“The truth that no one wants to see.” Social work practice, human rights and aesthetic mediation in a group of people experiencing homelessness in Seville (Spain)

ABSTRACT

This article presents the narratives of people experiencing homelessness, highlighting the daily violation of their human rights in the city of Seville (Spain). In a process characterised by a search for the meaning of homelessness and the role of Social Work in human rights, their experiences are part of a knowledge production that reclaims the dignity to these individuals using their words and bodies. Methodologically, this goal was achieved by Collective Theatre Creation, combining artistic research with Social Work, theatre pedagogy and aesthetic mediation. This methodology enabled a group of individuals experiencing homelessness to write and perform a play entitled ‘The truth that no one wants to see’ as a result of a research process applying aesthetic mediation in Social Work. Simultaneously, it leads us to the potentiality of artistic practices in the resizing of group practice in Social Work.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work practice
• aesthetic mediation
• people experiencing homelessness
• collective theatre creation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. To protect the participants’ identity, hereinafter, we use the initial letter of the storyteller and then the following abbreviations: w = woman, m = man, number = ages.

2. Debate forums are spaces of dialogue that the group conducts with the audience after each performance, as shown in https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/redportales/cdaea/content/breves-relatos-de-verg%C3%BCenza-y-olvido#navbar

3. Summaries of some of the works that can be seen on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjEm2ZLTd3A https://youtu.be/VOn-jHQ3XB0

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Manuel Muñoz Bellerin

Manuel Muñoz Bellerin, Associate Professor, Researcher in the Social Research and Participative Action Group. Pablo de Olavide University. Collaborating Researcher, Centre for Social Studies. University of Coimbra.

Nuria Cordero Ramos

Nuria Cordero Ramos, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Researcher Social Research and Participative Action Group. Pablo de Olavide.

Manuel Flores Sánchez

Manuel Flores Sánchez, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Researcher Social Research and Participatory Action Group. Pablo de Olavide University.

Rául Álvarez Pérez

Raúl Álvarez Pérez, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Researcher Social Research and Participatory Action Group. Pablo de Olavide University.