North West London Partnership and @SWSCmedia have collaborated to incorporate digital skills for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW) into the North West London Partnership’s Assisted and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) programme. Below is…
North West London Partnership and @SWSCmedia have collaborated to incorporate digital skills for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSW) into the North West London Partnership’s Assisted and Supported Year in Employment…
I am so excited to be writing this blog ahead of the AYSE event on 09 September 2014 hosted by the North West London/West London Alliance Partnership and @SWSCmedia. First…
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registration renewal period for social workers in England opens on Monday 1 September 2014 and social workers have until 30 November 2014 to…
Below is the message from the HCPC for social workers’ registration renewal which runs from: 1 September to 30 November 2014. The HCPC registration renewal period for social workers in…
Creating a ‘learning culture’ within local authority Children’s Services is perhaps one of the biggest challenges we face in moving towards the kind of ‘child centered’ system envisaged by Munro….
At first glance, the contracting out of social care services to providers in the private and voluntary sector is nothing new. Since the late 1980s, local councils have moved so…
This discussion of user involvement all starts with a memory. It’s interesting where trains of thought take you. This one actually started the other day with a long train ride….
In the last twelve months social work has seen some very significant and wide reaching changes ranging from the closure of General Social Care Council (GSCC) and transfer of social…
This blog is a first and hesitant step – an attempt to find a pathway out of the current crisis in social work. It is written to provoke thought and…
The beginning of a Social Worker’s career can be challenging and initial experiences can be pivotal. As we all may know, the social work profession is changing with the new…
The Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE) was a recommendation of the Social Work Reform Board (SWRB). The ASYE followed on from a previous scheme called NQSW. The ASYE…
Join & share your views in a special evening @SWSCmedia with Prof. Richard Hugman, discussing Postmodernity and Social Work Ethics… Tuesday (14 Mary 2013) at 9:00 PM BST / 4:00 PM EDT….
Research studies often feel a bit like relationships. Some are brief, some more enduring. Often they start out full of excitement, and then as that calms down there is a…
What are some of the challenges of military families and veterans? What are the services and support military families need? and what can be done to improve those services? How…
Join the tweet chat on 4/10, at 5:00 PM PDT / 8:00 PM EDT to discuss the challenges military families face and how social workers can help. We are delighted…
I am not a social worker. But I am a big fan. I have spent over 20 years working alongside social workers, particularly in order to improve the lives of…
Social Work is a relationship based profession and social networks are essential in establishing and maintaining relationships. Therefore, there is great and natural synergy between the two. In fact, aside…
During the early years of the twenty first century the Irish economy was booming. After decades of poverty and emigration Ireland had completed a remarkable turn around. Between 1995-2000 the…
Today, World Social Work Day celebrations have been held by BASW, in conjunction with others, across the UK, including events in Westminster in conjunction with the Joint University Council Social…
Last week one of our social work alums, I’ll call her Sally, described her challenges in caring for an aging parent across a distance: she and her brother (who live…
Many people will have heard of the slow food movement. It values local knowledge and local strengths and resists universal, bland fast foods. Some may have heard of ‘slow parenting’,…
At a meeting of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) we had a presentation from the schools effectiveness service about Elective Home Education. What we learnt came as a surprise…
Podcast on Critical Reflective Learning by: Dr Neil Thompson. Dr. Neil Thompson is an independent writer, educator and adviser. He edits the free monthly e-zine, Well-being BULLETIN (www.well-being.org.uk). A blog and free Tip of the Week facility are…
One of the key elements of social work practice is critical reflection. It is a concept that is drummed into social work students, and which is expected of qualified practitioners…
Social Work means enabling, empowering, supporting and protecting. To me, being a social worker means helping the most vulnerable children achieve their full potential, free from fear of harm or…
While studying for my undergraduate degree in Psychology & Sociology at the University Of Leeds, I was deeply troubled by the harrowing accounts I read of abuse and neglect experienced…
I have come to social work mainly due to autobiographical reasons; my mother had postnatal depression which I have experienced as the first child when my brothers were born. When…
Katie Dangerfield explains why she chose social work as a career choice. Join @SWSCmedia on the 19 March 2013 for our live Social Work Twitter at 8 PM GMT /…
The difficulty in reflecting upon why I became a Social Worker is that although I can remember the world before I qualified, I can’t really remember not being a Social…
Thinking about why I chose social work as a career has helped me realise that social work chose me. When I graduated, with what is effectively an English degree, I…
Recently in the media there has been a lot of talk surrounding the issue of bullying. When we think of bullying we may think of school yard antics,or cafeteria trays…
The introduction to the Children and Families Bill 2013 states: “The Children and Families Bill will make the legislative changes that underpin our wider reforms to support children and families….
The Children Act 1989 emerged after years of research and consultation and was welcomed by a very wide constituency as it was considered to provide a strong framework for all…
I was semi amused to read a blog by conservative MP Jesse Norman last week critically acclaiming the Children and Families Bill and urging us all to celebrate it. I…
Happy Social Work Month to All… Social Work month offers us an opportunity for raising general awareness of social work, its role and mission, as well as its values. In…
#workforchange tweet chat on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. PST/ 9 p.m. EST. Join the University of Southern California School of Social Work and its online MSW@USC program for a tweet…
Leadership: What difference does it make? “An Analysis of Leadership in the Social Work Profession,” a study of 150 random deans, executive directors, and organization presidents concerning attitudes about leadership,…
The public sector is under increasing pressure to produce and deliver more for less and in less time, hence, cuts in health and social care sectors run deep and across…
It’s 2013. Our modern Internet is now 24 years old, email is about 20 years old, folks have been blogging their personal lives and what they ate for breakfast for nearly…
Gun control has been a hot topic in the media for some months, especially in light of the recent tragedies in Aurora and Newton. In recent weeks however, the media…
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about in the present, the Jimmy Savile affair opens up the whole of recent history as a site for us to panic…
Like many others, I have been interested in the idea of moral panics for a long time, probably since I first read Stan Cohen’s ground-breaking book, Folk Devils and Moral…
Children and families social work has been prone to periodic involvement in scares and moral panics, e.g. the Munchausen by proxy syndrome of the 1970s, glue-sniffing in the 1980s, satanic…
Child sexual abuse involves persuading or forcing a child to take part in sexual activities, or encouraging a child to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. Sexual abuse can be very…
Recent events of interpersonal and mass violence in the US have renewed what is often characterized as a cause-and-effect relationship between mental illness and violence. In general, this may happen…
Mommy bloggers and children’s right to privacy: an evening with Sarah Kendzior « Social Work/Social Care & Media.
Barely a month has passed since 20 children aged 6 and 7 were killed in their classrooms at Sandy Hook elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. It is also disturbing that for…
Gun control has been a persistent debate for at least half a century in US, beginning with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther…
Social media is a growing issue for social workers, in terms of how they employ these communications platforms in their professional and personal lives. We see its prevalence in discussions…
Technology is firmly now part and parcel of our daily lives, embedded in our culture and transcending our whole lives – professional, personal and those grey areas in between. So…
I’d enjoyed Twitter for many months, well before September, 2012. It had given me immediate news on all the important things; Arsenal’s results; on all things cycling, who’d won what,…
The increasing use of social media and its applications have dramatically changed and continue to change the manner in which people communicate and exchange information. This has brought about significant…
Thank you for joining @SWSCmedia debate on Frontline and for sharing your views. We are very pleased to have offered the first public open debate about Frontline where all participants could…
It’s been an exciting and busy time for Frontline over the last few weeks and we have high hopes for the future. I am now working full time to make…
Thank you for joining the debate and for sharing your views on the prospects of Social Work, Social Care, and Health in 2013. It was an excellent way to start our debates…
Welcoming in a new year always brings a chance to consider what might be up ahead. Given who I am, many (but not all) of my predictions relate to social…
Well I hope that those of us who are involved in social work and social care reclaim the discredited phrase ‘we are all in this together’ and make common cause…
We will face no shortage of social needs in 2013. From any standpoint of practice, knowledge, or belief, the challenges will be more and greater than they have been in…
Few would disagree that there should be better dialogue between research and practice in social work, leading to practice which is better informed by evidence. How to achieve this change…
2012 has been an eventful year for social care, social work and health as each of these sectors saw significant changes in policy and legislation ranging from the so called…
Thank you for joining the debate and for sharing your views regarding solution focused social work. Also our great appreciation for Dr. Neil Thompson who joined us to share his…
In my training and consultancy work I often encounter a degree of negativity towards the ideas of partnership and empowerment. This largely comes from a belief that, while they may…
Thank you for joining the debate and for sharing your views regarding HCPC and Social Workers’ registration, regulation, and Continuous Professional Develop (CPD). Also our great appreciation goes to HCPC…
Our standards for continuing professional development are very different to the General Social Care Council’s (GSCC) system of post registration training and learning (PRTL). This system required social workers to…
Social workers in England have a new regulator following the abolition of the General Social Care Council (GSCC). The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is now responsible for regulating…
In a recent speech at the Institute of Public Policy Research, Education secretary Michael Gove started his speech by saying: “I want to begin with an admission. The state is…
4 decades ago in September 1972, in an unpublished position statement on trans-racial adoptions, the National Association of Black Social Workers in the U.S. stated: “Black children belong physically and…
On 30th of October, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Social Work heard evidence from two frontline practitioners about the current state of social work. The APPG was launched…
TV star Jimmy Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, is believed to have been one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders. Estimates suggest that as…
Social work operates within a knowledge economy and one in which its practitioners are expected to take responsibility for their own training and development. But, even in this age of…
Since its’ inception the role and identity of social work has been a subject of debate and it seems that even after a century past Flexner social work has never…
Social media tools and approaches, based on Web 2.0 paradigm, offer educational possibilities in so far as they can support social interaction such as sharing and exchanging information and views,…
The widespread diffusion of social media and its increasing use in both personal and professional spheres combined with an abundance of information sustained by increasing out-pouring of private information into…
Thank you for joining the debate and sharing your views on “Voices of Children & Children’s Rights“ @SWSCmedia. Below is the summary of the discussion and we look forward to your views…
Thank you for joining the debate on “Child Protection Social Work: Separating Children from their Families? Why? When? & How?” We changed our topic shortly before the debate to shed…
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states: “1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her…
Thank you for joining the debate and sharing your views on “Values & Ethics in Social Work“ @SWSCmedia. Below is the summary of the discussion and we look forward to your views…
Thank you for joining the debate and sharing your views on “Ethical implications of Social Media engagement for Health, Social Work, and Social Care professions“ @SWSCmedia. Below is the summary of…
Thank you for joining the debate on “Social Work and Social Media Apps” @SWSCmedia and for sharing your views. Below is the summary of the discussion and we look forward to your…
The emergence of social media has revolutionised how we communicate with one another and how information is transmitted and shared. No longer are we solely consumers of the media but…
@SWSCMedia is hosting a special debate tomorrow evening on Social Work/Social Care/Health and Social Media Ethics. During this debate we will explore the ethical implications of social media engagement for…
An opportunity for all nurses, midwives and health visitors to come together to share their research findings and experiences and its relevance for today’s practice. Keynote speakers include: Professor Jenny Hunt…
Thank you for joining us and for sharing your views on “The Internet & Child Abuse Offenders – what are the current challenges?” @SWSCmedia. It was a lively evening with excellent…
With the rapidly changing technology all around us, it seems that new online social work communities and resources are springing up all the time. One such community and a leading…
Thank you for joining us and for sharing your views on “NQSW: Where to from here? What are the realistic job prospects for Newly Qualified Social Workers? Debate” @SWSCmedia. It was…
The Internet has created a global gateway and market, with no boundaries or distances to travel. As a result the policing of online child abuse offenders has required a co-ordinated…
Affordable Care Act is a truly historic legislation with vast and far reaching implications/consequences that will transform the health care landscape in America. For instance focusing on the population of…
Social work has and continues to undergo many changes and the same can be said for social work job prospects. Under the Labour government we saw unprecedented investment in public…
Thank you for joining us and for sharing your views on “Rape and Abortion Rights Debate” @SWSCmedia. This was the first of our new U.S.A. & Canada debates series @SWSCmedia. It…
Thank you for joining us and for sharing your views on “Rape and Sexual Violence”. This was part of the @SWSCmedia debate series. Below is the summary of the discussion and we…
This is the first of @SWSCMEDIA‘s U.S. Debate Series which will be run every Wednesday (8:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT) in collaboration with Network of Professional Social Workers…
Yesterday, referring to Foucault views and the various feminist perspectives including Susan Brownmiller’s, I raised Foucault’s question “Is rape the same as a punch in the face?” My reference to…
On Tuesday (21 August 2012) Hadley Freeman wrote an article entitled “Everyone’s talking about rape” and it certainly did feel like that, as we saw different politicians on both sides…
