Power has many faces

What this means 

There is no one way of thinking about power. It can look and feel different, according to the situation. Even thinking about the phrase ‘sharing power as equals’ isn’t straightforward; power can imply that someone has a hold on you, and it can also imply that everyone has power to share (when this is not necessarily the case).  

It is equally helpful to think about ‘shared responsibility’ and how we can achieve this – for example, through co-production or person-led assessment. 

Sharing power is an involved process and involves trust and sharing information - giving people the knowledge to make decisions for themselves, with support where needed. It’s about being listened to, being taken seriously, having accountability and the ability to positively challenge things that impact on our lives.

What does sharing power as equals mean to you?

In this video, Iggy Patel reflects on what this means to him:

Sharing Power

The research 

Back in 1959, French and Raven described five bases of power. These were: 

1. Legitimate 
   The belief that a person has a formal right to make demands. 
2. Reward 
   When someone is able to reward someone else for their compliance. 
3. Expert
   Power based on someone’s skills and knowledge. 
4. Referent 
   When a person is perceived as attractive or worthy. 
5. Coercive 
   The belief that a person can punish others for non-compliance. 
   
   Six years later, Raven added another:
6. Informational 
   The ability of someone to control the information that others need to accomplish something. 
   (French & Raven, 1959; Raven, 1992). 

Informational power is very important in social care. For instance, people who work in social care might know that a budget reduction is coming up, and that someone’s current care package may be cut, but choose not to share this with the adult in question. Referent power, or as the Sharing Power As Equals group more simply put it, charisma and contacts, can also have a disproportionate influence - who people know, their connections, and how willing people are to help them.

People may also be cowed by expert power – believing that professionals will know better than they do. Furthermore, the Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS is an acronym that describes aspects of personal and social identity which affords people different levels of power and privilege (Burnham, 2012; Partridge, 2019). It can help identify power and its effects, enabling people to be more aware of how power can be present and expressed. 

It's been argued that there is an in-built power imbalance in any contact between those who work in social care and those who need to draw on it (Bell & Hafford-Letchfield, 2015). This can be thought of as an intrinsic asymmetry – for example, the professional asks someone questions, the person responds, and then the professional decides whether the answer needs further development. This can be compounded by physical and organisational aspects of the relationship, such as the professional deciding the time and place of the meeting, and how long it will take. This power can even extend to what is defined as ‘wellbeing’; Lelkes et al. (2021) found that there was a risk that a professional view of wellbeing informs the assessment, rather than the person’s own view of what wellbeing means to them. 

Supported self-assessment, sometimes called user or person-led assessment, can be one way of rebalancing power.

What is the one thing you would most like to change about social care if you had a magic wand?

In this clip, Iggy Patel describes the one thing he would change:

Enabling supported self-assessment is included in the Care and support statutory guidance (particularly in Section 6.44, where it states ‘Local authorities can offer individuals a supported self-assessment, and must do so if the adult or carer is able, willing, and has the capacity to undertake it.’).

Supported self-assessment doesn’t always mean that the person is completely left alone to do their own assessment, as many will still need support to identify their needs; but, crucially, people should be given the choice as to what stage to have professional involvement (Qureshi, 2006). This rebalances power away from the person being seen as a mere source of information about their own life, and towards a true conversation about the wellbeing principle (as set out in the Care Act 2014) and how best to achieve it (Slasberg, 2017). 

What you can do 

If you are in direct practice: Reflect on the different ways your power may be present in your work. For instance: 

• Is arranging assessments and other appointments with people a process of negotiation to suit both you and the person with care and support needs, or is it led by you? 
• What do you understand by the wellbeing principle? How do you ensure you capture the person’s view of wellbeing rather than imposing your own? 
• How can you share the informational and referent power you hold in your practice? 
• What positive role does your expert power play in your relationships with people? How do you respect and use their expert power? 
• Think about the Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS and how they can impact your work. 
• Explicitly consider preferences and needs around communication – do they serve professional needs, or a person’s needs? Is there an assumption that people can ‘get by’ with written information, or without an interpreter, for example? 

Most importantly, how can you change these things in order to share power with people with care and support needs? 

If you are in senior management: Look at the questions asked above of those in direct practice. Is there anything that you can do to enhance this power sharing? For example, can you: 

• Promote the creativity of assessments - thinking about person-led times, locations and questioning? 
• Co-produce the assessment process itself, including its forms? 
• Use your referent power to argue for increased supported self-assessment? 
• Start from the assumption that a self-assessment has been conducted honestly? 
• Set a timeline for when these things will be done by, and get colleagues to hold you to account? 

You may also consider the strategic decision-making you undertake, including on the development of organisational policies that affect the lives of people with care and support needs – and consider how you can share the power that exists in this decision-making. How can co-production work towards shared power? 

Further information

Watch

‘Strength-based practice’, a short film from Research in Practice that considers various aspects of how the person-professional relationship can be rebalanced. 

Engage

SCIE has a practice example of supported self-assessment available, with accompanying reflective questions. 

Use

The Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS and the LUUUT model, thinking not only about power in relationships between social care practitioners and people with care and support needs, but also power structures within professional relationships.