Qualitative Social Work

Collaborative poetry-informed autoethnography method was utilized to better understand the experience of redlining and the impact of these policies on the experience of education at a predominantly white university. Five graduate student members of a community writing project both in social work and medicine were given five writing prompts to encourage creative writing about experiences of childhood neighborhood segregation in the States. These students (co-authors/investigators) wrote short, raw poetry pieces for each prompt. The first author completed careful reading of all pieces and explored accessible cultural history resources for each childhood neighborhood. Each poem was paired with cultural history analysis to place student lived experience into cultural context. A combination of collaborative narrative opportunities and educator careful listening of student experience helps to make visible the impact of systematic discrimination on higher education success.

This paper serves to introduce readers to the application of ideal-type analysis to social work policy evaluation. Ideal-type analysis considers participant data holistically and analyzes across cases to develop a typology of distinct categories of participant experience. By keeping participant experience intact, ideal-type analysis offers one way to align the interpretive phase of evaluation research with social work’s ethical commitment to human dignity, and is simultaneously well-suited to exploring the perennial evaluation question: what works, for whom? In this article, we describe how our research team came—somewhat by accident—to ideal-type analysis as a useful analytic method for completing an evaluation of an innovative housing policy. The paper first differentiates ideal-type analysis from thematic analysis, and overviews the analytic approach as outlined by Stapley et al. (2022). We then illustrate each step of the ideal-type analysis through the example of a housing policy evaluation. Throughout, we explore the contributions of the approach, and close with discussion of broader applications of idealtype analysis to social work policy evaluations.

Multiple family narrative therapy (MFNT) has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the psychological distress of parents, strengthening the perceived link between child and parents, and promoting family resilience and the parent-child relationship among Chinese families who have a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is a novel method that integrates Multiple Family Therapy and Narrative Therapy to ensure therapeutic results amidst high levels of conflict in the parent-child relationship. However, little research has been done on the lived experiences of individuals involved in MFNT and the complex dynamical processes that drive positive change in such cases. In this study, we use narrative analysis methods to examine the perceived transformations in parent-child dyads who participated in a four-week intervention with MFNT. The qualitative study consists of 12 family interviews with 30 Chinese participants; that is, 18 parents and 12 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Our findings reveal the complex evolving process of dyadic reciprocity across the interfamilial, individual, andintrafamilial domains, with an overarching narrative of enhanced harmony in parent-child interactions. The three major domains that contribute to this process are interfamilial connectedness, individual broaden-and-build effect, and intra familial repositioning effect. Three central aspects of social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive aspects are found in the individual domain: from despair to hope, from opposition to connection, and from ignorance to informed. This research contributes to family work in social work, and supports social workers in providing morecomprehensive and culturally sensitive support for these families.

Clinical case notes provide researchers with a rare yet unsettling insight into the intimate realities of children’s mental health. These records capture fragments of lived experience that demand rigorous ethical attention in how they are accessed, interpreted, and re-presented. This paper examines the ethical tensions between data extraction and narrative witnessing through the reflections of a Social Work practitioner, through a collaboration with professionals, and Experts by Experience. Drawing on a year-long reflexive study of clinical case notes from children in state care, this paper explores how professional language, institutional framing, and systemic pressures influence both the production and interpretation of such records. Divergent professional positions and discourses often collide, shaping children’s representation and obscuring their voices within clinical and administrative documentation. The analysis also considers the emotional labour and moral unease experienced by researchers when encountering recorded suffering, including the risks of vicarious trauma and moral distress. By reframing clinical case notes as testimonies rather than data alone, the paper argues for the practice of narrative care, an approach that prioritises attentive anonymisation, reflexive interpretation, and dignified representation. Narrative care acknowledges the methodological and emotional dimensions of engaging with trauma-saturated texts, enabling ethically responsive research that bears witness to children’s experiences. In doing so, this study highlights how researchers can uphold humanity within the constraints of research governance, transforming analysis into an act of ethical witnessing that recognises, rather than erases, the suffering and resilience contained within clinical records.

This paper sets out the findings from a doctoral study in Northern Ireland about how birth parents of children who have been adopted from public care, and lawyers involved in adoption, experience the use of the terms mum and dad after adoption. While adoption legally removes them as parents, birth parents can retain a sense of parental connection to the child albeit that the role and status associated with their parental identity has changed. The ambiguity and contested nature of their sense of parenthood after adoption is reflected in how parental labels are used in the context of post-adoption contact. Using the theoretical lens of Honneth’s theory of recognition and drawing on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, this paper explores the implications of naming practices in open adoptions where there is ongoing interaction between birth and adoptive families, supported or facilitated by social workers. The qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with 5 birth parents and 12 lawyers and used interpretative phenomenological analysis for birth parent interviews and thematic analysis for lawyer interviews to interpret this phenomenon. The paper argues for an individualised, nuanced and sensitive approach to interactions with birth parents around their use of the term ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ after adoption.

As immigrants are disappeared from American streets, I explore what it means to carry a diasporic history of persecution and a legacy of immigration into a social work practice defined by moral responsibility. Writing in the spirit of evocative autoethnography, I explore how my own experiences of otherness within the Jewish community have shaped my ethical commitments as a social worker amid contemporary immigration crackdowns and state-sponsored violence against the immigrant community in the United States of America (USA). Grounded in the Jewish principle of tikkun olam and situated within a tradition of Jewish social workers motivated by a commitment to social justice, I interrogate questions of complicity and the use of self in a time of political repression. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil, I examine who we become when confronted with state-sponsored violence. I argue that Jewish diasporic identity and history can function as a compass connecting experiences of otherness across immigrant communities and grounding a commitment to human rights in social work practice.

This article explores the quality of working life (QoWL) of people with intellectual disabilities (PWID) employed in Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs). WISEs are hybrid organizations that combine social and commercial goals and provide important alternative employment opportunities for PWID, yet little is known about how PWID themselves experience their working lives within these tension-driven settings. Drawing on a qualitative, participatory research design, the study is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 16 PWID employed in three Swiss WISEs, alongside a focus group of PWID who contributed to the development of the research design and interview guidelines. The findings show that PWID identify meaningful work experiences, the ability to work independently with tailored support, and opportunities for growth and career development as central to a high QoWL. In particular, peer support structures were valued by participants because they fostered productive work, supportive environments, and career paths, thereby contributing to a high QoWL and simultaneously supporting both the social and commercial goals of WISEs.

The aim of this paper is to explore the experiences of a queer and Filipino social worker-researcher navigating dual identities, particularly as a clinician and researcher, within Western academic spaces. Drawing on the concept of insider/outsider, I critically reflect on how, in research and clinical spaces historically dominated by White, heterosexual men, my educational and professional credentials grant me legitimacy and partial insider status, while my queer and Filipino identities simultaneously position me at the margins. The paper also reflects on experiences navigating the blurring of boundaries, or role confusions, as a social worker-researcher. The paper then discusses approaches and considerations social worker-researchers, both emerging and established, can employ to navigate these tensions, such as reflexivity, ethnographic refusal, and a Filipino concept called, “kapwa.” The implication of this paper is to expand the scholarship on the reflexivity of social workerresearchers, particularly within the queer Filipino/a/x/diaspora.

This article explores social work practitioners’ experiences when working with Syrian and other refugees during resettlement using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) within a practitioner-researcher, action-oriented methodology and a deconstructive theoretical framework. This study gathered firsthand practice narratives and insights from seven social workers engaged in high-complexity-needs case management and therapeutic approaches with refugees in mental health service delivery, investigating the challenges and dominant systemic discourses that social work practitioners engage with when working cross-culturally. A finding from this study emphasised the importance of practitioners adopting a collectivist approach to understanding how refugees experience the resettlement process. The findings elaborate on the complexities social work practitioners face when working with refugees, deepening socially and culturally informed insights. This study provides an important and timely opportunity for practitioners and policymakers to better understand the challenges of navigating refugee mental health services. By considering the social worker participants’ experiences, we can enhance practices and policies to better meet the needs of refugees and promote responsive, critically informed practices.

Parents with learning disabilities in England are disproportionately subject to child protection intervention and child removal, yet post-removal support remains uneven and poorly understood. This study examined what support adult and children’s social care and allied agencies provided to these parents, and how professional relationships shaped both access to services and trust. The interviews with nine parents recruited via advocacy and voluntary organisations were open and participant led. Analysis proceeded iteratively from whole-case readings to cross-case thematic comparison and was informed by discussion with an expert-by-experience group of parents with a learning disability. Parents described profound, enduring grief following child removal, often compounded by poor health, bereavement, domestic abuse, and weak informal networks. Views on their experiences of social workers were polarised: fragmented, judgemental communication and staff turnover entrenched mistrust, whereas one consistent, respectful practitioner could transform engagement. Advocacy and specialist learning-disability input helped parents understand processes, manage contact, and, in some cases, retain care of younger children. However, access and provision were patchy and frequently contingent on diagnosis of a learning disability, referral, or geography. Adult social care assessments of a disability and thresholds were variable, and reasonable adjustments were inconsistently applied. Overall, post-removal support for parents with learning disabilities emerged as fragile, inconsistent, and inequitably distributed. Early, proactive involvement (including during pregnancy), accessible communication and assessment, and sustained investment in advocacy are essential. Policy and practice should recognise child removal as a chronic bereavement requiring long-term, relational, and coordinated support across adult and children’s services.

This article addresses the significance of reading and reviewing literature when doing qualitative research. It offers a consideration that goes beyond the simple idea that one either should or should not review literature prior to starting a qualitative empirical research project. The discussion offers a deeper consideration of how reading should be thought of in relation to doing social research, and encourages a reflexivity that considers the researcher’s position to the literature. It is proposed that researchers should consider two important questions relating to literature they have read before starting a qualitative research project: (1) when was the literature read? and (2) who were they when they read the literature? These questions could also be asked by a researcher of themselves after a project has begun or when a project is nearing completion, or at all three stages. These are important factors to consider because reading as a dialogue between writer and reader is not fixed. At different times and as a result of new experiences, and specifically the acquisition of new knowledge, the lens through which one reads a text can change and as a result of that so can their interpretation of the text.

Through the narratives of women of color and nonbinary people of color with cognitive disabilities, this paper describes experiences of U.S. workplace discrimination and strategies used to navigate employment. Informed by Dis/ability Critical Race Theory and guided by interpretive description, this study engaged 10 participants in semi-structured interviews about their experiences seeking and maintaining employment—including encounters with racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism. On the whole, study respondents reported a strong desire to work, contribute, and belong to the communities in which they live. Despite daily occurrences of discrimination, microaggressions, and lack of support from external organizations, participants created strategies that allowed them to pursue their goals. Study findings have practical implications for employment services and supports, future research in disability and employment, and the field of social work.

For Pacific Islands like Fiji, the dominance of Western social work approaches highlights stark resource disparities between the West and so called 'developing' nations. Western-centric codes and standards often undervalue local traditions and stages of development, risking accusations of imperialism and perpetuating colonialism. These approaches often conflict with collectivist values rooted in kinship, community networks, and extended family systems that characterize many non-Western cultures. The adoption of international standards may restrict the development of indigenous theories and practices. However, despite growing awareness of cultural relativity and indigenisation, uncritical adoption of Western methods in the Pacific Islands remains prevalent. This paper utlises talanoa, a Pacific qualitative methodology to explore the lived practice experiences and understandings of 61 social workers across the Fiji Islands. It highlights sites of contention as Fijian social workers grapple with informal, relationally driven and community imbued models in start contrast to individualised and case management approaches. Such narratives reveal a dichotomy between a drive for “Fiji style” and culturally informed practice and a push to enforce neoliberal ideals. These sites of contention within Fiji depict a microcosm of global debates within international social work and offer unique insights into the way social work continues to both unify and polarise its global community.

This study explores the experiences of academic supervisors guiding PhD students conducting qualitative interpretive research in social work departments. Shifting the analytical lens from supervisees to supervisors, it examines the distinctive commitments, tensions, and dilemmas inherent in interpretive supervision. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the study draws on in-depth interviews with 12 experienced supervisors from Israel (N = 7, representing three universities) and the United States (N = 5, representing two universities). Three interrelated themes were identified: building collaborative relationships, negotiating power differentials, and grappling with reflexivity. Feminist perspectives on supervision served as a critical interpretive lens through which participants’ experiences were analyzed. A central organizing concept emerging from their accounts is “strained authenticity”—the ongoing tension between supervisors’ aspirations to cultivate collaborative relationships characterized by fluid power dynamics and the institutional, hierarchical, evaluative, and societal structures within which supervision unfolds. The findings underscore the need for institutional frameworks that recognize the substantial time and emotional labor required for interpretive supervision, including dedicated spaces for peer reflection. Strengthening theoretical and conceptual training early in doctoral education in social work may further alleviate supervisory strain and better prepare students for rigorous interpretive inquiry.

Migrant child protection social workers in Australia often face the profound challenge of transnational parenting—raising children across borders—while upholding professional standards that emphasise parental presence, attachment, and emotional availability. This study investigates how African-born migrant social workers interpret the experience of transnational parenting and how it shapes their professional identity and ethical decision-making within statutory child protection. Guided by a qualitative approach through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in-depth interviews were conducted with eleven participants who met rigorous inclusion criteria, ensuring reflective insight into this dual role. Four key themes emerged: (1) the emotional fragmentation of living between two worlds—present at work but absent at home; (2) the ethical dissonance of promoting parenting standards they personally cannot fulfil; (3) the strategic silence maintained in the workplace to avoid stigma and professional judgment; and (4) the transformative potential of using personal hardship as a source of empathy and professional insight. The study concludes that parenting from a distance is not merely a private struggle but a deeply professionally consequential experience that reshapes how social workers understand authority, care, and ethical responsibility. Participants are not diminished by their parenting circumstances; rather, many become more compassionate practitioners, though at significant personal cost. Implications for social work practice include the urgent need for culturally responsive supervision, emotionally safe workspaces, and practitioner education that legitimises the emotional and ethical complexities of migrant caregiving.

Across institutional settings, people who talk about having committed sexual violence often do so in ways that may neutralize their personal culpability for it. These so-called neutralizations may be part of a pro-social forward-looking narrative, but might also obscure information and strengthen attitudes that enable further violence. In this article, we examine how one such neutralization –excuses – is managed turn-by-turn, in research interviews with 19 young persons who have committed sexual violations. We specifically ask how the interviewers respond to potential ‘excuses’ in interviewees’ talk, and how these responses in turn affect their subsequent conversation. The purpose is to unpack the details of how this is done, and what we might learn of relevance to social work practice. Using conversation analysis, we show how resources of active listening can support and steer interviewee reflections while neither endorsing nor confronting potential ‘excuses’. This way of responding creates room for co-achieving a project of making sense without displacing responsibility. We unpack how the interviewer uses subtle verbal and non-verbal resources to suspend explicitly evaluative responses, enabling gentle negotiations of the interviewees’ accounts and recognition of the interviewees’ sensemaking projects. Three key implications for practice are discussed. First, the importance of supporting the clients’ sense-making; second that subtle nuances in how active listening can both support and put interactional pressure on the client to continue and adapt their story, and third, the potential utility of opening with a non-evaluative, relationally oriented stance.

In recent decades, the concept of motivation has become central to active labour market policies (ALMP) across various welfare regimes. Within the ALMP framework, client motivation has been addressed through both ‘hard’ approaches, such as economic sanctions and benefit reductions, and ‘soft’ approaches, including client-involving conversations aimed at tailoring individualized action plans based on clients’ aspirations and goals. Despite the growing emphasis on motivation in policy development, the concept itself remains underexplored in social work and policy research. This paper employs a conversation analytical methodology to examine 27 audio recordings of naturally occurring interactions in Danish job centres between frontline social workers and young, disadvantaged clients at the margins of employment and education. By focusing on these interactions, the paper investigates how motivation is constructed and managed at the forefront of Danish ALMP, offering both empirical and theoretical insights into the field. The analysis of ‘motivational talk’ sequences reveals that social workers introduce the concept of motivation into the conversations, assuming that motivation exists as a latent quality within clients, which can then be ‘cultivated’ into actionable, short-term steps toward activation. When clients struggle to express motivation oriented toward activation due to their personal circumstances, the conversation shifts to framing motivation as rather abstract hopes and beliefs.

Children’s perspectives on family-related adversities are important to social work practice and theory. Qualitative inquiry into children’s personal narratives can contribute to a deeper understanding of their project of handling difficult relationships and experiences in the family context. The present study explores children’s agency with a specific focus on how they negotiate difficult family-related relationships and experiences in, and through, their personal narratives. The analysis builds on teller-focused interviews with 22 children aged between 6 and 17 who receive support linked to their experiences of family-related adversities. The findings suggest that children negotiate difficult relationships and experiences in terms of closeness and distance. This is shown in their narrative practice of positioning and repositioning themselves and others in, and through, their telling. The findings are theorized in relation to the concepts of power and misrecognition. Finally, the implications for social work practice and research are discussed with an emphasis on how to promote a non-instrumental attitude to children’s perspectives and experiences within the child welfare system. The present study suggests that this pursuit would benefit from a child-centered and narrative understanding of children and their knowledge.

Research engagement can support a social work clinician, manager and educator in the complexity of everyday practice however in the hospital setting social workers find themselves challenged by the range of potential research questions and methodologies that do not align with their daily experience, professional values or ways of collaboratively working. Four metropolitan hospitals and a university partner worked together to explore the impact of a collaborative capacity building model on the ability for social workers to engage in research activity. Using a Participatory Action Research framework, the research team identified the elements that contribute to a non-hierarchical and successful research dynamic, as well as the challenges that committing to research activity brings in the clinical role. Through reflecting on and articulating the pracademic, or practitioner-researcher, model used and the dominant values that contribute to social work research this study is transferable to other similarly challenged hospital social work departments and health settings.