Hermeneutic reflections on meetings between citizens and professionals

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Institutions are generally considered meeting places for people of different backgrounds, opinions and knowledge. At times, the differences become visible through discrepancies in ways of thinking and acting. However, meetings between professionals and citizens within daily institutional practice contexts normally call for solutions to be made, hopefully in agreement between those involved. When the status quo is ‘business as usual’, we normally do not go deeper into questions about implicit values and expectations in such meetings. However, when opinions differ, there might be a reason to do so. Daily institutional practices can take such differences into account in various ways, but if a challenge is handled only with a view to pragmatic parameters, then something important is overlooked.
In this article, a theoretical tool for shedding light on underlying values and presumptions is presented. Lurking behind practical problem-solving, we find a range of hidden, yet critical, premises that can be made visible by means of what I refer to as a ‘hermeneutic reflection tool’.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProfessional Ethics in Welfare Work and Education – Nordic Perspectives
EditorsBjørn Ribers, Niels Warring
PublisherRoutledge
Publication statusSubmitted - 6 Aug 2023

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hermeneutic reflections on meetings between citizens and professionals'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this