Trafficking in facts : talk, text and identity in professional practice

In this thesis by published work nine works are presented, prefaced by a Critical Summary and Review which discusses the genesis of the work and its theoretical presuppositions, and evaluates their contribution to knowledge. The work includes both sole-authored and collaborative writing. This published work adopts a social constructionist approach to knowledge in health and welfare. The first work explores critical approaches to child development and their relevance to professional practice. Subsequent work adopts a post-Wittgensteinian approach to language as practical activity, exploring how practitioners such as social workers and nurses do 'case work1 , making knowledge about people, events and situations in their talk and writing and, in doing so, enact the institutional order. An exploration of the ways in which practitioners construct their practice in reflective writing is a significant focus within several pieces of work. Attention is paid to what social actors (patients/service users and professionals) do in their interactions and communicative practices. Thus, talk and text are not treated as simple vehicles for conveying literal, factual descriptions but as the means by which moral adequacy is portrayed and authentic versions of events are established. These analyses draw inspiration from a variety of sources including micro sociology, discursive psychology and narrative analysis, emphasizing the practical-moral aspects of health and welfare practice in which the production of identity, for example as a caring practitioner, plays a key part. The published work has a strong practice orientation and the implications for professional education are highlighted throughout. 'Reflexive awareness' is promoted as a means by which health and welfare VIprofessionals may challenges tendencies to take practice for granted. By engaging in the processes of making the familiar strange, it is argued that better understandings of practice can be achieved and a stance of 'respectful uncertainty' deployed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo