Introduction to Academic Papers Section

In keeping with the ethics of this special issue, we sought to attract academic papers of the same quality and integrity as those published regularly in the journal, the key differentiation being that a person with lived experience of social work had to be the lead or solo author.

The vast majority of academic papers accepted for peer-reviewed social work journals are from practising academics, with very few practitioners, and even less people with lived experience, managing to have their views heard from such platforms. Writing and presenting an academic paper to a peer-reviewed journal can be an arduous task, shrouded in mystery and labyrinthine processes for those attempting a first effort. Academic journals have extremely specific protocols, systems of reviewing, referencing and using language that can be quite off-putting to newcomers. Worse still is the negative tone and content of feedback that most academics have received at some time in their career in respect of their submissions. As an editorial team, we were determined to avoid any such culture of negative criticism and set ourselves the goal of always giving positive, constructive criticism, even when we had made the decision not to accept a paper. Such an approach included advising about where the article might perhaps be better received, or whether perhaps it could be presented in a different format. Rather than always communicating via the formal online journal platform, editors used e-mails and other platforms to communicate issues in ways that encouraged the authors to continue working on a paper. Again, we were at all times aware of boundary issues and checked out such practices at our regular online and WhatsApp meetings.

As regards the articles which we initially believed had the potential and relevant fit with our special issue, we were also very conscious that the submissions were the lived experiences of the authors, not the lived experiences of the editorial team, and we had to develop techniques of advising authors on style and structure without changing their core message/experiences. Additional challenges were with papers received where the first language was not English and again, we advised or directed authors elsewhere for possible support without compromising the integrity of the article in question.

Areas covered by the articles in this issue include contemporary social work concerns such as mental health, the effect of the pandemic on carers, institutional care, perspectives on autism, a critique of life story work, communication between parents and children in out-of-home care and insights into people with lived experience of social work (PWLESW) contributing to higher education.

In the field of mental health, Sweeney et al. review the literature on social and psychological harm in mental health care and how it can be avoided; Moberg gives a stark portrayal in her autoethnographic perspectives on recovery after electro-convulsive treatment.

Davies effectively links the issues of power, disability and mental illness; Sinclair et al. provide a post-humanist critique of the peer worker’s role in mental health, whilst Walters and Petrakis explore the literature on mental health and carers with specific reference to the pandemic’s impact.

As regards to institutional care and messages for social work, Smith et al. discuss issues of low expectations and the role of social workers in residential schools; Aversa and Filistrucci portray institutional abuse from personal and professional perspectives whilst Golightley reveals lived experiences of ‘conversion therapy’ in a residential setting.

Pawar provides a deeply personal account of the tensions in being a professional and a carer, whilst Ricketts provides an autoethnographic account of life story work which again comes with many messages for social work. Wright et al. discuss a co-produced initiative on communication between parents and children when the children are in out-of-home placements, whilst Senior provides a persuasive autoethnographic piece calling for reform in the Australian out-of-home care system.

The role of parents when interacting with social workers and their systems is highlighted in the UK context by Benson’s paper on autistic mothers with autistic children which provides a unique and much-needed focus for future practice. Howells et al. reflect on the values and personal experiences of being part of social work education, all submissions to this special issue having made a radical and refreshing contribution to such education.

The main challenge within the articles received was perhaps the need to contextualise the lived experience presented—narratives needed to be located within legislative, policy and theoretical constructs to varying degrees and the articles that were co-produced, usually with an academic, found this easier to achieve. A key learning point for the team, two of whom are UK based, was the need to adopt a broader view of international social work and to embrace models across the globe, including arenas such as residential social work, where UK social work does not have a high profile.

Overall, we hope that you will be intrigued by the content, passion and messages for social work that emanate from the articles below and that you might be able to champion some of their moral, academic and practical messages, and insights in your own work.