'If we do not cut social spending, we will end up like Greece': Challenging consent to austerity through social work action

'If we do not cut social spending, we will end up like Greece'. Establishment politicians and media figures use this new ideological mantra throughout the Western world to frighten people into consenting to further neo-liberal restructuring along with cuts in social spending. This phrase and other ideologically laden assertions hide the real causes of the Greek public debt crisis. This commentary challenges the dominant discourse by contextualizing the Greek case within the larger global neo-liberal restructuring processes and then, drawing upon Gramsci's concept of the organic intellectual, proposes ways that the members of the Professional Association of Social Workers (PASW) can engage in a war of ideas and action, as organic intellectuals, to delegitimize the dominant discourse, which seeks consent for social spending cuts and further neo-liberal restructuring of society. © The Author(s) 2013.

Relationships matter: social worker relationships with young children

This paper reviews the recent policy developments designed to improve social workers' relationships with children and the barriers to establishing these.

Enabling Others in Social Work: Reflexivity and the Theory of Social Domains

This paper sets out a framework to structure reflexivity in social work practice. Based on the thinking of the sociologist, Derek Layder, it comprises five domains that impact on the individual and social life, namely: (i) psycho-biography – referring to a person’s unique experience throughout the life-course; (ii) situated activity – highlighting the impact of every day social interaction; (iii) social settings – addressing the role of organizations in social life; (iv) culture – covering the influence of attitudes, beliefs, tastes and ideas on symbolic meaning; and (v) politico-economy – alluding to the ramifications of political and economic forces on people’s lives. It is contended that power circulates throughout each domain as an enabling and constraining force. The paper then outlines a process for using the reflexive framework in ‘enabling’ activities such as practice learning, supervision, mentoring and coaching. By applying the framework in these contexts, it is argued that social workers can reflect critically on their role and develop emancipatory forms of practice.

Challenges to undertaking randomised trials with looked after children in social care settings

Background: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are widely viewed as the gold standard for assessing effectiveness in health research; however many researchers and practitioners believe that RCTs are inappropriate and un-doable in social care settings, particularly in relation to looked after children. The aim of this article is to describe the challenges faced in conducting a pilot study and phase II RCT of a peer mentoring intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy in looked after children in a social care setting.

Methods: Interviews were undertaken with social care professionals and looked after children, and a survey conducted with looked after children, to establish the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and research design.

Results: Barriers to recruitment and in managing the intervention were identified, including social workers acting as informal gatekeepers; social workers concerns and misconceptions about the recruitment criteria and the need for and purpose of randomisation; resource limitations, which made it difficult to prioritise research over other demands on their time and difficulties in engaging and retaining looked after children in the study.

Conclusions: The relative absence of a research infrastructure and culture in social care and the lack of research support funding available for social care agencies, compared to health organisations, has implications for increasing evidence-based practice in social care settings, particularly in this very vulnerable group of young people.

Risk, Recovery and Capacity: Competing or Complementary Approaches to Mental Health Social Work

Mental health social workers have a central role in providing support to people with mental health problems and in the use of coercion aimed at dealing with risk. Mental health services have traditionally focused on monitoring symptoms and ascertaining the risks people may present to themselves and/or others. This well-intentioned but negative focus on deficits has contributed to stigma, discrimination and exclusion experienced by service users. Emerging understandings of risk also suggest that our inability to accurately predict the future makes risk a problematic foundation for compulsory intervention. It is therefore argued that alternative approaches are needed to make issues of power and inequality transparent. This article focuses on two areas of practice: the use of recovery based approaches, which promote supported decision making and inclusion; and the assessment of a person’s ability to make decisions, their mental capacity, as a less discriminatory gateway criterion than risk for compulsory intervention.

‘Making it real’: evaluating the impact of service user and carer involvement in social work education

Service user and carer involvement (SUCI) in social work education in England is required by the profession’s regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council. However, a recent study of 83 HEIs in England reported that despite considerable progress in SUCI, there is no evidence that the learning derived from it is being transferred to social work practice. In this article we describe a study that examines the question: ‘What impact does SUCI have on the skills, knowledge and values of student social workers at the point of qualification and beyond?’ Students at universities in England and Northern Ireland completed online questionnaires and participated in focus groups, spanning a period immediately pre-qualification and between six to nine months post-qualification. From our findings, we identify four categories that influence the impact of service user involvement on students’ learning: student factors; service user and carer factors; programme factors; and practice factors; each comprises of a number of sub-categories. We propose that the model developed can be used by social work educators, service user and carer contributors and practitioners to maximise the impact of SUCI. We argue that our findings also have implications for employment-based learning routes and post-qualifying education.

Social Work Home Visits to Children and Families in the UK: A Foucauldian Perspective

The home visit is at the heart of social work practice with children and families; it is what children and families' social workers do more than any other single activity (except for recording), and it is through the home visit that assessments are made on a daily basis about risk, protection and welfare of children. And yet it is, more than any other activity, an example of what Pithouse has called an ‘invisible trade’: it happens behind closed doors, in the most secret and intimate spaces of family life. Drawing on conceptual tools associated with the work of Foucault, this article sets out to provide a critical, chronological review of research, policy and practice on home visiting. We aim to explain how and in what ways changing discourses have shaped the emergence, legitimacy, research and practice of the social work home visit to children and families at significant time periods and in a UK context. We end by highlighting the importance for the social work profession of engagement and critical reflection on the identified themes as part of their daily practice.

An examination of student and provider perceptions of voluntary sector social work placements in Northern Ireland

Practice based learning in Northern Ireland is a core element of social work education and comprising 50% of the degree programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students. This article presents evidence about the perceptions of practice learning from voluntary sector/non-government organisation (NGO) placement providers and final year social work students on social work degree programmes in Northern Ireland in 2011. It draws on data from 121 respondents from189 final year students and focus group interviews with voluntary sector providers offering 16% (85) of the total placements available to students. The agencies who participated in the research study provide a total of 55 PLOs to social work students, and are therefore fairly representative in terms of voluntary sector (NGO) provision. The article locates these data in the context of practice learning pedagogy and the changes introduced by the Regional Strategy for Practice Learning Provision in Northern Ireland 2010–2015. Several themes emerged including; induction, support and guidance, practice educator/student relationship, professional identity and confidence in risk assessment and decision-making. Social work educators, placement providers and employers must be cognisant of newly qualified social workers’ needs in terms of consolidating knowledge within the formative stages of their professional development.

How to promote professional competence and identity in social work students

Background: Field placement experiences are frequently cited in the literature as having most impact on a student social worker’s learning as they emerge into the profession. Placements are integral to the development of practice competence and in acquiring a sense of social work identity. However research on the effectiveness of educational strategies used to deliver learning and assess competence during placement are scarce. Internationally, pressures to meet increasing numbers of student enrolments have raised concerns about the potential impact on the quality of placements and practice teaching provided. These pressures may also impact on the appropriate transfer and application of learning to the student’s practice.
Aim: To identify learning activities rated most useful for developing professional practice competence and professional identity of social work students.
Method: Data were collected from 396 students who successfully completed their first or final placement during 2013-2014 and were registered at one of two Universities in Northern Ireland. Students completed a self-administered questionnaire which covered: placement setting and service user group; type of supervision model; frequency of undertaking specific learning activities; who provided the learning; which activities contributed to their developing professional competence and identity and their overall satisfaction.
Our findings confirmed the centrality of the supervisory relationship as the vehicle to enable quality student learning. Shadowing others, receiving regular supervision and receiving constructive feedback were the tasks that students reported as ‘most useful’ to developing professional identity, competence and readiness to practice. Disturbingly over 50% of students reported that linking practice to the professional codes, practice foci and key roles were not valued as ‘useful’ in terms of readiness to practice, feeling competent and developing professional social work identity. These results offer strong insights into how both the University and the practice placement environment needs to better prepare, assess and support students during practice placements in the field.

‘It's been hell.’ Italian and British practice educators’ narratives of working with struggling or failing social work students in practice learning settings

Periods of assessed learning in practice settings are common requirements for social work students world wide. The ‘practice learning opportunity’ as it is known in the UK, and ‘tirocinio di servizio sociale’ as it is referred to in Italy, are important sites of gatekeeping in preventing unsuitable people from becoming social workers. The experience of assessing failing students in practice learning settings however, has been found to be particularly stressful and challenging for practice educators. This article documents findings from two qualitative studies that explored field educators’ experiences of working with struggling or failing social work students in Italy and England. The study finds both similarities and differences in the narratives of the assessors from the two countries Similarities include, unpleasant emotional experience of working with a failing student, internalisation of the students failing as the practice educators’ own failing, perceptions that the universities may hide negative information about students and lack of acknowledgement of the gatekeeping function inherent in the practice educator role. Differences include the level of emotionality experienced by educators, the way students are spoken about and the perceived role and responses of the university. Further comparative European research which focuses on practice education is indicated.

How has the Personalisation of Social Care Impacted on Service Users with Dementia?

The personalisation agenda is a government initiative aimed at transforming adult social care through giving service users choice and control over the care they receive. A key part of this agenda is the provision of direct payments; cash payments made to individuals eligible for social care services which allow them to manage their own care. Research suggests that direct payments can enable people with dementia to stay in their own home for longer and experience greater choice, flexibility and an improved social life. However very few people with dementia currently access direct payments. The objective of this research was to explore the social care experiences of people with dementia in relation to their access to and use of direct payments. 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people with dementia in receipt of social care services in the community, and their carers and social workers, and focus groups held with two community social work teams. It was found that direct payments tended to be seen as a fall-back option, for example as the only alternative to residential care, or as a solution to problems with traditional services. Direct payments appeared to afford particular benefits to people with dementia in terms of flexibility, continuity of care and access to local facilities. It is therefore important that this group are enabled to access direct payments. The second (ongoing) phase of this research comprises the design and pilot testing of an intervention aimed at improving access to direct payments by people with dementia.

Le processus de positionnement éthique du travailleur social dans la détermination de l’inaptitude d’une personne âgée, dans le cadre des régimes de protection du majeur

L’importance accordée à la reconnaissance des droits fondamentaux des personnes en matière d’intégrité physique et de consentement aux soins dans notre société fait que le travailleur social appelé à participer à l’ouverture de régimes de protection du majeur doit développer une expertise multidimensionnelle. De plus, le travailleur social se retrouve à confronté à différentes logiques d’action (juridique et procédurale, médicale, psychosociale, pragmatique) dont il doit tenir compte dans le processus d’évaluation. Ceci nous amène à aborder la position difficile dans laquelle se trouve généralement le travailleur social qui oscille entre la possibilité de favoriser l’autonomie de la personne et la volonté de protéger celle-ci. L’objectif de ce mémoire est donc d’accroître notre compréhension du processus de prise de décision du travailleur social dans la détermination de l’inaptitude d’une personne âgée, dans le cadre des régimes de protection du majeur. D’une manière plus spécifique, cette étude consiste à retracer et à théoriser, par l’analyse de sa logique d’action, le processus à travers lequel le travailleur social se positionne lorsqu’il se retrouve confronté à des dilemmes éthiques par rapport à la détermination de l’inaptitude d’une personne âgée. L’analyse de l’expérience du travailleur social a été réalisée à travers le paradigme de l’individualisme méthodologique tel que définit par Raymond Boudon. Les données furent recueillies lors d’entrevues semi-dirigées réalisées auprès de sept intervenants. Les témoignages recueillis par le biais de cette recherche exploratoire montrent à quel point il peut être difficile et éprouvant pour le travailleur social de devoir se positionner dans la détermination de l’inaptitude d’une personne âgée, dans le cadre des régimes de protection du majeur et comment ces interventions s’inscrivent dans un jeu infiniment complexe d’interactions multiples entre acteurs et actants. Les principaux obstacles à la prise de décision éthique dont ont fait part les travailleurs sociaux interrogés sont liés au contexte de pratique. Il s’agit du manque de ressources financières et humaines disponibles ainsi que le fait que les décisions ne soient pas toujours prises en équipe interdisciplinaire et dans un climat qui soit non menaçant. La reconnaissance de l’expertise des travailleurs sociaux en matière d’ouverture de régimes protection est d’ailleurs ressortie comme un enjeu important.

Social Movement Casework and the Law and Organizing Ideal : Toward a modified law and organizing model

En Amérique du Nord, les militants et les juristes ont longtemps cru que les avocats progressistes pourraient offrir des avantages tactiques importants aux mouvements sociaux. Cette perspective optimiste a cédé la place pendant les années 1970 à une attitude critique à l'égard des avocats et des litiges. Les chercheurs se sont interrogés sur l’efficacité d’assimiler les revendications politiques à des atteintes aux droits individuels, pour être ensuite présentées devant les tribunaux. Le litige était perçu comme source d’une influence négative qui favorise l’isolement et l’individualisme. De plus, les chercheurs ont remarqué qu’il y avait le potentiel pour les avocats militants – bien qu’ils soient bien intentionnés – d’exercer leur profession d’une manière qui pourrait donner un sentiment d’impuissance aux autres participants du mouvement social. Les premières versions de cette critique vont souvent assimiler la « stratégie juridique » avec le litige présenté devant les tribunaux judiciaires et géré par les avocats. Une réponse inspirante à cette critique a développée au début des années 2000, avec l'émergence d’un modèle de pratique que les chercheurs aux États-Unis ont nommé « law and organizing ». Des études normatives sur ce modèle offrent des arguments nuancés en faveur d’une pratique militante interdisciplinaire, partagée entre les avocats et les organisateurs. Ces études continuent à attribuer les risques d’individualisation et d’impuissance aux avocats et aux litiges. Selon ce modèle, au lieu de diriger la stratégie, les avocats travaillent en collaboration avec les travailleurs sociaux, les organisateurs et les citoyens pour planifier la stratégie du mouvement social, tout en favorisant l'autonomisation et la mobilisation de la collectivité. La présente thèse offre un examen critique de ce modèle, à travers l'une de ses tactiques bien connues: le traitement des problèmes juridiques individuels par les organisations militantes. La thèse examine les hypothèses fondatrices du modèle « law and organizing », en réinterprétant les problèmes d’individualisation et d’impuissance comme étant des enjeux reconnus dans de multiples disciplines, partout où les acteurs font de l’intervention sur une base individuelle afin de provoquer un changement systémique. La thèse soutient qu’un modèle de la pratique engagée du droit qui associe l'individualisation et l'impuissance exclusivement à la profession d'avocat risque de répondre de façon inadéquate aux deux problèmes. La recherche propose un modèle modifié qui met l'accent sur les options juridiques accessibles aux militants, tout en reconnaissant que la mobilisation et l'autonomisation sont des priorités qui sont partagées entre plusieurs disciplines, même si elles peuvent être traitées de façon particulière à l’intérieur de la profession juridique.

Scalable real-time crisis mapping and analytics of social media streams for disaster management and breaking news

Real-time geoparsing of social media streams (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, FourSquare) is providing a new 'virtual sensor' capability to end users such as emergency response agencies (e.g. Tsunami early warning centres, Civil protection authorities) and news agencies (e.g. Deutsche Welle, BBC News). Challenges in this area include scaling up natural language processing (NLP) and information retrieval (IR) approaches to handle real-time traffic volumes, reducing false positives, creating real-time infographic displays useful for effective decision support and providing support for trust and credibility analysis using geosemantics. I will present in this seminar on-going work by the IT Innovation Centre over the last 4 years (TRIDEC and REVEAL FP7 projects) in building such systems, and highlights our research towards improving trustworthy and credible of crisis map displays and real-time analytics for trending topics and influential social networks during major news worthy events.