My research takes a psychosocial approach to exploring parents' experiences of professional intervention in the aftermath of sudden, unexpected child death. In the UK all deaths of this nature are immediately subject to a Rapid Response, which includes forensic investigation, followed by a series of subsequent meetings and the obligation on professionals is to treat parents as guilty whilst also maintaining their innocence. These requirements were part of a number of recommendations arising from the Report, ‘Sudden, Unexpected Death in Childhood' (2004) known colloquially as the Kennedy Report, which was a response to the release on Appeal of three mothers, all wrongfully imprisoned for killing their children. One of the explicit purposes of the Kennedy Report is to avoid similar cases and it therefore attempts to address the complexity of balancing every parent's right to have their child's death properly investigated with the requirement to protect children who may be at risk. As a part of achieving this, the Report identifies a need for appropriate training to assist professionals in becoming sensitised to emotions being experienced by parents, in order that culpability or otherwise may be easier to discern. Despite this, the Working Party for the Kennedy Report did not include parents and this lack of direct access to their experiences is reflected in the wider field. Parents are not allowed to participate in any of the multidisciplinary meetings which follow sudden, unexpected, child death and their narratives are largely absent from literature and training material. This makes achieving the form of emotional understanding between parents and professionals advocated by the Kennedy Report difficult and thereby increases the risk of potential errors of professional judgement. This study aims to restore the voices of parents to the field of sudden unexpected child death, by engaging directly with the emotional complexity and trauma of the experience and thereby improving practice. The research is based on eight in-depth interviews with parents who have experienced the sudden, unexpected death of their child, together with investigation, but no accompanying charges. The research was prompted both by my previous role as a social worker, but primarily by my experience of investigation following the sudden unexpected death of my son Joe. My account of his death and the experiences which led me to undertake this research are offered within Chapter One and thereafter run as a thread throughout. Drawing on Hollway (2009) I have used a psychosocial approach within this thesis, to combine both the workings of the psyche and the social without diminishing or conflating either. This has enabled me to locate my experience and that of the parents within the thesis, as part of a wider exploration of how parents may be positioned and perceived following a sudden, unexpected child death. The research uses a narrative, interpretive methodology which draws from the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (Wengraf, 2011) and the Listening Guide (Doucet & Mauthner, 2008). Data analysis panels were used as part of the interpretive process and they are discussed and critiqued. The unexpected results produced by the panels forms a significant contribution to knowledge which is also identified. The thesis concludes that current cultural debates around ‘good death', together with heightened anxieties about safeguarding children, may lead to the construction of sudden unexpected child death as dangerous knowledge (Cooper & Lousada, 2005). Returning to the emotional understanding advocated by the Kennedy Report, I make a number of recommendations including changing the language of investigation and developing opportunities for open dialogue between professionals and parents. I also identify several original contributions made by this work, both methodologically and more substantively, which are partly evidenced by the attention it has already received within academic and wider audiences. Amongst these, the research has formed the basis of a number of Conferences presentations, a journal paper, national newspaper article and a guest appearance on BBC Radio 4. As a conclusion to the thesis I identify a need for additional in-depth research in this area, together with a re-visiting of the recommendations arising from the Kennedy Report, aimed at further policy change and improving the experiences of all those involved with sudden, unexpected child deaths.

Children in foster care are at high risk of experiencing mental health problems and tackling this issue is a key priority. Previous research suggests that the transition from primary to secondary school can be particularly challenging, as well-being declines and mental health problems increase in early adolescence. However, there is insufficient understanding of variations in the well-being and mental health of this group of children, and particularly the role played by their social interactions, relationships, and psychological attributes. This thesis includes three papers reporting on a programme of empirical research conducted to address this gap in knowledge and better understand the risk and protective factors, particularly in the peer context, for changes in mental health and well-being. The first paper focuses on current provision and reports the findings from a national survey of Virtual Schools that support the education of children in care. The second paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study with children not in care (aged 10-13 years), to test our conceptual model in the general population. This demonstrated that peer factors predict changes in mental health problems and well-being over and above parental and other adult support. The third paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of children in foster care (aged 10-14 years), to test these key pathways in our focus population. This revealed a pattern of differentiated links from peer and adult support to mental health and well-being, and identified self-efficacy as a key longitudinal predictor of change, especially when moderated by peer relationship quality. The thesis demonstrates the importance of supportive relationships with both adults and peers for the mental health and well-being of children in care. This has important implications for future work where social activities and relationship quality with peers should be considered as potential protective factors, especially in school settings.

This thesis is the result of research that investigated the views of residential care workers (RCWs) working with people with dementia about their perceptions of training for their dementia care role with older people. Using a constructivist ontology and an interpretivist epistemology, the research investigates how care workers perceive their training and how they feel it can be applied to their working environment. RCWs were asked what they saw as the specific needs of residents with dementia, what training they had received, how useful they perceived the training to be, and what training they felt was still needed. Previous studies had put forward topics for inclusion into dementia care training, but very little research had asked RCWs themselves about their dementia training needs. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were carried out across three care home organisations during the summer of 2013 in the East of England. Findings from thematic analysis showed that the care workers interviewed had very limited or no dementia training or assessment they could remember, and that training had generally been a negative experience. Dementia care trainers were not considered helpful or knowledgeable enough and RCWs identified that their learning needs had not been taken into consideration. The learning environment was viewed as unsuitable, usually a lounge or a bedroom where it was very cramped and RCWs were pulled out of training when there were limited staff numbers. Many challenges specific to caring with people with dementia were also identified: challenging behaviour, lack of time and resources, poor teamwork and communication and lack of organisational support all inhibited the development of person-centred care and training transfer into practice. A conceptual model of the training and learning cycle is proposed as a way forward for dementia training. This model illustrates the training process from course creation through to satisfactory completion. Learning into practice is measured by care workers' knowledge, confidence, and competence. This assessment is a two-way process between the learner and the mentor to ensure RCWs feel fully supported and recognised. Although this conceptual model has not been tested empirically, such a process is seen as a possible next step.

This study explores the Management Information Systems' (MIS) implementation and utilisation in social care organisations. The aim of this thesis is to study the level of social work practitioners' involvement in MIS selection and implementation and to determine the links between the utilisation of MIS in social care organisations and the creation of organisational knowledge. Thus, the thesis endeavours to increase understanding of the importance of MIS implementation for personnel and organisations, to capture its meaning and any implications this may have for organisational knowledge and social work practice. To further this aim, a two case-study design was developed and carried out in two social care organisations in England. Semi-structured interviews and direct observation were used as data collection tools. Interviews with open-ended questions were carried out with practitioners, team managers, senior managers and staff responsible for Information Technology applications and programmes. Data analysis was carried out utilising two key methods, within-case and cross-case analysis. The purpose of the analysis was to illustrate the participants' experiences within five main themes: Practitioners' and Team Managers' Feelings about the new MIS' Implementation, Participation, Management Information System, Social Work Practice, and Organisation and Organisational Knowledge. The research findings highlighted that social care organisations need radical shifts in organisational philosophy in order to achieve functioning MIS, and more importantly, to become ‘learning organizations' that capture and disseminate social work practice knowledge and skills. For example, practitioners' participation in MIS implementation was recognised as a key factor, which determined both MIS implementation and organisational knowledge creation in a social care organisation. The qualitative data gathered also revealed that there were constraints in engaging practitioners with organisational procedures and in make them feel valued. The thesis, based on the research findings, concludes with the proposal of two models for MIS implementation and organisational knowledge creation.

My thesis examines the journey made by myself and others from paid employment, usually with a local authority, to self-employed status within an independent practice. I have tried throughout, as far as possible, to uncover the many meanings and essential elements of the experience: both my own, and those of others. Fully integrated within my thesis are the detailed experiences of my research respondents who have travelled a similar journey. I have used a heuristic methodology, first established and pioneered by Clark Moustakas. This demands that the researcher and his or her respondents must have lived through the experience being described. The methodology is congruent with my own positioning as a researcher and also provides a suitable, flexible but rigorous framework within which the emerging story (and stories) can be told. This approach has also been of the utmost value in structuring my research. Moustakas defines the heuristic approach as: A process of internal search through which one discovers the nature and meaning of experience and develops methods and procedures for further investigation and analysis. The self of the researcher is present throughout the process and, while understanding the phenomenon with increasing depth, the researcher also experiences growing self-awareness and self-knowledge. Heuristic processes incorporate creative self-processes and self-discoveries' (1990:9). I have used other approaches for data analysis as Moustakas does not give detailed guidance in this area. I have principally used the approach pioneered by Max Van Manen which can be described as an evolved phenomenological approach. My thesis therefore describes and explores the experience of setting up my independent practice from its very first manifestations through to the present. Integrated within that narrative are the detailed and rich ‘borrowed' experiences of my research respondents captured through 11 in-depth interviews and a consideration of the similarities and differences of the individual experiences. I have let the individual voices speak fully which draws out the themes of the experience of becoming independent in terms of motivation, preparation, the moment of independence and finally, the experience of independence. In the succeeding chapter I have analysed the findings with reference to the literature on the nature of modern day social care organisations, organisational theory and motivation, and have also explored in some depth underlying issues concerning the nature of identity and selfhood and the autonomy of individuals. I conclude that there is a core of selfhood and that, within defined limits, individuals are free to choose their own path. A final creative synthesis draws the research project to a close by considering how all that has been learned fits together. My research strategy has essentially been an exploratory one which aims to “generate knowledge about a relatively under researched or newly emerging subject” (D'Cruz and Jones 2003:17). The under-researched and emerging subject here is about the experience of establishing an independent consultancy in the social care field. My contribution to knowledge on this subject falls into several areas, including what I see as the necessary and gradual liberalisation of the social care field which allowed independent practices to evolve. I also contend that my research respondents had a particular and specific motivational profile which explains why these particular individuals made the move to independence when others did not. A further finding is that my research group exchanged a constricting organisation for a more comfortable one: that of the informal network. I also find that making the move to independence is a near irrevocable step and that, in effect, the research group went through an important identity shift in their transition to independence.

Concerns have been raised about the quality of care provided by professional caregivers to vulnerable older adults. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that may affect professional caregivers' ability to provide good care. This thesis presents four papers which sought to address this gap in our knowledge. The first paper reports a proposed quantitative multilevel study, investigating the effects of nursing home manager-level and care assistant-level variables on psychosocial caregiving among care assistants. There were no effects of manager-level variables. However, structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses found care assistants' community aspirations and basic need satisfaction at work positively predicted the autonomy and relatedness support care assistants showed towards service users. No indirect effects were found. The second paper presents a new measure of autonomy, relatedness, and competence satisfaction, which had improved construct validity compared to an existing measure and good external validity, being related to measures of well-being and ill-being in expected ways. The third paper reports the relationships between autonomy, relatedness, and competence satisfaction and prosocial behaviour. SEM analyses showed that a higher order factor of basic need satisfaction explained a small but significant amount of variance in prosocial behaviour, but that autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction were not independent predictors. The final paper presents a grounded theory analysis of semi-structured interviews with a range of individuals associated with nursing homes for the elderly. The findings highlight the role of a person-centred perspective at all levels of caregiving, with positive management practices interacting with the qualities and approaches of individual caregivers to support the provision of good care. Overall, this body of research provides a preliminary understanding of the interplay between the personal qualities of professional caregivers and socio-environmental factors in the provision of good care. In addition, it has contributed meaningfully to the SDT literature and its application to real-world settings. These findings pave the way for future research to provide further beneficial insights for policy and practice in professional caregiving.

Family members are themselves affected by the impact of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) upon their relatives and they play an important role in the rehabilitation and long term support required. The study aims to understand how families are impacted and their views on the formal and informal support received directly or indirectly as a consequence of the ABI. To date there has been very little research undertaken by social workers in relation to ABI and/or the experience of family members. A mixed methods research design was employed to capture the lived experience of family members of people with ABI. The results of the quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated against the literature. An online survey was completed by 110 relatives of people with an ABI, seeking their experience of the condition, its impact upon their lives and their views of services. The results of the survey were collated and organised in SPSS (version 24). Non-parametric Spearman's Rho Correlations (non-parametric test) were performed upon the results. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 family members of people with severe ABI to ascertain the family members' experience of their relatives' condition, its impact upon them and their views of the associated formal and informal support received. Inductive thematic analysis of the transcribed interview data was undertaken to identify themes. The quantitative element of the research identified strong correlations between the relative's assessment of the invisible impairments suffered by those with an ABI (cognitive, executive, behavioural and emotional difficulties) and lack of insight. This correlation was not present in relation to physical impairment. It was observed that increased loss of insight and behavioural difficulties were strongly correlated with loss of friendships by the non-injured family member. The results of the inductive thematic analysis identified 7 themes which were: 1: The Context 2: The All-Encompassing Challenge 3: Family Loss and Grief 4: The Unavoidable Burden 5: The Poor Experience of Support 6: Positive Support and Change 7: The Curator of Narrative The research identified that family members' experience is complex and enduring, encompassing most aspects of life, and is affected by the context in which it occurs as well as by formal and informal support structures. The particular nature of the grief and loss experienced by families is ambiguous, develops over time and leads to ambivalent feelings for family members who perceive no option but to remain involved. Informal and formal support frequently fails to take account of the reality and complexity of the condition and fails to integrate the relative by recognising their own losses and trauma. Relatives' views on the services received identified significant gaps in practitioner knowledge, most especially of those aspects of life that were of most concern to them, the invisible impairments and issues with insight. Practitioners that were valued were more likely to be specialists in the condition and practiced as “expert companions” supporting the relative to develop a new “neuro-narrative” to reconstruct their identity in the face of their ongoing grief. The specific nature of the condition requires such an approach if input is to be effective. Greater understanding of the complex lived experience of family members may support more effective responses to both them and the individual with ABI, integrating services and families to improve quality-of-life. As ABI is a process with changes to functioning developing over time, the information and knowledge required by loving and supportive relatives needs to be created with them, being person-, family-, injury-and-context-specific.

This thesis considers how Christianity shapes the lives, beliefs and identities of African-Caribbean elders. The topic has been selected because the relevance of the Christian faith to black elders has been under theorised in U.K. anti-racist social work literature. The study is located within a qualitative research tradition and draws upon narrative, ethnographic and life story influences. The research is primarily based on semi-structured interviews with fourteen participants aged seventy one – ninety years. The elders were born and raised in the Caribbean and now live and attend Pentecostal and Baptist churches in London having migrated to the U.K during the 1950's and ‘60's. The interview data is analysed using the voice centred relational method (Gilligan 1982). This method gives primacy to the words of the people being interviewed and the meaning ascribed to their experiences. A number of core themes or ‘stories' emerge from the elders' accounts of their lives and religion. These include the story of growing and belonging, the story of rejection and pain, the story of resistance and faithful compliance and the story of love, care and eternal hope. The stories reveal a complex picture where racism and rejection has been part of the tapestry of black elders' adult experiences in the U.K. Equally, their religious upbringing in the Caribbean and their enduring Christian belief has nurtured the elders' sense of identity and self worth and provided a buttress against their more negative experiences. The study draws upon black theology which aids understanding of how Christianity has influenced the history and religious experiences of black Christians. Black theological literature, along with transactional analysis, also provides the theoretical framework through which the elders' stories are discussed. This approach provides originality as such analysis does not appear to have been undertaken previously. From the elders' stories five key themes have emerged which provide insights in to the research question. These are: - the importance of the elders' Christian belief; - narratives as an integral part of black history and knowledge; - dealing with racism and its intersections; - reconciling differing religious and social values- the challenge for social work; - the care needs of African-Caribbean elders – church, family and / or state? Through these themes the study outlines the necessity of social work embracing a more holistic approach to the meeting of African – Caribbean elders' spiritual and religious needs and beliefs. The elders recognise that they may require practical help as they get older but do not feel that social care services will necessarily be responsive to their religious and cultural experiences or provide for the pray life, bible reading and church attendance that form part of their needs. The concept of heaven and an afterlife is very important to the elders and poses a challenge in how social work might work in partnership with church communities to ensure that elders have the ‘good life/ good death‘ they seek. The study makes a number of recommendations whilst questioning whether a largely secular profession will be equipped to provide or commission appropriate, faith based care to African-Caribbean elders. This is because of the largely hostile / indifferent approach towards religion which the study identifies. The final chapter evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the study and its methodological approach before concluding with a number of personal reflections.

The relationship between the statutory registration of a workforce and impact upon practice and practitioners is unclear. Little empirical research in relation to the efficacy of existing professional registers has been undertaken. No research has so far been undertaken in relation to the impact of UK legislated registration upon social work practice. A number of high profile cases in health care such as the Bristol, Shipman, Ayling and Allit inquiries (DH, 1994; Crown Office, 2001 & 2005) have drawn attention to the inadequacies of workforce registration systems. Regulatory approaches to modifying the behaviours of the regulated are widely viewed as problematic in a broad range of theoretical literature from diverse disciplinary bases and methodologies. Literatures caution that just as ‘markets' may behave imperfectly, so may regulatory mechanisms such as workforce registration systems (Ayres & Braithwaite, 1992; Baldwin, Scott & Hood, 1998; Haines, 1999; Sparrow, 2000; Ashworth & Boyne, 2002; Johnstone & Sarre, 2004; Haines & Gurney, 2004; Walshe & Boyd, 2007). The UK Better Regulation Task Force cautions that some regulatory interventions can make a situation worse (2003b). The potential of professional registers generally and the social work register specifically to impact upon quality and improve protection has been questioned since 1982 when the first meetings about the development of a national social work regulatory council were held (Malherbe, 1982). The regulatory body for social work in England, the General Social Care Council (GSCC) came into being in 2002. The first UK register of social workers came into force in 2005 with protection of title implemented shortly after. The first three conduct cases applying sanctions to registrants were heard within a year of the social work register opening. Using a grounded theory approach, in the context of the first three conduct case outcomes, this study sought to elicit the perceptions of qualified social workers on the positive and negative impact(s) of the statutory requirement to register, for both the individuals and the organisations in which they work. This study finds that the first registration conduct case outcomes triggered a reframing of the concept of conduct and that as a consequence, respondents in this study re-positioned their allegiance to registration, and engagement with conduct matters in the workplace. The study considers the relevance of research findings in the context of a changing policy and political landscape.

The aim of this research, set in two schools in Malmö, Sweden, was to examine the outcomes of a combined approach of a behavioural modification program and a biofeedback intervention for students, aged 7 to 12, with behavioural and concentration difficulties. Biofeedback is the use of technology to measure physiological changes in the body (such as heart rate and breathing) and gives this information back to the user. The behavioural modification program was an intervention known as Family Class, whereby students (and their parents) attended for 12 weeks to work on classroom issues identified by the teacher. It is accepted that students with behavioural and concentration difficulties are at risk of going on to develop more severe problems such as ADHD, if early intervention programs are not implemented (Barkley, 1996). In addition, the Swedish education system is under increasing political pressure given poor international results (PISA, 2013) and poor high school graduation rates (Cederberg et al, 2011). Working as a social worker across two schools, I was ideally placed to assess the current intervention provision, adapt it and subsequently carry out the research to evaluate the outcomes. The research drew on a pragmatist epistemology (Hall, 2013) that supported the semi-experimental design used in the study. A mixed methods approach to gathering the data from parents, teachers and the students was used. Qualitative data collected before and after the intervention, were sought through interviews with students in which vignettes were used to identify their ideas on self-regulation of behaviour, whilst quantitative data on the impact of the combined intervention were gathered through pre/post measures using The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Biofeedback software and behavioural sheets. The thesis also traces the author's changing identity from a practitioner to a researcher-practitioner. The experience of doing the research was interwoven into the fabric of the study, helping to ensure that the study is rooted in practice. In that respect, a key social work value, empowerment, was critically discussed by referring to the theories of Michel Foucault and John Dewey. A view that self-regulation can be seen as an act of empowerment was the resulting outcome of this theoretical discussion. This position supported the author's personal practice and the intention behind the intervention was the focus of the research. The key findings from the qualitative data suggested that the majority of the sample of 13 students (most of whom had experienced difficulties for more than a year) had learnt self-regulation skills and understood self-regulation ideas; from their responses to the vignettes, it appeared students had moved from a position of reliance on teachers and other adults when managing behaviour and concentration difficulties to a position that encouraged a balance between the students' self understanding on how to manage classroom challenges and the role the teacher can play in this. This was backed up by SDQ feedback from the parents and teachers on the changes in the students' own behaviour in relation to the following categories: hyperactivity and attention, peer interaction and pro-social behaviour, conduct behaviour, emotional difficulties, impact on relationships and perceptions of the problem. The biofeedback data also showed that the group as a whole had learnt how to regulate their breathing and heart rate. The key implications for social work practice are that the combination of a behavioural modification approach such as Family Class with biofeedback has potential in helping students with behavioural and concentration difficulties in a school setting. The methods and methodology used in this research proved to be a suitable approach to identifying the impacts of an innovative intervention and could be considered by other social workers carrying out research in similar settings.