Narrating Social Work Through Autoethnography
About
Autoethnography is an innovative approach to inquiry located in the interstices between science and literature. Blending researcher and subject roles, autoethnographers use analytical strategies to explore the social and cultural contexts of meaningful life experiences and their implications for the present. Social issues are described from the inside out, producing narratives that reflect the messy, experiential encounters of everyday life. This collection illustrates the value of autoethnography as an inquiry approach for social work practice. Covering such topics as international adoption, cross-dressing, divorce, cultural competence, life-threatening illness, and transformative change, contributors showcase the ambiguities, doubts, contradictions, insights, tensions, and epiphanies that accompany their experiences. This anthology provides a readable and unique example of an exciting new trend in qualitative research.
Praise for this book
“The stories in the book made me laugh, cry, and most of all
think about the taken-for-granted, something we absolutely
want our social work students to be able to do well and confidently.
It is a brave and courageous work that must be made
public.”
“A fascinating, unique, and often moving book. It explores the
huge potential that ‘autoethnography’ has for expanding our
understanding of both ourselves and social work and has clear
practical implications.”