Intimacy and Distance in Social Workers’ Communication with Children Dr Sophie Hallett, Dr Sally Holland and Professor Mark Hadfield, Cardiff University, Wales. Dr Fiona Morrison and Professor Viv Cree, Edinburgh University, Scotland. Professor Gillian Ruch, University of Sussex, England. Dr Karen Winter, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Structure of presentation Social work communication with children The research project An context of the social worker-child relationship – The public and policy environment – The team and working environment – The child’s home and community environment Emerging findings on how intimacy and distance are created, managed and maintained

Social work communication with children Our current knowledge: a)Subject to competing demands: child protection/child rights; child/parent; process driven/relationship based. b)Indirect: much of what we know is based on SW and child reported experiences and analysis of documents c)Fragmented: studies tend to focus on practitioners or children

The research project: Based in 8 social work teams in 4 UK nations – 2 teams working with disabled children, 6 are child protection/early response teams. Phase 1: participant observation in team rooms and observation of visits with children Phase 2: Video-stimulated recall interviews with pairs of children and their social workers in two sites. Development of training materials for practitioners.

Policies, legislation and public discourses Local working environment Micro- communicat ions

Policies, legislation and public discourses Children’s social work policy is devolved in UK Many shared trends and challenges: – Austerity budgets – Target driven approaches to case management – Serious case reviews highlight children can be marginalised – But, children’s participation high on agenda – Public and media criticisms of social work

Local working environments By observing across eight teams we can discern how intimacy and distance with children is shaped by: Urban/rural environments and demography Leadership and informal team cultures Practical issues such as restricted car parking, ‘hot desking’, staff turnover Resources such as advocates and specialist services

Micro-communications Creating intimacy and distance through – Verbal interactions – Locations in house and in room – Touch – Food and drink

Observation example 1

Observation example 2

Observation example 3

Observation example 4

Limitations and next steps These are early findings – much more data collection and analysis to come Phase 1 data collection brings to the fore the practitioner perspective. Phase two will bring children’s perspectives and experiences to the fore.