© 2014 – Routledge
With communication and relationships at the core of social work, this book reveals the way it is foremost a practice that becomes reality in dialogue, illuminating some of the profession’s key dilemmas. Applied discourse studies illustrate the importance of talk and interaction in the construction of everyday and institutional life.
This book provides a detailed review and illustration of the contribution of discourse approaches and studies on professional interaction to social work. Concentrating on how social workers carry out their work in everyday organisational encounters with service users and colleagues, each chapter uses case studies analysing real-life social work interactions to explore a concept that has relevance both in discursive studies and in social work. The book thus demonstrates what detailed discursive studies on interaction can add to professional social work theories and discussions. Chapters on categorization, accountability, boundary work, narrative, advice-giving, resistance, delicacy and reported speech, review the literature and discuss how the concept has been developed and how it can be applied to social work.
The book encourages professional reflection and the development of rigorous research methods, making it particularly appropriate for postgraduate and post-qualifying study in social work where participants are encouraged to examine their own professional practice. It is also essential reading for social work academics and researchers interested in language, communication and relationship-based work and in the study of professional practices more generally.
1. Social Work Discourse In Practice Christopher Hall, Kirsi Juhila, Maureen Matarese and Carolus van Nijnatten 2. Analysing Social Work Interaction: Premises and Approaches Kirsi Juhila, Åsa Mäkitalo and Martine Noordegraaf 3. Categorization Åsa Mäkitalo 4. Accountability Maureen Matarese and Dorte Caswell 5. Boundary Work Stef Slembrouck and Christopher Hall 6. Narrative Christopher Hall and Maureen Matarese 7. Advice-giving Christopher Hall and Stef Slembrouck 8. Resistance Kirsi Juhila, Dorte Caswell and Suvi Raitakari 9. Delicacy Carolus van Nijnatten and Eero Suoninen 10. Reported Speech Kirsi Juhila, Arja Jokinen and Sirpa Saario 11. Discourse Analysis of ’Ordinary’ Social Work Christopher Hall, Kirsi Juhila, Maureen Matarese and Carolus van Nijnatten