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Abstract
Social work research is inherently normative and as such the assumptions about social problems in social work research should be open to scrutiny and contestation. But although researchers often face tussles and huge contradictions, they rarely articulate them. In this article, we report on a small research project in which a collective of social work researchers in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) tried to think critically through some of the questions and complexities they were confronted with in social work research, more specifically in research on poverty. Our research aim implied that we tried to discuss the choices that were made during a diversity of research projects, including making explicit the grounds on which this happened. We learned that the choices made, although they seem to be very obvious ones, often remained implicit during the different research processes. We conclude that social work research requires that researchers attempt to realize a practice of transparency. The pursuit of such a practice of transparency refers to the importance of the creation of reflexive space in research communities to collectively embrace and discuss the complexities of social work research.
Sociaal werk is intrinsiek normatief. Daarom moet het perspectief op sociale problemen dat het onderzoek onderbouwt steeds bediscussieerbaar en tegensprekelijk zijn. Hoewel onderzoekers vaak kampen met problemen en dilemmas in hun werk, articuleren ze deze zelden. In dit artikel rapporteren we over een klein onderzoeksproject in Vlaanderen, waarin een collectief van sociaal werk onderzoekers een poging deed om kritisch na te denken over de vragen en complexiteit die ze hadden ervaren in hun onderzoek, meer specifiek met betrekking tot armoedeonderzoek. We wensten de keuzes die werden gemaakt in de diversiteit van de besproken onderzoeksprojecten bloot te leggen en te bediscussiëren. Het werd duidelijk dat deze keuzes vaak te impliciet blijven tijdens onderzoek. We besluiten dat sociaal werk onderzoekers moeten streven naar transparante praktijken. Dergelijke praktijken veronderstellen dat onderzoekers als een onderzoeksgemeenschap collectief ruimte voor reflexiviteit creëren en zodoende de mogelijkheid stimuleren om de complexiteit van sociaal werk onderzoek te omarmen.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Rudi Roose is a professor of social work at Ghent University, affiliated to the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy. His research interests are social work theory, child and family social work and the development of citizenship and welfare rights.
Griet Roets is a professor of social work at Ghent University, affiliated to the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy. Her research interests are social work and poverty, citizenship and welfare rights, biographical and interpretative research methodologies with affinity to childhood, disability and gender.
Tineke Schiettecat is a Ph.D. student affiliated to the Flemish Policy Support Centre on Poverty Research (VLAS) and based at the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy at Ghent University. Her research interests involve social work with families who are living in poverty.
Barbara Pannecoucke obtained her master’s degree in social work at Ghent University in 2013. Her research interests involve people who are living in poverty. Nowadays she is working as a consultant at a law firm in Ghent and as an independent coach.
An Piessens holds a Ph.D. in educational sciences and is Director of Childhood & Society Research Centre in Brussels. The Centre’s research focuses on the perspectives and lifeworld of Children and Young People.
Jan Van Gils holds a Ph.D. in Social Pedagogy and is the founder and former director of the Childhood & Society Research Centre in Brussels. His research focus lies on a multidisciplinary approach appreciating and examining children’s social actorship and assessing the social value of children’s own experiences and opinions.
Hanne Op de Beeck holds a Ph.D. in Criminological Sciences. Currently, she works as a Senior Research and Policy Advice Officer at the Children’s rights knowledge centre and as a postdoctoral fellow to the University of Leuven. Her research interests are children’s rights, juvenile delinquency and youth well-being.
Wouter Vandenhole teaches human rights and holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights—a joint venture of the University of Antwerp and UNICEF Belgium—at the Faculty of Law of the University of Antwerp (Belgium). He has published widely on economic, social and cultural rights, children’s rights, transnational human rights obligations and human rights and development. He is a founding member of the Flemish Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre and co-convener of the international interdisciplinary course on human rights for development (HR4DEV).
Kristel Driessens is a professor in the Master Social Work, University of Antwerp and Head of the Centre of Expertise in Strengths-Based Social Work at the Karel de Grote University College of Antwerp.
Kristof Desair holds a master in Social Work & Social Policy and is a researcher at the University of Leuven, Department of Social Work & Social Policy. He also teaches social work at het University College Leuven Limburg. His research concerns policy and practice in the field of child abuse. He is also coordinator at the Confidential Centre for Child Abuse and Neglect in Leuven.
Koen Hermans is a professor and a member of the Social Policy and Social Work team at the Centre for sociological research, KU Leuven, Belgium. He is also a project leader at LUCAS, Centre for care research and consultancy at the KU Leuven.
Bea Van Robaeys is a researcher at the Centre of Expertise in Strengths-Based Social Work and a lecturer social work at the Karel de Grote University College, Antwerp. Her research interests include poverty, superdiversity, social work practice, ethnographic and qualitative research methods.
Michel Vandenbroeck is a professor in Family Pedagogy at the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University. His main research interests are in the field of early childhood care and education, parent support and family policies, with a special focus on diversity, social inclusion and poverty.
Caroline Vandekinderen obtained a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences in 2013 and is currently based as a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy at Ghent University. Her interests concern social work and social pedagogical practices, qualitative and interpretative research approaches, and poststructuralist (and) feminist theories.