From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”: an autoethnographic account of undertaking social work research in one’s own “backyard”

IF 1.4 Q2 SOCIAL WORK
Ciarán Murphy
{"title":"From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”: an autoethnographic account of undertaking social work research in one’s own “backyard”","authors":"Ciarán Murphy","doi":"10.1108/jcs-02-2023-0006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nPurpose\nThis study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider” at the commencement of the study, the author underplayed the dilemma of reconciling friendships with his researcher role, as well as the barriers that his more junior organisational status could create.\n\n\nDesign/methodology/approach\nThis study provides an autoethnographic account of these challenges, and the author’s evolving status and movement between “insider” and “outsider” relative to different groups within the children’s services department.\n\n\nFindings\nThe implications include the potential for being simultaneously “insider” and “outsider” when undertaking research within one’s employing organisation; the need to reconcile challenging social work tasks with researcher responsibilities; and the difficulty of maintaining pre-existing relationships, whilst also cultivating an objective research profile.\n\n\nOriginality/value\nThis paper offers an important contribution to the limited accounts of conducting research from “inside” a statutory children’s services department and will be of benefit to early career researchers considering a research project within their own “backyard”.\n","PeriodicalId":45244,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Childrens Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Childrens Services","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcs-02-2023-0006","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider” at the commencement of the study, the author underplayed the dilemma of reconciling friendships with his researcher role, as well as the barriers that his more junior organisational status could create. Design/methodology/approach This study provides an autoethnographic account of these challenges, and the author’s evolving status and movement between “insider” and “outsider” relative to different groups within the children’s services department. Findings The implications include the potential for being simultaneously “insider” and “outsider” when undertaking research within one’s employing organisation; the need to reconcile challenging social work tasks with researcher responsibilities; and the difficulty of maintaining pre-existing relationships, whilst also cultivating an objective research profile. Originality/value This paper offers an important contribution to the limited accounts of conducting research from “inside” a statutory children’s services department and will be of benefit to early career researchers considering a research project within their own “backyard”.
从“亲密的内部人”到“相对的外部人”:在自己的“后院”进行社会工作研究的民族志记述
目的本研究旨在探索在将民族志纳入法定儿童保护团队的同时,同时成为“亲密的内部人”和“相对的外部人”的挑战。作为一名寻求探索自己已经加入的世界的新手研究员,民族志被认为是探索儿童保护社会工作者自由裁量权的最合适手段。然而,通过在研究开始时认同“内部人”和“外部人”的二元概念,作者低估了调和友谊与研究人员角色之间的困境,以及他更初级的组织地位可能造成的障碍。设计/方法论/方法本研究提供了这些挑战的民族志描述,以及作者相对于儿童服务部门内不同群体在“内部人”和“外部人”之间的演变地位和运动。发现影响包括在雇佣组织内进行研究时,可能同时成为“内部人”和“外部人”;需要协调具有挑战性的社会工作任务与研究人员的责任;以及在保持原有关系的同时培养客观的研究概况的困难。原创性/价值本文对在法定儿童服务部门“内部”进行研究的有限描述做出了重要贡献,并将有利于考虑在自己的“后院”内进行研究项目的早期职业研究人员。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
2.90
自引率
0.00%
发文量
14
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信