Blog 7 – British Journal of Social Work lived experience issue series
4 October 2022
inclusioninvolvementThis is part of a series of blogs kindly contributed by the editorial group working on the lived experience edition of the British Journal of Social Work.
Blog seven is by Peter Unwin, Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Worcester
I am a fan of co-production and believe that an authentic approach to this way of working produces a richer outcome, whether in academia, policy or practice. There is no one truth or ‘right’ perspective in the complex moral and political undertakings of social work and bringing together authors with different backgrounds in our Special Issue is an exciting, if challenging, way of producing papers which speak to the real world.
A key challenge in co-production is that professionals have to give up power and see their contributions as equal to, rather than superior to, the contributions from people with lived experience. Equally, people with lived experience have to recognise that, if they seek an academic platform, then certain conventions (structure /referencing/ punctuation) have to be followed. There is a great temptation for an academic editor to rewrite phrases and sentences in ways that better fit the traditions of ‘their’ own world, and the conversations around reworking pieces are delicate ones that call for mutual respect. We trust that the inclusion of different categories of submission in our Special Issue – reflective pieces /artefacts/ academic papers will demonstrate our mutual respect and sincerity in wishing to jointly illuminate voices and communication styles that are enabling rather than exclusive.
Blog seven is by Peter Unwin, Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Worcester