Overt and Covert Goals

Manifest and Latent Function

(STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

These are  important concepts in SRV.   They relate to analysing services for (and other interventions with) devalued people.  Such devalued people are often offered services which are 'strange', 'weird', 'unusual' compared with those that fulfil the same basic needs for valued or 'normal' people.  For instance, most relatively valued people will live in ordinary housing, work in ordinary workplaces, gain education in ordinary education facilities and take their leisure in ordinary leisure places.  Devalued people are frequently receive such basic life needs (home, work, education, leisure) in less than normative locations and programmes.  Sometimes it is difficult to understand what is really going on- whether these 'alternative' (less than normative) solutions are because of a real societal need (for instance with prisoners or with potentially dangerous people who are mentally ill) or solely because they are viewed as 'just a devalued group, getting its 'just deserts'', that is to say, less than that offered to valued people.

Such 'strange' alternate facilities are often difficult to understand and analyse.  SRV uses three methods of determining 'what is going on' in these facilities.

These are:

Model Coherency                        -           Model Coherency

Culturally Valued Analogue         -          Culturally Valued Analogue

Overt/Covert  Goals and

Manifest and Latent  Function       -        dealt with on this page

Why Do Human Services Exist?

The existence of particular forms of human service at particular times may be explained by a variety of factors.  Social, economic and individual facts may determine why a service exists in a particular form.

For instance, such services may be formed following a social panic about the people who are to be served, or because of the need to remove certain individuals from the public domain to allow greater societal productivity, or because of a consciousness raising process by a group of activists advocating on behalf of clients.  The reasons are myriad.

Overt and Covert Goals

The goals of a service are often clearly stated in printed publicity, by word-of-mouth,  or in other forms.  These 'Overt' (open and accessible) goals are often the statement of a desire on behalf of the service about what it wants to be or should be. 

When a service is more closely examined, it may be found to have other (covert) goals.  Covert here means hidden and unstated.

When analysed in this way, it may be possible to comprehend why money is spent by society on particular forms of service (which are often not beneficial to the recipients but benefit society) and not on other potentially more beneficial services.

For instance, a residential setting for people with major mental health problems may state that it is intended to carry out support for such people by providing a high level of accommodation and a rehabilitation programme for service recipients.  Its covert goal may in fact be to keep 'crazy' people away from you and me. 

Similarly, a day centre for people with developmental difficulties may state that its aim is meaningful work and socialisation for such people.  Its covert goal may be to relieve the pressure on other formal or informal carers (other services or family).

When understood in this way, it will be clear why low model coherency and non-compliance with a culturally valued analogue is so common for such services.  It is not necessary, for instance, to have active rehabilitation programmes or meaningful work programmes if the true (but covert) goals of the example services above are 'containment', 'exclusion', 'distantiation', etc..

(ADD MORE EXAMPLES AND GREATER DETAIL  JAIL AS A 'SERVICE' WHICH DOES COMPLY WITH A CVA)

Manifest and Latent Function

Manifest and Latent Function is another way of defining this process.  Where the Overt and Covert Goal formulation looks at the stated goals of an organisation, Manifest and Latent Function considers the actual operation of a service.

Here 'Manifest' means public, stated and accepted by the ordinary population, 'Latent' means hidden and unspoken.

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