On being a social work researcher and a service user: insights and tensions

Social work research emphasises the usefulness of evidence-based practice informed by rigorous methodologies. The hierarchy of knowledge places great value on quantitative data which is seen as reliable and generalisable... [ view full abstract ]

Social work research emphasises the usefulness of evidence-based practice informed by rigorous methodologies. The hierarchy of knowledge places great value on quantitative data which is seen as reliable and generalisable generated from positivist paradigms; though the place of qualitative data in capturing and conveying individual experience is also recognised. Approaches based on positivist paradigms often fail to recognise the value of knowledge informed by practice wisdom or expertise-by-experience; positivist research focuses on the exclusion of identity and bias from the research.

I am a researcher, but also occupy the role of mental health service user. This provides me with insight built on experience as well as practice and research. My PhD utilised participatory action research (PAR) and focused on exploring carers’ responses to the recovery concept. Carers participated in a training intervention about the recovery approach developed by myself and a steering group of people from backgrounds, and co-delivered by me and a carer. The research participants acknowledged the authenticity of recovery modeled in me as a service user and learned to recognise and benefit from the carer’s journey of recovery as they participated in the programme. The diversity of identities represented in the steering group was central to the success of the study and essential in PAR which seeks to empower co-researchers, in contrast to positivist research which seeks to report data rather than generate change.

The presentation of my multi-identity was central to this study as it influenced the learning of carers and empowered co-researchers. It built on different kinds of knowledge generated from practice and expertise-by-experience. There were however conflicting tensions in managing the inclusion of identity in research particularly in the context of current dominant paradigms. This paper identifies the strengths and tensions in focusing on different types of knowledge within a participatory change-oriented research paradigm.