Trafficking in facts : talk, text and identity in professional practice

Taylor, CP

Abstract

In this thesis by published work nine works are presented, prefaced by a
Critical Summary and Review which discusses the genesis of the work
and its theoretical presuppositions, and evaluates their contribution to
knowledge. The work includes both sole-authored and collaborative
writing.
This published work adopts a social constructionist approach to
knowledge in health and welfare. The first work explores critical
approaches to child development and their relevance to professional
practice. Subsequent work adopts a post-Wittgensteinian approach to
language as practical activity, exploring how practitioners such as social
workers and nurses do 'case work1 , making knowledge about people,
events and situations in their talk and writing and, in doing so, enact the
institutional order. An exploration of the ways in which practitioners
construct their practice in reflective writing is a significant focus within
several pieces of work.
Attention is paid to what social actors (patients/service users and
professionals) do in their interactions and communicative practices. Thus,
talk and text are not treated as simple vehicles for conveying literal,
factual descriptions but as the means by which moral adequacy is
portrayed and authentic versions of events are established. These
analyses draw inspiration from a variety of sources including micro
sociology, discursive psychology and narrative analysis, emphasizing the
practical-moral aspects of health and welfare practice in which the
production of identity, for example as a caring practitioner, plays a key
part.
The published work has a strong practice orientation and the implications
for professional education are highlighted throughout. 'Reflexive
awareness' is promoted as a means by which health and welfare
VIprofessionals may challenges tendencies to take practice for granted. By
engaging in the processes of making the familiar strange, it is argued that
better understandings of practice can be achieved and a stance of
'respectful uncertainty' deployed.

Citation

Taylor, C. Trafficking in facts : talk, text and identity in professional practice. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Vol.1
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2007