From a social constructionist view you could say that reality is a result of shared storytelling. I use to think about a quote from professor Stefan Morén, Umeå university. It goes something like this: we describe reality - but what reality? In social welfare services and especially in child protection casework, there’s a risk that social workers get stuck in what Johan describes here as the tip of the ice berg viewed from one single angle.
Yes, the social constructivist perspective reminds us that 'reality' in social work is always shaped by our viewpoint and documentation systems. This connects well with Latour's ideas about how knowledge transforms between contexts. The challenge is seeing beyond what our systems immediately capture, especially in child protection where complexity is immense. Perhaps this is precisely why human judgment - the ability to synthesize multiple perspectives - becomes so crucial?
From a social constructionist view you could say that reality is a result of shared storytelling. I use to think about a quote from professor Stefan Morén, Umeå university. It goes something like this: we describe reality - but what reality? In social welfare services and especially in child protection casework, there’s a risk that social workers get stuck in what Johan describes here as the tip of the ice berg viewed from one single angle.
Yes, the social constructivist perspective reminds us that 'reality' in social work is always shaped by our viewpoint and documentation systems. This connects well with Latour's ideas about how knowledge transforms between contexts. The challenge is seeing beyond what our systems immediately capture, especially in child protection where complexity is immense. Perhaps this is precisely why human judgment - the ability to synthesize multiple perspectives - becomes so crucial?