Resumen
Pluralistic discourses on social work, including those on postcolonial/decolonial social work, indigenous social work and culturally relevant practices, are attracting increasing interest globally. This preliminary study examined the process of constructing alternative discourses on social work from the analytical perspective of the social representation theory posited in the domain of social psychology. Case studies in three areas were discussed in the Asian context: culturally relevant domestic social work, Buddhist social work, and international social work. The results of previous studies conducted by the author and his colleagues were subjected to a qualitative comparative analysis. The investigation focused on the familiarisation mechanism, which includes the processes of anchoring and objectifying. Different aspects, including familiarisation, cognitive polyphasia, and unfamiliar phenomena, were observed depending on the relevant concepts and terms used. However, the results indicated that certain social work discourses were constructed using relevant concepts and terms via dialogue and conference, research and publication, and education. Despite several acknowledged limitations, the findings of this study indicate that diverse and alternative discourses are gradually becoming common within the discipline. Furthermore, this study suggests that the perspective of the social representation theory is useful for social work research because it clarifies the process of constructing diverse discourses as a social reality.
Palabras Clave (separar con comas)
alternative discourse, international perspective, Indigenous social work, international social work, qualitative analysis