The thesis is divided into three main parts, plus an introductory and concluding chapter.
Part One provides a conceptual framing, overview of the literature and design that formed the foundations of this study. This includes an exploration of the theoretical framework (including the main concepts and further developing a constructionist understanding of
‘social workers’ professional identity’), a review of the literature, the research strategy, the methodology, methods, research sites and an exploration of the limitations of the research.
Part One concludes, as will every part, with a reflexive exploration of my role as a researcher in the knowledge creation process, with a particular focus on the shifts and developments of my professional identity as a social work practitioner and researcher.
Part Two presents the co-constructed knowledge that resulted from the critical reflection process and media analysis. This will be presented according to the four overarching themes identified through the thematic analysis (King & Horrocks 2010) of the journal, interview, workshop and media analysis data including: the news media’s coverage of the profession;
the impacts on practice; the effects on their professional identity, confidence and self-worth; and the reconstruction of knowledge and practice. Part Two will begin by exploring
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the findings from the researcher and participant media analysis, analysing the dominant discursive constructions of social work. Then it will consider what participants reported to be the broader explanatory factors regarding the media coverage, including newsworthy criteria and the deprofessionalisation of social work. The analysis will then focus at an interpersonal level on how participants identified that the news media impacts clients, direct practice, co-workers and the broader organisational contexts. Furthermore, it will explore the impacts by discussing how participants reported that coverage affects them at an intrapersonal level. This section will conclude with the presentation of participants’
reconstructed knowledge and approaches to practice that resulted from the critical
reflection process, including the identification of new opportunities for action. As a common approach within qualitative studies, in this section the findings and discussion are integrated (Holloway & Brown 2012; Flick 2013).
Part Three presents the main theoretical contribution of this thesis. This section builds on the main insights from Part Two and explores the role that the dominant ideas about news media coverage have in the formation and maintenance of social workers’ professional identity. This will be done initially by exploring how the research process itself was a significant site for identity and reality maintenance and the implication for participants’
social work identity. It will then present the ‘breakdowns’ and contradictions in participants’
accounts and through the use of interview and workshop data demonstrate how they are evidence of shifts in subject positioning. This will include discussing their significance in relation to the formation and maintenance of their social work professional identity.
Additionally, it will discuss how the sense of a ‘clear and stable’ professional identity was problematic and did not engage or address the underlying tensions.
The thesis concludes with a final chapter that provides an overview of the main arguments and the contribution of these understandings. Initially this will be done by answering the research question: What relevance do news media portrayals of social work hold for the social construction of social work? Then it will discuss how the thesis creates a revisioning and new approach for the social work professional project in the Australian context. This will be explored in relation to the contribution this thesis makes to: social work knowledge, social workers, social work education and social work professional groups. The thesis concludes with recommendations for future research and the final reflexive piece.
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1.10 Conclusion
As a social worker, it became apparent from very early on in my career that the professional community had a major interest in its own media coverage. The literature and general debate seemed to be informed by the dominant idea that the news media has consistently portrayed an unfairly negative view of the profession, focusing overwhelmingly on child protection failures. Despite the significance, there is a lack of research on the topic. The thesis makes an original contribution by proposing that the profession’s entrenched assumptions about news coverage lack reflexivity and possibly mediate the high degree of conflict experienced by social workers in the formation of their professional identity. The findings indicate that the profession’s fascination with its news media coverage may come at the expense of better understanding and negotiating the tensions and contradictions of contemporary social work, and a shift in focus is required towards a more reflective, proactive and less insular approach. Therefore, not only do the findings from this study contribute considerably to better informing the profession’s understanding of the
relationship between social work and the news media, they also provide a new way forward for engaging with the complexities of being a social worker.
The introductory chapter has provided an outline of the research and the main arguments.
After an introduction, Part One will commence with Chapter 2 that presents the theoretical approach and understandings involved in defining and researching the relationship between social work and the news media.
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