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.

Previous research has revealed that social workers struggle with recognising, naming and intervening in cases of emotional abuse (Iwaniec et al. 2007). A possible reason for this is that the impact on children of emotional abuse is experienced and played out predominantly within the psychosocial rather than the physical domain. With the effects being less observable, they are more challenging to attribute directly to emotionally abusive behaviours by parents and caregivers (Glaser and Prior 1997). Not enough is yet understood about the challenges that working with emotional abuse in families present to child protection social workers in England. This Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded PhD project seeks to advance knowledge of this topic by exploring some of the emotional and cognitive processes social workers follow when working in situations with children and families where emotional abuse is a concern. A key focus of the research is social workers' subjectivity and the ways in which this influences their practice. Aspects of practice including reflexivity, intuition and emotional self-efficacy are explored, alongside the use of law and policy and more formal assessment tools. The supportive measures social workers use to process and contain the complex feelings they experience in their daily work are investigated in relation to the decisions they make. The research is small-scale and qualitative in nature. The data have been gathered from a sample of child protection social workers from two local authorities in the South East of England. Two focus groups were conducted, designed to generate broad themes to be further explored in individual interviews. Eight social workers were interviewed individually twice, with their follow-up interview held approximately two months after the first to give the interviewee an opportunity to reflect on the subject matter. The semi-structured interview schedule included exploration of how factors such as previous practice experiences, educational training and cultural background contribute to participants' decision-making processes during assessment and intervention with cases of emotional abuse. Underpinned by a psychosocial approach, the analysis looks ‘under the surface' of participants' responses to consider what may be subjective or unconscious in their narratives, and what might be hidden or denied. This enabled a deeper exploration of the nuances of practice with emotional abuse, allowing the individual social workers to emerge as three-dimensional human beings with vulnerabilities and strengths. The research findings indicate that individual social workers approach identifying, assessing and intervening with children and families where emotional abuse is a concern in different ways. The social workers interviewed had clear individual strengths as a consequence of their particular approach, but struggled with reconciling their weaknesses if the impact of their day-to-day experiences of the work was not managed effectively. Defended responses to their own emotional reactions resulted in anxiety, lack of self-efficacy and splitting. Supportive mechanisms identified in the data as important to improving work with emotional abuse are containing supervisory relationships, sustained peer support and a secure workplace environment that promotes a feeling of connectedness to the wider team. The aim of the research is to contribute guidance to support social workers in their work with children and families where emotional abuse is, or may be present.

Drawing on principles from systems theory, critical health psychology and narrative analysis, this research sought to examine the relationships between environments that facilitate creative arts-based group work, and notions of self-governance and self-determination that they may give rise to; exploring whether such processes are discernible in speech, language and narrative formation. The research constituted an eleven month, qualitative community-university project that examined ways in which the 'Centre user and volunteer led' organisational ethos of the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) - a charity working to relieve poverty and hardship based in the south of England - related to the forming of a creatively working and self-managing group. This sought to better understand the emergence of the group; the ways in which participation was experienced; and what (if any) effects participation may have had on sense-making and narrative formation surrounding the topic of food poverty. Using arts-based and participatory methods, the research was carried out with a group of twenty Centre users with experience of food poverty. It culminated in the production and display of an art exhibition on this topic as part of the Brighton Festival in May 2015. The research suggests that using participatory and arts-based approaches in the exploration of food poverty in the facilitative environment of the BUCFP enabled participants to examine and contest societal discourses surrounding poverty. The research describes how, through a complex interplay between group discussion and the material and semiosis of art-making, participants developed and symbolised a counter narrative that deflected stigmatising narratives surrounding food poverty, instead developing a collectivised narrative of resistance. The ability to 're-narrativise' forms of social discourse and to signify the taking of a position in the socio-cultural and political landscape through creative methods may be tied to notions of wellbeing that are important to consider within a community health milieu.

Shortcomings in the quality and level of social workers' communication with children have led to queries about the role qualifying training plays in equipping students for this challenging aspect of their practice (SWTF, 2009; House of Commons, 2009). This thesis seeks to clarify some of the factors and processes which support qualifying students in learning to become effective communicators with children. The evidence for what should be taught to students to enable them to communicate effectively with children and the programme structures and pedagogic approaches which best facilitate students' learning and development are explored. An original framework for practice is outlined which constitutes a taxonomy of 32 evidence-informed ‘dimensions' of ‘Communicative Capability' needed for effective social work practice with children, set within ‘domains' of ‘Knowing' (knowledge and understanding), ‘Doing' (skills and techniques), and ‘Being' (ethics, values, personal qualities and emotional capacities). The compass of the dimensions is broad and diverse, so requires teaching and learning opportunities across the whole curriculum including in fieldwork placements, rather than just through a discrete course or specific pedagogical model (Lefevre et al, 2008). The Communicative Capabilities taxonomy has been used as a framework for analysing data collected from social work students on an MA qualifying programme which I teach. Taking a realist approach (Robson, 2011), as an insider (Drake, 2010), I sought to learn more about students' journeys towards qualified practice so as to identify any factors or processes which support or hinder students' learning and development. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected at four time points during the programme using self-efficacy scales, course feedback, and written responses to a case vignette, which were analysed for students' awareness of the Communicative Capabilities. Baseline data on student characteristics, intentions and experiences were gathered so that individual trajectories could be identified and mapped against these. Once students had been qualified for between 16-18 months, follow-up interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of five participants using a semi-structured questionnaire. There were a number of limitations and methodological constraints, most notably those engendered by the lack of a comparison group and small sample, so findings must be regarded as emergent and tentative. An analysis of students' learning journeys indicated trajectories were rooted in specific experiences, strengths and learning styles. Students would benefit from developing a personalised learning plan which would enable them to maximise their potential and plug gaps in their capabilities. Ways need to be found to enable students to build up from generalist proficiencies in communication, so that first generic, then child-focused, and finally child-specialist applied capabilities in communication can be developed to at least a basic level at the point of qualification. Drawing on Kolb (1984), a cyclical model of the teaching and learning process has been mapped to the development of Knowing, Being and Doing capabilities. Students enter qualifying training with pre-course concrete experience of communication which provides a valuable source for inductive learning through critical reflection. Related theoretical input enables them to conceptualise processes of communication (developing Knowing). Skills may be acquired and honed through active experimentation with techniques and methods both in the university and in placements which are subject to observation and feedback (Doing). Tutor modelling and experiential approaches to capability-building help engender the kind of thoughtful, ethical, contained and engaged use of self by students (Being) which matters to children. Learning needs to be integrated and consolidated so that it is not forgotten or absorbed solely into tacit professional knowledge (Eraut, 1994). The learning cycle has been developed into a proposed framework for how qualifying programmes could ensure a coherent and integrated learning experience.

This research considers the hypothesis that eugenic ideology still influences social work practice in contemporary Britain. Exploring the issues through a feminist perspective by utilizing a narrative approach with individuals with learning disabilities. For many people with learning disabilities access to 'Human Rights' is rather elusive and this work seeks to examine this through the lens of eugenic ideology and a Bourdieusian approach to social work. The purpose being to ascertain if eugenic ideology is still present, if only through the Bourdieusian concept of "doxa", if so how does this affect the life choices and human rights of the people in the research. Based on the 'lived experiences' of a number of individuals with learning disabilities, all of whom were members of a self-advocacy group in England. All participants had previously been involved as service users in the selection of Social Work students for a London university and were contributors to the programme in this capacity over a period of several years. Involvement of participants in the research with the self-advocacy group was by open invitation to the group members, and individual 'life stories ' were documented through recorded interviews by the researcher over a period of several months. Utilizing a narrative approach to the life stories from a feminist perspective the experiences were examined against the historical backdrop of eugenics, articles of the Human Rights Act and Bourdieu's theory of practice. The findings show oppression, inequality and a lack of 'Human Rights' experienced by the participants, this against a policy background of 'Valuing People' and 'Personalisation' which both set out to promote strategies of social inclusion and real opportunities for people with learning disabilities. The 'caring ' professions including social work are implicated in the continuing and ongoing oppression and symbolic violence of people with learning disabilities. Whilst the terminology of 'eugenics' is no longer an acceptable topic of conversation, the impact of the ideology continues to permeate the ‘collective unconsciousness' (doxa) of many including those who are involved in the decision making processes of individuals identified as learning disabled. The implications for practice is that awareness of the pernicious effects of the eugenic movement need to be taught as part of the history of social work and included in the curriculum, if we are to avoid repeating the horrors of the history of the eugenic movement. By utilizing Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, capital and field, together with doxa and hysteresis it is possible to arrive at a new model of Social Work practice to address discrimination and to promote anti oppressive practice. The "Hysteresis Wheel', is a model developed as a result of this research.

The research study focuses on how social work Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) use the law in practice. AMHPs in England and Wales have statutory powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) to detain people in hospital for assessment and/or treatment. The stakes in this area of law and social work are high: practitioners deal with important issues concerning individual liberty that have profound implications in relation to the power of the state to intervene in the lives of citizens, where notions of autonomy, protection, coercion and care sit in tension. The study explores the relationship between law and social work practice by interpreting meanings contained in case stories told by social work AMHPs about recent Mental Health Act assessments that they undertook. Eleven social work AMHPs, purposively selected from three different local authorities in England, participated in the study, which used qualitative in-depth interviews to collect data about using the law in circumstances where compulsory admission to hospital was a possibility. The use of case stories encouraged participants to provide a rich description of events as they unfolded over time. The data were analysed using Framework analysis (Ritchie and Spencer 1994). Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis in the form of NVIVO was utilized to manage the data, and to support data analysis. Five themes are presented in the findings chapter: understanding the referral situation; understanding the individual; understanding the situation causing concern; community versus containment, and relationships and resources. The study contributes to knowledge by illuminating how the use of law in practice is an inherently socio-relational undertaking, involving embodied practice. Bourdieu's (1977) concept of habitus is used to make sense of participants' accounts of the action that unfolds when they use the law. A further contribution is made to knowledge on legal literacy in social work, where there is little empirical research focusing on how social workers use the law, and still less on how mental health social workers use the law to consider compulsory powers under mental health legislation. The organisational factors impacting on how participants relate to the law are outlined and discussed drawing on legal consciousness theory (Ewick and Sibley 1998; Sibley 2005), together with an account of how participants adapt to this, drawing on street level bureaucracy (Lipsky 1990). The thesis explores the distinction in practice between medical and social perspectives occupied by AMHPs when they use the law in circumstances where compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital is a possibility. The study findings suggest that AMHPs' perspectives are holistic and social and can be understood as occupying a socio-medical-juridical perspective. The most important factor in the decision to use compulsory powers in mental health law to detain a person involves the AMHP taking a wide perspective in terms of their understanding of the individual that is relational to the understanding of others, and understanding the person in their environment in relation to how they relate to others. The thesis outlines that the social and family situation of the person assessed, combined with views of others, and particularly the impact of risk on others, is the most influential factor in the decision to detain. This leads to the further argument that notwithstanding a holistic and social perspective, this does not necessarily lead to less coercive interventions. Medical and social perspectives thus often lead to the same conclusions in relation to decisions to use the law to detain.

This thesis provides a description and analysis of contemporary policy and practice in kinship care within three local authorities in England. The aim is to examine the extent to which government policy principles and available research evidence have translated into professional practice on the ground in different agency settings and to consider the implications of these findings for future management planning in this field. This is approached through considering UK research on kinship and examining the relationship between the statutory principles driving policies and the way the three local authorities have responded. This is with a view to questioning how kinship locally has influenced social work practice at a case level and compares local policies and practice against wider research evidence. Proposals are made about the modelling of a more effective approach to social work practice and management in kinship care planning. This study of different authorities and their approaches to kinship explores some of the challenges by which policy principles and research findings get translated into social work practice in a field of practice and theory that is itself contested. The study was undertaken in four stages: 1. A review of the extent to which local authority policies are compliant and consistent with statutory rules and contemporary research findings on kinship care. 2. A comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between policies and their formation in three studied authorities. 3. An analysis of the extent to which local management and social work practice, as reported, is consistent with policy and research. 4. The modelling of a Kinship care Definition and Policy Model could be proposed that is compliant with the principles of the Children Act 1989 and responsive to the research findings. The challenge set out in this research is to bridge academic research, policy formulation and operational practice. This research does not seek to evidence best practice in its own right but to recognise the variance of kinship in practice and approach and, from knowledge gained, set out a proposed model of good practice, one that is responsive to the findings and could be adopted within local authorities in England.