Reflective practice groups in a children's social work setting - what are the outcomes, how do they work and under what circumstances? A new theoretical model based on empirical findings.

Despite widespread acceptance of the importance of reflection and reflective practice groups (RPGs) in children's social work, almost no evidence exists as to the outcomes of RPGs in this context. This is a serious limitation because such evidence is crucial for funders and policy-makers and to establish RPGs as an evidence-based practice. There is also an absence of theoretical models to inform thinking about how RPGs might 'work' as an intervention to support workers and improve practice. Contributing new evidence to bridge these gaps, this paper reports a mixed-methods, longitudinal evaluation of RPGs within one local authority children's social work services department. The study advances the methods that have been used to investigate RPGs in the social work context and considers outcomes beyond that of the individual practitioner. The paper also presents a new theoretical model, based on these empirical findings, of how RPGs 'worked' and under what circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]