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Overview
At the sentence level, every discipline has different expectations in regard to what constitutes "good writing." Some fields, for instance, encourage use of the first-person "I" voice while other fields require that you avoid it entirely. Some disciplines encourage use of the passive voice while others strongly prefer the active voice in almost all situations.
This page addresses sentence-level conventions that are common when writing at the graduate level in the field of Social Work.
Sentence-Level Writing Conventions
1. People-First Language
The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics notes that “Social workers promote social justice and social change” (NASW, 2021, Preamble para. 1). As part of that work, it is essential that social workers choose people-first language. This is language that highlights that a person has a disability but that does not stereotype or reduce a person to a label of their illness or disability. For instance, it is better to refer to “people who are blind” rather than “the blind.” People-first language changes over time as disability rights groups raise awareness of the ways stigma and discrimination may be impacting their community. It is important for social workers to receive regular updates on changing language and do their best to respect the language requested by historically oppressed communities.
https://askearn.org/page/people-first-language
2. Language Related to Gender
In their work, Top 10 Things Social Workers Need to Know about Human Sexuality, authors Irvin and McKay (2016) note that number one on the list is that social workers need to understand the difference between biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression, which are all different things. Social workers should not confuse gender identity with sexual orientation. Every person has a sexual orientation, a gender identity, and a style of gender expression. It is better to use terms like the singular "they" to refer to a specific person when gender identity is unknown. Though this may seem confusing at first, it should be noted that the singular "they" has been in use in the English language for many years, William Shakespeare included.
3. First-Person Narrative
Social work professional writing uses guides developed by the American Psychological Association. The current APA 7 guidelines call for a movement in professional writing toward the use of first-person pronouns in papers and reports. If you are writing a paper by yourself, use "I" statements. In co-authored papers, use "we" statements. Avoid the use of third-person narratives such as “this author.” APA notes that this creates ambiguity for readers; in a paper with multiple references, it can be confusing to determine who has performed an action. The APA 7 guidelines state, “When you use the first person to describe your own actions, readers clearly understand when you are writing about your own work and reactions versus those of other researchers” (APA, 2019). However, many instructors have not yet adapted to the recent APA 7 guidelines. Students should check with their instructors for additional guidance.
https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/first-person-myth
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/first-person-pronouns
Additional information about sentence-level writing conventions for graduate students in Social Work can be found in the writing refresher Canvas course for new MSW students
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