scholarly journals “The feel of the place”: Investigating atmosphere with the residents of a modernist housing estate

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-480
Author(s):  
Stephen Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Housing Estate ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Housing Scheme

Atmosphere is a neglected topic in social work, and so this article considers the production of atmospheres amongst the residents of an extant 1960s housing scheme in Edinburgh (UK). This is in order to address not only the complexity of feelings about living on such an estate but also to consider what consequences the paying of attention to atmosphere’s production and effects might have for a social work concern with welfare and wellbeing. The article is based upon semi-structured and walking interviews with 17 residents – council or private renters and home-owners – of Claremont Court, a mixed, low-rise estate and analyses their description and crafting of atmosphere as a way to understand questions of belonging, welfare and community in situ. After reviewing some existing research on atmosphere and outlining methodological issues relating to the Claremont Court project, the article goes on to consider how residents described their feelings about or sense of the estate and its design before discussing the emergence of contradictory narratives about home. The production of narratives about those needing welfare support is particularly pertinent to atmospheric accounts of the housing scheme, and so the article addresses this before finally making an argument for the relevance of immersive and emplaced accounts of space and place for both social work practice and research.

scholarly journals Place and the uncanny in child protection social work: Exploring findings from an ethnographic study

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dharman Jeyasingham
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Service Users ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
The Town

This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of child protection social workers in Britain, which explored social workers’ experiences of and practices in space and place. It draws on data from interviews with practitioners and observations that were carried out as social workers moved around the places (the town, estates, streets and areas around service users’ homes) where they worked. It focuses on the significance of a particular affective experience, the uncanny, which social workers evoked in many of their accounts of these places. The article introduces recent conceptualisations of space, affect and the uncanny before going on to consider data from the interviews. The following themes are explored: the relationships between the intimate spaces of service users’ homes and the neighbourhoods in which they were located; social workers’ accounts of feeling vulnerable in public and open spaces; social workers’ experiences of feeling unsettled by apparently mundane features of neighbourhood spaces. The article draws on critical engagements with the uncanny to consider its significance for child protection social work practice in Britain and its consequences in terms of social workers’ potential to work in emplaced and locally sensitive ways.

Listening to the Voices of Individuals with Disabilities

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen French Gilson ◽  
John C. Bricout ◽  
Frank R. Baskind
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
The Social

Social work literature, research, and practice on disabilities has lagged behind other topical areas dealing with oppressed groups. The social work literature remains “expert focused” and generally fragmented into discussions of specific disabilities or subpopulations. A viable general model that deals with the personal experience of disability is not available. This exploratory study presents a social work literature search and analysis as well as interviews with six individuals with disabilities about their experiences with social workers. Individuals with disabilities assert that they were treated as though they had categorically fewer aspirations, abilities, and perhaps even fundamental rights than did nondisabled people. This study provides a base for follow-up research on models of consumer-focused social work practice in the area of disability.

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