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This study is based upon original research carried out with lesbian, gay and queer parents and explores how genealogy, kinship, family, everyday life, gender, race, state welfare and intimacy are theorized and lived out, drawing upon interactionist, feminist, discursive and queer sociologies.

Atmosphere is a neglected topic in social work, and so this article considers the production of atmospheres amongst the residents of an extant 1960s housing scheme in Edinburgh (UK). This is in order to address not only the complexity of feelings about living on such an estate but also to consider what consequences the paying of attention to atmosphere's production and effects might have for a social work concern with welfare and wellbeing. The article is based upon semi-structured and walking interviews with 17 residents – council or private renters and home-owners – of Claremont Court, a mixed, low-rise estate and analyses their description and crafting of atmosphere as a way to understand questions of belonging, welfare and community in situ. After reviewing some existing research on atmosphere and outlining methodological issues relating to the Claremont Court project, the article goes on to consider how residents described their feelings about or sense of the estate and its design before discussing the emergence of contradictory narratives about home. The production of narratives about those needing welfare support is particularly pertinent to atmospheric accounts of the housing scheme, and so the article addresses this before finally making an argument for the relevance of immersive and emplaced accounts of space and place for both social work practice and research.

This article presents a conceptual review of the literature concerning social work and theory. Based on analysis of 93 research studies, drawn from literature in English published between 1968 and 2016, the review considers the many ways that theory is conceptualised in the literature, and asks meta‐theoretical questions about how and why different conceptualisations arise. The article examines definitional questions and ambiguities concerning the use of theory, extant research on the use of theory by social workers in practice, hostility expressed regarding theory in social work, the theory/practice divide and perspectives that emphasise theory's utility or functionality. The article points at some methodological and ethical limitations concerning current research, and summarises dominant, as well as less prominent, versions of what counts as theory within the social work discipline, before finally suggesting that further meta‐theoretical research is needed.

This article contributes to the debate on gender and social work by examining dominant approaches within the field. Anti-discriminatory, woman-centered and intersectional accounts are critiqued for reliance upon both reification and isolation of gender. Via examination of poststructural, queer and trans theories within social work, the author then presents accounts based upon structural/materialist, ethnomethodological and discursive theories, in order to open up debates about conceptualization of gender. These are used to suggest that social work should adopt a focus on gender as a practical accomplishment that occurs within various settings or contexts.

This article examines the use of socialization theory in social workers' considerations of child development. The author analyses assessments of lesbians and gay men who applied to foster or adopt children, in order to demonstrate social workers' reliance upon `gender role models'. Drawing upon feminist work, the article goes on to critique socialization theory, before outlining versions of `gender' found in discourse theory and ethnomethodology. Using these methodologies, the author proposes that gender role theory does not describe a child development `need', but rather constructs a particular account that is limited and conservative. The article considers the implications of this reliance upon socialization theory for lesbian and gay foster care and adoption, and instead proposes that social work should develop less restrictive accounts of gender and sexuality.

• Summary: This article is a discussion piece on the idea of `sexuality' within social work. The author discusses dominant models of sexuality — including those within anti-discriminatory practice theory — before going on to raise a number of problems with this perspective. The article draws upon queer, feminist and Foucaultian theories to suggest less restrictive ways of thinking through sexuality and social work.• Findings: Social work has a tendency to define `sexuality' as an essential identity with a fixed set of characteristics and social welfare `needs'. This article argues for a reflexive account of sexuality within social work, and for the investigation of the production and use of sexuality categories within everyday professional settings.• Applications : The author discusses the assessment of sexuality in cases of foster care or adoption applications by lesbians or gay men in order to highlight the practical application of these ideas. The article discusses why new ways of thinking through sexuality may be productive for social work.

This article responds to contributions to the special issue of Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, volume 7(1), on lesbian, gay, polyamorous and queer parenting and families. The author draws upon Foucault's work to suggest that new relational possibilities might be imagined via the practices of lesbian and gay parenting. After briefly reviewing his own involvement in research on gay and lesbian foster care and adoption, the author goes on to discuss questions about gender role models, methodological debates on the nature of research knowledge, and the emergence of narrative/discourse analysis within lesbian and gay parenting studies. The author discusses and responds to a number of problems raised by the contributors, and emphasises an approach to gay and lesbian parenting studies based upon a discursive concern with power/knowledge.

Stephen Hicks presents a history of foster care and adoption by lesbians and gay men in the UK since 1988. He reviews key research, policy, law and debates about lesbian and gay carers and discusses key changes and developments in this field of practice. The article discusses a number of common arguments that surface in debates about this topic, including the idea that the children of lesbians and gay men will suffer psychosocial damage or develop problematic gender and sexual identity. In addition, the author critiques the notion that children do best in 'natural' two-parent, heterosexual families and that lesbian or gay carers should not be considered or should be used only as a 'last resort'. Although the number of approved lesbian and gay carers has been increasing and there has been a range of positive changes in this field, it is argued that a series of homophobic ideas remain a key feature of this debate. The article asks how much things have changed since 1988 and what social work can do to contribute to an anti-homophobic practice.