Impact of a Global Pandemic on Scope and Diversity of Social Work Research and Practice: Complexity Theory a Lens to Review Current Thinking

Abstract

The contents of the July (2021) Issue of Australian Social Work (ASW) are distinguished by a range and diversity of topics, notably: intellectual impairment (Catalano & Wilson, 2021); end-of-life care (Moon & McDermott, 2021); abuse of older Australians (Blundell et al., 2021); women with a physical disability (Corona-Aguilar et al., 2021); interventions for problematic eating in out-of-home care (Savaglio et al., 2021); a focus on family transitions in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) where there are young children (Boaden et al., 2021); and post-disaster recovery (Harms et al., 2021). An examination of social work graduate outcomes (Papadopoulos & Egan, 2021), and social work e-placements under COVID-19 (Zuchowski et al., 2021) complete this "sweep" through the range of interests and specialisations undoubtedly characteristic of contemporary social work as it is practiced across fields, with diverse populations, and from a variety of standpoints: policy, practice, education, and advocacy.Such a range of areas of interest and of practice (and many more, of course) does, as we know, place considerable demands on social work educators to ensure that curricula and practicum experience make social work students "shovel ready" for the demands of future employment. Central to this is the need for social workers to practice in whatever field, and in whatever capacity in ways that are grounded in available evidence and knowledge. This is what the articles published in this, and in all issues of ASW and other social work peer-reviewed journals, the research outcomes described and the policy critiques advanced, aim to deliver. Importantly, they provide the basis for social workers to practice from an evidence-informed or evidence-based approach. Research is central to the social work project, to understanding the contextualised nature of human lives, and enabling practitioners to work with service users to better the biopsychosocial conditions of everyday life. In addition, it is through research that social workers discover, develop, and integrate useable theory that grounds their practice expertise in evidence.The person-in-environment perspective and the biopsychosocial model have formed the theoretical backbone of social work education and practice for at least the last 50 years, variously amended, developed, and enhanced by critical social work, feminist, and structural social work theorisations. Perhaps it is timely to question whether these perspectives continue, in their current form, to be "fit for purpose" for 21st Century social work practice. The onset of COVID-19 and world-wide pandemic conditions have, at the very least, confronted and challenged social work. In the pages of this Journal in the last several issues, as part of a Knowledge Exchange Project, social work practitioners have provided us with brief reflective pieces, chronicling their struggles, insights, adaptive strategies, and innovations designed to continue to provide service users with a service. In this Issue, Stephanie Drag...

Emergent Opportunities in Complexity, Leadership, and Sustainability

“…Complexity theory represents a radical shift in how the world is understood. Challenging Newtonian worldviews (i.e., linear, reductionist, cause-and-effect relationships), complexity theory suggests a nonlinear and dynamic reality, characterized by unpredictability and uncertainty (Marion & Uhl-Bien, 2001;McDermott, 2021). Complexity theory illuminates a world comprised of complex systems which include a "diversity of agents who interact with one another" (Marion & Uhl-Bien, 2001, p. 390).…”