A Decolonising Critical Discourse Analysis Framework for Positive Behaviour Support Plans

Positive Behaviour Support Plans (Plans) are documents written by practitioners about and for Service Users who are exhibiting “challenging behaviours”, which may risk harm to the self or others. These Service Users are subject to restrictive practices, including physical or environmental restraints, seclusion, and psychotropic medication. This article presents a Decolonising Critical Discourse Analysis (DCDA) Framework for the analysis of Plans and other disability-related texts, iteratively developed through analysis of 16 Plans, conversations with disability stakeholders, reflexive team discussions, and a review of the literature. The aims of the research discussed in this article are to document and analyse discourses evident in the sample Plans and to inform critical and socially just Plan authorship practices. The purpose of this article is to report on the Framework development and offer an analysis of early findings. Plans are viewed as texts that create and maintain a complex interplay between macrolevel forces (discourse and policy) and microlevel practices of plan writing. The DCDA Framework emphasises decolonising language, making Whiteness visible, enacting disability justice and neurodivergent-affirming practice, and upholding a body politic analysis. This methodological Framework is applicable to a range of texts and contexts to explore how language can be utilised to construct Service User identities. IMPLICATIONS A Decolonising Critical Discourse Analysis (DCDA) Framework and method can be applied effectively to analyse Positive Behaviour Support Plans (Plans). Recognition is needed that risk–centric language pathologises neurodivergence and frames Service Users as requiring close regulation. Psychotropic medication is a frequently utilised restrictive practice. Cultural identity is not well–considered in this sample of Plans. Social workers have a responsibility to use their advocacy skills to critically engage with the power of language and to disrupt dominant narratives about disabled Service Users.