Ross, Johanna Woodcock;
(2019)
Issues in Social Work Communication with Parents who are Christian: An Empirical Study Under-laboured by Critical Realist Principles.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This empirical study uses critical realist principles in an under-labouring role to inquire what communicative tensions might lie beneath social-worker-with-Christian-parent-communication. The first empirical stage - 'thick description’ - used qualitative methods within an intensive case study design to generate data of both the substantive event of social-worker-with-Christian-parent-communication (the 'speech-act’) and agential meanings of such action signifying contextual and experiential understanding: 1. A Forum Theatre performance to a volunteer sample of 31 qualifying and qualified social workers 2. Unstructured qualitative interviews with a sample of 12 volunteer social work service users (parents self-identifying as practising Christians) to create the basis for the performance script. The second stage used critical-realist-appropriate analytic tactics from Grounded Theory (1967) to conduct the retroductive analysis. Key findings identified Christian parents being so mistrustful about revealing ontological commitments to their Christian living/parenting praxis that they altered their language - a wariness worsened by the social workers’ absenting of Christian belief-talk through using formulaic strategies. The explanation tentatively outlined empirical, utilitarian, romanticist, and secularist structural inclinations, emanating from the profession’s own Post-Enlightenment worldview commitments, as promoting instrumental moral reasoning and dissuading dialogue about personal spirituality. The study recommends changes in social work education and presents an example of a pedagogic method and some practical communication skills. The study fills in gaps within an under-researched field. Despite Britain’s religious, spiritual, secular diversity, and despite national legislation and policy (England) directives, there appears a lack of specific UK empirical research investigating social workers actual communication-in-action with Christian parents during statutory parenting assessment. Further, wider related knowledge identifies social workers' communication about religious beliefs as largely ineffective and academics/practitioners holding preconceptions of Christian identity/beliefs/practices.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Issues in Social Work Communication with Parents who are Christian: An Empirical Study Under-laboured by Critical Realist Principles |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2019. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10072805 |
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