Social work practice research innovation,implementation and implications: A case of ‘Cooperative Grounded Inquiry’ with formerly abused women in Hong Kong

Abstract

There is a notable ethical, epistemological and practical need to recognize formerly abused women’s central role in developing domestic violence services and related knowledge. For achieving social work professional accountability, methodological innovations that facilitate participation of different stakeholders in domestic violence services are required. Instead of polarizing domestic violence service providers and users, this article aims at providing deeper thoughts on methodological innovation that can facilitate coparticipation and partnership in domestic violence social work practice research. I propose a rigorous merging of Cooperative Inquiry and Grounded Theory Methodology to produce a Cooperative Grounded Inquiry which can cast light onto the promotion of participation and knowledge making in domestic violence social work services. This methodology was applied in working with formerly abused women in Hong Kong and has generated useful working principles for further application of the methodology.