Both Insider and Outsider
On Conducting Social Work Research in Mental Health Settings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/23926Keywords:
mental health setting; power dynamics; research relationship; social work research; practice-based researchAbstract
The mental health clinic poses unique challenges for social work scholar-practitioners. The familiar setting, the nature of mental health data collection, and the researcher’s clinical training and experience all complicate efforts to maintain a reflexive stance in research. Additionally, conducting research in a clinical environment risks replicating a hierarchical medical model in the research relationship. Using a theoretical framework of critical realism, two doctoral-level scholar practitioners analyzed the advantages and challenges of conducting research in a clinical setting. Audit trails and experiences of peer debriefing from their dissertation research served as the basis for this conceptual analysis. The analysis considers the impact of the clinic setting on the power dynamics of the research process, as well as the researchers’ subjective experiences throughout the process of data collection. The authors discuss the risks of Othering and the challenges of straddling insider and outsider identities as scholar-practitioners in clinic settings. To navigate these dual identities of researcher and clinician, the authors recommend maintaining awareness of power dynamics and discourses, debriefing regularly with peers and mentors, introducing reflexive practices into both interviews and writing, and moving beyond binary identities in order to occupy a “space between.”
References
Anyan, F. (2013). The influence of power shifts in data collection and analysis stages: A focus on qualitative research interview. Qualitative Report, 18, 1-9. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1525&context=tqr
Asselin, M. E. (2003). Insider research: Issues to consider when doing qualitative research in your own setting. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 19(2), 99-103. https://doi.org/10.1097/00124645-200303000-00008
Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112468475
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In I. Szeman & T. Kaposy (Eds.), Cultural theory: An anthology (pp. 81-93). Wiley-Blackwell.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. University of Chicago Press.
Brannick, T., & Coghlan, D. (2007). In defense of being “native”: The case for insider academic research. Organizational Research Methods, 10(1), 59-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428106289253
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2005). Confronting the ethics of qualitative research. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18(2), 157-181. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720530590914789
Butler, A., Ford, D., & Tregaskis, C. (2007). Who do we think we are? Self and reflexivity in social work practice. Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice, 6(3), 281-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325007080402
Campbell, C., Scott, K., Skovdal, M., Madanhire, C., Nyamukapa, C., & Gregson, S. (2015). A good patient? How notions of ‘a good patient’ affect patient-nurse relationships and ART adherence in Zimbabwe. BMC Infectious Diseases, 15(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-015-1139-x
Colbourne, L., & Sque, M. (2004). Split personalities: Role conflict between the nurse and the nurse researcher. NT Research, 9(4), 297-304. https://doi.org/10.1177/136140960400900410
Collins, P. H. (1986). Learning from the outsider within: The sociological significance of black feminist thought. Social Problems, 33(6), S14-S32. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.1986.33.6.03a00020
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Coy, M. (2006). This morning I’m a researcher, this afternoon I’m an outreach worker: Ethical dilemmas in practitioner research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 9(5), 419-431. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645570601076785
D'Cruz, H., Gillingham, P., & Melendez, S. (2005). Reflexivity, its meanings and relevance for social work: A critical review of the literature. British Journal of Social Work, 37(1), 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl001
DeVellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications. Sage.
Dobson, R. (2009). 'Insiderness', 'involvement' and emotions: Impacts for methods, 'knowledge' and social research. People, Place & Policy Online, 3(3), 183-195. https://doi.org/10.3351/ppp.0003.0003.0005
Dwyer, S. C., & Buckle, J. L. (2009). The space between: On being an insider-outsider in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800105
Few, A. L. (2007). Integrating Black consciousness and critical race feminism into family studies research. Journal of Family Issues, 28(4), 452-473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X06297330
Gilligan, C. (2015). The Listening Guide method of psychological inquiry. Qualitative Psychology, 2(1), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000023
Goldstein, S. E. (2017). Reflexivity in narrative research: Accessing meaning through the participant-researcher relationship. Qualitative Psychology, 4(2), 149-164. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000035
Griffith, A. I. (1998). Insider/outsider: Epistemological privilege and mothering work. Human Studies, 21(4), 361-376. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1005421211078
Houston, S. (2010). Prising open the black box: Critical realism, action research and social work. Qualitative Social Work, 9(1), 73-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325009355622
Jensen, S. Q. (2012). “So, it is about how negative it is?!” Understanding researcher/researched interactions as relations between intersectional social positions. Qualitative Studies, 3(2), 115-132. https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v3i2.7304
Kondrat, M. E. (1999). Who is the “self” in self-aware: Professional self-awareness from a critical theory perspective. Social Service Review, 73(4), 451-477. https://doi.org/10.1086/514441
Konrad, S. C. (2007). Hard stories in the workplace. Work, 28(4), 371-378. https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/ios-press/hard-stories-in-the-workplace-MmJJDFj4sr
Krumer-Nevo, M. (2002). The arena of othering: A life-story study with women living in poverty and social marginality. Qualitative Social Work, 1(3), 303-318. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325002001003642
Krumer-Nevo, M., & Sidi, M. (2012). Writing against othering. Qualitative Inquiry, 18(4), 299-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800411433546
Lacasse, J. R., & Gomory, T. (2003). Is graduate social work education promoting a critical approach to mental health practice? Journal of Social Work Education, 39(3), 383-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2003.10779145
Longhofer, J., & Floersch, J. (2012). The coming crisis in social work: Some thoughts on social work and science. Research on Social Work Practice, 22(5), 499-519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512445509
Longhofer, J., Floersch, J., & Hoy, J. (2013). Qualitative methods for practice research. Oxford.
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (3rd ed.). Sage.
McCreaddie, M., & Wiggins, S. (2009). Reconciling the good patient persona with problematic and non-problematic humour: A grounded theory. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(8), 1079-1091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.01.008
Padgett, D. K. (2016). Qualitative methods in social work research (3rd ed.). Sage.
Probst, B., & Berenson, L. (2014). The double arrow: How qualitative social work researchers use reflexivity. Qualitative Social Work, 13(6), 813-827. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325013506248
Read, J. (2016). From diagnosis to research: My epistemological journey toward wholistic qualitative methods. Qualitative Social Work, 15(5-6), 661-670. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016652679
Riley, S., Schouten, W., & Cahill, S. (2003). Exploring the dynamics of subjectivity and power between researcher and researched. Qualitative Social Research, 4(2), 1-19. https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/713/1545
Sands, R. G., & Krumer-Nevo, M. (2006). Interview shocks and shockwaves. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(5), 950-971. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800406288623
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22, 63-75. https://doi.org/10.3233/efi-2004-22201
Shulman, L. (2016). The skills of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities. Cengage.
Tew, J. (2008). Researching in partnership: Reflecting on a collaborative study with mental health service users into the impact of compulsion. Qualitative Social Work, 7(3), 271-287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325008093702
Tew, J., Gould, N., Abankwa, D., Barnes, H., Beresford, P., Carr, S., Copperman, J., Ramon, S., Rose, D., & Sweeney, A. (2006). Values and methodologies for social research in mental health. S. C. I. f. Excellence. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/IASS/publications/social-research-mental-health.pdf
Van Heugten, K. (2004). Managing insider research: Learning from experience. Qualitative Social Work, 3(2), 203-219. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325004043386
