In this issue…Who do we want to be?

Abstract

I have a friend who whenever she is asked for advice responds with a gentle retort—Who do you want to be? She believes wholeheartedly that the choices we make should reflect our deepest values and aspirations. How annoying. For the mere mortals among us, myself included, life usually proceeds much more gracefully with huge heaps of forgiveness doused with much redemption. Nevertheless, her refrain comes to mind as I reviewed the thoughtful articles in the last issue of volume 18. As a collection, many of these works nudge us to consider the myriad of ways we can examine social problems and in doing so, expand the boundaries of qualitative inquiry. In her opening editorial, Karen Staller returns to the pressing concern shared by many novice qualitative scholars—how do I publish? Setting aside the publication frenzy that seems to plague the academy, Dr. Staller hones in on the process of becoming. . . the thoughts and behaviors that generate thoughtful writing that actually contributes beyond adding an extra line in an author’s curriculum vita. Similarly, this last issue of QSW volume 18 includes 9 articles and two book reviews that also cause us to reflect on who we are and what we want to be. Robyn Holder and Judy Putt describe a multi-site research collaboration between Aboriginal women, service workers, and researchers that explored people’s interactions with crisis programs. Although Aboriginal women were usually service users, in this study, they were recognized as community members, local researchers, and service workers. Together with the researchers, they sought to identify how and when to collect data from service users. As such, they served as knowledge-holders, producers, and translators. Jane Hartley and colleagues explore the relationship between children who live in kinship care and their birth parents from childhood to adulthood. Drawing on longitudinal data set, they examine interviews conducted over a 15-year period for