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From communication to co-operation: reconceptualizing social workers’ engagement with children

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posted on 2023-06-09, 18:41 authored by Gillian RuchGillian Ruch, Karen Winter, Fiona Morrison, Mark Hadfield, Sophie Hallett, Viv Cree
Communicating and engaging with children is a foundational component of child care social work practice, but all too frequently, in the wake of serious incidents, it is the focus of criticism. Drawing on findings from a large-scale ESRC-funded research project conducted in the four U.K. nations, this paper explores, through a psychosocial analytic lens, how social workers anticipate, enact and reflect on their encounters with both children and their families. Close analysis of what social workers said about their practice alongside what they were observed to do in practice revealed perceptions, patterns and processes of communication that, first, minimize emotions and the complexity of the professional task and second, overly privilege verbal interaction. Drawing on Sennett's (2012) ideas this paper offers a reconceptualisation of this professional task, from a communicative to a co-operative one. It affords and creates a space in which social workers can develop more attuned communicative practices that include rituals, gestures and the minimal use of force. The theoretical insights and evidence-informed practice recommendations arising from this research have conceptual significance for the social work discipline and practical significance for the child care social work profession, across national and international contexts.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Child and Family Social Work

ISSN

1356-7500

Publisher

Wiley

Issue

2

Volume

25

Page range

430-438

Department affiliated with

  • Social Work and Social Care Publications

Notes

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ruch, Gillian, Winter, Karen, Morrison, Fiona, Hadfield, Mark, Hallett, Sophie and Cree, Viv (2020) From communication to co-operation: reconceptualizing social workers’ engagement with children. Child and Family Social Work, 25 (2). pp. 430-438. ISSN 1356-7500, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12699. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-08-21

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2021-12-12

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-08-21

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