This paper reports on the benefits gained from the creation of a high-challenge learning environm... more This paper reports on the benefits gained from the creation of a high-challenge learning environment within one module of a professional social work degree programme. In a module entitled Mental Health and Social Work for final year social work students, the traditional classroom landscape was transformed (and the safety perch of the lecturer-as-expert unseated) when two representatives of a mental health service-user organisation accepted an invitation to audit the module's content and delivery. As part of conducting the audit, the service-users reviewed the module handouts, assignment guidelines and lecture content. They also sat in on all the lectures. Appreciating the value of the service-user perspective and service-user feedback on service delivery is a threshold concept in social work. It is mandated by law in certain jurisdictions, such as Northern Ireland, that social work degree programmes promote service-user perspectives in the curriculum. Yet, for students it is an elusive and hard-to-grasp concept which can be perceived as ill-defined and ambiguous. Finding ways to represent the views or the 'voice' of service-users in education of professional disciplines (not just social work but many other professions also) has consequently confronted lecturers and students alike with challenges of definition, conceptual understanding and application. This experimental audit of a module by two mental health service users threw out the traditional rule-book on boundaries between expert and learner. Students, lecturer and serviceusers bravely embarked on a journey together into the uncharted territory of service-user involvement in the classroom. This paper reports on the transformative, irreversible, integrative and profoundly knowledge-changing elements of that journey for all concerned….so far. "When people not used to speaking out are heard by people not used to listening, then real changes can be made" (Western Health Board, 2002, p. 10).
Since the last issue, the discovery of a new and highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 ha... more Since the last issue, the discovery of a new and highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to renewed concern and frustrated hopes of a return to ‘ordinary’ (or pre-pandemic) life. Indeed, debates are increasingly focusing upon whether a return to a pre-pandemic world is possible and whether COVID will enter into a new phase as an endemic illness that we learn to live with, like flu. The enduring issue is how we manage hope in the vicissitudes of a pandemic that has created, for many people, a sense of pervasive anxiety in the face of ongoing uncertainty. Our first article of 2022 invites us to think beyond the present Covid-19 situation and into the possibilities of social work renewal in a post-pandemic world. In their article titled ‘Social work and child protection for a post-pandemic world: the remaking of practice during COVID-19 and its renewal beyond it’, the three authors, Harry Ferguson, Laura Kelly and Sarah Pink, present findings from a longitudinal study of social workers, managers and family support workers based across four local authority areas in England. Their study findings reveal many dimensions of practice, including the changes that have occurred as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, social distancing in particular. Their study illustrates examples of the increased bureaucratisation of practice in child protection services and it shines a light on how the Covid-19 crisis, which they refer to as ‘a moment of dramatic disruption’, has amplified the challenges social workers encounter in trying to fulfil regulatory and administrative requirements whilst simultaneously ensuring sufficient direct contact with service users. The study shines a light on the creativity, skills and determination of practitioners and managers to persevere with their work despite the challenges which exist within the current pandemic context. The second article in this issue, ‘Sharing Lived Experiences Framework (SLEF): a framework for mental health practitioners when making disclosure decisions’ by Brendan J. Dunlop, Bethany Woods, Jonny Lovell, Alison O’Connell, Sally RawcliffeFoo and Kerry Hinsby, addresses the issue of self-disclosure by practitioners. The SLEF framework, which the authors set out in this article, highlights the role that supervision and reflective practice can play in helping individual practitioners to make decisions about when and to what extent self-disclosure is useful or appropriate in their work. The framework is designed to assist practitioners in their decision-making about self-disclosure, and it details a range of factors that surround such decisions. Tom Casey’s article details a practice model which aims to interpret and work with the relational dynamics that can occur within the relationships that surround children in care. The article, titled ‘The evolving use of Mentalization informed thinking with the “Care Team” in the Irish statutory child protection system’, examines the usefulness of JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE 2022, VOL. 36, NO. 1, 1–3 https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2022.2033010
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including the work of... more The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including the work of social workers and the education of social work students. Field placements are a significant part of social work education, but during the pandemic they were cut short and most teachings moved online. The current mixed methods study examined the effects of social work education on social work students’ empathy and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic on the island of Ireland. A matched sample of forty-nine students completed an online survey at the start (T1) of their degree and at the end (T2). A further 229 students who only completed the T1 survey were compared to 70 others who only completed the T2 survey. The results showed improved resilience in the cohort comparison. There were no differences in empathy in the matched sample nor between the cohorts. Thematic analysis of students’ narratives showed that they found the switch to online learning difficult, with some reporting neg...
En un contexto de transformación digital acelerado las redes sociales online modifican las estrat... more En un contexto de transformación digital acelerado las redes sociales online modifican las estrategias organizacionales de comunicación. En este artículo analizamos mediante netnografía y análisis de redes sociales los procesos de conectividad, de interacción y de liderazgo de los Colegios de Trabajo Social en España en las redes sociales online, concretamente en Facebook y Twitter. A través de determinados algoritmos hemos detectado comunidades que conforman estructuras de comunicación que condicionan las dinámicas de cooperación y cohesión. Los resultados muestran una estructura de comunicación fuertemente jerarquizada, con comunidades que tienden al cierre. Basado en los resultados obtenidos, presentamos una serie de estrategias para mejorar la cooperación entre los Colegios de Trabajo Social en España en las redes sociales online.
Superdiversity, as a concept, has assisted researchers to reveal heretofore hidden phenomena in s... more Superdiversity, as a concept, has assisted researchers to reveal heretofore hidden phenomena in society and to illuminate the nuanced subjectivity of migrant flows and the multidimensionality of migratory experiences. This article argues that the core tenets of superdiversity theory can help address epistemological questions in relation to issues beyond the parameters of migration studies. The topic of mental illness is used as an example through which to contemplate or ‘imagine’ the potential of superdiversity theory to assist researchers to break through limiting perspectives and to engage in innovative enquiry. Drawing on Mills’ call for sociological curiosity, this article proposes that a superdiversity lens can be used to think imaginatively in research on mental illness and potentially many other topics. Superdiversity theory has been influential in shaping new ways of understanding migration and population diversity but the question addressed here is whether this lens carries...
This paper reports on the benefits gained from the creation of a high-challenge learning environm... more This paper reports on the benefits gained from the creation of a high-challenge learning environment within one module of a professional social work degree programme. In a module entitled Mental Health and Social Work for final year social work students, the traditional classroom landscape was transformed (and the safety perch of the lecturer-as-expert unseated) when two representatives of a mental health service-user organisation accepted an invitation to audit the module's content and delivery. As part of conducting the audit, the service-users reviewed the module handouts, assignment guidelines and lecture content. They also sat in on all the lectures. Appreciating the value of the service-user perspective and service-user feedback on service delivery is a threshold concept in social work. It is mandated by law in certain jurisdictions, such as Northern Ireland, that social work degree programmes promote service-user perspectives in the curriculum. Yet, for students it is an elusive and hard-to-grasp concept which can be perceived as ill-defined and ambiguous. Finding ways to represent the views or the 'voice' of service-users in education of professional disciplines (not just social work but many other professions also) has consequently confronted lecturers and students alike with challenges of definition, conceptual understanding and application. This experimental audit of a module by two mental health service users threw out the traditional rule-book on boundaries between expert and learner. Students, lecturer and serviceusers bravely embarked on a journey together into the uncharted territory of service-user involvement in the classroom. This paper reports on the transformative, irreversible, integrative and profoundly knowledge-changing elements of that journey for all concerned….so far. "When people not used to speaking out are heard by people not used to listening, then real changes can be made" (Western Health Board, 2002, p. 10).
Since the last issue, the discovery of a new and highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 ha... more Since the last issue, the discovery of a new and highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to renewed concern and frustrated hopes of a return to ‘ordinary’ (or pre-pandemic) life. Indeed, debates are increasingly focusing upon whether a return to a pre-pandemic world is possible and whether COVID will enter into a new phase as an endemic illness that we learn to live with, like flu. The enduring issue is how we manage hope in the vicissitudes of a pandemic that has created, for many people, a sense of pervasive anxiety in the face of ongoing uncertainty. Our first article of 2022 invites us to think beyond the present Covid-19 situation and into the possibilities of social work renewal in a post-pandemic world. In their article titled ‘Social work and child protection for a post-pandemic world: the remaking of practice during COVID-19 and its renewal beyond it’, the three authors, Harry Ferguson, Laura Kelly and Sarah Pink, present findings from a longitudinal study of social workers, managers and family support workers based across four local authority areas in England. Their study findings reveal many dimensions of practice, including the changes that have occurred as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, social distancing in particular. Their study illustrates examples of the increased bureaucratisation of practice in child protection services and it shines a light on how the Covid-19 crisis, which they refer to as ‘a moment of dramatic disruption’, has amplified the challenges social workers encounter in trying to fulfil regulatory and administrative requirements whilst simultaneously ensuring sufficient direct contact with service users. The study shines a light on the creativity, skills and determination of practitioners and managers to persevere with their work despite the challenges which exist within the current pandemic context. The second article in this issue, ‘Sharing Lived Experiences Framework (SLEF): a framework for mental health practitioners when making disclosure decisions’ by Brendan J. Dunlop, Bethany Woods, Jonny Lovell, Alison O’Connell, Sally RawcliffeFoo and Kerry Hinsby, addresses the issue of self-disclosure by practitioners. The SLEF framework, which the authors set out in this article, highlights the role that supervision and reflective practice can play in helping individual practitioners to make decisions about when and to what extent self-disclosure is useful or appropriate in their work. The framework is designed to assist practitioners in their decision-making about self-disclosure, and it details a range of factors that surround such decisions. Tom Casey’s article details a practice model which aims to interpret and work with the relational dynamics that can occur within the relationships that surround children in care. The article, titled ‘The evolving use of Mentalization informed thinking with the “Care Team” in the Irish statutory child protection system’, examines the usefulness of JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE 2022, VOL. 36, NO. 1, 1–3 https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2022.2033010
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including the work of... more The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people’s lives worldwide, including the work of social workers and the education of social work students. Field placements are a significant part of social work education, but during the pandemic they were cut short and most teachings moved online. The current mixed methods study examined the effects of social work education on social work students’ empathy and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic on the island of Ireland. A matched sample of forty-nine students completed an online survey at the start (T1) of their degree and at the end (T2). A further 229 students who only completed the T1 survey were compared to 70 others who only completed the T2 survey. The results showed improved resilience in the cohort comparison. There were no differences in empathy in the matched sample nor between the cohorts. Thematic analysis of students’ narratives showed that they found the switch to online learning difficult, with some reporting neg...
En un contexto de transformación digital acelerado las redes sociales online modifican las estrat... more En un contexto de transformación digital acelerado las redes sociales online modifican las estrategias organizacionales de comunicación. En este artículo analizamos mediante netnografía y análisis de redes sociales los procesos de conectividad, de interacción y de liderazgo de los Colegios de Trabajo Social en España en las redes sociales online, concretamente en Facebook y Twitter. A través de determinados algoritmos hemos detectado comunidades que conforman estructuras de comunicación que condicionan las dinámicas de cooperación y cohesión. Los resultados muestran una estructura de comunicación fuertemente jerarquizada, con comunidades que tienden al cierre. Basado en los resultados obtenidos, presentamos una serie de estrategias para mejorar la cooperación entre los Colegios de Trabajo Social en España en las redes sociales online.
Superdiversity, as a concept, has assisted researchers to reveal heretofore hidden phenomena in s... more Superdiversity, as a concept, has assisted researchers to reveal heretofore hidden phenomena in society and to illuminate the nuanced subjectivity of migrant flows and the multidimensionality of migratory experiences. This article argues that the core tenets of superdiversity theory can help address epistemological questions in relation to issues beyond the parameters of migration studies. The topic of mental illness is used as an example through which to contemplate or ‘imagine’ the potential of superdiversity theory to assist researchers to break through limiting perspectives and to engage in innovative enquiry. Drawing on Mills’ call for sociological curiosity, this article proposes that a superdiversity lens can be used to think imaginatively in research on mental illness and potentially many other topics. Superdiversity theory has been influential in shaping new ways of understanding migration and population diversity but the question addressed here is whether this lens carries...
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Papers by Gloria Kirwan