Search

Hope is considered crucial to mental health recovery. However, the manner in which social inequalities shape individuals' meaning of hope has received little attention. Based on a close analysis of the recovery journeys of six Chinese service users in the UK, this paper explores the diverse meanings of hope among service users from non-dominant cultures. Illustrative stories are selected from in-depth life history interviews conducted with twenty-two participants. Based on the capabilities approach and intersectionality analysis, the findings reveal a paradox of hope and show how hope can be embraced, cautiously pursued or held at bay by individuals. Whilst hope is one expression of human agency, service users with reservations about hope maintain agency in other ways, despite their diminished life chances. This paper argues for an increased focus on individuals' agency development to support recovery and advocates for the challenging of inequalities to achieve this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, Valuing People ( Department of Health, 2001, 2010b) has shaped services for people with learning difficulties for the past decade. Promoting choices and independence are two of the four key principles that underpin this White Paper and its subsequent delivery plans. This paper assesses the impact that these changes had on the availability of mundane choices. It draws on empirical evidence from interviews with adults with learning difficulties. First impressions of the findings indicate that individuals are indeed able to make an increased range of decisions. At closer inspection, it does however become apparent that not all of these decisions are based on an infinite spectrum of options. Under the guise of choice-based policy rhetoric, some people with learning difficulties are at times presented with a pre-arranged ‘menu of choices’. For instance, a person may be free to choose activities at their day centre, but they may have limited control when deciding whether to attend the service in the first place. The wider implications that tokenistic choice-making processes have for the development of personal autonomy are highlighted. It is argued that a lack of control in respect to mundane choices is disempowering and leads to learned passivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aid delivery has been critiqued for its failure to be locality-specific and culturally relevant for recipients. Humanitarian responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami involved volunteers, professionals, and social work and other students. In this article, we consider students' endeavours in two responses to this tsunami in Sri Lanka. These initiatives involving professionals, academics and students from financially wealthy Western countries working in a less wealthy and powerful country sought to empower victim survivors receiving aid in rebuilding their lives after the tsunami. We draw on a large scale three-year qualitative study of two models which began shortly after this disaster--one institutional, the other professional. The research covered many dimensions of humanitarian aid in Sri Lanka. In this paper, we focus on: students' perceptions of their preparation before going overseas; the support they received while abroad; their debriefing upon return; and implications of their experiences for empowering approaches to humanitarian aid. The research revealed many positives in students' experiences. However, structural inequalities perpetuated inegalitarian relationships, despite individual attempts to the contrary. This paper offers lessons to improve the quality of students' experiences and their contributions to local people's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the views of social work practitioners regarding their ability to explore the emotional content of their practice in formalandin formal forums. The responses from a questionnaire- and interview-based study of a Scottish local authority reveal that supervision is subject to issues of ‘safety', permissions, manageria list approaches and individual relationships. Informal support from peers was valued due to its unrecorded, on-demand and supportive nature. The findings have implications for seeking improvements in supervision as suggested by the Social Work Task Force,and for securing of the validity and place of emotions in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to practise social work in England, all social workers must register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Only those who are registered can legally work as or call themselves a social worker. Once registered, if concerns about their practice are raised, social workers may find they are then made subject to a 'Fitness to Practise' (FTP) process. This article reports on the findings from interviews with social workers who were referred to the HCPC for practice issues. Our rationale was to hear and report on the lived experience of those going through the investigatory process. We carried out semi-structured interviews with eight social workers and used thematic analysis to analyse our data. The three main themes to emerge from our findings were organisational issues, representation and cost and emotional toll. This paper discusses these findings in detail. We suggest that the current regulatory system situates social workers in a position of disadvantage during the FTP process, and conclude by making a number of recommendations for consideration if future changes are to be made to the social work regulatory process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a qualitative study about the work of children's rights workers and social workers with looked after young people in the UK. It highlights some differences in their approach and in their attitudes to young people. Whilst they share many values, in theory, social work is closer ethic of care and interrelationship than rights work, which draws on an ethic of justice and individual autonomy. However, in practice, a more complex picture emerged. The study found that young people wanted professional workers who demonstrated that they cared about them as individuals and who focused on the process of the work. The study suggests that rights workers had a strong care ethic in their individual work with young people but social workers had difficulty in adhering to principles of care in a culture that encouraged them to manage young people's care rather than engage with them individually. There was also strong evidence that it could be detrimental to young people if rights workers adhered rigidly to principles of rights. The paper asks whether consideration of elements of an ethic of care alongside rights in both social work and children's rights work could benefit young people by encouraging a more sophisticated model of advocacy and by emphasising care in social workers' individual work with young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary child adoption in the UK and USA has been conceptualised as an extended kinship network of adopted children, birth relatives and adopters (Reitz and Watson, 1992; Grotevant and McRoy, 1998). This contrasts sharply with the traditional model of adoption as a form of family substitution. Yet, such a reconceptualisation raises many questions about the meaning of kinship for those involved. This paper draws on data from a series of biographical interviews with twenty-two parents who adopted children within the UK over a twenty-four-year period in order to explore post adoption ‘family relationships’ from the perspective of adoptive parents. It develops an analysis of definitions of ‘kinship’ created by adoptive parents in order to shape family relationships following adoption, particularly the processes through which birth relatives are rendered marginal or integral to adoptive family life. The relevance of current adoption policy and professional practices to these processes are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In cognitive ergonomics, laboratory experimentation using computer-based simulations (microworlds) has played a significant role in understanding human decision making and reasoning. In this paper, we describe the design and deployment of a social work microworld (BRIGIT), which simulates the electronic recording systems now widely implemented in UK children's services. BRIGIT provides a fabricated but realistic social work environment, enabling the fine structure of professional information processing to be studied in response to experimental manipulations, such as time pressure, etc. A preliminary experiment is described here, which shows BRIGIT to provide a convincing psychological experience and a useful research tool. As well as demonstrating its face and external validity, the results highlight BRIGIT's utility as a way of probing ‘practice culture’ and for examining different patterns of professional sense making. We conclude that the microworld paradigm provides a valuable and innovative approach for researching social work practice. A range of possible applications are discussed, not only in fundamental research, but as a practical tool for use in the workplace, such as for supporting staff selection. There is also obvious potential for ‘design research’ aimed directly at improving the usability and effectiveness of electronic systems, which is important given the widely reported problems of current ICT systems in social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents findings from a Department of Health-funded study into the emotional well-being of young people seeking asylum on their own in the UK. It discusses how young people accounted for only partly disclosing information about the circumstances surrounding their quest for asylum and subsequent aspects of their lives since arriving in the UK. Foucault's panoptic mechanism and its focus on the effects of power as dispersed through scrutiny are applied as a theoretical framework to contextualise these experiences. The paper shows that young people's decisions about how much of their current or past lives they share with others are more complex than indicated by earlier research. The paper argues that, for many young people, the predominant impetus for selective disclosure was a desire to retain a degree of agency as they navigated their way through immigration, asylum, social care, health and education systems and simultaneously sought to establish themselves in the social world. These findings have implications for how social care (and other) professionals engage and work with young people seeking asylum alone. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A key issue for the social work profession concerns the nature, quality and content of communicative encounters with children and families. This article introduces some findings from a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) that took place across the UK between 2013 and 2015, which explored how social workers communicate with children in their everyday practice. The Talking and Listening to Children (TLC) project had three phases: the first was ethnographic, involving observations of social workers in their workplace and during visits; the second used videostimulated recall with a small number of children and their social workers; and the third developed online materials to support social workers. This paper discusses findings from the first phase. It highlights a diverse picture regarding the context and content of communicative processes; it is argued that attention to contextual issues is as important as focusing on individual practitioners' behaviours and outlines a model for so doing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study that explored the experiences of young people living in foster-care in the UK. Previous research highlights that children and young people in foster-care experience stigma. Qualitative methods were chosen to explore how the young people in this study experience and manage stigma in their day-to-day lives. Findings provide valuable insights into how the participants cope with the challenges of stigma. There were two key ways they did this: (i) by carefully managing the disclosure of their 'in-care' status and (ii) by drawing support from their social relationships. Furthermore, the participants particularly valued support from their peers who were also living in foster-care, as it enabled them to form an in-group, which presented them with a valuable sense of belonging. These findings have implications for practice and this paper proposes two ways to better support young people in foster-care to cope with stigma: first, by valuing the importance of friendship groups and enabling young people to maintain their existing friendships and, second, by developing more opportunities that bring fostered young people together, which enables them to interact with their peers without the pressure of managing stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professionals express divergent views about whether adults at risk are best served by safeguarding work being incorporated into social workers' casework or being undertaken by specialist workers within local area or centralised teams. This paper draws on findings from the final two phases of a three-phase study which aimed to identify a typology of different models of organising adult safeguarding and compare the advantages and disadvantages of these. We used mixed-methods to investigate four different models of organising adult safeguarding which we termed: A) Dispersed-Generic, B) Dispersed-Specialist, C) Partly-Centralised-Specialist and D) Fully-Centralised-Specialist. In each model, we analysed staff interviews (n = 38), staff survey responses (n = 206), feedback interviews (with care home managers, solicitors and Independent Mental Capacity Advocates) (n = 28), Abuse of Vulnerable Adults (AVA) Returns, Adult Social Care User Survey Returns (ASCS) and service costs. This paper focuses on qualitative data from staff and feedback interviews and the staff survey. Our findings focus on safeguarding as a specialism, safeguarding practice (including multi-agency working, prioritisation, tensions, handover, staff confidence and deskilling) and managing safeguarding. Local authority (LA) participants described and commented on the advantages and disadvantages of their organisational model. Feedback interviews offered different perspectives on safeguarding services and implications of different models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, research was undertaken to examine social workers' confidence, understanding and awareness of child sexual abuse (CSA) as it was suggested that a decline in numbers of reported incidents might be due to a decline in levels of understanding and awareness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five first-line, middle and senior managers and two chairs of local safeguarding boards across six local authorities in England. Focus groups were conducted with fifty-four social workers. Key themes revealed a complex array of issues, ranging from the diverse forms of CSA and exploitation that social workers are required to address, the variable support and training available, and the inter-disciplinary nature of much of the work. Although social workers undertake this important work with a strong sense of commitment and concern for children, they face a number of challenges. Paradoxically, whilst their work on these cases is the source of intense scrutiny, the training, support and supervision, and role clarity required to undertake this work well are often overlooked. The aim of this paper is to discuss the research findings and to identify implications for social work practice, training, multi-agency work and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on findings from a European project, 'Rights through Alliances: Innovating and Networking Both Within Homes And Schools' (RAINBOW-HAS), conducted in 2013-15. It built collaboration between six EU countries to analyse and improve the rights of children and youth regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in educational settings. The main focus of discussion derives from a secondary discourse analysis following thematic analyses of the qualitative interviews undertaken with a range of different families, schools and community associations across these European countries, which provide a snapshot of contemporary practice. We discuss the relative silence of social work in challenging homophobic and transphobic bullying, given their potential in promoting family and young people's engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public's perception of the social work profession is a rarely considered perspective and yet a topic that is a concern to front line professionals. This paper explores how social workers experience and attempt to cope with public perception of their profession. It highlights the impact of these concerns on social workers' personal experiences and professional practice. Using semi-structured interviews with sixteen UK social workers, from local authorities and private organisations, we explore the experiences of this group. Thematic analysis of the data identified four concerns: the experience of public perception, drivers of public perception, coping with public perception, and mechanisms to raise the professions profile. Examining public perception through the eyes of social workers provides valuable insights into the lived experiences of these professionals, and offers practical implications at both the micro and macro levels. It reveals two key ways in which the profession can begin to address the prevailing negative perception considered to be emanating from the public: through developing a more co-operative relationship with external sources of public perception (e.g. government and the media) and by engaging in more pro-active self-promotion of the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the impact that learning about recovery has on mental health carers, exploring the implications of this research for UK social work and beyond. A steering group co-produced a training intervention on recovery that was delivered by the first author and a carer, both with experiences of recovery, to eleven carers. Mainly qualitative data, with supplementary socio-demographic data, were collected to evaluate the impact of this training. Thematic analysis was applied to the data. Findings suggest that being more 'recovery- aware' gives carers increased hope and optimism for the future. Awareness of the impact of caring upon the service user's life helps carers to promote recovery in their relative, and gain confidence in their own expertise-by-caring. Professional care is fundamental to recovery but needs to build on a partnership model. The carers evaluated the training as helpful, and valued its authenticity in being led by trainers with experience of recovery. Carers' expectations of professional practice are highlighted, with different approaches discussed that support effective carer involvement in their relative's care. Recognition of carers' expertise-by-caring demands a new approach to mental health care, with significant implications for British social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the key findings from the first piece of research in the UK to focus exclusively on ‘stress, support and well-being of social work students’ (n = 76), with findings from a cohort of Indian social work students studying in the Tamil Nadu region in Southern India (n = 235), using the same questionnaire. This comparative international study highlights a range of differences in the key outcome variables, namely British students reported significantly higher levels of demands and significantly lower levels of support than their Indian counterparts; however, despite the lower levels of demands and higher levels of support reported by Indian students, they had significantly poorer well-being than their British counterparts. In the Indian study, there were no significant correlations between the main outcome variables of demands, support and well-being; however, in the British study, support was negatively correlated with well-being (measured using the GHQ-12), indicating that those who reported higher levels of support also reported better well-being. This study draws particular attention to the potentially differing contexts of ‘support’ amongst both groups, and raises questions concerning the challenges of using questionnaires to capture culturally specific stressors and support mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The contribution of mental health social work (MHSW) to multidisciplinary care delivery has been subject to political pressures for change since the introduction in the UK of the National Service Framework for Mental Health in 1999 and subsequent New Ways of Working (NWW) initiative in 2003. Culminating in the new 2007 Mental Health Act for England and Wales, Approved Social Workers have been replaced by Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) with the role and remit extended to other disciplines. Given this political context, this study uses an ethnographic methodology to draw together qualitative data from four reconfigured mental health teams to describe and debate the MHSW contribution to NWW. This contribution was of particular interest to the authors, as both were mental health social workers by background, with one of the authors having worked as a MHSW in Sri Lanka and the other having practised as an Approved Social Worker (ASW) and supervised ASWs in a multidisciplinary team England. Participant observations of team meetings/activities, together with joint home visits and interviews, provide an understanding of the social work contribution from a range of perspectives. Thematic analysis of data reveals that MHSWs experience a clash between their unique social work contribution and their role as generic care co-ordinators. Furthermore, there is stigma and reduced status associated with being a MHSW when compared with colleagues from other disciplines. Political issues beset the roles and responsibilities of MHSWs impacting at the level of pay and conditions of employment. The paper concludes with recommendations for managing the political schism in a service that is dominated by health and where local authorities play an increasingly peripheral role in managing and supervising seconded staff. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Workplace violence is a serious occupational hazard for many social care staff. In this paper, we detail the results of an investigation into the levels of client violence experienced by a sample of 363 social care staff working in a UK Shire County Department. We also explore the consequences of such violence upon job satisfaction and self-reported stress symptoms. The results reported show that levels of client violence differ across areas of social care work, with residential staff being the most at risk and home care workers the least at risk. The data presented also show that, as exposure to violence increases, job satisfaction diminishes and the reporting of stress symptoms increases. Fear, or feeling vulnerable, is found to be both an important consequence of client violence and a mediator of its association with diminished job satisfaction and elevated stress symptom reporting. It is concluded that theory and practice in tackling violence in social care should more fully address the important role played by fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a qualitative study exploring the stories of twenty-four women involved in sex work in the UK, this paper discusses whether it is possible to identify key risk and protective factors influencing involvement. It argues that, although age at first involvement is an important factor in influencing outcome, so also are experiences of childhood and adult adversity. Early damaging experiences, which may increase the likelihood of involvement, also affect the ability to deal with the experience of sex work and simultaneously ‘manage’ other life experiences. What is crucial in identifying who is likely to be the most vulnerable are the accumulation of risk factors in early childhood and the personal and ecological resources available to individuals across the lifespan to manage that pathway. How these factors are managed determines the degree of victimhood or agency, vulnerability or resilience individuals perceive they have and the route taken through sex work as a consequence. The study identified three different groups of women who reported different pathways, reflecting different sources of support and coping strategies. This analysis suggests that there is a need to facilitate the provision of ‘secure base’ interventions for women involved in sex work, whatever their age, which have meaning for them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contemporary welfare is closely linked to policies designed to foster individual responsibility and self-development. This agenda, however, encounters problems when adults lack the capacity to make decisions about their lives, and/or are unable to protect themselves from the malign actions of their fellow citizens. These problems are addressed by the 2005 Mental Capacity Act (England and Wales) and adult safeguarding procedures. Specifically, the 2005 Mental Capacity Act (England and Wales) (MCA) introduced a statutory advocacy service, which empowers local authorities to appoint an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) to represent the interests of adult lacking capacity to make decisions about adult safeguarding procedures. This paper presents (i) a general overview of the development of adult safeguarding and the introduction of the MCA's IMCA service into these procedures; (ii) findings from a research project investigating the integration of IMCAs into these procedures; and (iii) a discussion of the challenges facing IMCAs involved in adult safeguarding procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on policy implementation and, in particular, the workings of ‘street-level bureaucracy’ in a small, marginalised area of welfare provision, namely post-care adults seeking access to their care records. The work arises from research mapping UK service provision in this area, via questionnaires and interviews with key actors in local authorities and voluntary organisations. The study was prompted by widespread but largely anecdotal evidence that practices and service provision for those seeking to access their care records varied enormously. While post-care adults may seek access to records for reasons similar to those of adopted adults (curiosity, information on birth family, medical information, care histories and experiences, search and reunion), there is a lack of comparable legal framework and service provision, with reliance instead on the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA). The intersection of data protection and (child) welfare gives rise to a number of important tensions that are explored, such as those surrounding ‘ownership’ of files and their content, between rights to information and (paternalistic) welfare considerations, and whether the handling of requests should constitute an administrative or a social work task. Finally, we consider the findings, their wider contexts and implications for legal reform and policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper draws upon case study research to explore deviant social work. This is defined as small-scale acts of resistance, subterfuge, deception or even sabotage that are typically hidden yet scattered throughout parts of the social work labour process. Taking a wide variety of forms that can include recalcitrant attitudes as well as practices, deviant social work can be seen as being distinct from radical social work, most notably due to its implicit, pragmatic, non-idealistic and individual dispositions and strategies that are not rooted within epistemological, professional or other institutionally defined parameters. In contrast, positive deviant social work seeks as its maxim application and tangible support to vulnerable people above theoretical critique, rhetoric or perpetual reflexivity. Just as significant, because of its covert and disparate expressions, deviant social work also largely evades managerial or policy-led forms of location, surveillance and control. It is concluded that only engagement with an eclectic mix of critical theories is likely to help us locate and understand the many forms of resistance that inevitably emerge within an unpredictable, demanding, highly regulated and under-resourced quasi-professional labour process such as social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The value of co-produced research is increasingly recognised. This is a case study of a lay conducted, co-produced qualitative research study on the experiences of social workers and Disabled users of their services of using (or not) digital technologies when communicating with each other. We describe the co-production process from inception to dissemination and draw out lessons for future studies. Disabled lay researchers developed interview topic guides, conducted semi-structured interviews with social workers and Disabled users of social work services, analysed the data and led or contributed to study outputs. Several factors contributed to the success of this study. It was co-produced using service user, practitioner and academic knowledge. It is built on existing trusted relationships. Training and support were targeted and relevant, and delivered using a variety of learning methods, including peer support. Disabled lay researchers drew on their lived experiences to develop topic guides and interpret data. The study team was committed to inclusion, capacity building and an assets-based approach, and to carefully managing power relationships. Challenges were the time required to setup the study and to train and support lay researchers, and the bureaucratic and governance systems that were not ideally suited to root and branch co-production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constituency work of British Members of Parliament (MPs) has long been referred to in political circles as a form of social work. This article reports on a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with thirteen MPs. The aim of the research was to find out what characterises their constituency work to understand why it apparently bears comparison with social work. The article draws on the concepts of proximity and place from the mobilities paradigm to articulate the idea of 'politics as social work'. MPs in the study engaged in face-to-face emotional labour in which they formed and sustained empathic relationships with people and places to represent them. They practised judgement under uncertainty and risk work, and they were embedded in local organisational networks of risk and trust with local authorities and other agencies. The article argues that this analysis of politics as social work provides a deeper understanding of the politics of social work. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and its severe socio-economic impact, the importance for social work of the concept of emplaced empathy and the need for our reorientation to place is thrown into particularly sharp focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report findings of a mixed-method evaluation of Local Area Coordination (LAC) in one English Local Authority—an approach that draws on principles of earlier intervention, and place-, asset- and strengths-based activity. We drew on documentary materials, unstructured observation and qualitative interviews. In total, fifty-five qualitative interviews were conducted with professional stakeholders (including Coordinators, statutory agencies and community organisations), and a purposive sample of individuals supported by LAC. Positively, LAC is operating as intended. It is a flexible and agile approach, and one that is less constrained by the expectations and methods associated with traditional service delivery. Reported impacts include: tackling isolation and loneliness; building a positive vision of the future; identifying non-service solutions and being heard. We discuss the ongoing conceptual and methodological challenges to building the LAC evidence base, fostering professional support and understanding, and managing expectations of individuals and communities in furthering development. Resolving these would allow LAC to move beyond being a promising, local and small-scale transformative development for individuals and families. Its future trajectory is enmeshed in the implications of COVID-19 for individuals, families and communities: rising poverty and widening inequality, a fragile Third Sector, and concerns about community fatigue and erosion of trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental engagement with British child-rearing normative practices and policies has been a source of conflict between Black African parents and professionals involved in child-safeguarding in Britain. These professionals include teachers, police, healthcare practitioners such as health visitors, nurses and doctors, and most importantly, social workers, because Children Act 1989 , section 47 legally tasks social workers to investigate child-safeguarding concerns. Child-rearing norms and practices across all four UK countries are largely similar, although substantive legislative differences necessitate the application of only child welfare laws/policies of England and Wales in this study. This article focuses on Nigerian parents' experiences of British child welfare system, tensions ensuing from those interactions and how parents mitigate them. Insights are drawn from 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions with Nigerian parents living in Greater London. Honneth's recognition theory and Fraser's participatory parity undergird the conceptual framework. The findings reveal an interplay of the structural forces of race, power and cultural differentials on participants' thinking processes and actions. Thus, suggesting that social workers perpetuate the British public's misrecognition of Nigerian parents through uncritical social work practices, which are implicated in further disempowerment of Black African parents, to the detriment of the families' well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationships between unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people and the social care professionals who work with them. Based on the interviews with both young people and professionals, analysed using a thematic narrative approach, the findings seek to reframe practitioners in this field as 'co-navigators'. Such co-navigators assist asylum-seeking young people to plot a course through complex and uncertain social terrain, including the shifting and inhospitable terrain of immigration regimes. Viewing practice in this way brings into focus the interplay of agency and control in these relationships. In contrast to some previous conceptualisations, the agency of the young people here is expressed through relationships with professionals as many of the young people relied on social care to help them manifest their goals and aspirations; both through pragmatic assistance in navigating the complexity of institutional bureaucracy and through developing emotional, therapeutic bonds. Understanding social care professionals as 'co-navigators' allows us to understand the emotional value of practical forms of assistance as well as explore how agency might operate as such relationships evolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the experience and influence of place amongst transnational social workers. The concept of 'place' may be perceived as quietly existing in the background of everyday social work practice. Yet, transnational social workers in this study tell a different story about what happens to the role of place when social workers become globally mobile. The social work profession is embedded in place; qualifications and applications of social work are located within local and national context. Professional migration inevitably entails being separated from the construction of social work as it was known in the country of origin, which leads to an intersection between the context of social work, the role of place and redefining a professional home in an unfamiliar practice environment. This qualitative study explored the role of place for thirteen transnational social workers who relocated from the UK and Ireland to practice in Australia's child protection system. Participants were interviewed twice over a three-year period to allow a deep understanding of the role of place and experience of 'self' over time. Findings highlight place-related change as a multidimensional experience that has a profound impact on transnational social workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the social work profession, resilience is integrated into educational programmes, professional development courses and frameworks. Such prevalence reflects the importance of resiliency for the profession. This may be the case in particular for those newer to the profession, where the challenges of managing the adversity synonymous with the social work role are still new, despite an increasing level of responsibility. This study focuses on early career social workers, an important but underexplored career stage within this occupation. The aim of which was to enhance understanding of how resilience is experienced by those who are in a unique transitional period in their careers; no longer students, whilst also not yet experienced social workers. The experiences of resilience for this group was explored through semi-structured interviews with fourteen social workers, all employed within Local Authorities in the United Kingdom (UK). Through thematic analysis, three themes were identified: support, team dynamics and maintaining professionalism. The findings offer important insights, which can inform and contribute to the supportive environments organisations can foster. As such, the practical implications of the research focus on fostering an environment of positivity, through more guided group supervision and the physical positioning of early career workers within office spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the changing climate in UK universities since the introduction of fees-based funding and government-backed student loans. In what is now a highly marketised sector, the study considers what influence this neo-liberal environment may be having on the nature and quality of social work education. The study, which was carried out in 2015–16, has sought the views and experiences of a sample of social work academics. Methods employed involved a combination of survey and unstructured interviews, with both data streams having a largely qualitative focus. Questionnaire data was gathered from seventy-eight UK-based academics alongside eighteen interviews. The study has representation from all four countries in the UK with academics including professors, researchers and lecturers from both new and more established universities. Findings indicate a level of concern among participants regarding the influence of market forces on the academic–student relationship, on processes of student admissions, assessment and specifically academic decision making with regard to failing students. Interview participants describe feeling caught in the middle of competing priorities and agendas. Discussion seeks to employ a transformatory critically reflective model of analysis placing emphasis on those researched and the wider social work community to collectively take forward issues which this study has given voice to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine the lived experiences of four social work practitioners who have been directly involved in cases of fatal child abuse. The research examines how the tragedies impacted upon the workers in both their personal and professional capacities, and locates those experiences within the relevant organisational context. The study reveals that all the workers were significantly affected in different ways by the tragedies. Although there is some evidence of good practice, there is evidence that the emotional and support needs of the workers were largely ignored by the organisations in which they practised. The study reveals that, following the children's deaths, the supervision the social workers received was often inappropriate and inconsistent, and the serious case reviews (SCR) that were undertaken further contributed to the isolation and blame already being experienced by the workers involved. The research examines how such factors as media responses, organisational culture, working practices and the serious case review system combine to provide a means by which systemic failures are minimised and ignored in favour of attributing blame to the actions or inaction of individual social work practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhetorically contextualised against a history of poor outcomes and negative attitudes, New Labour's mental health policy introduced recovery as a turn towards optimism, control and choice for those who provide and use mental health services. Recovery continues to occupy a key role within contemporary policy and practice. Despite such privilege, recovery remains a contested concept, not least because it means different things to different people. This article reports empirical work conducted during 2010–11 and explores two interpretive repertoires (traditional and responsibilised-progressive) that mental health practitioners draw upon in their accounts of recovery. Grounded in constructionist theory, the findings suggest that practitioner accounts of recovery are diverse and produce many different subject positions from which recovery may be experienced. Developing Webber and Joubert's (2016) editorial comments on the challenge for social work, it is argued that professional social work must practise in a manner compatible with its own value base and any model of recovery must be held up for scrutiny. A knowledgeable position for the practitioner is advocated—one that is capable of working multiple paradigms in order to better understand and meet service user need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing interest in religion and spirituality within social work literature. However, little empirical research has explored Islamic welfare organisations and especially their significance for service users. This article presents findings from an evaluation of a British Islamic social work organisation (Ihsaan Social Support Association (ISSA) Wales), drawing on qualitative interviews with Muslim service users (n = 8) and quantitative findings from the service user database (n = 495), a quality-of-life assessment (n = 42) and a satisfaction survey (n = 36). In discussing the qualitative findings, religious authority, authenticity, culture, gender and the role of mosques are considered in analysing why the organisation's services were perceived as beneficial to their Muslim service users. Over three-quarters of those responding to a satisfaction survey reported that the help from the organisation had improved their well-being, but quantitative data from assessment and review showed no evidence of either improvement or deterioration in quality of life over time, with the exception of social life, where there was a significant improvement. Overall, in exploring the experiences of these service users, the findings highlight the diversity within the category of the 'Muslim service user' and the potential contribution that Islamic social welfare organisations may make in meeting the needs of British Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers have worked with older people with mental ill health in multidisciplinary teams for many years. Research regarding their contribution is nevertheless sparse. This article addresses this gap. Qualitative data from semi-structured staff interviews were drawn from a multiple case study of community mental health teams (CMHTs) for older people, some with and others without social worker members. Interviews included questions about team roles and the impact of the presence or absence of social workers on team functioning. A grounded theory approach was adopted to analyse the data, enabling issues of importance to interviewees to emerge. Non-social work CMHT staff were found to place a high value on social worker team membership due to their specific skills, knowledge and values, and with regard to communication pathways. Social workers and other team members' views were found to differ regarding whether social workers within CMHTs should operate as generalists or specialists. The findings suggest the need for formal structures extending beyond the co-location of multidisciplinary staff; appropriate and sufficient supervision for social work team members; and the development of more workable and direct referral systems between CMHTs and social services adult social work teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that variable access to training, support mechanisms and resources limits social work research capacity. A survey circulated to UK social work academics in 2008 was completed by 249 respondents (response rate 33 percent). A sub-sample of twenty-nine respondents was selected for follow-up telephone interview. Both interview and survey data revealed respondents' enthusiasm for undertaking research but highlighted the practical difficulties they faced in terms of relief from teaching responsibilities; access to research funding; and a comparatively limited infrastructure for social work research. Suggestions for improvements included assistance with developing and submitting bids, mentoring, and greater access to research and practice networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central tenet of Street-Level Bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980) is that, from the service user's point of view, the discretionary interpretation of policy by front line practitioners effectively becomes the policy. The managerialisation of social services in the UK has sparked debatesoverwhether it is still possible for practitioners toexercise ‘professional' discretion in any meaningful way. However, Evans (2010) has argued that, in a managerialised world, not only do practitioners retain discretion in important areas of work, but managers also exercise significant discretion inhowpolicy is implemented. Evans therefore claims that to understand policy implementation in social services requires going ‘beyond street-level bureaucracy' as originally formulated by Lipsky. Based on a case study of how older people’s care home placements are reviewed, it is proposed that, in a sector that has been fragmented by both marketisation and privatisation, to understand fully how policy is mediated at the point of delivery, we need to go even further beyond the examination of the practices within a single bureaucracy. In this specific setting, the exercise of discretion is multi-layered and dispersed among multiple stakeholders, blurring accountability for decision making and making the task of empowering older care home residents more complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based preventative programmes are increasing in demand as the UK seeks alternative ways of supporting the growing number of older adults. As the use and promotion of preventative programmes increase, so does the need for evidence supporting their effectiveness. Through the use of mixed methods, this study explored a singing community-arts programme, the Golden Oldies, to determine the extent to which the programme contributes to participants' (n = 120) sense of health, self-development and social connectedness. Quantitative analyses found that between 73.1 and 98.3 per cent of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the Golden Oldies contributed to their self-development, health and sense of community as well as revealing a statistically significant increase in self-reported health prior to participation in the programme to the time of the study. Qualitative analysis (n = 5) revealed three themes—the Golden Oldies as: (i) a reduction in social isolation and increase in social contact; (ii) a therapeutic source; and (iii) a new lease for life. The results provide evidence of the preventative nature of the Golden Oldies programme through self-reported improvements in health and social relationships where social connections appeared to be the important thread that contributed to the perceived benefits. Implications for policy, practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Social Work Reform Board is undertaking an ambitious programme of reform in the UK. This includes enhancing the professional status of social work and reforming social work education. The nature and purpose of service user and carer involvement at all levels of social work education need to be considered alongside this. However, the nature of meaningful involvement of service users and carers in advanced post-qualifying education has not been clearly articulated. A qualitative study was conducted that involved twenty-nine stakeholders—service users, carers, social workers, lecturers and managers—to help understand what constitutes meaningful involvement at this level of education. We found four predominant models (consultation, partnership, political and user control) that have different implications for how service users and carers may be engaged in advanced post-qualifying social work education. Further research is required to understand the effect of these different models on outcomes for social workers and the service users and carers they work with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local authorities across England and Wales have been purchasing fostering placements from the independent sector for their children in care since before the start of the New Labour era in the mid 1990s. Significant developments have occurred since then with a clear policy steer towards public sector commissioning of all children's, including fostering, services from private and voluntary organisations. This article explores, with reference to a recent study, how policy directives from central government have impacted upon the practice of six local authorities and six independent fostering agencies in respect of the commissioning and provision of long-term and permanent fostering placements and related services. It examines the experiences and views of key commissioners and providers in these agencies and sets these alongside each other. In so doing, a number of themes are apparent and, from these, a new policy direction may be emerging. At a time of imminent public finance constraints and an emerging political consensus, the requirement for local authorities to outsource fostering services from the non-governmental sector looks increasingly likely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social workers are classic street-level bureaucrats. This article provides a critical examination of Michael Lipsky's account of discretion within street-level bureaucracies. While concurring with the main thrust of Lipsky's critique of management control of discretion, I argue that he gives insufficient attention to the role of professionalism in his analysis and the impact this has on the relationship between front line managers and workers and the nature of discretion. I employ a qualitative case study of adult social work within a local authority to illustrate and develop this argument. The study, which draws primarily on interviews with local managers and practitioners, suggests that the professional status of social workers influences both the nature of their discretion and the way in which this is managed. I conclude that Lipksy's work needs to be augmented by an understanding of the role of other perspectives, such as professionalism, in examining manager–worker relations and discretion in the street-level bureaucracies within which social workers practise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The management and delivery of bereavement support services in palliative care settings present practical and ethical challenges. A national survey, conducted in 2007, examined bereavement practice in ten Marie Curie hospices across the UK. This qualitative study was undertaken using semi-structured telephone interviews with Bereavement Service Leaders located in each hospice. Although findings revealed that bereavement services were in operation and had been reviewed in response to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Guidance (2004) and all bereaved families were offered support, there was no standardisation of service delivery across sites. Multidisciplinary team meetings facilitated shared decision making for bereavement follow-up and expanded and clarified documentation completed by nursing staff around the time of the patient's death. However, there was ambiguity regarding professional ‘duty of care’ and agency responses to bereaved individuals who were suicidal. Questions were raised around clinical effectiveness, reliability and professional accountability. The study highlighted ethical issues centred on documentation, user participation and consent, and found staff training was variable across the ten hospices. The findings have informed the development of a post-bereavement service model that has been subsequently implemented across Marie Curie Cancer Care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses key findings from a multidisciplinary study of ten remodelled extra care schemes for older people. It argues that the absence of a clear national definition of ‘extra care’ makes it difficult for older people, their relatives and social workers to dicide whether an extra case scheme is appropriate. Schemes were idiosyncratic. Only a minority provided an optional communal cooked lunch. A common problem was high care staff turnover so that temporary agency staff often had little idea of what an extra care shceme should provide. Although the tenants interviewed were largely satisfied with the care, some were distressed by carers' attitudes. Although assessment for an extra care place was based on the amount of paid care an older person had at home, this was unsound as it was common for care needs to decline in a scheme's improved physical environment. Building design, however, did not always take account of declining strength and poor mobility. Main scheme entrances were often difficult for some tenants to operate and were a barrier to going outside. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last decade, global workforce shortages have seen governments seek to recruit social work practitioners offshore; as a consequence, increasingly, mobile practitioners are navigating the opportunities and challenges posed by working and living in countries other than where they obtained their professional qualifications. This article reports a small exploratory study describing the experiences of ten social workers who qualified in New Zealand but who were practising in England, Scotland or Ireland during 2010–11. While differences in community, work and professional cultures pose challenges, the opportunity such travel provides for reflection on cultural and professional differences is found to be at the heart of participants' overall positive experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]