Smeeton, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-9177-2625 and O'Connor, P. (2020) Embodied social work practice within risk society. Journal of Social Work, 20 (5). pp. 673-691. ISSN 1468-0173
Abstract
Summary – This paper critically discusses the limitations of theorising social work from psychological and sociological perspectives and argues that phenomenology offers more opportunity to understand the embodied experiences of service users and social workers themselves. The paper argues that psychology and sociology have a limited analysis of being-in-the-world, which ought to be social work’s primary consideration. The paper offers an overview of the sociology of risk before embarking on an extensive description and discussion of Heidegger’s and Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology applied to the lived experience of child protection social workers working within risk society . The argument is put that phenomenology is a useful tool for understanding the lived experience of social work practitioners.
Findings – The authors conclude that embodied social work practice containing fear and anxiety can be thought of as akin to taking part in extreme risk sports and that this is an unhealthy experience that is likely to skew decision-making and adversely affect the lives of social workers and service users.
Applications – The authors argue that phenomenology can enhance understanding of practice and decision-making and offers insights into the lived experience of social workers. Phenomenology is useful for helping social workers negotiate risk-saturated environments, through a focus on meaning.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 The Authors. This is an author-produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Journal of Social Work. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Social work; phenomenology; child protection; risk; Merleau-Ponty; embodiment |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2019 08:36 |
Last Modified: | 13 May 2021 16:43 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1468017319860800 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:147327 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0