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Spaces of care in the city: the place of a community drop-in centre

Spaces of care in the city: the place of a community drop-in centre
Spaces of care in the city: the place of a community drop-in centre
This paper explores the ways in which drop-in centres may at times function as spaces of care in the city. Drawing on participant observation research within a particular centre in Bristol, a city in south-west England, it focuses upon social relations within the drop-in space and the various subjectivities that were observed to emerge in this relational environment. Through a consideration of individuals who appeared to be positively assisted by their involvement in the drop-in, a sense is developed of the different ways in which such agencies may function as spaces of care. Use is made of Carl Rogers' notion of the core conditions for successful therapeutic encounter, as developed within the person-centred school of humanistic psychotherapy, to explicate these positive experiences. At the same time it was clear that some individuals found the drop-in to be a less than comfortable or even exclusionary environment. The paper concludes by reflecting on the broader significance of drop-in centres as caring environments and on the value of humanistic conceptions of therapeutic relation for interpreting organizational spacings of subjectivity.
drop-in centres, care, organizational space, subjectivity
1464-9365
507-525
Conradson, D.
2c774a5e-fd36-4b84-bbd9-0e1339922ad8
Conradson, D.
2c774a5e-fd36-4b84-bbd9-0e1339922ad8

Conradson, D. (2003) Spaces of care in the city: the place of a community drop-in centre. Social & Cultural Geography, 4 (4), 507-525. (doi:10.1080/1464936032000137939).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which drop-in centres may at times function as spaces of care in the city. Drawing on participant observation research within a particular centre in Bristol, a city in south-west England, it focuses upon social relations within the drop-in space and the various subjectivities that were observed to emerge in this relational environment. Through a consideration of individuals who appeared to be positively assisted by their involvement in the drop-in, a sense is developed of the different ways in which such agencies may function as spaces of care. Use is made of Carl Rogers' notion of the core conditions for successful therapeutic encounter, as developed within the person-centred school of humanistic psychotherapy, to explicate these positive experiences. At the same time it was clear that some individuals found the drop-in to be a less than comfortable or even exclusionary environment. The paper concludes by reflecting on the broader significance of drop-in centres as caring environments and on the value of humanistic conceptions of therapeutic relation for interpreting organizational spacings of subjectivity.

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Published date: 2003
Keywords: drop-in centres, care, organizational space, subjectivity

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Local EPrints ID: 14714
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/14714
ISSN: 1464-9365
PURE UUID: 7664d6bf-035a-46f5-b395-c835bec13a9a

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Date deposited: 24 Feb 2005
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:30

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Author: D. Conradson

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