Presentation at the annual Royal College of Occupational Therapy conference

Wells, G.

English

Canterbury Research and Theses Environment

Occupational therapy through a feminist lensDr Gemma WellsCanterbury Christ Church Universitygemma.wells@canterbury.ac.ukTwitter: @GemmaOTPhDSession learning outcomeTo be able to describe three ways in which feminism can enhance critical exploration of occupational therapy theory and practice.Considering your starting pointContribute to the word cloud:• Words that you would use to describe feminism and feminist thinking• Words that you would use to describe someone who describes themselves as a feministhttps://www.menti.com/t762nrjnkpOr go to www.menti.com and use the code 8603 2839Feminists• Are concerned with enabling equality of experience regardless of the gender of the person (Walby 2011; Hooks 2015)• Hold the fundamental belief that all core values in the world are gendered (Usher 1996)• Regard society as inherently patriarchal (Usher 1996)• Assert that women will remain inferior all the time that they exist in a world where truth is defined by the abilities of men (Usher 1996)Feminism is not• Dead or no longer required (Redfern and Aune 2013)• Concerned with success for women at the detriment of the experience of men (Redfern and Aune 2013)• Just for white, middle class women (Redfern and Aune 2013)Occupational therapy as a female dominated profession(Health and Care Professions Council 2021)40453Female:37092Male:3324Unknown:37Feminist perspectives regarding female dominated professions• Women historically encouraged into careers that reflect traditional female roles in the home (Charles 2002)• Impact on the development of Occupational Therapy as a profession and the individual professional (Meade et al 2005 cited in Pollard et al 2009)• Consequences for those who do not identify as female?Choice, opportunity, and occupational beings• ‘ … working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do …’ (World Federation of Occupational Therapy 2012)• The influence of role expectations on people as occupational beings (Creek 2010)• Occupational injustice occurs when there are factors external to the individual that act to limit the occupational choices available to them (Wicks and Whiteford 2005)• Patriarchal society functions for the benefit of men and consequently women have a unique, often challenging experience of life as a result (e.g. Oakley 1985; Hooks 2015)Ongoing relevance …Inequalities for women continue in the workplace (Olchawski 2016)‘Double burden’ (Slaughter 2012)The transitional nature of the caring role (Scholtz 2010)Occupational therapists as activists• ‘ … occupational therapy is a justice-oriented profession at its core …’ (Bailliard et al 2020:144)• Striving for social transformation (Angell 2012)• Moving away from an individual focus to driving social change (e.g. Gupta and Garber 2016)references• Angell A (2012) Occupation-centred analysis of social difference: contributions to a socially responsive occupational science.  Journal of Occupational Science 21(2):104-116• Bailliard A, Dallman A, Carroll A, Lee B, Szendrey S (2020) Doing Occupational Justice: A Central Dimension of Everyday Occupational Therapy Practice.  Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy 87(2):144-152• Charles N (2002) Gender in Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press• Creek J (2010) The Core Concepts of Occupational Therapy.  A Dynamic Framework for Practice.  London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers • Gupta J, Garber T (2016) 17 Systematic Mapping Review of Notions of Justice in Occupational Therapy in Sakellariou D (Ed) (2017) Occupational therapies without borders: integrating justice with practice.  Second Edition.  London:  Elsevier Ltd.• Health Care Professions Council (2021) Registrant snapshot - 1 May 2021 [Online] https://www.hcpc-uk.org/about-us/insights-and-data/the-register/registrant-snapshot-dec-2021/ (Accessed 6th June 2022)• Hooks, B. (2000) Feminism is for EVERYBODY.  Passionate Politics.  London: Pluto Press • Pollard N, Sakellariou D, Kronenberg F (Eds) (2009) A Political Practice of Occupational Therapy.  Churchill Livingstone.  Elsevier: London• Oakley, A. (1985) House Wife.  High Value – Low Cost.  Middlesex: Pelican Books References• Olchawski, J. (2016) Sex equality: State of the nation 2016. London: Fawcett Society • Redfern C; Aune K (2013) Reclaiming the F word.  Feminism Today.  London: Zed Books• Scholz, S. (2010) Feminism. A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oneworld Publications• Slaughter M (2012) 6 – “What’s new” and is it good for you? Gender and Consumerism in post-war Europe in Regulska J; Smith B (Eds) (2012) Women and Gender in Post-war Europe. From Cold War to European Union. Oxon: Routledge• Usher, P. (1996) 8 – Feminist approaches to research in Scott, D. Usher, R. (Eds) (1996) Understanding Educational Research. London: Routledge• Wicks, A. Whiteford, G. (2005) Chapter 12.  Gender, Occupation and Participation in Whiteford, G. Wright-StClair, V. (Eds) (2005) Occupation and Practice in Context.  London: Churchill Livingstone.  Elsevier • World Federation of Occupational Therapy (2012) About Occupational Therapy [Online] https://www.wfot.org/about/about-occupational-therapy (Accessed 6th June 2022)

Occupational therapy through a feminist lens

https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/download/12d405bc6404b2e88529cf09a1174ad89a2c6631e723dc168e93924d5187329d/157301/39.2.pdf

Occupational therapy through a feminist lens

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Canterbury Research and Theses Environment