On emperors, monsters and social workers human rights based narratives for post-covid times

Abstract

ABSTRACT The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected—and continues to affect—social work both in its professional dimension and as an academic discipline in its teaching and research variants. Numerous studies, coincide in highlighting the ‘state of shock’ in which the pandemic has left the field of social welfare and especially everything relating to social services. This has resulted in undermining the self-esteem of many social work practitioners, many of whom were overwhelmed in their daily work and felt incapable of understanding the reality around them, burnt out and frustrated, This situation led to the reactivation of a debate on the need to develop a new narrative identity for social work based on dignified responses. This article is therefore about narratives. More specifically, it is about knowing to what extent it is possible to create a new and narrative identity for social work. The lessons provided by two children’s stories: Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes and Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo help to illustrate how narratives can change fundamentally held views. but also can be a powerful instrument for introducing human rights values and topics in social work teaching.