishing: how to understand and measure CR and SC; the effect of CR and SC, both during and following a public health emergency (such as the COVID-19 pandemic); and which types of CR or SC are the most effective to engage, is relatively small. Given the importance of ensuring resilience against, and swift recovery from, public health emergencies, it is critically important to establish and understand the evidence base for these approaches. As a result, the current review sought to answer the following research questions: (1) How are CR and SC quantified in research?; (2) What is the impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; (3) What is the impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, (4) What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?

By collating research in order to answer these research questions, the authors have been able to propose several key recommendations that could be used to both enhance and evaluate CR and SC effectively to facilitate the long-term recovery from COVID-19, and also to inform the use of CR and SC in any future public health disasters and emergencies.

A scoping review methodology was followed due to the ease of summarising literature on a given topic for policy makers and practitioners [ 26 ], and is detailed in the following sections.

Identification of relevant studies

An initial search strategy was developed by authors CH and DW and included terms which related to: CR and SC, given the absence of a consistent definition of CR, and the link between CR and SC, the review focuses on both CR and SC to identify as much relevant literature as possible (adapted for purpose from Annex 1: [ 27 ], as well as through consultation with review commissioners); public health emergencies and disasters [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], and psychological wellbeing and recovery (derived a priori from literature). To ensure a focus on both public health and psychological research, the final search was carried across Medline, PsycInfo, and EMBASE using OVID. The final search took place on the 18th of May 2020, the search strategy used for all three databases can be found in Supplementary file 1 .

Selection criteria

The inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed alongside the search strategy. Initially the criteria were relatively inclusive and were subject to iterative development to reflect the authors’ familiarisation with the literature. For example, the decision was taken to exclude research which focused exclusively on social support and did not mention communities as an initial title/abstract search suggested that the majority of this literature did not meet the requirements of our research question.

The full and final inclusion and exclusion criteria used can be found in Supplementary file 2 . In summary, authors decided to focus on the general population (i.e., non-specialist, e.g. non-healthcare worker or government official) to allow the review to remain community focused. The research must also have assessed the impact of CR and/or SC on mental health and wellbeing, resilience, and recovery during and following public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks which affect communities (to ensure the research is relevant to the review aims), have conducted primary research, and have a full text available or provided by the first author when contacted.

Charting the data

All papers were first title and abstract screened by CH or DW. Papers then were full text reviewed by CH to ensure each paper met the required eligibility criteria, if unsure about a paper it was also full text reviewed by DW. All papers that were retained post full-text review were subjected to a standardised data extraction procedure. A table was made for the purpose of extracting the following data: title, authors, origin, year of publication, study design, aim, disaster type, sample size and characteristics, variables examined, results, restrictions/limitations, and recommendations. Supplementary file 3 details the charting the data process.

Analytical method

Data was synthesised using a Framework approach [ 32 ], a common method for analysing qualitative research. This method was chosen as it was originally used for large-scale social policy research [ 33 ] as it seeks to identify: what works, for whom, in what conditions, and why [ 34 ]. This approach is also useful for identifying commonalities and differences in qualitative data and potential relationships between different parts of the data [ 33 ]. An a priori framework was established by CH and DW. Extracted data was synthesised in relation to each research question, and the process was iterative to ensure maximum saturation using the available data.

Study selection

The final search strategy yielded 3584 records. Following the removal of duplicates, 2191 records remained and were included in title and abstract screening. A PRISMA flow diagram is presented in Fig. 1 .

PRISMA flow diagram

At the title and abstract screening stage, the process became more iterative as the inclusion criteria were developed and refined. For the first iteration of screening, CH or DW sorted all records into ‘include,’ ‘exclude,’ and ‘unsure’. All ‘unsure’ papers were re-assessed by CH, and a random selection of ~ 20% of these were also assessed by DW. Where there was disagreement between authors the records were retained, and full text screened. The remaining papers were reviewed by CH, and all records were categorised into ‘include’ and ‘exclude’. Following full-text screening, 26 papers were retained for use in the review.

Study characteristics

This section of the review addresses study characteristics of those which met the inclusion criteria, which comprises: date of publication, country of origin, study design, study location, disaster, and variables examined.

Date of publication

Publication dates across the 26 papers spanned from 2008 to 2020 (see Fig. 2 ). The number of papers published was relatively low and consistent across this timescale (i.e. 1–2 per year, except 2010 and 2013 when none were published) up until 2017 where the number of papers peaked at 5. From 2017 to 2020 there were 15 papers published in total. The amount of papers published in recent years suggests a shift in research and interest towards CR and SC in a disaster/ public health emergency context.

Graph to show retained papers date of publication

Country of origin

The locations of the first authors’ institutes at the time of publication were extracted to provide a geographical spread of the retained papers. The majority originated from the USA [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], followed by China [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ], Japan [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], Australia [ 51 , 52 , 53 ], The Netherlands [ 54 , 55 ], New Zealand [ 56 ], Peru [ 57 ], Iran [ 58 ], Austria [ 59 ], and Croatia [ 60 ].

There were multiple methodological approaches carried out across retained papers. The most common formats included surveys or questionnaires [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 59 ], followed by interviews [ 39 , 40 , 43 , 51 , 52 , 60 ]. Four papers used both surveys and interviews [ 35 , 41 , 45 , 58 ], and two papers conducted data analysis (one using open access data from a Social Survey [ 44 ] and one using a Primary Health Organisations Register [ 56 ]).

Study location

The majority of the studies were carried out in Japan [ 36 , 42 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], followed by the USA [ 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ], China [ 43 , 45 , 46 , 53 ], Australia [ 51 , 52 ], and the UK [ 54 , 55 ]. The remaining studies were carried out in Croatia [ 60 ], Peru [ 57 ], Austria [ 59 ], New Zealand [ 56 ] and Iran [ 58 ].

Multiple different types of disaster were researched across the retained papers. Earthquakes were the most common type of disaster examined [ 45 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 53 , 56 , 57 , 58 ], followed by research which assessed the impact of two disastrous events which had happened in the same area (e.g. Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Mississippi, and the Great East Japan earthquake and Tsunami; [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 42 , 44 , 48 ]). Other disaster types included: flooding [ 51 , 54 , 55 , 59 , 60 ], hurricanes [ 35 , 39 , 41 ], infectious disease outbreaks [ 43 , 46 ], oil spillage [ 40 ], and drought [ 52 ].

Variables of interest examined

Across the 26 retained papers: eight referred to examining the impact of SC [ 35 , 37 , 39 , 41 , 46 , 49 , 55 , 60 ]; eight examined the impact of cognitive and structural SC as separate entities [ 40 , 42 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 54 , 57 , 59 ]; one examined bridging and bonding SC as separate entities [ 58 ]; two examined the impact of CR [ 38 , 56 ]; and two employed a qualitative methodology but drew findings in relation to bonding and bridging SC, and SC generally [ 51 , 52 ]. Additionally, five papers examined the impact of the following variables: ‘community social cohesion’ [ 36 ], ‘neighbourhood connectedness’ [ 44 ], ‘social support at the community level’ [ 47 ], ‘community connectedness’ [ 43 ] and ‘sense of community’ [ 53 ]. Table 1 provides additional details on this.

How is CR and SC measured or quantified in research?

The measures used to examine CR and SC are presented Table 1 . It is apparent that there is no uniformity in how SC or CR is measured across the research. Multiple measures are used throughout the retained studies, and nearly all are unique. Additionally, SC was examined at multiple different levels (e.g. cognitive and structural, bonding and bridging), and in multiple different forms (e.g. community connectedness, community cohesion).

What is the association between CR and SC on mental wellbeing?

To best compare research, the following section reports on CR, and facets of SC separately. Please see Supplementary file 4 for additional information on retained papers methods of measuring mental wellbeing.

Community resilience

CR relates to the ability of a community to withstand, adapt and permit growth in adverse circumstances due to social structures, networks and interdependencies within the community [ 11 ].

The impact of CR on mental wellbeing was consistently positive. For example, research indicated that there was a positive association between CR and number of common mental health (i.e. anxiety and mood) treatments post-disaster [ 56 ]. Similarly, other research suggests that CR is positively related to psychological resilience, which is inversely related to depressive symptoms) [ 37 ]. The same research also concluded that CR is protective of psychological resilience and is therefore protective of depressive symptoms [ 37 ].

Social capital

SC reflects the strength of a social network, community reciprocity, and trust in people and institutions [ 14 ]. These aspects of community are usually conceptualised primarily as protective factors that enable communities to cope and adapt collectively to threats.

There were inconsistencies across research which examined the impact of abstract SC (i.e. not refined into bonding/bridging or structural/cognitive) on mental wellbeing. However, for the majority of cases, research deems SC to be beneficial. For example, research has concluded that, SC is protective against post-traumatic stress disorder [ 55 ], anxiety [ 46 ], psychological distress [ 50 ], and stress [ 46 ]. Additionally, SC has been found to facilitate post-traumatic growth [ 38 ], and also to be useful to be drawn upon in times of stress [ 52 ], both of which could be protective of mental health. Similarly, research has also found that emotional recovery following a disaster is more difficult for those who report to have low levels of SC [ 51 ].

Conversely, however, research has also concluded that when other situational factors (e.g. personal resources) were controlled for, a positive relationship between community resources and life satisfaction was no longer significant [ 60 ]. Furthermore, some research has concluded that a high level of SC can result in a community facing greater stress immediately post disaster. Indeed, one retained paper found that high levels of SC correlate with higher levels of post-traumatic stress immediately following a disaster [ 39 ]. However, in the later stages following a disaster, this relationship can reverse, with SC subsequently providing an aid to recovery [ 41 ]. By way of explanation, some researchers have suggested that communities with stronger SC carry the greatest load in terms of helping others (i.e. family, friends and neighbours) as well as themselves immediately following the disaster, but then as time passes the communities recover at a faster rate as they are able to rely on their social networks for support [ 41 ].

Cognitive and structural social capital

Cognitive SC refers to perceptions of community relations, such as trust, mutual help and attachment, and structural SC refers to what actually happens within the community, such as participation, socialising [ 16 ].

Cognitive SC has been found to be protective [ 49 ] against PTSD [ 54 , 57 ], depression [ 40 , 54 ]) mild mood disorder; [ 48 ]), anxiety [ 48 , 54 ] and increase self-efficacy [ 59 ].

For structural SC, research is again inconsistent. On the one hand, structural SC has been found to: increase perceived self-efficacy, be protective of depression [ 40 ], buffer the impact of housing damage on cognitive decline [ 42 ] and provide support during disasters and over the recovery period [ 59 ]. However, on the other hand, it has been found to have no association with PTSD [ 54 , 57 ] or depression, and is also associated with a higher prevalence of anxiety [ 54 ]. Similarly, it is also suggested by additional research that structural SC can harm women’s mental health, either due to the pressure of expectations to help and support others or feelings of isolation [ 49 ].

Bonding and bridging social capital

Bonding SC refers to connections among individuals who are emotionally close, and result in bonds to a particular group [ 17 ], and bridging SC refers to acquaintances or individuals loosely connected that span different social groups [ 18 ].

One research study concluded that both bonding and bridging SC were protective against post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms [ 58 ]. Bridging capital was deemed to be around twice as effective in buffering against post-traumatic stress disorder than bonding SC [ 58 ].

Other community variables

Community social cohesion was significantly associated with a lower risk of post-traumatic stress disorder symptom development [ 35 ], and this was apparent even whilst controlling for depressive symptoms at baseline and disaster impact variables (e.g. loss of family member or housing damage) [ 36 ]. Similarly, sense of community, community connectedness, social support at the community level and neighbourhood connectedness all provided protective benefits for a range of mental health, wellbeing and recovery variables, including: depression [ 53 ], subjective wellbeing (in older adults only) [ 43 ], psychological distress [ 47 ], happiness [ 44 ] and life satisfaction [ 53 ].

Research has also concluded that community level social support is protective against mild mood and anxiety disorder, but only for individuals who have had no previous disaster experience [ 48 ]. Additionally, a study which separated SC into social cohesion and social participation concluded that at a community level, social cohesion is protective against depression [ 49 ] whereas social participation at community level is associated with an increased risk of depression amongst women [ 49 ].

What is the impact of Infectious disease outbreaks / disasters and emergencies on community resilience?

From a cross-sectional perspective, research has indicated that disasters and emergencies can have a negative effect on certain types of SC. Specifically, cognitive SC has been found to be impacted by disaster impact, whereas structural SC has gone unaffected [ 45 ]. Disaster impact has also been shown to have a negative effect on community relationships more generally [ 52 ].

Additionally, of the eight studies which collected data at multiple time points [ 35 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 47 , 49 , 56 , 60 ], three reported the effect of a disaster on the level of SC within a community [ 40 , 42 , 49 ]. All three of these studies concluded that disasters may have a negative impact on the levels of SC within a community. The first study found that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill had a negative effect on SC and social support, and this in turn explained an overall increase in the levels of depression within the community [ 40 ]. A possible explanation for the negative effect lays in ‘corrosive communities’, known for increased social conflict and reduced social support, that are sometimes created following oil spills [ 40 ]. It is proposed that corrosive communities often emerge due to a loss of natural resources that bring social groups together (e.g., for recreational activities), as well as social disparity (e.g., due to unequal distribution of economic impact) becoming apparent in the community following disaster [ 40 ]. The second study found that SC (in the form of social cohesion, informal socialising and social participation) decreased after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan; it was suggested that this change correlated with incidence of cognitive decline [ 42 ]. However, the third study reported more mixed effects based on physical circumstances of the communities’ natural environment: Following an earthquake, those who lived in mountainous areas with an initial high level of pre-community SC saw a decrease in SC post disaster [ 49 ]. However, communities in flat areas (which were home to younger residents and had a higher population density) saw an increase in SC [ 49 ]. It was proposed that this difference could be due to the need for those who lived in mountainous areas to seek prolonged refuge due to subsequent landslides [ 49 ].

What types of intervention enhance CR and SC and protect survivors?

There were mixed effects across the 26 retained papers when examining the effect of CR and SC on mental wellbeing. However, there is evidence that an increase in SC [ 56 , 57 ], with a focus on cognitive SC [ 57 ], namely by: building social networks [ 45 , 51 , 53 ], enhancing feelings of social cohesion [ 35 , 36 ] and promoting a sense of community [ 53 ], can result in an increase in CR and potentially protect survivors’ wellbeing and mental health following a disaster. An increase in SC may also aid in decreasing the need for individual psychological interventions in the aftermath of a disaster [ 55 ]. As a result, recommendations and suggested methods to bolster CR and SC from the retained papers have been extracted and separated into general methods, preparedness and policy level implementation.

General methods

Suggested methods to build SC included organising recreational activity-based groups [ 44 ] to broaden [ 51 , 53 ] and preserve current social networks [ 42 ], introducing initiatives to increase social cohesion and trust [ 51 ], and volunteering to increase the number of social ties between residents [ 59 ]. Research also notes that it is important to take a ‘no one left behind approach’ when organising recreational and social community events, as failure to do so could induce feelings of isolation for some members of the community [ 49 ]. Furthermore, gender differences should also be considered as research indicates that males and females may react differently to community level SC (as evidence suggests males are instead more impacted by individual level SC; in comparison to women who have larger and more diverse social networks [ 49 ]). Therefore, interventions which aim to raise community level social participation, with the aim of expanding social connections and gaining support, may be beneficial [ 42 , 47 ].

Preparedness

In order to prepare for disasters, it may be beneficial to introduce community-targeted methods or interventions to increase levels of SC and CR as these may aid in ameliorating the consequences of a public health emergency or disaster [ 57 ]. To indicate which communities have low levels of SC, one study suggests implementing a 3-item scale of social cohesion to map areas and target interventions [ 42 ].

It is important to consider that communities with a high level of SC may have a lower level of risk perception, due to the established connections and supportive network they have with those around them [ 61 ]. However, for the purpose of preparedness, this is not ideal as perception of risk is a key factor when seeking to encourage behavioural adherence. This could be overcome by introducing communication strategies which emphasise the necessity of social support, but also highlights the need for additional measures to reduce residual risk [ 59 ]. Furthermore, support in the form of financial assistance to foster current community initiatives may prove beneficial to rural areas, for example through the use of an asset-based community development framework [ 52 ].

Policy level

At a policy level, the included papers suggest a range of ways that CR and SC could be bolstered and used. These include: providing financial support for community initiatives and collective coping strategies, (e.g. using asset-based community development [ 52 ]); ensuring policies for long-term recovery focus on community sustainable development (e.g. community festival and community centre activities) [ 44 ]; and development of a network amongst cooperative corporations formed for reconstruction and to organise self-help recovery sessions among residents of adjacent areas [ 58 ].

This scoping review sought to synthesise literature concerning the role of SC and CR during public health emergencies and disasters. Specifically, in this review we have examined: the methods used to measure CR and SC; the impact of CR and SC on mental wellbeing during disasters and emergencies; the impact of disasters and emergencies on CR and SC; and the types of interventions which can be used to enhance CR. To do this, data was extracted from 26 peer-reviewed journal articles. From this synthesis, several key themes have been identified, which can be used to develop guidelines and recommendations for deploying CR and SC in a public health emergency or disaster context. These key themes and resulting recommendations are summarised below.

Firstly, this review established that there is no consistent or standardised approach to measuring CR or SC within the general population. This finding is consistent with a review conducted by the World Health Organization which concludes that despite there being a number of frameworks that contain indicators across different determinants of health, there is a lack of consensus on priority areas for measurement and no widely accepted indicator [ 27 ]. As a result, there are many measures of CR and SC apparent within the literature (e.g., [ 62 , 63 ]), an example of a developed and validated measure is provided by Sherrieb, Norris and Galea [ 64 ]. Similarly, the definitions of CR and SC differ widely between researchers, which created a barrier to comparing and summarising information. Therefore, future research could seek to compare various interpretations of CR and to identify any overlapping concepts. However, a previous systemic review conducted by Patel et al. (2017) concludes that there are nine core elements of CR (local knowledge, community networks and relationships, communication, health, governance and leadership, resources, economic investment, preparedness, and mental outlook), with 19 further sub-elements therein [ 30 ]. Therefore, as CR is a multi-dimensional construct, the implications from the findings are that multiple aspects of social infrastructure may need to be considered.

Secondly, our synthesis of research concerning the role of CR and SC for ensuring mental health and wellbeing during, or following, a public health emergency or disaster revealed mixed effects. Much of the research indicates either a generally protective effect on mental health and wellbeing, or no effect; however, the literature demonstrates some potential for a high level of CR/SC to backfire and result in a negative effect for populations during, or following, a public health emergency or disaster. Considered together, our synthesis indicates that cognitive SC is the only facet of SC which was perceived as universally protective across all retained papers. This is consistent with a systematic review which also concludes that: (a) community level cognitive SC is associated with a lower risk of common mental disorders, while; (b) community level structural SC had inconsistent effects [ 65 ].

Further examination of additional data extracted from studies which found that CR/SC had a negative effect on mental health and wellbeing revealed no commonalities that might explain these effects (Please see Supplementary file 5 for additional information)

One potential explanation may come from a retained paper which found that high levels of SC result in an increase in stress level immediately post disaster [ 41 ]. This was suggested to be due to individuals having greater burdens due to wishing to help and support their wide networks as well as themselves. However, as time passes the levels of SC allow the community to come together and recover at a faster rate [ 41 ]. As this was the only retained paper which produced this finding, it would be beneficial for future research to examine boundary conditions for the positive effects of CR/SC; that is, to explore circumstances under which CR/SC may be more likely to put communities at greater risk. This further research should also include additional longitudinal research to validate the conclusions drawn by [ 41 ] as resilience is a dynamic process of adaption.

Thirdly, disasters and emergencies were generally found to have a negative effect on levels of SC. One retained paper found a mixed effect of SC in relation to an earthquake, however this paper separated participants by area in which they lived (i.e., mountainous vs. flat), which explains this inconsistent effect [ 49 ]. Dangerous areas (i.e. mountainous) saw a decrease in community SC in comparison to safer areas following the earthquake (an effect the authors attributed to the need to seek prolonged refuge), whereas participants from the safer areas (which are home to younger residents with a higher population density) saw an increase in SC [ 49 ]. This is consistent with the idea that being able to participate socially is a key element of SC [ 12 ]. Overall, however, this was the only retained paper which produced a variable finding in relation to the effect of disaster on levels of CR/SC.

Finally, research identified through our synthesis promotes the idea of bolstering SC (particularly cognitive SC) and cohesion in communities likely to be affected by disaster to improve levels of CR. This finding provides further understanding of the relationship between CR and SC; an association that has been reported in various articles seeking to provide conceptual frameworks (e.g., [ 66 , 67 ]) as well as indicator/measurement frameworks [ 27 ]. Therefore, this could be done by creating and promoting initiatives which foster SC and create bonds within the community. Papers included in the current review suggest that recreational-based activity groups and volunteering are potential methods for fostering SC and creating community bonds [ 44 , 51 , 59 ]. Similarly, further research demonstrates that feelings of social cohesion are enhanced by general social activities (e.g. fairs and parades [ 18 ]). Also, actively encouraging activities, programs and interventions which enhance connectedness and SC have been reported to be desirable to increase CR [ 68 ]. This suggestion is supported by a recent scoping review of literature [ 67 ] examined community champion approaches for the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery and established that creating and promoting SC focused initiatives within the community during pandemic response is highly beneficial [ 67 ]. In terms of preparedness, research states that it may be beneficial for levels of SC and CR in communities at risk to be assessed, to allow targeted interventions where the population may be at most risk following an incident [ 42 , 44 ]. Additionally, from a more critical perspective, we acknowledge that ‘resilience’ can often be perceived as a focus on individual capacity to adapt to adversity rather than changing or mitigating the causes of adverse conditions [ 69 , 70 ]. Therefore, CR requires an integrated system approach across individual, community and structural levels [ 17 ]. Also, it is important that community members are engaged in defining and agreeing how community resilience is measured [ 27 ] rather than it being imposed by system leads or decision-makers.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, is it expected that there will be long-term repercussions both from an economic [ 8 ] and a mental health perspective [ 71 ]. Furthermore, the findings from this review suggest that although those in areas with high levels of SC may be negatively affected in the acute stage, as time passes, they have potential to rebound at a faster rate than those with lower levels of SC. Ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of current initiatives as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses into a recovery phase will be invaluable for supplementing the evidence base identified through this review.

Recommendations

As a result of this review, a number of recommendations are suggested for policy and practice during public health emergencies and recovery.

Future research should seek to establish a standardised and validated approach to measuring and defining CR and SC within communities. There are ongoing efforts in this area, for example [ 72 ]. Additionally, community members should be involved in the process of defining how CR is measured.

There should be an enhanced effort to improve preparedness for public health emergencies and disasters in local communities by gauging current levels of SC and CR within communities using a standardised measure. This approach could support specific targeting of populations with low levels of CR/SC in case of a disaster or public health emergency, whilst also allowing for consideration of support for those with high levels of CR (as these populations can be heavily impacted initially following a disaster). By distinguishing levels of SC and CR, tailored community-centred approaches could be implemented, such as those listed in a guide released by PHE in 2015 [ 73 ].

CR and SC (specifically cognitive SC) should be bolstered if communities are at risk of experiencing a disaster or public health emergency. This can be achieved by using interventions which aim to increase a sense of community and create new social ties (e.g., recreational group activities, volunteering). Additionally, when aiming to achieve this, it is important to be mindful of the risk of increased levels of CR/SC to backfire, as well as seeking to advocate an integrated system approach across individual, community and structural levels.

It is necessary to be aware that although communities with high existing levels of resilience / SC may experience short-term negative consequences following a disaster, over time these communities might be able to recover at a faster rate. It is therefore important to ensure that suitable short-term support is provided to these communities in the immediate aftermath of a public health emergency or disaster.

Robust evaluation of the community resilience initiatives deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic response is essential to inform the evidence base concerning the effectiveness of CR/ SC. These evaluations should continue through the response phase and into the recovery phase to help develop our understanding of the long-term consequences of such interventions.

Limitations

Despite this review being the first in this specific topic area, there are limitations that must be considered. Firstly, it is necessary to note that communities are generally highly diverse and the term ‘community’ in academic literature is a subject of much debate (see: [ 74 ]), therefore this must be considered when comparing and collating research involving communities. Additionally, the measures of CR and SC differ substantially across research, including across the 26 retained papers used in the current review. This makes the act of comparing and collating research findings very difficult. This issue is highlighted as a key outcome from this review, and suggestions for how to overcome this in future research are provided. Additionally, we acknowledge that there will be a relationship between CR & SC even where studies measure only at individual or community level. A review [ 75 ] on articulating a hypothesis of the link to health inequalities suggests that wider structural determinants of health need to be accounted for. Secondly, despite the final search strategy encompassing terms for both CR and SC, only one retained paper directly measured CR; thus, making the research findings more relevant to SC. Future research could seek to focus on CR to allow for a comparison of findings. Thirdly, the review was conducted early in the COVID-19 pandemic and so does not include more recent publications focusing on resilience specifically in the context of COVID-19. Regardless of this fact, the synthesis of, and recommendations drawn from, the reviewed studies are agnostic to time and specific incident and contain critical elements necessary to address as the pandemic moves from response to recovery. Further research should review the effectiveness of specific interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic for collation in a subsequent update to this current paper. Fourthly, the current review synthesises findings from countries with individualistic and collectivistic cultures, which may account for some variation in the findings. Lastly, despite choosing a scoping review method for ease of synthesising a wide literature base for use by public health emergency researchers in a relatively tight timeframe, there are disadvantages of a scoping review approach to consider: (1) quality appraisal of retained studies was not carried out; (2) due to the broad nature of a scoping review, more refined and targeted reviews of literature (e.g., systematic reviews) may be able to provide more detailed research outcomes. Therefore, future research should seek to use alternative methods (e.g., empirical research, systematic reviews of literature) to add to the evidence base on CR and SC impact and use in public health practice.

This review sought to establish: (1) How CR and SC are quantified in research?; (2) The impact of community resilience on mental wellbeing?; (3) The impact of infectious disease outbreaks, disasters and emergencies on community resilience and social capital?; and, (4) What types of interventions enhance community resilience and social capital?. The chosen search strategy yielded 26 relevant papers from which we were able extract information relating to the aims of this review.

Results from the review revealed that CR and SC are not measured consistently across research. The impact of CR / SC on mental health and wellbeing during emergencies and disasters is mixed (with some potential for backlash), however the literature does identify cognitive SC as particularly protective. Although only a small number of papers compared CR or SC before and after a disaster, the findings were relatively consistent: SC or CR is negatively impacted by a disaster. Methods suggested to bolster SC in communities were centred around social activities, such as recreational group activities and volunteering. Recommendations for both research and practice (with a particular focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic) are also presented.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Social Capital

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This study was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Emergency Preparedness and Response, a partnership between Public Health England, King’s College London and the University of East Anglia. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, Public Health England, the UK Health Security Agency or the Department of Health and Social Care [Grant number: NIHR20008900]. Part of this work has been funded by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Department of Health and Social Care, as part of a Collaborative Agreement with Leeds Beckett University.

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Hall, C.E., Wehling, H., Stansfield, J. et al. Examining the role of community resilience and social capital on mental health in public health emergency and disaster response: a scoping review. BMC Public Health 23 , 2482 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17242-x

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Cerianne Robertson has been named the 2024-26 George Gerbner Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Her appointment will begin September 1, 2024.

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COMMENTS

Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic Thinking and Practice?
Abstract. The Social Graces framework developed by Burnham (1992) and Roper-Hall (1998) is. increasingly us ed within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to. critically ...
Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic
The Social Graces framework is increasingly used within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to critically explore issues of social difference. ... This review paper draws on the developing literature to examine what the social graces add and limit in systemic thinking and practice. It also considers an alternative approach ...
[PDF] Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in
Abstract The Social Graces framework is increasingly used within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to critically explore issues of social difference. Attending to issues of power and diversity is believed to help trainee family therapists become more alert to any biases that may impact on therapy. This review paper draws on the developing literature to examine what the ...
PDF Reviewing the social GRACES: What do they add and limit in
This review paper draws on the emerging literature to examine what. the social graces add and limit in systemic thinking and practice. It also considers an. alternative approach for exploring ...
Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic
This review paper draws on the developing literature to examine what the social graces add and limit in systemic thinking and practice. It also considers an alternative approach for exploring power and difference in family therapy practice. KW - Social graces, Intersectionality, Systemic practice, Trainee therapist. U2 - 10.1080/01926187.2020. ...
Abstract and Figures
The Social Graces framework is 25 years old. In this paper we consider the Social Graces as a teaching tool. Roper-Hall, Burnham and their colleagues have created a recognisable and exible tool ...
John Burnham's Social GRACCESS
This paper will identify and discuss John Burnham's "Social Graces" (SG's) by highlighting how the concepts of 'culture' and 'class' are an integral part of a therapist's self-reflexive ability. A contextual background of the SG will be provided, and
Social Graces: A practical tool to address inequality
The social graces align with the BASW 80:20 campaign, which champions relational practice, with the desire to reverse the ratio of social workers spending 80% of the time at their desks, and just 20% with service users. Ecology of mind. Putting the need for the social graces into a cultural context, Rowland explained that in our western ...
PDF Citation for published version
experiences in relation to each Grace. Each of the Social Graces can have its turn to be fully considered and those who have been out of each individual's view can be reflected upon. Furthermore, I have found it very helpful that Burnham and others have always treated the Social Graces acronym as flexible and ever-evolving.
Reviewing the Social GRACES: What Do They Add and Limit in Systemic
The Social Graces framework is increasingly used within training institutions, as a means of encouraging learners to critically explore issues of social difference. Attending to issues of power and diversity is believed to help trainee family therapists become more alert to any biases that may impact on therapy. ... This review paper draws on ...
PDF reﬂections on the Social Graces as a diversity training tool (Dis
of the social graces - for example, "I can turn on the television, open a magazine, look at a billboard or look at the " ont of the newspaper and ... critical theory and also systemic theory and research (see, for example, Anderson & Ho$ man, 2007; Reynolds, 2014; Sermijn et al., 2008). ! e rhizome concept (using a particular type of root
'Which aspects of social GGRRAAACCEEESSS grab you most?' The social
Promoting supervisees' self-reflexivity is an integral component of systemic family therapy supervision. This includes facilitating thinking about the influences of social differences. The article describes an exercise designed to facilitate exploration of participants' relationships with different aspects of social GGRRAAACCEEESSS (SG).
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Additionally, empirical attention has shifted to explore outcomes of grace-based interventions (e.g., congregation-wide interventions, marital interventions). In general, beliefs and experiences of grace were associated with (a) positive mental health outcomes, (b) religiosity, (c) virtue development, and (d) interpersonal functioning.
University of Hertfordshire Research Archive
The Social Graces framework is 25 years old. In this paper we consider the Social Graces as a teaching tool. Roper-Hall, Burnham and their colleagues have created a recognisable and exible tool and have guided us toward using this tool with creativity and courage. However, in order for us to, in John's words (1992, p.
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The social graces include: G: Gender, Gender Identity, Geography, Generation R: Race, Religion A: Age, Ability, Appearance C: Class, Culture, Caste E: Education, Ethnicity, Economics S: Spirituality, Sexuality, Sexual Orientation The concept was developed by John Burnham in 1993. Burnham highlighted that we should be able to add extra identity factors to the G.R.A.C.E.S mnemonic and adjust ...
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During supervision, choose up to three of the graces you are drawn toward or choose at random. Supervisor: Through the use of orientation questions and information gathering consider the impact the three graces may have on the social workers decision making, interaction with the family and impact on self.
Social Graces
The PBFDRAP is analyzed, which combines frequency-domain adaptive filtering with so-called "row action projection" and it is shown that the P BFDRAP outperforms the PBFDAF in a realistic echo cancellation setup.
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PDF Tool 1: Social GGRRAAAACCEEESSSS
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Sailing through social LA GRRAACCEESS: tool for deconstructing and
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About Me. Hi there, I'm so glad you're here! I'm Grace Gordon, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Knoxville, Tennessee. I graduated from Maryville College with a degree in Graphic Design. My work reflects my style using illustration, design, and digital watercolor techniques to create custom invitations for all your social events!
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Cerianne Robertson Named 2024-26 George Gerbner Postdoctoral Fellow
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