Columbia University Press Narrating Social Work Through Autoethnography

Autoethnography is an innovative approach to inquiry located in the interstices between science and literature. Blending researcher and subject roles, autoethnographers use analytical strategies to explore the social and cultural contexts of meaningful life experiences and their implications for the present. Social issues are described from the inside out, producing narratives that reflect the messy, experiential encounters of everyday life. This collection illustrates the value of autoethnography as an inquiry approach for social work practice. Covering such topics as international adoption, cross-dressing, divorce, cultural competence, life-threatening illness, and transformative change, contributors showcase the ambiguities, doubts, contradictions, insights, tensions, and epiphanies that accompany their experiences. This anthology provides a readable and unique example of an exciting new trend in qualitative research.