Anthropological Research in Social Work: Contributions, Challenges, Future Directions

Debates about the place of scientific research in social work have focused primarily on research traditions with roots in psychology and sociology. By comparison, little attention has been given to the anthropological research tradition until quite recently, as ethnography has become an increasingly popular methodology across the social sciences. Yet anthropologists have long contributed to social work research and theory, particularly with respect to the profession’s engagement with cultural diversity and international interventions. Anthropology brings unique tools and perspectives to social work, the value of which are not always recognized within dominant research and practice paradigms. This roundtable explores the contributions that anthropologists are currently making to social work research, the challenges they face in promoting and translating their work for the profession, and promising directions for heightening the impact of anthropological research in social work.

The roundtable will explore the intersection of anthropology and social work from three different angles: the politics of research, epistemology and research design, and the publication/dissemination of knowledge. Anthropologists efforts to grapple with power dynamics between researchers and those they study, particularly in the context of the discipline’s colonial history, have much to offer discussions of the politics of research in social work. This contribution will likely become even more important as social work continues to internationalize. At the same time, anthropologists have traditionally prioritized understanding over intervention, which raises challenges for anthropological research in social work. Relatedly, research design in anthropology favors deep understanding of “insider” points of view and resists reducing complexity to the simplest model or the least number of factors. These emphases make anthropological contributions to social work unique, but their importance is not always recognized within paradigms that value straightforward solutions and modular best practices. Finally, anthropological approaches to writing and publication (e.g., longer, detailed articles and books) make possible certain kinds of analysis that can be valuable for social work, but the requirements of social work journals and the dominant measures of scholarly productivity in social work departments both pose challenges for such work.

Six scholars doing anthropological research in social work will present on this roundtable. After a brief introduction, each of the three aspects of anthropological contributions to social work research identified above (i.e., politics of research and teaching, epistemology/design, and publishing) will be addressed by two presenters. After describing contributions and exploring challenges, each pair of presenters will make recommendations for how social work can support anthropological research and enhance its impact on the profession. The organizer will then facilitate an open discussion with the audience. The goals of the roundtable and discussion are to draw attention to the potential value of the anthropological research tradition for social work and to promote productive convergence between these two often disparate fields of scholarship.