Re-imagining social theory for social work

Author(s):  
Christopher Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63
Author(s):  
Robbie Duschinsky ◽  
Sue Lampitt ◽  
Jamie Thompson

As Paltridge (2004, p.90) has claimed, ‘there is no such thing as the one-size-fits-all academic essay that can be written in all areas of study’. Yet research on academic writing by scholars such as Ivanič and Lillis and ideas from social theory offer useful insights, which can be applied to the specific demands of essay-writing on pre-qualifying social work degrees. By failing to clarify how students may succeed, social work educators may misdirect their efforts to improve students’ written communication skills or make students feel falsely that they personally are not smart or hard working enough to meet the requirements of higher education. We close the article by proposing 22 unspoken requirements for success in social work essay-writing, and drawing out the implications of our analysis for social work educators.


Human Affairs ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Powell ◽  
Malcolm Carey

Social Theory, Performativity and Professional Power—A Critical Analysis of Helping Professions in EnglandDrawing from interviews and ethnographic research, evidence is provided to suggest a sense of "anxiety" and "regret" amongst state social workers and case managers working on the "front-line" within local authority social service departments. There have been a number of theoretical approaches that have attempted to ground the concept of "power" to understand organizational practice though Foucauldian insights have been most captivating in illuminating power relations and subject positioning. In order to theoretically interrogate the relationship between social theory and professional power, we draw from the neo-Foucauldian work of American Social Philosopher Judith Butler—especially regarding Butler's (1990, 1993 and 1998) powerful work on "performativity" and its relationship to social work. We also attempt to examine the "distances" between the social work role and social workers narratives through an examination of notions of "anxiety" and "regret" in the face of the professionalisation of state social work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Jaime Hillesheim

Based on Marxian and Marxist assumptions, in particular, the contributions of György Lukács to law as ideology, we try to elicit reflection on the current theoretical and practical challenges to social service to prevent the profession from seeing its ethico-political project capitulate in view of the intensification of the capital offensive against labor. In this paper, the contradictions of the social worker’s work in defending and extending rights vis-a-vis the own logic of bourgeois sociability are discussed. We address the challenges imposed by the limits of such sociability, which require, to be faced, an understanding of critical social theory, given its potential to contribute to professional work in line with the values and principles of the aforementioned project.***Conflitos de classes, defesa de direitos e Serviço Social***A partir de pressupostos marxianos e marxistas, em particular, das contribuições de György Lukács sobre o direito como ideologia, procura-se, aqui, instigar a reflexão sobre os desafios teóricos e práticos do serviço social no tempo presente, para que a profissão não veja seu projeto ético-político capitular em face da intensificação da ofensiva do capital sobre o trabalho. No presente artigo são abordadas, essencialmente, as contradições do trabalho do assistente social na defesa e ampliação dos direitos em face da lógica própria da sociabilidade burguesa. São situados os desafios impostos pelos limites dessa sociabilidade que exigem, para o seu enfrentamento, a compreensão da teoria social crítica, haja vista seu potencial de subsidiar o trabalho profissional em consonância com os valores e princípios contantes do projeto supracitado.Palavras-chave: Luta de classes. Direitos. Emancipação Humana. Serviço social.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Thorpe
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-293
Author(s):  
Niels Rosendal Jensen
Keyword(s):  

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