The carceral existence of social work academics: a Foucauldian analysis of social work education in English universities

Amsler, Sarah; Simpson, Diane

Abstract

Applying Foucault's concepts of disciplinary power and technologies of the self to the experiences of social work academics in English universities, this articles reveals their carceral existences, arguing that social work academics and their students exist within a "carceral network" which controls and normalises behaviour by simultaneously trapping them within and excluding them from succeeding in academic practices. While social work academics become "docile bodies" as they are shaped and trained by competing norms of neoliberal higher education and professional social practice, their position as insiders and outsiders to both can also enable them to resist certain disciplinary expectations. The findings of the qualitative study discussed in this article support Foucault's analysis of powerful institutions but problematise binary positions of docility or resistance to disciplinary power within them. Lived experiences of 'becoming academic' in English social work education reveal how normalising judgements and hierarchical observation intersect with neoliberal forms of responsibilisation to create a carcerality rooted in "incompetence"; how "technologies of relationships" are used to mediate individual forms of responsibilisation, and how having to negotiate multiple disciplinary regimes can create opportunities for resistance to each.

Citation

Amsler, S., & Simpson, D. (2020). The carceral existence of social work academics: a Foucauldian analysis of social work education in English universities. Foucault Studies, 1(28), 36-70. https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v1i28.6073

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 5, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Sep 27, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 27, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2020
• Journal: Foucault Studies
• Print ISSN: 1832-5203
• Publisher: Handelshoejskolen i Koebenhavn (Copenhagen Business School)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 28
• Pages: 36-70
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v1i28.6073
• Keywords: social work education; disciplinary power; technologies of the self; carcerality of incompetence; compensatory gaze; technologies of relationships
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4614022
• Publisher URL: https://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/foucault-studies/article/view/6073