Discursive decisions: Signposts to guide the use of critical discourse analysis in social work

Abstract

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) examines the relationship between language and power in society. By linking micro, mezzo, and macro environments, examining the impact of language on marginalized communities, and providing a lens for critical reflection, CDA aligns with the frameworks and values of social work as a profession. Yet this method has been underutilized in social work research. This paper provides an orientation for social work scholars seeking to use CDA through discussion of four key “signposts” or decision-making points: 1) theoretical framing and rationale, 2) sampling and data generation, 3) data analysis, and 4) dissemination of findings. Drawing on examples from the authors’ experiences with CDA studies addressing diverse research topics and methodological decisions, this paper offers a wide range of research design strategies for conducting similar projects. Examples are varied in terms of theoretical framing, research questions, data sources, analytic strategies, and audience. They include analyses of neoliberal discourse in refugee policy, discourses of culture in international development research documents, constructions of bisexuality among older women, and representations of intimate partner violence in young adult novels and tweets. Along the way, attention is given to communicating about CDA for social work audiences, particularly those less familiar with the epistemological foundations of CDA and its implications for practice.

“Safety Is Elusive:” A Critical Discourses Analysis of Newspapers’ Reporting of Domestic Violence During the Coronavirus Pandemic

“…Though underutilized in social work and health sciences, CDA is a critical analytical tool for shedding light on unexamined belief systems, social practices, and taken-for-granted ways of being ( Gee, 2011 ; Willey Sthapit et al, 2020 ). Within the context of DV, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a watershed moment where our field can reflect on historical practices that may heighten inequity for abuse survivors.…”

Questioning policy representations of women’s alcohol consumption: Implications for social work

“…The discursive field surrounding women who drink is vast, ambiguous, heterogeneous, and complex, which the medicalisation paradigm fails to recognise or acknowledge. The WPR policy analysis framework can make ‘visible the unseen or taken-for-granted’ discourses of women’s alcohol consumption, ‘calling attention to the insidious power of language’ (Willey-Sthapit et al., 2020: 14). This theoretical approach has important implications for questioning what is invisible and ‘taken for granted’ in government drug and alcohol policy that potentially influences social work practice and research across many different fields of practice.…”

“…In social work research, Willey-Sthapit et al. (2020) signpost the importance of the theoretical frame (the why), the sampling (the what), the analysis (the how) and dissemination or significance (the so what?).…”

“…In social work research, Willey-Sthapit et al (2020) signpost the importance of the theoretical frame (the why), the sampling (the what), the analysis (the how) and dissemination or significance (the so what?). When referring to gender differences about the effects of alcohol, the language of alcohol 'disorder', gender specific medical 'impairment' and women as 'victims' when drinking, commonly foregrounds discussions intended to enhance social work practice (Karoll, 2002).…”

Resisting Recovery Rhetoric: A Critical Discourse Analysis and Counter Perspectives from People With Substance Use Issues in Rural Ontario

“…A critical discourse analysis (CDA) explores how dominant discourses circulating in society reproduce cultural values through recovery language and permeate public and private minds to (re)produce identity categories of inclusion and exclusion (Gee, 2014). CDA has been used to examine diverse areas of social work such as child protection (Ogle et al, 2021), gerontology (Cash et al, 2013), mental health and disability (El-Lahib, 2020), criminalized women (Leotti, 2021) environmental social work (Komalsingh et al, 2022), and social work itself (Willey-Sthapit et al, 2022). CDA studies related to substance use recovery argue that recovery is entwined with moral concepts of productivity that reinforce individual pathology and neglect broader sociopolitical contexts (Dwyer & Moore, 2013;Lancaster et al, 2015).…”