This critical commentary is based on four research studies and associated publications. The studies are all concerned with researching service users’ perspectives and with service user involvement in the research process. Two of the studies examined adults’ perspectives on adoption, focusing on support for birth relatives and on post-adoption contact. Two of the studies focused on the perspectives of children and young people on seeking help with abuse and neglect, and on their experiences of child protection services. The commentary begins with a literature review which sets the context for the studies. It covers the development of service user participation in social work practice and in research, and existing research on the perspectives of service users on child protection and adoption services. The second chapter explores methods of involving service users as participants in research and as co-researchers in child protection and adoption research. The final chapter discusses the contribution of the studies, focusing both on the subject matter and the process of research. It is argued that service users’ perspectives can address a need identified within relationship-based practice to pay attention to power differentials in social work relationships. Service users’ perspectives highlight the value service users accord to the relationships they form with social workers, and suggest ways in which practice could be improved to avoid the experience of child protection and adoption services compounding the effects of a difficult life history. Involving service users in the research process can allow service users a distinctive platform. It is argued that building collaborative relationships between academic and service user researchers can enable service users’ perspectives to contribute to the construction of social work knowledge, in a manner that contrasts with the inevitable constraints in service user involvement in child protection and adoption practice.

This is a submission for the degree of PhD by Publication. The submission presents five linked research studies concerned with long-term foster care, and their associated publications. There is a three-part commentary on the research and publications. Part 1 of the commentary reviews the literature relevant to the research and publications. Firstly, the policy background to the studies is outlined. Then, the literature concerned with the family processes and outcomes of long-term foster care is considered. Placement stability and developmental outcomes are included, and also the risk and protective factors that contribute to these processes and outcomes. Literature concerning foster and birth family membership is then highlighted, and also that which addresses the professionalisation of foster care, and the implications of this for long-term foster care. This is followed by a summary of some relevant attachment based research and, finally, there is reference to the literature concerning professional systems associated with longterm foster care in England and Wales. Part 2 of the commentary provides an outline of each of the research studies undertaken and summarises their aims, methods, findings and methodological issues. The studies spanned a period of fifteen years, between 1997 and 2011. They explored the experiences and meanings of building a family life within the context of foster care systems in England and Wales. These two closely interwoven discourses - the relationships that are formed in long-term foster families and the professional systems that surround them - were of central importance in the body of work and form the core of this submission. Part 3 of the commentary covers the contribution that the research and publications have made to knowledge in the field of long-term foster care. Firstly, from the exploration of family processes in long-term foster care, key aspects of caregiving that appear to create a sense of security and permanence for long-term foster children are identified. These are: secure base caregiving, bonding and commitment, flexible role identities and managing the child’s dual family membership. Each of these aspects of caregiving, as illuminated by the research and publications, is explored in turn. Secondly, there is a summary of the contribution that the body of work has made to identifying iii the extent of regulation and the nature of practice that is required to safeguard longterm foster children, whilst at the same time promoting their sense of security and permanence in their foster families. The commentary concludes with an overview of the implications of the research and publications for social work practice and some suggestions for further research. At Appendix A is a statement from Professor Gillian Schofield, lead investigator of one of the studies, co-investigator of two of the studies, and lead author of ten of the publications. Appendix B contains a collection of the published works (articles and a book chapter) that represent the studies. The books and a research report are presented separately.

This research is a mixed-methods study of young women who offended and were referred to police-facilitated restorative justice in the UK. Through analysis of twelve life history interviews with young women and secondary analysis of administrative police data (N=17,486; 51% male, 46.3% female) from one police force, it captures how women become involved in restorative justice (as victims, offenders, support people) and examines young women’s pathways to offending as well as to desistance. Although restorative justice research has traditionally been quantitative in nature, restorative justice itself works through storytelling, and for that reason, a narrative approach was used for the qualitative study. There were three sets of qualitative findings. First, the young women presented identities that can be characterized in three ways, as “fighters,” “survivors,” or “good girls.” Second, the young women described their own offending to the interviewer through “morality tales,” in which they neutralized offending, for example, as a form of play or a way to be a good mother. Finally, young women’s narratives of restorative justice and the police drew connections between identities, “morality tales,” and experiences in restorative justice highlighting that previous negative experiences with police; poor facilitation by the police during restorative justice; previous histories of victimization; and complex relationships with the young women’s victims all impacted on young women’s experiences in restorative justice. In the quantitative study, secondary analysis was conducted on five years of administrative police data. The analysis focused on general participation in restorative justice by men and women and examined the effect of variables including age, gender, offence type, restorative justice type, group versus alone offending, and relationship between the victim and the offender. Findings revealed that restorative justice in this county was primarily used for very minor offending (possibly indicating net-widening); for offences involving corporate rather than personal victims; and that less time-intensive forms of restorative justice (street restorative justice) were predominantly chosen regardless of offence type. The study concludes that police-facilitated restorative justice, especially in relation to vulnerable young women, could be improved by ensuring diversity (race, ethnicity, gender) amongst police facilitators; increasing facilitators’ awareness of young female offenders’ frequent experiences of victimization prior to offending; preparing both offenders and victims before restorative justice; ensuring young offenders have support in restorative justice, especially if they cannot rely on their families; and never forcing apologies if participants do not want to give them.

Social work is a complex phenomenon. At a time when individualistic models of practice dominate the profession, it becomes difficult for students, practitioners and educators to link the problems of the service-users to wider perspectives of gendered, racialised and classed structures. My interest in this comes as a practitioner of social work education. It has grown out of teaching social policy to social work students. Social policy as a discipline tends to take explicit political positions and is concerned with the practicalities of politics. Making sense of the politics of social work is a challenging task (Powell, 2001). The role of social policy within social work education is to enhance the delivery of social justice in part through an understanding of structures and policy upon service-users. This thesis starts by setting the context for social work and social policy teaching within social work education. It then moves onto discuss the search for a methodology and approach to analysis that could support the central aim of the thesis, bridging the gap between experience and learning to improve the engagement of social work students with social policy. This became the Writing Stories Project in which, following the example of Haug et. al.’s (1987) feminist project of Memory Work, social work students on a BA in Social Work were asked to write personal stories expressed as third person accounts to a series of cues relating to social policy within social work. Words such as need, protection, risk, etc. were used to provoke memories which could then be interrogated by the groups and myself for their relevance to social work education. This work took place over the academic year 2008 – 2009 and involved 34 students, who produced 94 stories. The thesis then examines the stories produced by the student cohort and uncovers the subject(s) of social policy discourse in relation to social work and social welfare. Analysis uncovers a subject who is primarily a consumer, with few mutual bonds, tasked with the surveillance rather than support of others. However, this subject can also resist attempts to be categorised and reduced. Gender and nation in particular are both policed and resisted within the texts. In concluding my focus is on my practice as an educator in social work and methods and content for social policy teaching. However, I am also concerned with the epistemological limitations of social policy as a discipline and how the project can add to current debates around methodological approaches and knowledge production and development.

Drawing upon the contributions of critical theory, this thesis aimed to explore perspectives and models used by social workers to address social exclusion and citizenship in Chile. Specifically, the research focused on the perspectives of social workers holding the role of coordinator of community-oriented programmes. A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis informed the study. Twenty six social workers employed by two Chilean NGOs were interviewed and a number of documents related to the interventions carried out by the participants were also collected. Data produced were analysed by using thematic analysis. This research, the first of its kind in Chile, provided a number of insights for understanding the position that social workers occupy in the implementation of state policy for overcoming social exclusion. The findings indicated that most of the social workers combined diverse perspectives to understand their interventions; however, a neo-conservative approach to social exclusion appeared as the dominant perspective. A functional model of community intervention predominated in their practices, as well as a liberal idea of citizenship. A few social workers exhibited an approach closer to radical perspectives. Using professional discretion, these social workers undertook what they called 'sensitisation' models and 'deliberative' models of community practice. Notions of citizenship, closer to a critical republican approach, were found among the views of these social workers. The study identified how neoliberal rationality has impacted on Chilean social work. At the same time, it brought to light strategies employed by some social workers to oppose resistance to such an apparent hegemonic order. Drawing upon the study findings, suggestions are made with respect to the development of the Chilean social work profession from a critical perspective. The thesis also seeks to make a contribution to international social work research and debate.

Timebanking is a community currency where people exchange skills and services with time instead of money. They have been supported in adult social care policy as an innovative mechanism to encourage community self-help as part of the 'Big Society' and Personalisation agendas to involve communities in care. Despite claims that timebanks are an example of co-production and facilitate well-being and social capital, the evidence for these assumptions is limited. This research addressed this deficit in the research through an evaluation of timebanks in England. The thesis presents data from a Realistic Evaluation using participatory methods with six person-to-person timebank case studies. An exploration of context, process, outcomes and output data suggested that timebanks were not working in the way that has previously been assumed; person-to-person exchanges were rare, timebanks produced small outputs, and improvements in the well-being and social capital outcomes for members were modest. Several factors impeded the implementation of timebanking including a paternalistic culture, a preoccupation with risk assessment, resource shortages and practical barriers that limited member participation. The extent to which timebanks were an example of co-production was questionable, as their mechanisms changed such that they became unrecognisable from the theory initially described. The research identifies lessons for the implementation of timebanks and co-production in England, and generates theories about in what contexts timebanks work best. The exploration of the challenges faced by timebanks provides transferable lessons for similar schemes that attempt to involve communities in social care.

Long-term commitments, a rich understanding of - and sensitivity towards - identities are considered of value for researchers working within technology design to support community participation. However, few studies have explicitly discussed how researcher relationships are built and how communities negotiate their technology use around identities over time. This thesis presents the findings and insights from a three-year long, in-depth participatory project at an international women's centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The thesis contributes to interaction design research, and experience-centred design more specifically within social care communities. The research demonstrates how interdisciplinary approaches, combining critical methodological perspectives from feminist postcolonial studies with narrative inquiry and speculative design, can be used constructively in complex and sensitive community contexts. The thesis outlines how such approaches contribute opportunities for the negotiation and celebration of diverse community identities using technology. This is achieved through exploring how 'dialogical aesthetics', as articulated through socially engaged arts, can sustain conceptual resources and practical approaches to reflexively inquire into personal identities within communities. Through 'space-making' workshops, involving digital portraits and digital story making and through the design and use of a speculative photo-sharing device, the thesis provides insights into exploring and responding to identities, while engendering inspiration and resonance for sustainable future technical practices within a culturally diverse social care community.

The changing political environment continues to have a significant impact on the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). In a climate with fewer available resources, it is crucial that VCS organisations can demonstrate the value they create to secure the necessary funding for the continuation of services. Proving our Value was a four-year Big Lottery funded project coordinated by the South West Forum, which aimed to improve the understanding of impact created through VCS interventions. The project incorporated five separate case studies. Each case study involved a research partnership between the academic researchers and staff from a voluntary and community organisation. The University of Bristol Capacity Building Cluster provided a three-year Case PhD research student to work alongside the POV project. The objectives of the research were two-fold: first, to support the SWF in better understanding the impact created by social purpose organisations across the case studies, and second, to understand how appropriate impact methodologies can be developed to evidence the value of VCS interventions. However, it was also intended that the student could use the study to develop an academic thesis and make a theoretical contribution to academic research in this area. Common themes were drawn across the five case studies, through an ongoing process of Action Research, to understand the research approaches that work most appropriately for VCS organisations. The Action Research strategy was designed to gather data for critical reflection to develop theory, reviewing how each research methodology developed organically and iteratively during the lifetime of each case study. The Action Research approach was complemented by drawing on Critical Realist ontology and enquiring more deeply into the underlying generative mechanisms, organisational structures and context to explain why particular methodologies may be appropriate.

Problems occurring in the treatment of childhood enuresis were investigated at a behaviourally oriented special investigation clinic in north London. Four major problems were identified; non-attendance for the commencement of treatment, the termination of treatment through patient withdrawal, slow response to treatment and relapse. A wide range of patient, background and treatment variables were investigated, and measures of relevant patient and parental expectancies and attitudes (including child concern and parental intolerance) were developed. Non-attenders were found to be characterized by low proportion of referrals from general practitioners, a high proportion of referrals from health visitors and a longer period spent on the waiting list for treatment. A 9.7 per cent waiting list remission rate is reported, and non-attenders were found to be less severely enuretic than attenders following the waiting period. A termination rate of 31.6 per cent of patients entering treatment is reported. Terminators were found to have progressed poorly in treatment, termination being associated with poor cooperation and appointment failure. A positive family history of enuresis, a low child prognostic expectancy and high maternal intolerance of the enuretic child were associated with termination. Termination occurred most slowly in four-child families, and the first ten appointments were identified as a "failure zone". Failure to awake to an auditory enuresis alarm stimulus was associated with both termination and slow therapeutic response. Slow response was also associated with maternal anxiety and a history of familial disruption. The patients' CMAS and JEPI scores were not found to be associated with therapeutic response. None of 38 patient, background and treatment variables were found to be associated with relapse, although older children tended to relapse more rapidly. The procedure of overlearning by increased fluid intake in conjunction with an enuresis alarm was evaluated, and was found to be strongly associated with a lower relapse rate.

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