Researching Practice: The Role of the Journal

Social work had its origins in the settlement house movement in England and the USA in the late nineteenth and early twenteith centuries. This movement brought together students and middle-class people, appalled at the conditions of the poor, who established the settlement houses. Settlers provided residents with education programs, and financial advice and planning, aware of the centrality of community building as one way to assist them to advance beyond the cycle of poverty. Attention was directed towards alleviating poverty through policy, innovative practices, and advocacy for social reform, identifying that the causes of poverty were societal rather than arising from personal failure. Living with and learning from poorer people enabled the study and analysis of what we would today define as the social determinants of health. An important activity and goal of the settlement house movement was the use of observation and research to understand the causes and experiences of poverty through learning from residents by living alongside them.

The origins of social work in the settlement house movement tells us something about the key role that practice has played, since the beginning, in the development of social work theory, as distinct from other professions that have placed practice as an outcome of theory. In these origins, too, we can see the continuing legacy in social work research of the importance of practitioners in undertaking research built on their observations and experience in practice. This remains a vital source for ensuring the evolution and curating of social work theory for the changing and, arguably, even more challenging needs of twenty-first century service users.

Relevant social work theory is essential to the advancement of the practice expertise that service users should demand and expect, to the creation of policies that address human rights, justice, and fair and equitable access to social goods and resources. A strong theoretical base is indispensable to advocacy, supported by evidence and argument. All these activities rely and draw upon the availability of robust research. The social work profession can only place itself firmly among the ranks of other professions by demonstrating a strong research base.

Upon graduation, social work practitioners join the practice world with preliminary research skills. These are learned not only in research subjects but from across the curriculum where their capacities to engage with people, assess situations, make decisions, support their arguments, utilise methods for knowledge acquisition and appraisal—all essential for doing research—are taught. Sometimes specific research tasks are included in the curriculum, and sometimes field practicum opportunities for practice-based research are available. However, studies have shown that social workers are often reluctant to do research, fearing they lack the necessary skills. In addition they face considerable restrictions on their time as they work to meet client and organisational demands. Not only do they struggle to undertake research but they also lack the time to consult available research. They report feelings of inadequacy with regard to analysing research, deciding what is to count as evidence, and then with how to utilise it to inform their practice (see among many others: Bender, Altschul, Yoder, Parrish, & Nickels, 2014; Cheung, Ma, Thyer, & Webb, 2014; Gray, Joy, Plath, & Webb, 2012, 2013; Van der Zwet, Beneken genaamd Kolmer, & Schalk, 2014).

As Victoria Hart, a practitioner noted (in Webber, 2015, p. 105):

the idealised vision of research-informed practice is not one that exists in reality except, perhaps, in localised areas. The reality is that frontline social work practice is fast-paced and unlikely to involve proactive managers who encourage time to be spent on research and in the promotion of new ways of working based on research evidence provided to them by practitioners, rather than what they are told to implement by senior managers.

The literature does reveal a range of ways in which research may be encouraged and supported in social work agencies (see e.g., Bawden & McDermott, 2012; Lunt, Ramian, Shaw, Fouché, & Mitchell, 2012; Marshall, 2014; McDermott & Bawden, 2017). However, sustaining these endeavours is problematic because of issues of time, funding, and limited agency resources (Bledsoe-Mansori et al., 2013).

There is clearly no dearth of research into and commentary about the importance of practice- and practitioner-driven research. Its merits and the significant role it may play in the development of social work theory and practice cannot be disputed. So, the question arises as to the role social work journals, in particular this journal, can play in supporting and encouraging the endeavours of practitioners to carry out and to publish their research.

In the first place, this journal exists in order to identify and record the knowledge of the profession, making it available and accessible. In effect, the journal is an evolving archive of the knowledge base created and sustained by members of the profession. Therefore, practitioners need to be assured that they have open to them a place and the space to contribute.

Secondly, in order to reinforce the importance of their voice, this journal has a dedicated section for the publication of articles dealing with practice, policy, and perspectives papers (PPP section). The aim of this section is to encourage reporting of findings of small-scale practice-based research, such as case studies, evaluations, or policy analyses, in short, the kinds of projects in which practitioners excel.

Thirdly, in contemporary times, social workers undertaking PhD studies (often many of them remaining in practice as they do so) are encouraged by academic institutions to report their research, sequentially, by publication rather than by thesis alone. This is an excellent development, ensuring that the gap between knowledge production and translation is narrowed as findings can be shared quickly with the practice world before they become obsolete. Australian Social Work, as an international journal with a rising impact factor and developing social media platform, provides a distinct outlet for such publications.

Frequently, the journal makes calls for papers dealing with specific areas of social work practice expertise. For example, in this issue, a special section guest edited by Lou Harms and Margaret Alston, brings together papers dealing with social work practice in postdisaster contexts; the April issue (2018) was a special issue edited by Marie Connelly and Cathy Humphreys comprising papers addressing domestic and family violence. Special issues such as these open up opportunities for practitioners to join with academics and other researchers in sharing their knowledge and expertise in a wide forum. They are strongly encouraged to do so, and to seek the support and mentoring from organisational and academic sources that recognise the value of the research they do.