Department for Work & Pensions & Persecution

1. Welfare reform & the rise of psychological fundamentalism: the case of workfareLynne FriedliWolfson Guest LectureThornaby7th May 2014

2. Department for Work & Pensions & Persecution Picture source: The SKWAWKBOX Blog http://www.demotix.com/news/4632093/sanction-busters-london-peckham#media-4631987

3. Summary • Positive affect & psychological fundamentalism • Experiences of Workfare • Resistance Picture source: bellacaledonia.org.uk

4. Framing and erasure solutions to the widening gap in health inequalities will need to take into account early life & personality, as well as the more the classically recognised factors such as smoking, diet, cholesterol & blood pressure if we are to stand a chance of narrowing the gap in health by improving the health of those most in need. GCPH ‘assets’ 2014 • Psychological ideal; bogus agency • Poor outcomes are result of psychological deficit • Conditionality/surveillance extended to psyche • Erasure of economic realities & social determinants • Compulsory positive affect & psychological coercion lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

5. Personality and health in Glasgow 'the identification of individuals whose personality styles render them vulnerable to particular health risks‘ Millar et al 2013 p.8 ‘to establish if those who need to take on board lifestyle messages (weight loss, physical activity) are in a position affectively and intellectually to receive them.’ Velupillai et al 2008 p2 ‘(brain) that is less robust and less efficient in information processing ... some evidence of the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and brain network topology.’Krishnadas et al 2013 GCPH pSoBid Study http://www.gcph.co.uk/assets/0000/4244/pSoBid_FINAL_REPORT_2013_update_February2014.pdf

6. Understanding workfare ‘achieving a motivated stance with regard to your own subordination’ • Workfare: any activity that a person in receipt of social security payments must do to continue to receive those payments, under threat of sanctions. Often, workfare is forced, unpaid work. • Sanctions: stop payment of one or more benefits, in whole or in part, from 4 weeks to 3 years. lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

7. Worker experience of workfare Three people start today on this 'work experience'. They are to help us for up to 30 hours a week for eight weeks over the Christmas period. I am terrified by the idea that head office think they don't need to pay their staff. I myself am on part time minimum wage and if they can have workers for free now, what is to stop them making my position redundant and using job centre people to run the store at no cost to themselves. Shoezone employee November 2012 cited in Clark W. Workfare: a policy on the brink http://www.redpepper.org.uk/workfare-a-policy-on-the-brink/ lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

8. Traineeships: waiting for a wage Fantastic opportunity to gain work experience & learn new skills in a Domestic Cleaning environment, as part of a Traineeship programme.  • This is an unpaid work experience placement in a nursery in Romford caring for children aged 2-11 years • Unwaged work experience at Merseyside Police with a training administration role • Unwaged fast food experience: take food orders, serve food, clear tables, cash, credit & debit card transactions lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

9. lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

10. A4e Engage Module ‘to appreciate the importance of mindset to employers’ - students will learn how to develop the right mindset which will appeal to employers’ • assertiveness, confidence, benefits of work, motivation, enhance your mood My Journey ‘job goal’ – e.g. to work in a retail shop as an assistant, full time, for a wage of £11,000 Picture source: Johnny Void lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

11. Ingeus - Healthy Attitudes for Living (Work Programme) Sometimes life’s just plain unfair. Bad things happen to the nicest of people. On top of being unfair, life’s unpredictable & uncertain a great deal of the time. And really, that’s just the way life is…. Life’s unfair to pretty much everyone from time to time. If you can accept the cold hard reality of injustice and uncertainty, you’re far more likely to bounce back when life slaps you in the face. You’re also less likely to be anxious about making decisions and taking risks. But remember, you can still strive to play fair yourself lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

12. Personal testimonies: coercion, shame, fear, subversion, resistance My ‘advisor’ said I needed to see a psychologist because I was tearful and anxious after having my JSA cut for 4 weeks despite having a young child to look after by myself. Response to ‘whistle while you work for nothing ‘ December 13, 2013 at 4:22 pm lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

13. Personal testimonies: coercion, shame, fear, subversion, resistance I am shy and have difficulty speaking to people and I will not do play acting in front of a group of people I am very uncomfortable with…. I was told I would be sanctioned if I didn’t take part, so I said I would get up, but I am not speaking…. After that, we had to fill out yet another ‘benefits of being assertive’ sheet. K Day blog lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

14. (More) confidence tricks Go hard, or go home My only limitations are the ones I set for myself Failure is the path of least persistence Success is getting up one more time than you fall down It’s always too soon to quit Nobody ever drowned in sweat The sin isn’t falling down but staying down No one can make you feel inferior without your consent ‘Healthy Attitudes for living’ lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

15. Personal testimonies: coercion, shame, fear, subversion, resistance ‘I’ve been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for about 8 weeks. I haven't sworn or shouted at anyone. I have had 3 advisor interviews already; yesterday my adviser asked me to see their psychologist.  I did not consent. I’ve been told that I shouldn't look into things too deeply... &that I am asking too many questions.’ ‘The choice was to accept psych eval, or go straight to MWA…’ emails to Boycott Workfare lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

16. Personal testimonies: coercion, shame, fear, subversion, resistance I duly attended the offices of A4e and (along with 6 other “customers”) was treated to INSPIRE. This turned out to be a session on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) run by an outside company claiming to be “Master Practitioners in NLP”. I was “mandated” to attend under threat of loss of benefits and was effectively unable to leave the session because of the same ever present threat. Personal testimony from gissajob lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

17. http://skwalker1964.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/referred-to-a-psychologist-for-wanting-to-record-jobcentre-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-17810http://skwalker1964.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/referred-to-a-psychologist-for-wanting-to-record-jobcentre-interviews/comment-page-1/#comment-17810 lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

18. Substitution of outcomes ‘Evidence from this evaluation suggests that while there was no significant difference in job outcomes …. the OCM & CAP trailblazer strands were successful in achieving soft outcomes such as increases in motivation, confidence, job-seeking behaviour and a positive change in attitudes to work. These softer impacts may yet translate into job outcomes and sign off from JSA.’ Rahim et al (2012) Evaluation of SVLTU DWP Research Summary (emphasis added) lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

19. Strengths based lexicon ‘...the development of their own capabilities to manage their way out of poverty’ Scottish Government 2011 • assets; resilience; recovery; • agency; self-efficacy; empowerment, self reliance; • Autonomous, entrepreneurial, aspirational • Responsibility; social productivity • Sense of coherence (strengths not deficits); hope, optimism • well note replaces sick note • Self + management, examination, care, improvement lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

20. ‘Recovery journey’ extended to all citizens ‘who matters and who does not, who is disposable and who is not’ AchilleMbembe Building psychological resilience and wellbeing for those who are still claiming after 8 weeks through expressive writing & strengths identification. ‘failure to comply may result in loss of benefits’ (Psychometric testing for JSA claimants) ‘.’ Rooting out dependency and need lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

21. The flexible labour market ‘Govt feeds big business free workers’ lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com Picture source: legal-aware.org

22. ‘Grace beats karma’ a paradox.... As material inequalities grow, so the pursuit of non material explanations proliferates Picture source: Dolly Sen My story is on my skin http://mentalhealthrecovery.omeka.net/items/show/90 lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

23. I own, therefore I am.... Source: Banksy– graffiti, London, England lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

24. Commission on the Social Determinants of Health They speak to the resistance of deprived communities to being pathologised, criminalised, ostracised; to being described in public health reports in terms of multiple deficits and disorders: ‘chaotic, unengaged, and disaffected’ Friedli 2013 • material requisites • psycho-social (control over lives) • political voice (participation in decision making) Status Control Relatedness lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

25. The holy grail of positive affect Many Americans cannot stand to be unhappy, cannot stand to grieve and cannot stand to look at poverty or the real damages of war. One could argue that this is a larger problem than the problem of excessive unhappiness. Martha Nussbaum lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

26. Negativity enacts the dissent without which politics disappears. Berlant & Edelman 2014 Welcoming the spectres of disability.... • Robert McRuer • Desiring Disability: Queer Theory Meets Disability Studies lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

27. Is recovery about being well enough to be thrown into the world of sharks?  Where is the recovery model for the society of sharks? Dolly Sen Source: http://mentalhealthrecovery.omeka.net/exhibits/show/dollysen/isrecoverytherightword lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

29. So many times will you be killedso many will you reviveso many years will you spenddespairing.And at that moment of shipwreckand of darknesssomeone will rescue youto go on singing. Singing in the sunlike the Cicada....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv_-kUkP998 María Elena Walsh: Como la cigarra /LiketheCicada

30. Image: Barbara Ehrenreich https://t.co/SB2gQlrMVX

31. Select bibliography & blogs http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/behavioural-insights-team/ Boycott Workfare http://www.boycottworkfare.org/ Van Bavel R (2013) Applying Behavioural Sciences to EU Policy-making European Commission ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/EURdoc/JRC83284.pdf Thomas, R., Dorling, D. and Davey Smith, G. ‘Inequalities in premature mortality in Britain: observational study from 1921 to 2007’ (BMJ 2010; 341:c3639) Akerlof, G. & Shiller, R. (2009) ‘Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism’ Princeton/Oxford, Princeton University Press Cromby J & Willis MEH Nudging into subjectification: governmentality & psychometrics Critical Social Policy 2013 lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

32. Select bibliography & blogs Dolan, P., Hallsworth, M., Halpern, D., King, D. and Vlaev, I. ‘Mindspace: Influencing behaviour through public policy’ (Institute for Government and Cabinet Office: 2010) Poverty and Insecurity: Life in low-pay, No-pay Britain (Studies in Poverty, Inequality & Social Exclusion Series... by Tracy Shildrick, Robert MacDonald, Colin Scott Webster and KayleighGarthwaite (19 Dec 2012) Howell A & Veronka J The Politics of Resilience & recovery in mental health care http://www.academia.edu/3366809/Introduction_The_Politics_of_Resilience_and_Recovery_in_Mental_Health_Care Anne-Emanuelle, Birn. 2009. “Making it Politic(al): Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health.” Social Medicine 4: 166–182. Freire, P. 1972. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin. lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

33. Select bibliography & blogs Krieger, N. 2011. Epidemiology and the People’s Health: Theory and Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nussbaum, M. 2011. Creating Capabilities – The Human Development Approach Cambridge Massachussets: Harvard University Press Written evidence submitted by Dr David Webster, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Urban Studies, University of Glasgow to the commons Work and Pensions select committee: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmworpen/writev/jcp/m08.htm Berlant Lauren Cruel Optimism Differences 17, 5 (2006): 21-36; and New Formations (2008; longer version) Slow Death in Critical Inquiry 33 (Summer 2007): 754-780 Friedli L (2013) ‘What we’ve tried, hasn’t worked’: the politics of assets based public healthCritical Public Health lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com

34. Select bibliography – reading, influences, acknowledgements http://www.boycottworkfare.org/; Robert Stearn, Warren Clark, Johnny Void Imogen Tyler Revolting subjects:Social Abjection Berlant Lauren Cruel Optimism Differences 17, 5 (2006): 21-36; and New Formations (2008; longer version) Slow Death in Critical Inquiry 33 (Summer 2007): 754-780 Mel Y Chen Animacies Krieger, N. 2011. Epidemiology and the People’s Health: Theory and Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nussbaum, M. 2011. Creating Capabilities – The Human Development Approach Cambridge Massachussets: Harvard University Press Shildrick T et al Poverty and Insecurity: Life in low-pay, No-pay Britain (Studies in Poverty, Inequality & Social Exclusion Series... Howell A & Veronka J The Politics of Resilience & recovery in mental health care http://www.academia.edu/3366809/Introduction_The_Politics_of_Resilience_and_Recovery_in_Mental_Health_Care Anne-Emanuelle, Birn. 2009. “Making it Politic(al): Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health.” Social Medicine 4: 166–182. lynne.friedli@btopenworld.com