Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-s9k8s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-03T16:59:19.195Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Importance of Family and Friends in Advice-Seeking for Rights Problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Alexy Buck
Affiliation:
Ministry of Justice, formerly Legal Services Research Centre E-mail: Alexy.Buck@justice.gsi.gov.uk
Marisol Smith
Affiliation:
Independent Social Researcher, formerly Legal Services Research Centre E-mail: marisol.smith@btinternet.com

Abstract

Rights problems such as debt, employment, welfare benefits and family problems are widespread. They are problems of everyday life, affecting many people and many aspects of people's lives and are now well documented. In contrast, there has been little research on the role of family and friends when experiencing a problem and seeking advice. Drawing on comprehensive qualitative research, this article explores how people seeking advice for their rights problems rely on family and friends for help in the advice-seeking process. The research shows that help lies on a continuum from encouraging people to seek advice to assistance with the tasks necessary for problem resolution. The implications of this for service design are considered.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balmer, N. (2013) Civil Justice in England and Wales: Report of Wave 2 of the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Panel Survey Report, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Balmer, N. J., Pleasence, P. and Buck, A. (2010a) ‘Psychiatric morbidity and people's experience of and response to social problems involving rights’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 18, 4, 588–97.Google Scholar
Balmer, N. J., Pleasence, P., Buck, A. and Walker, H. (2006) ‘Worried sick: the experience of debt problems and their relationship with health, illness and disability’, Social Policy and Society, 5, 1, 3951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balmer, N. J., Buck, A., Patel, A., Denvir, C. and Pleasence, P. (2010b) Knowledge, Capability and the Experience of Rights Problems, London: Public Legal Education Network.Google Scholar
Broadhurst, K. (2003) ‘Engaging parents and carers with family support services. What can be learned from the literature on help-seeking?’, Child and Family Social Work, 8, 4, 341–50.Google Scholar
Buck, A. (2007) ‘The policy-demand for social research in civil justice: the UK perspective’, Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie/The German Journal of Law and Society, 28, 2, 165–78.Google Scholar
Buck, A. and Smith, M. (2013) ‘Back for the future: a client centred analysis of social welfare and family law provision’, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 35, 1, 95113.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Pleasence, P. and Balmer, N. J. (2005) ‘Social exclusion and civil law: experience of civil justice problems among vulnerable groups’, Social Policy and Administration, 39, 3, 302–22.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Pleasence, P. and Balmer, N. J. (2007) Education Implications from the English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Survey, Annexe to the Public Legal Education and Support (PLEAS) Task Force Report, London: PLEAS Task Force.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Pleasence, P. and Balmer, N. J. (2008) ‘Do citizens know how to deal with legal issues? Some empirical insights’, Journal of Social Policy, 37, 4, 661–81.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Smith, M., Sidaway, J. and Balmer, N. J. (2010) Community Legal Advice Centres: A Survey of Clients in Reception Areas, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Day, L., Collard, S., Smith, M. and Patel, A. (2009) Outreach Advice for Debt Problems: Research and Evaluation of Outreach Services for Financially Excluded People, London: Legal Services Research Centre.Google Scholar
Buck, A., Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. J., O’Grady, A. and Genn, H. (2004) ‘Lone parents and civil law: their experience of problems and their advice seeking behaviour’, Social Policy and Administration, 38, 3, 253–69.Google Scholar
Cabinet Office (2012) Not-for-Profit Advice Services in England, London: Cabinet Office.Google Scholar
Cameron, L., Leventhal, E. A. and Leventhal, H. (1993) ‘Symptom representations and affect as determinants of care seeking in a community-dwelling, adult sample population’, Health Psychology, 12, 3, 171–9.Google Scholar
Campbell, C. and McLean, C. (2003) ‘Social capital, community participation and the construction of Pakistani identities in England: implications for health inequalities policies’, Journal of Health Psychology, 8, 2, 247–62.Google Scholar
Clery, E., Lee, L. and Kunz, S. (2013) Public Attitudes to Poverty and Welfare 1983–2011, London: National Centre for Social Research.Google Scholar
Denvir, C., Balmer, N. J. and Buck, A. (2012) ‘Informed citizens? Knowledge of rights and the resolution of civil justice problems’, Journal of Social Policy, 41, 3, 591614.Google Scholar
Forell, S. and Gray, A. (2009) Outreach Legal Services to People with Complex Needs: What Works?, Sydney: Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales.Google Scholar
Fox, C., Moorhead, R., Sefton, M. and Wong, K. (2010) Community Legal Advice Centres and Networks: A Process Evaluation, London: Legal Services Research Centre.Google Scholar
Fox, C., Moorhead, R., Sefton, M. and Wong, K. (2011) ‘Community legal advice centres and networks: a process evaluation’, Civil Justice Quarterly, 30, 2, 204–22.Google Scholar
Genn, G. (1999) Paths to Justice: What People Do and Think about Going to Law, Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Gourash, N. (1978) ‘Help-seeking: a review of the literature’, American Journal of Community Psychology, 6, 5, 413–23.Google Scholar
Great Britain (2012) Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Griffith, A. (2008) CLACs – Are They Worth It?, London: Advice Services Alliance.Google Scholar
Legal Services Commission (2005) Innovation in the Community Legal Service: A Review of 22 Projects Supported through the Partnership Initiative Budget, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Legal Services Commission (2006) Making Legal Rights a Reality, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Lister, R. (2011) ‘The age of responsibility: social policy and citizenship in the early 21st century’, in Holden, C., Kilkey, M. and Ramia, G. (eds.), Social Policy Review 23: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, Bristol: The Policy Press, 6384.Google Scholar
Lowndes, V. and Pratchett, L. (2011) ‘Local governance under the Coalition government: austerity, localism and the “Big Society”’, Local Government Studies, 38, 1, 2140.Google Scholar
Moorhead, R., Robinson, M. andMatrix Research and Consultancy (2006) A Trouble Shared: Legal Problem Clusters in Solicitors’ and Advice Agencies, London: Department for Constitutional Affairs.Google Scholar
O’Grady, A., Balmer, N. J., Pleasence, P., Buck, A. and Genn, H. (2004) ‘Disability, social exclusion and the consequential experience of justiciable problems’, Disability and Society, 19, 3, 259–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padley, M. (2013) ‘Delivering localism: the critical role of trust and collaboration’, Social Policy and Society, 12, 3, 343–54.Google Scholar
Patel, A., Balmer, N. J. and Pleasence, P. (2008) ‘Geography of advice seeking’, Geoforum, 39, 6, 2084–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pescosolido, B. A. (1992) ‘Beyond rational choice: the social dynamics of how people seek help’, American Journal of Sociology, 97, 4, 1096–138.Google Scholar
Pescosolido, B. A. and Boyer, C. A. (1999) ‘How do people come to use mental health services? Current knowledge and changing perspectives’, in Horwitz, A. V. and Scheid, T. L. (eds.), A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health: Social Contexts, Theories, and Systems, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 392411.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P. (2006) Causes of Action: Civil Law and Social Justice, 2nd edn, Norwich: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P. and Balmer, N. J. (2009) ‘Mental health and the experience of social problems involving rights: findings from the United Kingdom and New Zealand’, Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 16, 1, 123–40.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. J. and Buck, A. (2008) ‘The health cost of civil law problems: further evidence of links between civil law problems and morbidity and the consequential use of health services’, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 5, 2, 351–74.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. J., Buck, A., O’Grady, A. and Genn, H. (2004) ‘Multiple justiciable problems: common clusters, problem order and social and demographic indicators’, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 1, 2, 301–29.Google Scholar
Pleasence, P., Balmer, N. J., Patel, A., Cleary, A., Huskinson, T. and Cotton, T. (2011) Civil Justice in England and Wales: Report of Wave 1 of the English and Welsh Civil and Social Panel Survey, London: Legal Services Commission and Ipsos-Mori.Google Scholar
Rickwood, D. J. and Braithwaite, V. A. (1994) ‘Social-psychological factors affecting help-seeking for emotional problems’, Social Science and Medicine, 39, 4, 563–72.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J. and Spencer, L. (1994) ‘Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research’, in Bryman, A. and Burgess, R. G. (eds.), Analysing Qualitative Data, London: Routledge, pp. 173–94.Google Scholar
Roberts, S. (1988) ‘Social support and help-seeking: a review of the literature’, Advances in Nursing Science, 10, 2, 111.Google Scholar
Smith, M. and Patel, A. (2010) Using Monitoring Data: Examining Community Legal Advice Centre Delivery, London: Legal Services Commission.Google Scholar
Smith, M., Buck, A., Sidaway, J. and Scanlan, L. (2013) ‘Bridging the empirical gap: new insights into the experience of multiple legal problems and advice seeking’, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 10, 1, 146–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Srivastava, A. and Thomson, S. B. (2009) ‘Framework analysis: a qualitative methodology for applied policy research’, Journal of Administration and Governance, 4, 2, 72–9.Google Scholar
Vogel, D., Wade, N., Wester, S., Larson, L. and Hackler, A. H. (2007) ‘Seeking help from a mental health professional: the influence of one's social network’, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 3, 233–45.Google Scholar