ABSTRACT

Narrative and storytelling are widely recognised as central to social inter action. People tell stories to explain, entertain and convince others in a wide variety of contexts. Unsurprisingly narrative is also central to social work and in recent years has been the subject of a number of developments in social work theory and research. Talk between social workers and clients is analysed as narrative (Marvasti 2002; Hyden and Overlien 2005; Hall et al. 2006). Research on talk between professionals draws on narrative approaches (Crepeau 2000; White 2002; Riemann 2005), as does writing in social work files (Hall 1997; Hall et al. 2006; White et al. 2009). Interview data between researchers and service users and social workers is seen as narrative (Hall 1997; Martin 1998; Wells 2010). Furthermore, narrative is increasingly featured in social work education (Rutten et al. 2010), with social workers encouraged to think of their practice in narrative ways (Baldwin 2013). Particular social work methods draw on narrative (White and Epston 1990; Parton and O’Byrne 2000; Roscoe et al. 2011). This chapter will examine what developments in the study of narrative and storytelling can offer to the study and practice of social work. In particular we concentrate on approaches that examine narratives told in everyday social work encounters. For example: