Exploring the spatial turn in social work: a bibliometric and narrative analysis of the Latin American and Global North literature

Abstract

This article reviews the increasing amount of literature focusing on spatial issues in social work. It combines bibliometric and narrative approaches to analyse articles published between 2003 and 2022. The review focuses on publications in Latin America and the Global North, considering the issues addressed, spatial concepts through which they are understood, connections between issues discussed and between concepts used, and degrees of interaction within and between discussions in these two global regions. Informed by theoretical arguments, a search was conducted for literature using four concepts: space, place, environment and territory. After refining and screening, 395 articles were identified that utilised these spatial concepts to discuss social work. The review shows evidence of a spatial turn in social work literature across the four concepts and increasing amounts of literature in both global regions. There are differences in the extent to which each concept has been employed in Latin America and the Global North, leading to different questions and epistemological frames being used in each region. The article considers the factors in the development and circulation of knowledge about space in social work so far in these two regions and considers priorities for future research.

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