Introduction

[Louise Morley]

My name is Louise Morley and I am a PhD Student at the School of Health at
the University of New England, Armdiale, Australia.

I have come to my research via my social work background, but I also have
arts degree with a major in theatre and philosophy.

I have been working as a social worker in the area of families and
children for 10 years and much of this work has been working in
‘partnership’ with statutory child protection authorities. It would be an
understatement to say that this work was/is difficult – and I think that
some of the difficulties are related to the powerful discourses at play.
Consequently, I would like to contribute to the body knowledge which
questions some of the assumptions existent in this area of practice. I
feel inspired by such texts as Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis
(Wodac and Meyer 2009), Language and Power (Fairclough 2001) and Working
with Discourse: Meaning Beyond the Clause  (Martin and Rose 2003) – and my
intention is to take a look at some of the problems existent in child
protection policy and practice using such approaches.

I’ve recently commenced my study. My impression so far is that, generally
speaking (certainly not everybody), the words ‘critical’ and ‘discourse’
seem to invoke a reaction of glazed eyes and boredom. One reaction implied
‘it had better be good research if you’re using discourse analysis.’ I was
left with the question ‘shouldn’t ALL PhD research be good???’ It’s
interesting that such reactions have caused me to question myself and some
of the questions I have about my area of study and my approach to it.
Perhaps I need to use a different language to communicate my ideas??? This
leads to value of discourse study being an interdisciplinary perspective –
but what does this really mean? Is part of that about adapting the
language we use for different ‘audiences’? If so, what are the
implications of this?

I made the decision to join DISCOURS so I would be able to communicate and
learn from others about this approach and also to be able to discuss some
of the issues I face as my study progresses.

Looking forward to the discussions.

Louise

Louise Morley
PhD Student
School of Health
University of New England
Armidale NSW 2351
Australia
Phone +61 2 6773-3644
Fax +61 2 6773-3666
E-mail: lmorley@ une.edu.au