Social Work/Social Care & Media
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Avoiding Avoidance: Recognising and responding to the risks of resistant and uncooperative parents in child protection – #SWSCmedia Debate
Introduction Parental resistance and avoidance can negatively affect the safety and well-being of children in protection work, posing significant risks to workers and children as a result of certain forms of power/control dynamics used by a small number of very challenging families in child protection work. The vast majority of interventions from social workers when … Continue reading
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It has been nearly 5 months since, Fatima, a close personal friend whom you have known for several years and who has helped you through a number of difficulties, has joined your team. Fatima is a new graduate and given the difficulty in finding new jobs, Fatima was delighted to join your team. Fatima is … Continue reading
From the fourth in a series of Safegaurding conferences hosted by Bath Spa University, in association with David Niven Associates. (Courtesy of David Niven Associates). In an entertaining talk Jim Gamble said that the people attending the conference had the chance to shape public policy and opinion on crucial issues relating to child welfare and … Continue reading
From the fourth in a series of Safegaurding conferences hosted by Bath Spa University, in association with David Niven Associates. (Courtesy of David Niven Associates). The first thing most people think of when asked about LA children and the media was the BBC children’s show Tracy Beaker. It was felt that, while this was a … Continue reading
From the fourth in a series of Safegaurding conferences hosted by Bath Spa University, in association with David Niven Associates. (Courtesy of David Niven Associates). Do Media infringe the rights of the Children? Mike Jempson ran through a series of stories in the media which showed how the demands of the press had over ridden … Continue reading
From the fourth in a series of Safegaurding conferences hosted by Bath Spa University, in association with David Niven Associates. (Courtesy of David Niven Associates). Simon Milner explained the different ways in which Facebook protect young people that use the social network. That ranged from automatically stopping them from publishing to everyone to making them … Continue reading
From the fourth in a series of Safegaurding conferences hosted by Bath Spa University, in association with David Niven Associates. (Courtesy of David Niven Associates). The conference opened with welcomes and introductions by Prof Christina Slade, vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University, and Prof Stephen Ward, dean of the School of Education. The opening talk was … Continue reading
Abstract In this paper I outline the key features of the phenomenon we now call ‘cyberbullying’, including some of the challenges associated with definition, measurement and prevalence estimation. I also offer a brief overview of some of the early ideas surrounding why ‘cyberbullying’ exists. A brief overview of current legislation is offered together with a … Continue reading
A young boy aged 14 is diagnosed with HIV, however, because of his age his parents do not want to disclose this information to him. The young person used to receive regular treatments as an outpatient in a local hospital, however, since he turned 14, he and his parents have no longer engaged with the … Continue reading
Considering the rapid expansion of social media and its’ impact on policies, services and “everyday life”, this is the first of a series of debates on the effects of social media in social care and social work. In today’s debate we shall focus on e-professionalism and Twitter as well as its implications for social care … Continue reading
Jan is 16 years old and has no siblings. Her parents are divorced and live separately from a year ago when Jan reported her father for domestic violence. The father now lives with his new wife who is 4 months pregnant. He and Jan are not on good terms due to Jan reporting him for domestic violence. … Continue reading
The national housing benefit caps which came into effect at the beginning of this year are forcing a number of London boroughs to examine the option of re-housing some of their housing benefit claimants outside of the capital. The caps are part of the government’s welfare reform and range from £250 per week for a one-bedroom … Continue reading
Every day in this country social workers perform countless acts that make a real difference to the lives of thousands of people. What these social workers do involves kindness, compassion, courage, resilience, cleverness, and extraordinary levels of skill and wisdom. Social workers routinely meet the extraordinarily difficult challenge of having to balance empathy and compassion … Continue reading
Commenting on Cafcass figures showing that the number of local council care applications has passed 10, 000 for the first time, Sue Kent, professional officer British Association of Social Workers, said: “Child protection work is facing a major crisis, soaring referrals yet a government agenda of cuts preventing social workers from doing their jobs properly. “Our members … Continue reading
What’s the ‘right’ number of care applications in a year? Does anyone know? I thought not. Cafcass seems to treat 912 applications in January 2012 (the highest number since Cafcass was set up in 2001) as a ‘right’ number. In February 2012 it attributed a 12.4% increase in new applications in the period between April … Continue reading
Care applications have hit all time high with an increase of 10.8% over the same period last year. This is a huge an alarming increase as it raises the a number of important questions: Is this a reflection of worsening socio-cultural issues? or is it due to socio-economic factors? Is this attributable to poorer parenting? … Continue reading
Next week is Emma’s 13th birthday and she is not excited about it. Four years ago Emma’s mother (Laura [see details about Laura’s background]) was additionally diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been on and off with her medication and the continued support from community mental health team and child protection services. Emma’s behaviour has become … Continue reading
Join us on Tuesday (10 March 2012) and share your views in our discussion: @UN & Young People. In this discussion we wish to explore the role of United Nations and what it can do for the Young People? How does that relate to Social Work? How does it relate to the Global Agenda for Social … Continue reading
This is the presentation made by Guy Shennan (@GuyShennan) at the Annual Conference of British Association of Social Workers (@BASW_UK) at Stoke-on-Trent on 30 March 2012. SW Palestine Presentation Palestine Social Work Network meeting – Bound, Blindfolded and Convicted – Gerard Horton, lawyer from DCI in Ramallah is on a UK speaking tour and is speaking … Continue reading
Laura is 32 and has been diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and suffers from anxiety and depression. She finds it difficult to manage her emotions and her anger. She has 4 sisters and was in her own words “the last chance for her mother to have a boy”. A year after Laura’s birth her … Continue reading
Keeping stress at bay: Stress and Stress Management in Workplace Podcast by: Dr Neil Thompson (@DrNeilThompson) is an independent writer, educator and adviser. He edits the free monthly e-zine, Well-beingBULLETIN (www.well-being.org.uk). A blog and free Tip of the Week facility are available at his website, www.neilthompson.info and details of his audio-visual learning resources are available at www.avenuemediasolutions.com. Dr. Thompson is a member of @SWSCmedia Expert Panel. Join us … Continue reading
Wow! Being asked ‘Why I am a social worker?’ has taken me back to when I was asked this question for the first time, 16 years ago, at my entry into social work exam at and my first year on the course. My response today is pretty much the same as it was then. I … Continue reading
In this interview, Linda and Anne discuss their new book, Mastering Approaches to Diversity in Social Work, which looks at a range of diversity issues in social work practice and includes a model for understanding discrimination. Diversity is one of the nine overarching competences for social workers in the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Workers … Continue reading
Thank you for joining us @SWSCmedia for our debate on Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development #GASWSD. Our online debate was accompanied by discussions at London Metropolitan University and following the parliamentary reception and the official presentation of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development at Portcullis house to Ministers and Members … Continue reading
Briefing on the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development Commitment to Action Today we celebrate that social work is a global profession. We see that when we welcome internationally qualified colleagues who come to work in our teams. We celebrate it when we go to conferences and meetings where we meet social workers … Continue reading
Voices from the Future: Sasha Williams reflection on 1st year BSc students exploring the mission of Social Work. Podcast by: Sasha Williams (@sasemwills) is a PhD researcher interested in the area of child neglect and a Twitter Ambassador for @SWSCmedia. Join our debates every Tuesday at 8:00 PM UK / 3:00 PM ET and every Sunday 6:00 PM UK / … Continue reading
Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice: What Is It and Why Should We Care? Podcast by: Dr. Nancy Smyth (@njsmyth) is Professor and Dean of School of Social Work at University at Buffalo and Associate Research Scientist at Research Institute on Addictions. She is also a member of @SWSCmedia Expert Panel. Join our debates every Tuesday at 8:00 PM UK / 3:00 … Continue reading
It’s an election year. Jobs and the economy are the top priorities that concern Americans. The government has made huge strides to prevent massive job losses for police officers, fire fighters, first responders, and teachers. Did you notice what was missing from that sentence? If you guessed Social Workers, you got it right. The National … Continue reading
I have been involved in studying stress for over twenty years now, and what has worried me most during that time is not the apparent growth of workplace stress as a phenomenon (worrying enough though that is), but rather the extent to which so many people now accept stress as inevitable. It is as if … Continue reading
How small donations are having a big impact, one family at a time Ms. M was busy raising two daughters on her own when she realized she was heading for a dead end. The problem was, with little savings and her eldest suffering from a serious heart condition, she had no idea how to turn … Continue reading
I have been fortunate to have experiences working within different communities around the globe. Living in London, social disparity and exclusion run alongside collaborative projects for community rejuvenation and action for sustainability; wealth and prosperity offer stark contrast to rising homelessness. It is a place where even faith based groups struggled to find a just … Continue reading
Over the last 20 years there has been increasing recognition of the role that psychological trauma plays in a wide range of health, mental health and social problems. When people think of trauma, they think about experiences like war and the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. But the reality is that trauma includes a wide … Continue reading
The first thing that came to mind when I started thinking about why I became a social worker was, ‘different reasons at different times.’ It’s a developmental journey. Early on, I related to young people because I was young myself. Later I became interested in the application of the practical skills and theories of social … Continue reading
Of course, the complexity of social work cannot be reduced to a simple formula. Social work is much more than values, evidence and action, but these three words encapsulate the essence of social work and its role in contemporary society. It also conveys a clear message for us to communicate on World Social Work Day. … Continue reading
The question of “why social work” I feel is one we all hear from many people outside of the profession, I know I have from family,friends,colleagues and other university students. It is sometimes a question I dread because I often feel like I have justify going into a profession that has serious negative connotations and … Continue reading
The social work and professional practice module is taken by BSc social work students at the University of Huddersfield in their first year. During a lecture, as part of the preparations for World Social Work day, Ruth Neville (the module leader) and I asked the students to write down what they thought the mission of … Continue reading
Happy Social Work Day and Happy Social Work Week. This week there a are a number of events and important events and activities (both online and face-to-face) to celebrate Social Work Week #SWweek, beginning with World Social Work Day #WSWDay (Tuesday, 20 March 2012) to United Nations’ Social Work Day #UNSWDay (Monday, 26 March 2012). Therefore, our topic for this week’s debate (Tuesday, … Continue reading
I’m going to address World Social Work Day not so much with outright celebration of the current state of social work, although we all need a bit of that, but rather by raising an area of social need where social work has much potential to make a contribution. That area is working with men. Historically, … Continue reading
The role & importance of Social Work in society On the journey to find ways to share this planet with one another, many conflicts have arisen and continue to arise among human beings and their environments. We have divided ourselves into various groups, with each group being given a specific value that has been used … Continue reading
One can trace the origins of social work back to pre-Modern history, but the version of social work as a practice which we would broadly recognise developed in the mid 19th century, evolving to professional status in many western countries by the early decades of the 20th. In subsequent years, industrialised society has often been … Continue reading
I am a third year BA Social Work student on placement in a Local Authority. I met Samir about 6 months ago at a party and it is now 4 months since we have started a relationship. We have had some differences, but, we have come to care for each other a lot and therefore, … Continue reading
Next week there a are a number of events and important events and activities (both online and face-to-face) to celebrate Social Work Week #SWweek, beginning with World Social Work Day #WSWDay (Tuesday, 20 March 2012) to United Nations’ Social Work Day #UNSWDay (Monday, 26 March 2012). Therefore, our topic for next week’s debate (20-Mar-2012) is the ”Global Agenda for Social … Continue reading
Thank you for joining us in another rich and lively debate @SWSCmedia. The topic for discussion was Codes of ethics and professional conduct separating the personal and professional and we had a diversity of views and many invaluable gems of knowledge, wisdom and experience shared by our participants. However, unfortunately there were many tweets that could not … Continue reading
10 years ago I was asked to give my opinion regarding a social worker who appeared to be breaking professional boundaries. The social worker, a male in his 30’s, was continuing to meet a 15 year old girl, who had been a case of his, (young person in need, I think), but the case had … Continue reading
Below is the summary of The College of Social Work’s research on Media Ethics. Provided as pre-debate reading resource courtesy of The College of Social Work. The College of Social Work The College of Social Work was launched following recommendations from The Social Work Task Force for the establishment of an independent college to articulate and … Continue reading
Why do we need boundaries? In property law, boundaries divide up property. They don’t need to be clearly marked out – it is possible to have an invisible boundary going down the middle of a field or garden. Or a boundary stone. If neighbours erect something more akin to a perimeter fence, we ask questions: … Continue reading
The idea of separating personal from professional and that professional associations have the right to regulate and discipline their members and constrain their behaviour extends back at least into the Middle Ages when 14th century England, craft and parish guilds were asked to ensure that their members did not commit fraud, instigate unrest, etc. and if a member misbehaved, it was … Continue reading
Next Tuesday afternoon (13th March) a workshop at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, will bring together social work academics, practitioners and social media experts to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of using social media as a means of continuing professional development (CPD) in social work. It is a small workshop and unfortunately there are no … Continue reading
Thank you for joining us in another excellent and rich debate @SWSCmedia. Join us next week same day same time when we discuss: Codes of ethics and professional conduct separating the personal and professional. Due to a technical problem we were not able to capture the opening tweets from @SWSCmedia for the debate. Therefore, we … Continue reading
First of all, I just want to say, what a great choice of subject which evokes endless debate having relevance to both previous decades and generations of social workers which for some, defines both what social work is and who social workers are today. I have been asked to consider to what extent can social … Continue reading
Social work without politics? Is this a joke? Does anyone think you can do social work without political opinions? Here are three reasons why I can’t: my opinions are political; social work is political; and persuading people is part of my social work toolkit. My opinions are political When I was a social work student … Continue reading
I can’t join this week’s #SWSCmedia debate on social work and politics, but would like to make a contribution, so have written this rather polemical piece. Let’s hope it helps to spark some debate. As a social work academic, I often mark assignments where practitioners try to make connections between social work theory and practice. … Continue reading
The question of the extent to which social workers can participate in politics and political discussion and/or express political opinions is a challenging and difficult one. In fact, one of the fundamental objectives of social work and social workers is to achieve positive social change and greater social justice which clearly has political implications and … Continue reading
Thank you for participating in our “Student Debate” and sharing your views on what students want from their placements, practice educators, and clinical supervisors? This debate was Co-Chaired by three of our Tweeteraties and Twitter Ambassadors: @sasemwills & @ManishaMahen & @lillieputian. Below is the summary of the debate however, there are tweets that did not … Continue reading
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” say many working in the NHS. Alas, the bankrupting economic impact of dementia on healthcare systems obliges us to focus on novel interventions. One of those is prevention. For the past four years it is becoming apparent that “more of the same” is unsustainable. Health and social care commissioners … Continue reading
Thank you for joining us in another excellent and rich debate @SWSCmedia. Join us next week same day same time to discuss Social Workers and Politics and Political Opnions. Can social workers express political opinions? If yes how? If no, why not? Below is the summary of our debate on Social Care / Social Work … Continue reading
For the past several years many of the conversations I have had with colleagues and members of the public have been about the state of health and social care services for older people. Hardly anyone I know in my age group – mid 50’s has not been affected personally. The old adage – you don’t … Continue reading
Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights states that no one should be tortured or treated in an inhuman or degrading manner. This is an “Absolute Right” for all individuals which means it applies in all circumstances and as an “Absolute Right” it should not be breached, restricted, curtailed or limited in any … Continue reading
Thank you for participating in our “Student Debate” and sharing your views on what students want from their universities and lecturers. This debate was Co-Chaired by three of our Tweeteraties and Twitter Ambassadors: @sasemwills & @ManishaMahen & @lillieputian. Below is the summary of the debate however, there are tweets that did not have the hashtag … Continue reading
I really enjoyed the debate last night and feel that I learned a great deal from it. However, I was very aware that some students felt dissatisfied with the way in which their courses were being run. I came away from the debate concerned that some people were also feeling actively oppressed by those in … Continue reading
Thank you for participating in our “Student Debate” and sharing your views on whether students are ready for social work leadership. This was our Inaugural “Student Debate” and was Co-Chaired by three of our wonderful Tweeteraties and Twitter Ambassadors: @sasemwills & @ManishaMahen & @lillieputian. The debate was so successful and lively that we exceeded our … Continue reading
Thank you everyone for joining us in our debate yesterday. Our grateful appreciation and gratitude to Annie Hudson (Director of Children and Young People’s Services), Peter Holt (Communications Director at Bristol City Council), and Julia Walton (Media Officer for Bristol City Council) for inspiring us with BBC’s “Protecting Our Children” and for joining us and … Continue reading
SWSCmedia: Where did you undertake your social work degree and training? Susanne: I did a Masters in Social Work at Bristol University. SWSCmedia: What motivated you to become a social worker? Did you always know you wanted to become a social worker? Susanne: I really wanted to work with children and looked into teaching, but there … Continue reading
When in 2008 the Baby P case hit the headlines, I found myself on live TV thinking: “Why am I here?” This wasn’t a philosophical crisis but rather a musing on the relationship between the social work profession and the press. As the then group editor of Community Care I was doing another interview about … Continue reading
SWSCmedia: What made you decide to do this programme with BBC? Annie Hudson: We were approached by the BBC in autumn 2009 about doing a follow-up to ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ – a similar documentary by the same team that broadcast in 2004. A lot had changed since then with the Baby P case … Continue reading
In follow up of the excellent work by Bristol Council in partnership with the Open University and the BBC we are pleased to welcome Annie Hudson (Director of Children and Young People’s Services) at Bristol Council (@BristolCouncil) to our live debate and Twitter #LiveChat. The public perception of the role and professional identity of social … Continue reading
Thank you everyone for participating in our #ChildProtection debate last Tuesday. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Below is the summary for the debate. We’re delighted to have Annie Hudson (Director of Children and Young People Services) @BristolCouncil as our guest for our debate on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 when we … Continue reading
There are at least 24 million children around the world living without parental care. As far as we know. More shocking is that we don’t know for sure how many children there are without parental care because in many countries there isn’t a reliable way of counting. The numbers are certainly much larger than the … Continue reading
This literary review calls for families and children in developing countries to be supported in waysthat are appropriate to the conditions, culture and resources available rather than through approaches to social work that are common in the west. Children living without, or at risk of losing, parental care have wide and varied needs, this paper … Continue reading
How do we best go about engaging with involuntary and resistant parents in child protection work? From the evidence of recent Serious Case Reviews (SCRs), this could be seen as one of the most difficult parts of social work practice. Findings from SCRs frequently find that such avoidance and resistance in parents is a key … Continue reading
“Oppressive: Adj: Of the nature of or characterised by cruel or unjust exercise of authority or power; unreasonably harsh; tyrannical. weighing heavily on the mind, spirits or senses; depressing.” (Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 1993) Is child protection practice oppressive or helpful? CAFCASS announced this week that the number of care applications in a single month had … Continue reading
In follow up of Bristol Council’s important and courageous collaboration with BBC and the Open University to create a fly-on-the-wall mini-series #ProtectingOurChildren, we wish to explore the practice of child protection from different stakeholders’ perspective. Child protection represents one of the most challenging and controversial areas of social work practice. Indeed, it often represents the … Continue reading
Mock Interview Panel: Panel: @mamiddau and @profsocialwork Interviewee @Obi1 Position: @Obi1 is apply for the position of Children’s #SocialWorker within a local authority/statutory setting. The area of practice will focus on initial response and assessment. Myself and @Mamiddau have focused our questions with this in mind. We have asked ten questions between us to ensure … Continue reading
Social workers have the dual mandate of supporting and safeguarding children and adults as well as their families. However, at times, what a professional may consider as necessary support for a child or an older person, may not be considered as such by the user of service and/or their families. Furthermore, best interest of children … Continue reading
To what degree are social work services caring and supportive, rather than controlling or solely focused on safeguarding? This question is not purely academic in nature, as positive outcomes and effective interventions for service recipients may depend on the answer. If, for example, recipients of service experience interventions as intrusive and unnecessary, the potential for … Continue reading
I must admit, I think that this is a very contemporary debate, particularly in terms of last week’s excellent opening programme of the three part series ‘Protecting our Children – Damned if they do, damned if they don’t’ which airs on BBC2 on Mondays at 9pm. Once again, I want to add my congratulations and … Continue reading
Social workers have the dual mandate of supporting and safeguarding children and adults as well as their families. However, at times, what a professional may consider as necessary support for a child or an older person, may not be considered as such by the user of service and/or their families. Furthermore, best interest of children … Continue reading
As a first year student social worker, I was eager to attend the opening night of Shallow Slumber at the Soho Theatre in Dean Street, as the play was written by practising social worker Chris Lee. I knew that he’d written it in response to the bad press and culture of blame that has cast … Continue reading
We are sorry for the delayed posting of our summary. We have had some technical problems and it has now been resolved. Therefore, below is the summary of this week’s debate (31 January 2012). Please note that from this posting forward we will post the tweets in the same order they appear in the time … Continue reading
Praxis, lest you be unaware, is the Klingon moon, utilised as a key energy production facility, which is foolishly destroyed due to over-mining by those furrow-browed permagrumpies in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. This tells me three things. One, writer/director Nick Meyer is a fan of Shakespeare. Two, bad karma will be visited upon those … Continue reading
My best example of the relationship between theory and practice comes from my own work as a clinical social worker doing psychotherapy. In this case I’ll illustrate the process of changing theories in the middle of working with a client. Background I had been working with a group of colleagues to master Dr. Jeffrey Young’s Schema Therapy. … Continue reading
An ill timed tweet mentioning Paulor Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed bought an invitation from @swscmedia to contribute an opinion piece to this week’s debate on “The fusion of social work theory, evidence and practice – praxis. It is a busier weekend than I envisaged so this is going to be short and include … Continue reading
Social Work and Social Care professionals are involved in the lives and everyday lived “reality” of their users of service ranging from identifying their needs, to allocation of resources, to completing a housing form, etc. This closeness to users of service and the practical nature of expected social work outcomes has generated a profound practice … Continue reading
Definition and determination of “Best Interest” is one of the most fundamental and controversial concept in social work and social care, and yesterday’s debate was focused on determination of “Best Interest… ” and questions such as: What does “Best Interest” signify? How is it defined/determined? and Who determines and/or should determine the “Best Interest…” of users … Continue reading
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were inserted in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 through the Mental Health Act 2007, and came into force in April 2009. They were the government’s response to a 2004 European Court of Human Rights ruling, which found that a man with severe autism, HL, had been deprived of his right … Continue reading
The principle of the best interests of the child has been hailed by many as one of the most important provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 3(1) requires that ‘in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities … Continue reading
I have selected two examples from experience relating to ‘best interest’. They are perhaps at the more extreme end of the spectrum, but shining a spotlight on the far points sometimes reveal a truth in the centre. When I was a student social worker, I worked with a couple in their eighties who had been … Continue reading
Determining the “Best Interest” of adults and children is a central focus of social work and social care practice and practitioners. Indeed, few concepts are as central and as controversial as “Best Interest” in social work and social care. Therefore, in our debate today we will aim to explore questions such as: What is best … Continue reading
Thank you for joining our debate last night (17 January) and we hope you enjoyed the discussion. It was good to have such large number of participants from so many countries take part in the debate. Below is the summary of the debate and we hope to see you Tuesday (24 January) next week at … Continue reading
The last year has seen some major changes in partnerships between health and social care. At one end of the spectrum social service departments are pulling out of agreements with mental health trusts and at the other end social service departments are setting up new partnership agreements. The latest of the new partnerships is in … Continue reading
The Western health care system is broken. The ways in which it is broken and the degree to which it is broken vary from country to country (and within countries), but the reality remains that costs continue to rise and people continue to receive care that is fragmented, incomplete, and sometimes inappropriate. And in some … Continue reading
Oh the horror….the horror….I only have to hear the merest muted whisper of the word ‘integration’ and the toe-curling, seat-wriggling, cold-sweat-inducing memory just bursts back in all its shameful splendour. We shall call it ‘the integration episode’. It is 1998, a scorching hot day, and I am on a Q&A platform at the culmination of … Continue reading
In the past decade there has been increasing talk of integration and integrated service delivery for health and social care in UK and many other countries. Therefore, in our next @SWSCmedia debate on Tuesday (17 January) at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 EST, we’ll try to explore some relevant questions in relation to the prospects, possibilities, … Continue reading
Welcome to the first of our weekly debates for 2012. It was excellent to see the rapidly growing number and range of our participants and we would like to Thank You all for your great participation. Last Tuesday’s debate was as rich and exciting as always with participants coming from ten different countries: Australia, Canada, Indonesia, … Continue reading
Wishing Everyone the Very Best of the Festive Season… We Thank You for your support and look forward to seeing you in the New Year in our debates… We started @SWSCmedia network on the 11 October 2011 and what a great two months it has been! We initially began with fortnightly #TwitterDebates on the 18 … Continue reading
We are happy you could make it and Thank you for joining us this evening. Please read these instructions carefully… We Thank Dr. Jonathan Scourfield and Dr. Martin Webber for our two prizes for this evening. We have 2 Q&A sessions each of which will win one of our 2 prizes. Each correct answer will … Continue reading
Last Tuesday, there was another exciting @SWSCmedia debate with social workers and social care workers from around the global participating. In fact, we had participants from 6 different countries who were keen to engage in discussion and exchange ideas, views and thoughts with regards to our rather timely topic; “Social Work and Social Care Employment … Continue reading
Part of my job includes representing BASW at recruitment job fairs such as Compass and Community Care Live. One of the saddest things I have come across in the last 12 months or so, is unemployed newly qualified social workers across the country. Earlier in the year, I participated in a discussion on Radio 5 … Continue reading
On Tuesday at 8pm (GMT), there will be a scheduled discussion on Twitter hosted by @swscmedia about employment in the field of social work. This blogpost is written with that discussion in mind and while the last thing I’d want to do, is present myself as an ‘expert’ in the field of employment, I have … Continue reading
‘Employment prospects in times of austerity’: it feels like one of those terrible jokes where you just don’t get the punch line. That sounds pessimistic I will grant you but sadly there is much to be pessimistic about and it is a battle to remain positive and excited in the face of ‘austerity measures’. Currently … Continue reading
The rhetoric of better government services and increased support for vulnerable individuals and their families is contrasted with the harsh reality of significant budget cuts, reduction and/or closure of services, and various reorganisations ranging from merger of services and/or departments to retrenchment of social work and social care workers, unification of middle and top level … Continue reading
Debate Summary for 06- Dec. – 2011 on Early Intervention in Social Work and Social Care Thank you to the wonderful participants in our lively and rich debate… it was another exciting evening with students, practitioners, academics, and organisation from United States University at Buffalo, State University of New York to India coming together to … Continue reading
I have been invited to write an opinion piece for an online debate tomorrow night entitled “Early Intervention: Concept, Context, Reality and Prospects”. Although it is difficult to challenge the idea that those involved with preventative work and early intervention with children and families are often benevolent and seek to provide appropriate support services to … Continue reading
In some respects, the concept of early intervention is almost like the Holy Grail to social workers; many of us would dearly love to be engaged in it, recognise the merits of working upstream but in today’s world, opportunities for social workers to be involved in early intervention appear to be beyond our grasp particularly … Continue reading
In her final report on England’s child protection system, Professor Eileen Munro recommended the government place a statutory duty on local authorities and their partners to ensure they have made appropriate provision for early intervention services. Furthermore, prevention and early intervention form the cornerstone of more personalised services for adults, mental health. and older people. However, in … Continue reading
Debate Summary for 29-Nov-2011 on Use and Application of Social Media In Social Work and Social Care Education Thank you to all those who joined the debate and contributed to such a lively and rich discussion. We are very happy to see our fast growing number of participants and the expanding range of professions and … Continue reading
While I was fortunate to attend and graduate this past September from one of the leading graduate social work schools in the United States, my school did not demonstrate the necessary or inevitable role that social media could play in the lives of social workers. My school kept up with the times by maintaining a … Continue reading
Bear with me for a bit as I am going back into my personal work history to go forward to the use of social media in social work. This opinion piece also focuses solely on social work education rather than including social care and deals with the broader technology/learning landscape before coming back to social … Continue reading
I love Twitter. I’ve only been on it a matter of months, but now I wonder how I can live without it. The banter, puns and wordplay often make me hoot with laughter. The multitude of links to relevant online content keeps me up to date with what’s going on. The ease with which I’m … Continue reading
Our next debate on Tuesday, 29 November, is dedicated to social work and social care students and to the use and applications of social media in Social Work and Social Care Education. The details of the debate are as follows: Topic: Use and Application of Social Media in Social Work and Social Care Education Date: … Continue reading
Thank you to all those who joined the debate and contributed to such a lively and rich discussion. We are very happy to see our fast growing number of participants and the expanding range of professions and professionals involved in the debate (ranging from social work and social care to nursing, housing, health services, and … Continue reading
In advance of an the SWSCmedia chat on supervision (15/11/2011 – 8pm GMT), I thought I’d share some thoughts of my own experiences of supervising and of being supervised. I’m not a manager but I am a Practice Educator so my experience of supervising is around supervising students rather than other practitioners and I have … Continue reading
[Note: We in social work / social care remain unresolved as to what we call people who receive services. Terms such as clients, service users, and cases all arise. I do not like referring to people as ‘cases’, but discovered to my frustration when writing this that unless I used terms such as ‘case’ ‘caseload’ … Continue reading
Interview between James Corden and Lily Allen Hopefully the above link takes you to an interview between James Corden and Lily Allen and perhaps even more hopefully I can explain why I used it. In the interview Corden manages to divert Allen away from what she was intending talking about. My guess is it was … Continue reading
“Social work supervision is considered as one of the most important factors in determining job satisfaction levels of social workers and the quality of service to clients” (Source SCIE) Social Work Reform Board underlining the importance of regular and uninterrupted supervision state that supervision should: Improve the quality of decision-making and interventions. Enable effective line … Continue reading
This was yet another excellent and exciting debate @SWSCmedia on Developing Leadership in Social Work and Social Care. We thank everyone who joined the debate and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we welcome the new participants and those from affiliated professions who brought added wisdom to the debate… During and after the … Continue reading
The interplay between management and leadership is one that has been milling around in my mind for a while but in the light of the next ‘Twitter Debate’ by SWSCmedia on 1st November (8pm GMT) and the opinion piece written on that same site about Leadership in Social Work I thought it would be a … Continue reading
Effective leadership in mental health social work requires robust evidence about the effectiveness of social work practice and the confidence to articulate it both within the profession and beyond. To be an effective social work leader in a multi-disciplinary team alongside health colleagues, we need to engage with the professional agendas of other disciplines. Research … Continue reading
‘I don’t know what leadership is. You can’t touch it. You can’t feel it. It’s not tangible. But I do know this: you recognize it when you see it.’ So said US politician Bob Ehrlich, and I think he has it about right. Precisely what leadership – specifically good leadership – is – what the … Continue reading
Social workers are expected to “take responsibility for the professional learning and development of others through supervision, mentoring, assessing, research, teaching, leadership and management.” (SWRB) Professional leadership can offer new opportunities for social workers, boost their morale and improve their practice. However, the risk is that some employers may view the above recommendation as an … Continue reading
First and foremost we would like to thank all those who participated in our inaugural debate and made it such a resounding success. The Social work/social care practitioners, students, academics, campaigners, journalists, policy makers and organisations including advocacy groups came together on Tuesday night (18 October 2011) for the first live social work Twitter debate … Continue reading
Examining the history of social work as well as the prevailing legislation ranging from Family and Children Services to Adults Care and Mental Health Services, social workers are expected to maintain a delicate balance between support and safeguarding with a person-centred focus, and always aiming to empower their service users and to protect and enhance … Continue reading
Social Work and Social Care Live Twitter Debates: Aimed at bringing Social Work and Social Care practitioners, organisations, academics, researchers, policy makers, users of service and other allied professionals and/or stakeholders and/or interested parties together, to discuss issues, innovations, opportunities and challenges as well as relevant developments in relation to Social Work and/or Social Care … Continue reading
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