Investigating the social relations of human service provision
Institutional ethnography and activism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v11i1.135Keywords:
community services, human services, funding regimes, institutional discourse, engaged scholarship, strategic collaborationAbstract
In this article, I reflect on my experiences using institutional ethnography to support socially just policy, practice and organizational change. I focus specifically on three inter-related institutional ethnographic research projects that have informed my approach to working with social workers, shelter workers, lawyers, policy analysts, community organizers, teachers, probation officers and youth to create change. Although strategic collaborations to change institutional practices and knowledge are rife with tensions, I show how institutional ethnography can be used reflexively throughout the collaborative process to create conditions for critical consciousness-raising among participants; inspire reflection and action on the part of human service professionals and inform collective efforts to create systemic change, as well as to guide the research process itself. I conclude by suggesting that institutional ethnographers seeking to influence socially just change need to find ways to balance the demands of academic writing, while being true to the activist origins of this sociological approach.
References
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Griffith, A., & Smith, D. E. (Eds.) (2014). Under New Public Management: Institutional Ethnographies of Changing Front Line Work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Griffith, A. I. (1992). “Education policy as text and action.” Education Policy, 6(4): 415-428.
Maraj Grahame, K. (1998). “Asian Women, Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets.” Qualitative Sociology 21(1),75-90.
Mykhalovskiy, E., & McCoy, L. (2002). “Troubling ruling discourses of health: Using institutional ethnography in community-based research.” Critical Public Health, 12(1): 17-37.
Ng, R. (1981) “Constituting Ethnic Phenomenon: An Account from the Perspective of Immigrant Women.” Canadian Ethnic Studies, 13(1), 97-108.
Ng, R. (1988). The politics of community services: Immigrant women, class and state. Halifax, NS: Fernwood.
Ng, R. (1994). “Sexism and Racism in the University: Analyzing a Personal Experience.” Canadian Women Studies, 14(2), 41-46.
Nichols, N. (2008a). Gimme Shelter! Investigating the Social Service Interface from the Standpoint of Youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(6), 685-699.
Nichols, N. (2008b). Understanding the Funding Game: The textual coordination of civil sector work. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 33(1), 61-88.
Nichols, N. (2009). Strange Bedfellows: A Transformative Community-Based Research Project Inspired by Hannah Arendt and Dorothy E. Smith. Theory and Action, 2(2), 61-73.
Nichols, N. (2013). Nobody “Signs out of care:” Exploring Institutional Links Between Child Protection and Homelessness. In G. Gaetz, B. O’Grady, K. Buccieri, J. Karabanow & A. Marsolais (Eds.), Youth Homelessness in Canada: Implications for Policy and Practice. Toronto, ON: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.
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Nichols, N. (2014.) Youth Work: An institutional ethnography of youth homelessness. Toronto, ON: The University of Toronto Press.
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Nichols, N. (Forthcoming, 2016). Development in Context: Housing Instability, Homelessness, and Youth Work. In R. Mizzi, T. Rocco, & S. Shore, (Eds.), Disrupting Adult and Community Education: Teaching, Learning, and Working on the Periphery. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Nichols, N., Anucha, U., Houwer, R., & Wood, M. (2013). Facilitating Equitable Community-Academic Research Collaborations. Gateways, International Journal of Community Research and Engagement 6, 57-76.
Nichols, N. Braimoh, J. & Fisher, A. (Submitted December 2015). Institutional Colour-Blindness and Its Racializing Effects. Canadian Diversity, Special Issue on Racial Profiling.
Nichols, N., Fisher, A., & Braimoh, J. (Submitted February 2016). Vulnerable Neighbourhoods, Youth At-Risk, and Safe Schools – Explicating the Social Relations of Race and Class. Urban Education.
Nichols, N., & Gaetz, S. (2014). Strategies for Sustaining Complex Partnerships. Scholarly and Research Communications, 5(3). Special Edition on Community-Based Participatory Research,
Nichols, N., Gaetz, S., & Dyck, M. (Forthcoming, 2016). Both Sides Now: The Social Organization of Community-Academic Collaboration. In L. Bisaillon (Ed.), The Impact of Policy on Everyday Life: The Policy Stories That People Tell. The Netherlands: Springer.
Nichols, N., Gaetz, S., & Phipps, D. (2015). Generating Social Change through Community Campus Collaboration. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 19(3), 7-32.
Nichols, N., & Griffith, A. I. (2009). Talk, texts and educational action: An institutional ethnography of policy in practice. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 241-255.
Nichols, N., Griffith, A., & Fisher, A. (Forthcoming, 2016). Outside Looking In: Margins. In L. Bisaillon (Ed.), Investigating the Mainstream Public Education System from a Standpoint on the The Impact of Policy on Everyday Life: The Policy Stories That People Tell. The Netherlands: Springer.
Nichols, N., Mistry, N., Ford-Jones, L .E., Fridman, M., & Ramadan, K. (2015). The Social Organization of Family Health Work: An institutional ethnography. Journal of Critical Public Health, 27.
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., Gaetz, S., Fisher, A., & Tanguay, N. (2014). Revealing the Complexity of Community-Academic Collaboration. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 44(1), 69-94.
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., & Johnstone, W. (2014). A Case Study from York University’s Knowledge Mobilisation Graduate Student Internship Program: Planting the seeds for change. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 7(2).
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., Provencal, J., & Hewitt, A. (2013). Knowledge Mobilization, Collaboration, and Social Innovation: Leveraging Investments in Higher Education. The Canadian Journal of Nonprofit & Social Economy Research, 4(1), 25-42.
Pence, E. (1997). Safety for battered women in a textually mediated legal system. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto.
Pence, E. (2002). “Safety for battered women in a textually mediated legal system.” Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 7: 199-229.
Russell, K., & Tieken, M. C. (2011). “‘Weaving a Tapestry That Won’t Unravel.’” In M. R. Warren & K. L. Mapp (Eds.), A Match on Dry Grass, Community Organizing for School Reform (p. 134-167). Toronto, ON: Oxford.
Smith, D. E. (1996). The relations of ruling: A feminist inquiry. Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 2: 171-190.
Smith, D. E. (1999). Writing the social: Critique, theory, and investigations. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Smith, D. E. (2005). Institutional ethnography: A sociology for people. Toronto, ON: Altamira Press.
Smith, G. W. (1990). Political activist as ethnographer. Social Problems, 37: 629-648.
Wilson, A., & Pence, E. (2006). “U.S. Legal Interventions in the Lives of Battered Women: An Indigenous Assessment.” In D. E. Smith (Ed.), Institutional Ethnography as Practice, 199-225. Toronto: Rowman and Littlefield.
Campbell, M. L., Copeland, B., & Tate, B. (1998). “Taking the standpoint of people with disabilities in research: Experiences with Participation.” Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation, 12(2), 231-250.
DeVault, M. L., & McCoy, L. (2006). “Institutional Ethnography: Using interviews to investigate ruling relations.” In D. E. Smith (Ed.),Institutional Ethnography as Practice, 15-44. Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield.
Frampton, C., Kinsman, G., Thompson, A. K., & Tilleczek, K. (Eds.) (2006). Sociology for Changing the World: Social Movements/Social Research. Halifax, NS: Fernwood.
Griffith, A., & Smith, D. E. (Eds.) (2014). Under New Public Management: Institutional Ethnographies of Changing Front Line Work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Griffith, A. I. (1992). “Education policy as text and action.” Education Policy, 6(4): 415-428.
Maraj Grahame, K. (1998). “Asian Women, Job Training and the Social Organization of Immigrant Labor Markets.” Qualitative Sociology 21(1),75-90.
Mykhalovskiy, E., & McCoy, L. (2002). “Troubling ruling discourses of health: Using institutional ethnography in community-based research.” Critical Public Health, 12(1): 17-37.
Ng, R. (1981) “Constituting Ethnic Phenomenon: An Account from the Perspective of Immigrant Women.” Canadian Ethnic Studies, 13(1), 97-108.
Ng, R. (1988). The politics of community services: Immigrant women, class and state. Halifax, NS: Fernwood.
Ng, R. (1994). “Sexism and Racism in the University: Analyzing a Personal Experience.” Canadian Women Studies, 14(2), 41-46.
Nichols, N. (2008a). Gimme Shelter! Investigating the Social Service Interface from the Standpoint of Youth. Journal of Youth Studies, 11(6), 685-699.
Nichols, N. (2008b). Understanding the Funding Game: The textual coordination of civil sector work. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 33(1), 61-88.
Nichols, N. (2009). Strange Bedfellows: A Transformative Community-Based Research Project Inspired by Hannah Arendt and Dorothy E. Smith. Theory and Action, 2(2), 61-73.
Nichols, N. (2013). Nobody “Signs out of care:” Exploring Institutional Links Between Child Protection and Homelessness. In G. Gaetz, B. O’Grady, K. Buccieri, J. Karabanow & A. Marsolais (Eds.), Youth Homelessness in Canada: Implications for Policy and Practice. Toronto, ON: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.
Nichols, N. (2014). Research and Development Work at an Ontario Youth Shelter. In A. I. Griffith & D. E. Smith (Eds.), Under New Public Management: Institutional Ethnographies of Changing Front-line Work, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Nichols, N. (2014.) Youth Work: An institutional ethnography of youth homelessness. Toronto, ON: The University of Toronto Press.
Nichols, N. (2016). Coordination at the Service Delivery Level: The Development of a Continuum of Services for Street Involved Youth. In N. Nichols & C. Dobserstein (Eds.), Exploring Systems Responses to Homelessness. Toronto, ON: Canadian Homelessness Research Network Press.
Nichols, N. (Forthcoming, 2016). Development in Context: Housing Instability, Homelessness, and Youth Work. In R. Mizzi, T. Rocco, & S. Shore, (Eds.), Disrupting Adult and Community Education: Teaching, Learning, and Working on the Periphery. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Nichols, N., Anucha, U., Houwer, R., & Wood, M. (2013). Facilitating Equitable Community-Academic Research Collaborations. Gateways, International Journal of Community Research and Engagement 6, 57-76.
Nichols, N. Braimoh, J. & Fisher, A. (Submitted December 2015). Institutional Colour-Blindness and Its Racializing Effects. Canadian Diversity, Special Issue on Racial Profiling.
Nichols, N., Fisher, A., & Braimoh, J. (Submitted February 2016). Vulnerable Neighbourhoods, Youth At-Risk, and Safe Schools – Explicating the Social Relations of Race and Class. Urban Education.
Nichols, N., & Gaetz, S. (2014). Strategies for Sustaining Complex Partnerships. Scholarly and Research Communications, 5(3). Special Edition on Community-Based Participatory Research,
Nichols, N., Gaetz, S., & Dyck, M. (Forthcoming, 2016). Both Sides Now: The Social Organization of Community-Academic Collaboration. In L. Bisaillon (Ed.), The Impact of Policy on Everyday Life: The Policy Stories That People Tell. The Netherlands: Springer.
Nichols, N., Gaetz, S., & Phipps, D. (2015). Generating Social Change through Community Campus Collaboration. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 19(3), 7-32.
Nichols, N., & Griffith, A. I. (2009). Talk, texts and educational action: An institutional ethnography of policy in practice. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 241-255.
Nichols, N., Griffith, A., & Fisher, A. (Forthcoming, 2016). Outside Looking In: Margins. In L. Bisaillon (Ed.), Investigating the Mainstream Public Education System from a Standpoint on the The Impact of Policy on Everyday Life: The Policy Stories That People Tell. The Netherlands: Springer.
Nichols, N., Mistry, N., Ford-Jones, L .E., Fridman, M., & Ramadan, K. (2015). The Social Organization of Family Health Work: An institutional ethnography. Journal of Critical Public Health, 27.
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., Gaetz, S., Fisher, A., & Tanguay, N. (2014). Revealing the Complexity of Community-Academic Collaboration. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 44(1), 69-94.
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., & Johnstone, W. (2014). A Case Study from York University’s Knowledge Mobilisation Graduate Student Internship Program: Planting the seeds for change. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 7(2).
Nichols, N., Phipps, D., Provencal, J., & Hewitt, A. (2013). Knowledge Mobilization, Collaboration, and Social Innovation: Leveraging Investments in Higher Education. The Canadian Journal of Nonprofit & Social Economy Research, 4(1), 25-42.
Pence, E. (1997). Safety for battered women in a textually mediated legal system. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Toronto.
Pence, E. (2002). “Safety for battered women in a textually mediated legal system.” Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 7: 199-229.
Russell, K., & Tieken, M. C. (2011). “‘Weaving a Tapestry That Won’t Unravel.’” In M. R. Warren & K. L. Mapp (Eds.), A Match on Dry Grass, Community Organizing for School Reform (p. 134-167). Toronto, ON: Oxford.
Smith, D. E. (1996). The relations of ruling: A feminist inquiry. Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies, 2: 171-190.
Smith, D. E. (1999). Writing the social: Critique, theory, and investigations. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Smith, D. E. (2005). Institutional ethnography: A sociology for people. Toronto, ON: Altamira Press.
Smith, G. W. (1990). Political activist as ethnographer. Social Problems, 37: 629-648.
Wilson, A., & Pence, E. (2006). “U.S. Legal Interventions in the Lives of Battered Women: An Indigenous Assessment.” In D. E. Smith (Ed.), Institutional Ethnography as Practice, 199-225. Toronto: Rowman and Littlefield.
Published
2016-04-01
How to Cite
Nichols, N. (2016). Investigating the social relations of human service provision: Institutional ethnography and activism. Journal of Comparative Social Work, 11(1), 38–63. https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v11i1.135
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