Independent Advocacy
This page deserves some additional material. Please return to it again soon to check for additions. [December 2007]
Doing what comes naturally: Citizen Advocacy as a culturally typical repsonse
by Mitchel Peters
part of a series of articles on the Citizen Advocacy Network site
Mitchel Peters starts this article with a quote from Ian Parsons: "Advocacy
is essentially the very ordinary process of standing up for the rights of people
who are being treated unfairly. Ordinary people do it in all walks
of life, quite often without giving the matter a second thought."
Walking the tightrope: inherent tensions which characterise the key activities
of the Citizen Advocacy office
by Mitchel Peters
one of a series of articles on the Citizen Advocacy Network site
Mitchel Peters says: "Because the implications of some aspects of Citizen Advocacy
are subtle, a citizen advocacy programme which is not vigilant in its conduct
may engage in actions that can - however unwittingly - yield outcomes which
are inconsistent with the goals of Citizen Advocacy.... ...
a programme must recognise and reconcile certain tensions which have the potential
to undermine the distinctive character
of Citizen Advocacy.
"
Why it is neither necessary nor desirable for Citizen Advocates to receive technical
training as a pre-condition to the advocacy engagement
by Mitchel Peters
one of a series of articles on the Citizen Advocacy Network site
Mitchel Peters says "A core belief in Citizen Advocacy is that there are suitable
citizens with pre-existing skills who can effectively assume a range of advocacy
roles... " and "...technical training courts the danger
of "professionalising" the role of citizen advocates and transforming their identity to that of quasi-human
service staff. In the process, ordinary ways of responding are denaturalised.
The nett result will clearly be detrimental to people with disabilities who are
matched with advocates, since many of them ...have been denied the opportunity
to relate to others... in typical ways. "
Assumptions underlying citizen advocacy
"
a brief outline of some of the most important concepts and assumptions underlying citizen advocacy."
by Wolf Wolfensburger
This is described as "an edited and expanded transcript of a presentation first given at a Citizen Advocacy workshop in Adelaide, Australia, in September 1992"
Principles and standards in Independent Advocacy organisations and groups [pdf file]
by Advocacy 2000
Also available as ordinary web pages in sections as follows:
Contents and important notes
Part A: Independent Advocacy organisations
Part B: Independent Group Advocacy
Part C: Supporting guidance
Acknowledgements
The Advocacy 2000 project worked from 1999 to 2002 in Scotland. Its website is
no longer available, so this document is presented here on Inclusion and Social
Justice Articles (www.isja.org.uk)
Advocacy 2000 was a consortium of Independent Advocacy organisations in Scotland,
which had funding to allow it to employ staff for this period..
In 2002, in response to pressure for 'standards' about the work of Independent
Advocacy organisations, Advocacy 2000 undertook an extended consultation and
produced this document.
The Gift [currently unavailable, Dec07]
by Tom Kohler
on the SHS site
This is a powerful story by Tom Kohler - on a video taken at an SHS conference.
The video requires flash player and broadband, but a transcript of the
speech is available.
Articles on www.isja.org.uk
The links listed on the directory page displayed above take you to other websites. Articles on www.isja.org.uk (this site) are listed separately on the 'on-site articles' page, grouped by author rather than subject. The links below should take you directly to relevant items on that page:
My Thoughts on Citizen Advocacy
by Clare Mendham
Good places to look for more
The disability page of this site.
The social theory page of this site.
The service quality page of this site.