Social work research and its dependence on practice

The state of the art in social work research indicates major difficulties concerning the knowledge basis of the discipline. This article aims to contribute to the discourse on the nature of social work research as a scientific activity. The starting-point is the philosophy of science developed within the realist approach. It is argued that knowledge is primarily gained through activity in attempting to change social reality and through communication with other people. Knowledge is also recognized as knowing how to do something. The character of the social work knowledge may particularly be understood within the frame of reference presented by the realist approach. The history of the ideas of social work demonstrates the importance of understanding the interplay between theory and practice in social work. The article attempts to delimit the provisional borders of social work research. A model of social work research fields is presented.     

Why Aesthetic Patterns Matter: Art and a “Qualitative” Social Theory

This paper argues that an explanation of the role of aesthetic patterning in human action needs to be part of any “qualitative” social theory. It urges the social sciences to move beyond contextualism and to see art as visual, acoustic and other media that lead to heightened sensory perception and the coordination of feelings through symbols. The article surveys the argument that art provides a basic model of how the self learns to interact with external environments; and the complementary thesis that art could be seen as integral to the emergence of systems of human knowledge, communication and economy. Ornamentation and stylization are advanced as two concrete devices through which human attention is captured and experience is ordered through aesthetic patterns. The conclusion is drawn that art offers the social sciences a meaningful account of the perceptual or “qualitative” dimensions of social interactions; and that this is much needed today.     

The return of the political in social work

This article is a follow-up to our article 'Revisiting social work as art' and in part a response to Karen Healy's reply [both published in IJSW 17(2)]. It is, however, also a significant extension of this material since it engages with more general concerns about the critical project that is intrinsic to social work. Social work is not just about self-foundation based on knowledge, values and skills formation, but also about self-assertion. Crucially, it is through this notion of self-assertion that social work can be best understood as an agent of change. This transformative aspect of social work is our central focus. We are not concerned with structural conditions of power and domination but with theorising what a transformative politics would look like for social work using the lens of the French political philosopher Alain Badiou as a conceptual medium for permitting the return of the political for social work.     

Mixing Up the Goulash: Essential Ingredients in the “Art” of Social Group Work

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the connection between social group work and creativity. Parallels are drawn between the techniques and discipline of the creative artist and those of the social group worker. Four prominent themes of group work are discussed in relation to the work of the artist: empathy, accessibility to a range of emotions, maintaining a sense of humor, and full use of self within the group environment. Examples from a range of group populations are used to highlight the four identified “ingredients” in the art of social group work practice.     

The future of social work education: beyond the state of the art

David Cox (1995) argues that social work educators need to engage with social issues if they are to move social work away from the doldrums in which it has become trapped. Although this is true, changes of a greater magnitude are required if social work practice is to remain relevant in the twenty-first century. In a globalizing world, social work educators have to play a key role in internationalizing the social work curricula (academic and practicum) and socializing practitioners to embrace emancipatory approaches to social work if they are to counteract the brutalizing forces of industrialism and militarism. Engaging with social change to empower excluded groups requires social workers to work with "clients", policy-makers and international welfare organizations in ways that link the personal and structural dimensions of social life. In short, practitioners need to go beyond the state of the art if their interventions are to respond to the "person-in-their-situation" in a modern context.     

Social work as art revisited

In this article we revisit 'social work as art', noting that it is just over 20 years since England's book on the subject provided a direction for the profession's early defence against empiricism. Those who picked up the ball handed to them by England tended to focus discussions of social work's 'art' on its soft side, embedding it in notions of 'creativity', 'meaning', 'self-expression', 'intuition' and 'quality', all of which were said to characterise the 'aesthetic dimensions' of social work practice as a counterpoint to the rising tide of hard empiricism, proceduralism and managerialism. Within these 'aesthetic dimensions', proponents of social work as art sought to resolve tensions through advocating a value-based 'artistic' approach to care. Against this we argue that art is struggle and resolution, soft and hard, joy and grief. Further, we posit that social work's art lies not in the social worker as artist but rather in social work as the 'work' of art, which is implicitly a 'non-productivist' endeavour. In a fundamental sense we argue that it is the art of social work and not the social worker that assembles what is practice, that provides bounds and lets everything stand in relation to everything else. This enables us to construct a speculative 'radical agonistics' for social work that draws attention to the relation between art, truth and event. In so doing, we substitute a subjectivist reading of social work as art with an ontological analysis drawing on Heidegger's phenomenology, supplemented by the work of Alain Badiou, to cast social work as art first, as artistic attunement, and second, as an art in the service of a politics of liberation.     

从"何为艺术"到"为何为艺术"——当代西方艺术体制理论的流变及启示

现代艺术实践的诸多创新和实验使传统美学理论受到了前所未有的挑战,艺术和非艺术界限的模糊迫使美学家们对艺术定义进行重新思考.丹托的艺术界和迪基的艺术体制理论使我们的关注从"何为艺术"的关涉艺术内在属性的本质主义追问转移到"艺术品资格何以获得"的体制性的外部研究上来.美国社会学家贝克进一步发展了迪基的体制论,将艺术世界视为艺术实践的参与者在惯例的作用下反复合作的动态关系网络.无论是在后分析美学还是实证社会学的路径下,"艺术界"理论的演变给当代美学指明了一条新的思路,即摆脱传统哲学思辨的束缚,重新审视艺术与社会历史语境的关系.     

The Moral Arc as a Pretzel: Social Justice in the Trenches

This article explores how social justice has been defined in social work practice and contests the claim of some in our profession that direct practice and social welfare programs are incompatible with social justice, drawing on Foucault’s work on the inextricable link between power and knowledge. This article proposes that social justice “in the trenches” needs further theorizing. Literature supporting a view that direct practice is congruent with a social justice perspective is reviewed. Theory of recognition is introduced as a possible overarching theory to ground direct practice within a social justice framework.     

网络艺术传播中的社会行为

网络艺术作品的生产过程具有复合性、欣赏性、协作性和多样性的特征;网络艺术的传播具有信息流通的双向性、视听符号的统一性、现实世界与虚拟世界的交互性、传播广度的宽泛性、传播者的自控性以及传播者与受众共享性的特征。因此,无论是生产还是消费,网络艺术的传播行为都呈现出社会化的互动过程。网络艺术传播正是在这样一个双向选择与互动中得到不断深化与发展。     

论网络艺术作品社会价值的内聚与外化

网络技术的迅猛发展 ,不仅对艺术实践而且对艺术评价或审美认知 ,都产生了重要影响。就网络艺术作品的社会价值而言 ,它需要经历一个内聚和外化的过程 ,其表现形式呈现多样化。所有这些 ,都是由网络艺术传播中的互动规律所决定的。     

Linking the university and the social agency in collaborative evaluation research: principles and examples

This paper presents an analysis of components of successful social work evaluation research practice. Among the key obstacles to successful evaluations of social work intervention are the impoverished knowledge base on which many social work interventions are based, the isolation of researchers and practitioners in the conduct of evaluations, and during research implementation failure to cope with the changing field context. To remedy this situation social work needs to invest in university and social agency partnerships focussed on knowledge building for the profession. In such partnerships the traditional roles of the researcher and the practitioner are altered so that shared responsibility for knowledge development is possible. In addition, to deal with changing field contexts the research team needs to be continuously engaged in problem solving and redesign. An initial example of such a partnership is described together with a case study illustrating implementation of a multi-site field experiment evaluation.     

Open spaces,supple bodies? Considering the impact of agile working on social work office practices

There has been a shift towards social workers in many areas of the UK being based in large open plan offices and working more flexibly and remotely in space. This approach is commonly referred to as ‘agile working’. The paper explores the impact of agile working on social workers' practices and experiences in office spaces. It discusses data from an ethnographic study of children's safeguarding social work teams in two locations. One team was based in a large open plan office and was engaged in agile working, the other team was located in a much smaller office and was not using this approach. Data from observations of practice, analysis of material spaces, and interviews with social workers and those responsible for planning office space are examined. The paper concludes that there are qualitative differences between such spaces which are due to agile working arrangements and which are likely to impact significantly on social workers' experiences of practice, interactions with colleagues and development of practice knowledge. The data also suggest a lack of understanding in social work of the spatial requirements of practitioners and the significance that private and open space has for children's social work in the current UK context.     

文艺理论的学科定位——兼论马克思主义文艺理论发展的两个问题

近年来的马克思主义文艺理论研究注重特殊性而忽视普遍性 ,如果能从研究马克思主义文艺理论与一般文艺理论的普遍规律入手 ,就可以为推动马克思主义文艺理论另辟蹊径 ,因而 ,确定文艺理论的学科定位至关重要。本文侧重从研究方法入手 ,把文艺理论定位于自然科学和人文科学之间并兼具二者性质的社会科学。由此出发 ,探讨了马克思主义文艺理论有无体系及其人文性问题     

Sustainable social work: Modelling knowledge production,transfer, and evidence‐based practice

Gray M, Schubert L. Sustainable social work: modelling knowledge production, transfer, and evidence‐based social work This article is a first attempt to present a model of knowledge production and transfer in social work, drawing on the expanding literature on knowledge production. It highlights features of knowledge production in social work, such as the diverse contexts in which knowledge is developed and applied. It argues that knowledge production by itself is not enough. Equally important is knowledge transfer and implementation. The literature on knowledge production highlights problems with the implementation of actually existing knowledge and the potential resistance to this implementation as highly important issues for social work research. It leads to a greater awareness of the context in which knowledge is produced and applied and creates a bridge between traditional informal and tacit ways of knowing in social work and the demands of evidence‐based practice.     

Underpinning knowledge for child care practice: reconsidering child development theory

Child development theory has come to be regarded as essential underpinning knowledge for social work practice, a view reinforced by the current research‐minded agenda. Practitioners are enjoined to acquire a more in‐depth knowledge of child development but in this paper it is argued that this agenda requires more scrutiny if social workers are going to engage more meaningfully with the child development literature and use it in a critical and reflexive way in their practice. To this end some key messages drawn from critical approaches to developmental psychology, a literature to date largely unrecognized by social work, are examined for their relevance to practice.     

Some considerations on the debate on social work in China: who speaks for whom?

In this article I persist with my argument that indigenous, local, culturally relevant practice ought to trump the external imposition of social work definitions, standards and professional models. The challenge, however, is not to fall prey to false dichotomies. Importantly, social work in China is not static but emergent, and no‐one is sure of the exact shape it will take. And the essential question is to what extent will Western knowledge and standards be uncritically appropriated into China? Most contributors to the debate thus far have taken the international definition of social work as their starting point, but far more significant are the political dimensions involved in this process of indigenisation. This article proposes that empirical evidence from within China regarding culturally appropriate, effective local responses – and some clear benchmarks for international engagement – should form the basis for dialogue between China and the broader social work community.     

An international definition of social work for China

There are differing opinions on how far the international values and internationally understood practice of social work, as epitomised by the international definition on social work, can apply universally to all countries, notably China. The lack of capacity in the Chinese social work community to develop evidence-based and adaptable practice has hindered the effective learning and systematic 'indigenisation' of overseas social work knowledge. This article argues that the international definition can serve as an active working platform where Chinese social workers and the international social work community can search for commonalities and facilitate mutual understanding. Social workers can only effectively respond to the trends towards globalisation by trying to find out more about their common identity and similarities through interactions, while at the same time showing more acceptance of the differences between countries.     

The role of law in welfare reform: critical perspectives on the relationship between law and social work practice

This article considers the complex relationships between law, welfare policy and social work practice, in order to address the question of what role legal frameworks might play in achieving welfare policy and professional practice goals. It traces how law has developed as a core component of professional practice, and challenges some of the false expectations placed upon it. It then draws on findings from an international knowledge review of law teaching in social work education to propose a model for understanding how professional practice incorporates legal perspectives, and proposes ways in which legal frameworks can provide positive and constructive vehicles for accountable practice.     

社会工作何以走向“去社会变革化”?基于美国百年社会工作史的分析

个人治疗与社会变革是社会工作的双重使命,但在实践中,社会工作沉溺于个人服务,社会变革被边缘化或抛弃。这种“去社会变革化”是由专业的内部因素（专业化）与外部的政治（意识形态）、经济（市场化与管理主义）、文化（个人主义）等因素综合作用的结果。具体而言,专业化的科学主义、意识形态的社会控制、市场化的营利主义、管理主义的效率至上、个人主义的“个人自由”与“个人责任”逻辑,都会将专业的焦点引向个人治疗,远离社会变革。于是,专业化盛行、意识形态保守、市场化与管理主义风靡、个人主义高涨的时期,如20世纪20年代、30年代中后期至60年代、80年代,便是社会工作的“去社会变革化”阶段。同时,专业化是“政治-经济-文化”力量塑造的产物。社会工作“去社会变革化”的真正根源在于外部环境的型塑,其中个人主义文化处于主导地位。