Socialt arbejde og aktionsforskning på Grønland

• Main Authors: Andersen, John, Arnfjord, Steven
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Danish
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Grønland; social planning; empowermentplanning; aktionsforskning; Greenland; greenlandic; Grönland; inuit
• Online Access: https://forskning.ruc.dk/da/publications/cd1f28e8-7c81-4126-84b2-9d11d085979a; https://hdl.handle.net/1800/cd1f28e8-7c81-4126-84b2-9d11d085979a; https://rucforsk.ruc.dk/ws/files/58208987/4987_19086_1_PB.pdf

Socialforskningen i Grönland har gennem ârtier dokumenteret sociale problemer. Populært sagt har socialforskningen i Grönland indtil for nylig kun bestâet af beskrivende, kvantitativ elendighedsforskning. Der eksisterer säledes (modsat fx socialforskning med canadisk inuit) stört set ikke nogen kvalitativ eller deltagerorienteret forskning om vilkàr for indsatser ogpraksis i forhold til at hándtere de sociale udfordringer. Der har säledes manglet sociologisk og handlingsorienteret praksisviden, der kan understotte professionel og organisatorisk kapacitetsopbygning i det socialpolitiske felt. Derme artikel handler om empowerment og aktionsforskning med socialarbejdere i Grönland og bygger pä Steven Amfjords ph.d. projekt fra 2014 Years of social science research in Greenland has documented a range of social problems in the country. However social research in Greenland has been limited to quantitative research that has focused only on misery. Contrary to what we have seen in Canadian Inuit research, there has been no qualitative nor participatory research into the concrete circumstances under which Greenlandic social workers deal with the social challenges they face daily. This article draws on a research project that, for the first time, employed ex- ploratory interviews with social workers. Analysis of these interviews uncovered the social workers' feelings of despair and their atomised sense of loneliness because of having no references to an external network of professionals (e.g. through a union). The research was then extended to an action research project, which set out to form a social workers union in order to create a sense of unity and professional group awareness within the profession