Denise Turner

ethics and/or Ethics in Qualitative Social Research: Negotiating a Path around and between the Two

This article explores the process of university Ethical Review both as lived experience and as part of institutional governance at an English university. The article uses Blackburns distinction between ethics and Ethics (Ethics—A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001) as a framework to examine the themes of ‘vulnerability’, ‘power’ and ‘relationships’. These themes are analysed closely both within the institutional and the fieldwork contexts, attempting to include the perspectives of all those involved in the research ethics process. The article does not seek to draw any definitive conclusions but rather to stimulate, and add to the iterative discussion on the process of Ethical Review within institutions. Nonetheless, it does conclude by making some suggestions concerning the way in which the lived experience of ethics could better inform the practice of institutional Ethical Review.

Social Work and Social Media: Best Friends or Natural Enemies?

In the contemporary connected world, the news media appears captivated by stories of ‘trolling,’ ‘sexting’ and other seemingly transgressive behaviours on social media, raising public concerns about ethical behaviour, privacy and particularly the safety of young people online. This generic anxiety produces particular issues for the social work profession, with its traditional emphasis on boundaries and confidentiality around often sensitive information. Guidance from professional regulators and other advisory bodies often struggles to respond to the pace of change and cannot fully embrace the complexity of the ‘context collapse’ provoked by social networking (Wesch, 2008). Similarly, significant literature on social networking concentrates on the potentially negative social implications (Turkle, 2011), thereby furthering the generic anxiety around the subject. This anxiety is not, however, a uniquely contemporary concern. Bartlett (2015) describes Socrates’ apprehensions about the deleterious effects that the creation of writing may have on young people, whilst the development of both the radio and the printing press was also greeted with fears that they would overwhelm people with information and contaminate their minds. In Victorian times too, the notorious ‘Penny Dreadful’ weekly news sheets were attributed with a decline in the moral values and behaviour of young people, leading to concomitant societal breakdown (Anglo, 1977). This Special Edition represents a response to much of the anxiety and despondency which surrounds the subject of social media in social work. At a recent Annual Board meeting in March 2016, the discussion rapidly turned to the challenges of social media and the creation of sites that threaten to kill or harm social workers, as well as the need to protect service users from harm. However, a Board member from Nepal also cited the ways in which social networking considerably aided the international responses to the recent disasters in his country and you can see him describe this in our online editorial. As Guest Editors, we do not seek to minimise the significant and ongoing challenges created by online networking, but we do wish to celebrate the ways in which this is being adopted in positive ways as a tool for change within social work education and practice. All of the Special Edition Editors have personal experiences of building and joining positive online communities in both our personal and professional lives. Denise Turner has written about her experience of running an online Twitter chat which sustained her during the final stretch of her PhD thesis (Turner, 2014). This experience is mirrored in the development of a multitude of relevant, diverse and international online communities, from @ SWBookGroup to @SocialCareCurry. Claudia Megele is an authority in the world of social media where her work spans theorisation and practical application. She has written widely on the topic and developed the ENABLE model for incorporating social media into academic curricula (Megele, 2014). She has created global communities including @MHChat and @SWSCmedia. She was voted one of the top 50 most influential higher education professionals using social media in 2015. Gerry Bennison is a keen advocate of User involvement in Health and Social Care research and practice and a prolific user of the online platform ‘Twitter’.

Only connect: unifying the social in social work and social media

‘Only Connect…live in fragments no longer’ (E.M. Forster, Howards End). This paper utilises ‘Only Connect’, the epigraph from Forster’s novel ‘Howards End’ as the starting point for exploring the challenges and opportunities of integrating social networking with relationship based social work practice. The paper discusses the more deleterious implications of social networking, whilst assuming a deliberately optimistic stance to uncover ways in which the opportunities afforded by online space can be utilised effectively within social work education and practice. Whilst recognising that social networking platforms are transforming constantly, the paper adopts Kaplan’s definition of social media as a ‘group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0’. Whilst much of the discussion within the paper relates to Twitter and Facebook, two of the most endemic international social networking platforms, it is also applicable to myriad forms of social networking. The paper begins with a discussion of UK professional conduct cases and explores these both within Klein’s concept of splitting and historical attitudes to new technologies. Drawing from emerging research data and other examples, the positive relational practices educed by social media within social work education and practice are emphasised and discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting Forster’s plea for connection and recommending that social work embraces the renewed opportunities provided by online networking.

Research you cannot talk about: a personal account of researching sudden, unexpected child death

This article takes as its starting point the author’s personal experience of sudden, unexpected child death and the impetus this provided for research exploring the topic. The article charts the isolation which parents may experience following a sudden, unexpected child death and situates this within a cultural taboo around dying. The author further discusses her involvement as a researcher combining personal experience and academic study in a way which formed potentially “dangerous knowledge.” The article concludes with a discussion of how certain forms of knowledge may become segregated from research and provides ways forward from this.

'Memories are made of this': personal reflections on the creation and maintenance of memorials and mementoes

Abstract In this article the author draws on personal experiences, amongst them the sudden, unexpected death of her own son, to explore the challenges and benefits of creating memorials and mementoes following a significant death. The article supports existing work which argues for the importance of mementoes in creating meaning, particularly in a culture where death is still largely sequestered from public discourse. The author uses examples from her sons death, combined with the experiences of parents in her research study, exploring professional intervention following sudden, unexpected child death. These examples demonstrate that parents may require extremely pragmatic support, for example advice on how to scatter ashes and whether to establish memorials in perpetuity. The article concludes that the prevailing culture of concealment around death could be challenged by a targeted programme of death education, which includes practical advice on creating enduring memorials and mementoes.