The worlds of social work writing

ABSTRACT

One way in which academic and professional journals embody the identity of their field is through acting as a disciplinary marker of location. In this article, we explore how a leading social work journal in the UK locates the discipline of social work, both internationally and in relation to the various professional, policy and academic ‘worlds’ it inhabits. We draw on data from a multiple method historical case study to illustrate the journal’s geographical reach, particularly in relation to how aspirations to be ‘international’ were expressed, and what that might be intended to convey. We combine this understanding with a ‘national’ view of the journal within the different interests and constituencies it represents. We conclude by considering what this dual analysis of the journal’s position in its wider world(s) means for questions of plurality and coherence within the social work field.

KEYWORDS:

• Journals
• scholarship
• international social work
• social work discipline

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Research for the study commenced in 2013. Transitions in the publishers and the professional association, the research team and editorial tenures each extended the duration of the project.

2 The 11 Editorial regimes studied were: 1971–1974, 1975–1977, 1977–1980, 1981–1984, 1985–1987, 1987–1991, 1992–1995, 1996–1999, 2000–2004, 2004–2010, 2010–2015.

3 The US National Association of Social Workers.

4 The analysis of journal content suggested around only 5% of all articles directly focused on the policy, regulatory or inspection communities (Jobling et al., 2017, p. 2178).

5 Kindly supplied by the current editors and the publisher of the journal after our study had concluded.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the British Association of Social Workers.

Notes on contributors

Hannah Jobling

Hannah Jobling is a Lecturer in Social Work at the University of York. She is interested in the varying ways social work is conceptualised in different times and places, and how knowledge transmission shapes contextualised practices. She researches and writes on the history of social work, the policy-practice relationship, knowledge transfer, critical realism, mental health, and theories of power.

Ian Shaw

Ian Shaw is S R Nathan Professor of Social Work at National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus at the University of York, England. He was the first chair of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and a founder editor of the journal Qualitative Social Work. He has authored almost 100 peer-reviewed papers, more than 20 books, 60 book chapters, and various research reports. He has written extensively on issues arising from the relationship between social work and sociology over the last century. His more recent books include Social Work Science (2016) and Research and the Social Work Picture (2018).