A Phenomenological Approach to Rural Social Services: Spaces, Times, and Interactions for Social Work Practice

Social services in the rural world have a set of specific characteristics in terms of their organization, their professional practices, and the sociocultural context in which they are developed. However, taking all this into consideration, their core differential expressions, which ultimately condition the praxis of rural social work, must be explored in greater depth. A phenomenological approach to social services in the rural world could help clarify their “experiential” nature to advance an understanding of their specificities beyond organizational or technical aspects. Through a qualitative case study conducted in Andalusia (Spain) that implemented observation, workshops, and interviews (N = 43), distinctive spaces, times, and interactions were determined as a phenomenological pillar of rural social work. These results have theoretical implications in that they advance social workers’ understanding of intervention processes in the rural world and the intervention processes’ eminently relational character against the growing transactional trend observed in urban contexts. The results also have practical use both for the design of rural social services and rural social work practice.