Social Work Discourse: An Exploratory Study

A Dialectical-Historical Analysis [email protected]

The interaction between sociology and social work: Creativity, Cooperation and Knowledge.

May 30-31, 2013, Aalborg University, Denmark.

Paper: Towards a Critical Deconstruction of the Accounts of Student Social Workers: A Dialectical Historical Analysis

This paper provides a thick description of the accounts of 3 students social workers not yet socialised into the adult practice domain (state social work). *part of wider data set (n=9) Explore discourse in the context of:  Identity construction of social work (personal and social).

 Historical & Ideological forces in the construction of social workers role.  Wider ‘Grand Narratives’ of social work drawn from immediate (local) and social contexts.  28/04/2020 Discourse: language, power, social relations, material practices, institutions/rituals, and beliefs/values/desires. 2

Social Work, Sociology & Research: Advocating Diversity …

….a change in breadth, depth and quality of the UK research base in social work and social care is needed…there must be ‘a strong commitment to innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to research’ (ESRC, 2008, p.1).

Theoretical diversity utilising Critical Discourse Analysis in order to mediate interdisciplinary dialogue between social theories and methods (Fairclough, 2000).

Social work theoreticians draw on systematised eclecticism to develop a theoretical base (Dominelli, 1997).

Critical Ethnography and Critical Discourse Analysis provides in-depth exploration in problem-oriented research (Wodak 2003, 2005, Wodak and Cillia 2005).

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Combining ideas in Creative Ways: enhancing innovative and productive theory formation.

Transcendental Realism Dialectical Philosophy: Hegel, Marx, Althusser

.

Tri-partite Model of Reality - Bhasker The WHOLE context - Hegel 28/04/2020 Culture: Critical Ethnography

Dialectical Historical

Ideology & False Consciousness:Althusser Deconstruction – Derrida History- Marx Method of data analysis CDA Fairclough/Wodak Discursive Practices Foucault Symbolic interactionism (social constructionism) Mead 4

Method of Data Analysis: Three Dimensional Analysis (the whole context)

1). Textual Analysis - concerned with semiotics, the signs (words) in a text and how in using a word this expresses /represents a concept.

2). Discursive Practices - Statements that are continuously proposed about a subject are viewed as hegemonic in CDA, understood as pre existing the subject (individual) before they are subverted 3) Discourse contributes to the construction of systems of knowledge and beliefs through social practice and is contextualised within socio historical practices.

(Fairclough, 1992, 2000, 2008).

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Textual Analysis: Themes identified

Seven Dimensions of Textual Analysis Topic

Vocabulary (Semiotic Choices/ Lexicalisation, drawn from the concept of sign (Saussure, 1996). Grammar - Representing Speech (quoting verbs) and representing action (transitivity),.

“Helping People” “Constraints of the

Structural”

1 2

Cohesion - use of pronouns- using language from a common semantic field.

“Helping Those Less Fortunate than Myself

”

3 4

Text structure - rhetorical devises as systems of knowledge and beliefs (social relations and social identities) playing a particular role

“Help Verses Constraints”

Force of utterance - Persuading with Abstraction: Rhetoric and Metaphor.

“Making a Difference”

Constitution –infer meaning, interpretive principles, committing and evading concealing the taken for granted

“Helplessness” 5 6

Intertextuality – socio-historical processes at work

DISCOURSE TOPIC A,B,C,D 7

Denaturalised Transcripts.

Fairclough’s seven dimensions of textual analysis .

Provides a ‘thick description’ of the accounts of social work (Geertz).

Units of analysis utilising critical linguistics (Fowler, Halliday) .

Stage 1 of Analysis (Textual) .

Abductive process (Wodak, 1999)

Mapping of Discursive and Social Practices: Three Dimensional analysis of discourse

(Adapted from Reisigl and Wodak in Wodak and Meyer, 2012, p. 92).

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Lexical Choices (Vocabulary) “Helping People”.

Experience of the social world s/he is a part of

Experiential values: matches the authors motivation

Semiotic Choices/ Lexicalisation.

Nurse, treatment, help, helping people, therapy, enable, provide, help, helping, social change, it is not all just help, encourage, helping people, catch them early, helping, intervene, independence, fight, advocate, services, injustice. J: Being a nurse who applies the treatment, social work was for me more ‘like a medical professional prescribing the treatment’. P: You can still catch them early enough to through therapy and understanding and such like maybe make a difference for their adult lives… S: help people… people less fortunate than myself. 28/04/2020 8

Genre & Intertextuality

(discursive and social practices)

“Help/Therapy/Treatment”.

 Intertextuality (Kristeva, 1986) - explores relations between a text constituting either immediate or distant (past) contexts (discursive and social practices).  Normalising ‘forensic gaze’ - strong emphasis on diagnosis (Harris 1995). Developed within Victorian (self-help) & Clinical social work ideals in the two decades following the Second World War (self-help, casework, diagnosis).

 Represent reconstituted (orders of discourses of social work) drawn from past, immediate, local & social contexts.  Ideology interpellates individuals drawn from wider societal and historical signs in constructions of ‘help’ (Althusser, 1971).

 False consciousness and Victorian Ideals – imbued in social works code of ethics. * self-help 28/04/2020 9

Grammar and Text Structure

(Topic 2, 4) Verbs – represent action (transivity) and structuring conventions in language .

Text Structure-rhetorical devices as systems of knowledge informing action (practice) J: You operate within certain limitations so obviously it’s not always, yes I help you and I will do anything for you. S: so you’re helping within the constraints of the structural sort of… S: it’s structural handcuffs because obviously you can only do so much with the limited resources .

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Genre & Intertextuality: “Help verses Constraints

” Binary Oppositions and Rhetorical Devices “

structural

”

Constraints within the

 Depicts the tension of the role of social work - reveals aspects of the immediate social context and the wider cultural setting .  Patterns of speech – part of the cultural heritage of social work “grand narrative”  Now taken for granted – state poses limitations- what limitations might this present clients with?

 Actors will cognise situations with the terms they have available (Casey, 1995).

 Failure to take accounts of the varied narratives involved in social work practice- further exposed to reconstituted discursive practices such as ‘bureaucracy verses less face to face work’ when entering practice domain (Carey 2008, 2012).

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Paper overview: Key Points

not yet socialised into practice social work cultures and structures

 Social work students identify the construction of social work as ‘help’ in the context of therapy, diagnosis, treatment and a notion of expertise; * children and families research  Order of discourses (dominant) – clinical, viewed as one to one case work based on ideals of self-help (Victorian discourse).  The ‘becoming-subject’ of the social worker is surrounded by pre-existing discourses - wider intertextual dimensions of the connotations of ‘help’.  Capitalist gain of therapy and treatment (Smail, 1995) * History/Marx  Critical social work (injustice and human rights) as marginalised discourse of social work.  Gender difference of construction- coincidence or random?

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‘Whole’ Context of Social Work Discourse

• • • • • • • Dialectical ways of understanding social work discourses – form of logic (Marx, Hegel, Althusser).

Reality shows an identity of opposites and is full of contradictions and these contradictions are never complete (Hegel) Society is composed of two opposing forces, the thesis and antithesis, and these react against one another to form the synthesis (Lancaster, 1959). Thesis - the ideals located in ethics and values (socially constructed) representing aspects of false consciousness. Antithesis - a profession located in a realist context based on positivist rational-technical principles said to provide a platform in which to initiate those values. A new synthesis needed (Dialectical-Historical) providing this research with an interactive relationship between thinking, talking and action in social work (praxis).

Social work accounts analysed within the whole context (historical, discursive and ideological forces) showing how some paradigms for practice might be favoured/motivation.

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