Sociological social work: a cartoon |
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Authors: | Ian F. Shaw |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark;2. Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, York, UKian.shaw@york.ac.uk |
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Abstract: | I trace an account of social work—and sociology—that I believe holds a promise for re-forming the relationship between the two. I develop the argument in two ways. First, taking 1920s Chicago as a case study, I will attempt ‘a history of the present’ to suggest how the relationship between sociology and social work came to be as it is. I will suggest that the practice of some (both familiar and forgotten) people in 1920s and 1930s sociology and social work is best explained as a form of ‘sociological social work’. Second, after tracking this genealogy, I suggest an agenda for sociological social work that consists of straining to enact certain kinds of inter-disciplinary relationships, developing methodological social work practice, hearing occasional sociological frontier conversations and shared theorising. I illustrate how these arguments challenge both sociology and social work and both theory and practice. |
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Keywords: | sociological social work Chicago school case work |
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