What is it about?
This looks at some of the philosophical approaches to thinking about how we engage with theory and knowledge within social work and how this might impact upon how we approach and construct service users.
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Why is it important?
This paper argues that we should value practice knowledge and be careful how we use theory when trying to understand people in order to avoid 'fixing' their experiences. It also argues that we should recognise that their own perspectives are valuable and inform the meaning that they bring to their lives.
Perspectives
I am setting out my position that we need to work within service users own meanings rather than impose professional meanings from the outside that are built on ideas that 'human nature' is fixed and universal.
Dr Joe Smeeton
University of Sheffield
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From Aristotle to Arendt: A phenomenological exploration of forms of knowledge and practice in the context of child protection social work in the UK, Qualitative Social Work, August 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1473325015603479.
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