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International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people

International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people. Reflection on methodological challenges and solutions Karen Healy, Ilse Julkunen and Synnove Karvinen-Niinikoski IFSW & EASSW, July 2012. Understanding practice in a comparative context.

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International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people

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  1. International comparative research regarding vulnerable young people Reflection on methodological challenges and solutions Karen Healy, IlseJulkunen and SynnoveKarvinen-Niinikoski IFSW & EASSW, July 2012

  2. Understanding practice in a comparative context Much research related to social work has focused on comparative studies of structures and systems of personal services provision or user experiences, rather than social work itself. While comparative work may contribute to policy understanding of potential roles for and barriers to social services … it does not develop social work practice interventions (Payne, 2006, p.121)

  3. International comparative research:The state of the art? Studies of service systems and outcomes What types of services are offered? What outcomes are achieved? How is social work practice constructed with young people in different contexts? What is common and different across/ between these contexts? What are the experiences/ perceptions/ expectations of the social worker/ carer/ young person

  4. International comparison of social work practiceopportunities and challenges OpportunityUnderstanding what social work ‘is’. “When the researcher works solely in a national context, the fundamental ways that thinking is shaped by intellectual traditions, public debates, and social movements of a particular society at a particular time go unnoticed” (Wrede et al, 2006, p. 2995)

  5. Challenges • Substantially different definitions, categories and practices; • Poor and inconsistent data quality; • Data access issues; • Ethnocentricity and hierarchies; • Time and resources.

  6. De-centered comparative research:a way forward? Wrede and colleagues (p. 2996) describe a “decentred comparative research approach” as “drawing on the socially situated and distributed expertise of an international research team” De-centred Collaboration involves: • Critical reflection on how categories (practices and identities) are produced and understood within national contexts; • Capacity to problematise all practices, rather than seeking the truth or ideal model; • Theoretically informed; • May benefit from being multi-disciplinary as well as multi-national; • Multi-method involving at a minimum engaging in the world of direct practice, through observation and dialogue.

  7. Key References Payne, M. (2007). International social work research and health inequalities. Journal of Comparative Social Welfare, 22(2), 115-124. Stein, M. (2006). Young people aging out of care. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 422-434. Wrede, S, Benoit, C. Bourgeault, I.L., van Teijlingen, E.R., Sandall, J., De Vries, R.G. (2006). Decentred comparative research: context sensitive analysis of maternal health care. Social Science and Medicine, 63(11), 2986-2997.

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