Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker on the publication of his article ‘Descent or dissent? A future of social work education in the UK post-Brexit‘ in the European Journal of Social Work. In true European style the journal also gives the title in Italian: Discesa o dissenso? Il futuro dell’istruzione nel settore dei servizi sociali nel Regno Unito dopo la Brexit.
Conducting interdisciplinary or even transdisciplinary research has become more to the fore in many academic fields. As a result of the steady rise of multidisciplinary research It has been made more explicit in REF 2021 [1]. For example, REF 2021 UoA 2 Public Health, Health Services & Primary Care “recognises the breadth and diverse range of single, multidisciplinary and/or multi-professional research across public health, health services and primary care”, whilst UoA22 Anthropology & Development Studies states that its submissions “can be multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary and may combine social science with other disciplines”.
However, doing multidisciplinary research is not without its problems (and barriers). In a paper accepted today we reflect on some of these issues [2]. The co-authors are Bournemouth University’s Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Nirmal Ayral and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada (Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University) and BU graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary (Green Tara Nepal). We all are Public Health researchers, with very different educational backgrounds and training, reflecting the diversity of and interdisciplinarity in the field. Several of us have a first degree in Education or Health Education, but one has a first degree in Sociology. Whilst four of the five authors have Master degree in Public Health and/or Health Promotion, two have a Master in Education. Most of us have a Ph.D. in Public Health, but again one of us has a Ph.D. in Sociology. Our paper ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward’ has been accepted by the journal Health Prospect [2]. The advantage of this journal, which is part of the NepJOL family is that it is Open Access and hence freely available for anybody working in Public Health across the globe.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Reference:
Congratulations to Orlanda Harvey on the publication of her paper ‘Shades of Grey’: The Ethics of Social Work Practice in Relation to Un-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Use. Orlanda Harvey is a PhD student in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences with a research interest in image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. Her paper will be published in Practice: Social Work in Action. 
This paper highlights ethical dilemmas that social workers face when assessing risk in relation to those using substances. It explores how legislation and societal factors can impact not just on people’s choices and decisions but also on their ‘vulnerability’ and access to services. Vulnerability, a contested term, is linked, in this paper, to assessment of risk. There are ethical issues that arise when assessing risk with people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) from both service user and professional perspectives. These ethical issues concern a person’s right to choose whilst making potentially harmful decisions. The paper argues that using substances such as AAS in and of itself does not suffice to make a person vulnerable but this does not mean that people using AAS are not in need of support. It suggests that there may be some groups of people who are more at risk to starting AAS use and that social workers should be aware of these. It also recommends the need for further qualitative research to understand the reasons for starting use and support to help people stop using AAS.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Congratulations to Dr. Rosie Read and Prof. Lee-Ann Fenge in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences who just published in the academic journal Health and Social Care in the Community. Their paper is called ‘What does Brexit mean for the UK social care workforce? Perspectives from the recruitment and retention frontline’ [1]. You can’t have a more topical academic paper and it is freely available on the web through Open Access!
The paper is based on research on research they undertook last year on the impact of Brexit on the social care workforce. A key finding is that, irrespective of whether they employ EU/EEA workers or not, research participants have deep concerns about Brexit’s potential impact on the social care labour market. These include apprehensions about future restrictions on hiring EU/EEA nurses, as well as fears about increased competition for care staff and their organisation’s future financial viability. This article amplifies the voices of managers as an under‐researched group, bringing their perspectives on Brexit to bear on wider debates on social care workforce sustainability.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Reference:
The final seminar in our ESRC seminar series concerning the development of legal literacy and adult safeguarding was held at the Friends’ Meeting House in London on the 11thOctober bringing together three years exploration of meanings, interpretation and learning from the implementation of the Care Act 2014. The series brought together expertise in adult safeguarding from the universities of Bournemouth, Bedford, East Anglia, Chester and led by Keele University, alongside practitioner expertise from 39 Essex Chambers and PASA-UK (Practitioner Alliance for Safeguarding Adults).
The morning session was chaired by Prof Jonathan Parker, who introduced the retired high court judge Sir Mark Hedley to begin the day by examining professional power and responsibility and the complexities of decision-specific capacity and the need for care, brought to life through a range of often heart-wrenching cases. Prof Paul Kingston (Chester) and Luke Joannou of the Royal British Legion then considered the topical area of safeguarding in the charitable sector that highlighted contemporary demands for good governance brought to the fore by recent cases involving Oxfam and Save the Children. The final session of the morning was presented by Kenny Gibson, the recently appointed head of safeguarding for NHS England. Kenny, only 120 days in post, articulated some of the changes NHS England was making to roll out understanding and improve practice in safeguarding across the workforce.
Prof Michael Preston-Shoot (Bedford) chaired the afternoon session. The Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, the former minister who ushered through the Care Act 2014 began the afternoon, reflecting on transformative approaches to care and Winterbourne View. He was followed by Prof Jill Manthorpe (King’s College, London) who presented aspects of her research group’s work on whether or not powers of entry would be beneficial for practitioners working in adult safeguarding; a fraught and contested area of practice that raises the importance of debate in this area. Bridget Penhale (UEA) then took us back into the history of identifying elder abuse – a very recent history – showing the political twists and turns, and the ways this has added to calls for a UN Convention of the Human Rights of Older People. The afternoon was completed by Alex Ruck Keane (39 Essex Chambers) who took us back to the beginnings of the seminar programme and the elusive processes in developing adequate definitions to negotiate this complex practice milieu.
As the series drew to a close we have turned attention to sustainability, dissemination and taking forwards the learning. One of the central elements of the three years has been to raise awareness and knowledge amongst the next generation – public, professional and academic – of adult safeguarding and to identify and challenge blurred lines within society. One way of doing so has been to ensure spaces are available for students, at all levels of study. As an example of our BU fusion approach, promoting the interface of research, education and practice, final year Sociology & Criminology student, Andreas Bubier-Johnstone joined the seminar, his interests developing through the degree programme. His reflections are useful:
As a third year Sociology & Criminology student wanting to pursue a future career in Adult Safeguarding I found the seminar overall a tremendous help. On arrival I was greeted by many fantastic minds, and felt instantly welcome. All of the speakers provided me with new and, more importantly, useful information, whether it was from textbook legalities and standard protocols, to their own personal experiences; it was both fascinating, and stimulating. I found the overall diversity of the speakers, something of great interest. Being able to gauge information from different people, and perspectives was a great touch in showing different fields and how they function.
What I took away from the day simply was clarity. I knew after the seminar was over, that I really did want to pursue a career in adult safeguarding. It gave me a new founded drive, speaking to people who are developed in the field really has given me a boost, and hunger to achieve my future career goals. The people who attended the seminar were all very helpful, and provided me with information on how to further achieve my goals for the future.
Jonathan Parker and Andreas Bubier-Johnstone
Sharing ideas and contextualising the historical and contemporary represents one of the ways in which we can broaden our understanding of international democratic ideals. We can recognise our place-in-environment as agents and the wider place of structures in forming, moulding and continuing policies that work for good or ill and choose to resist, adapt, or not, accordingly – not historicism but an agentic appreciation of the intertwining of the historical and biographical in shaping society and cultures. In this context, it was with great pleasure that we were able to welcome esteemed friend and colleague Professor Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria to speak to staff and students about the changing democratic face of Malaysia.
Prof Denison is principal researcher in the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Co-Chair of the Malaysian CSO-SDG Alliance. He has undertaken a great deal of work with SUHAKAM, the Malaysian Commission on Human Rights, and with the United Nations in Malaysia in establishing a trajectory towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
Prof Denison rehearsed the formation of Malaysia and its history in colonial times, considering the ethnic composition mixed to provide jobs, administration and infrastructure in Malaya and the constitution promoted at independence that privileged one group to be ‘more equal than others’. He provided a post-colonial analysis of the contemporary issues facing modern-day Malaysia.
A fascinating insight into future possibilities, democratic change and development, with respect set firmly as the bedrock for such discussions, was articulated through four-arm model of the next few years. This model examined the various power structures in relation to Malaysia’s constitution and the various interpretations made of it:
Each model was seen to have some claim, whilst there is a need for inclusion, participation and human rights focus as Malaysia moves forward. The constitution formed the basis for discussion of the different types of Malaysia envisaged and indicates an area that is ripe for further study and analysis.
It was good to see staff and students from a range of social science disciplines, from the pure to the applied, who engaged vigorously with the ideas promoted. As the UK stumbles into an uncertain and dangerous future and its democratic claims become increasingly under attack, it is good to be reminded of the need for resistance to marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion but also respect for or engagement with the ‘other person’s view’. Prof Denison showed how by engaging with a range of different perspectives new ways of thinking about and doing politics can emerge. Of course, the human rights bedrock must be there for this to work, and Prof Denison clearly highlighted this need.
We were pleased to announce earlier in the year that the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded us a further five years of funding to continue our work as the RDS South West. Today marks the beginning of our third five-year contract.
This NIHR funding allows RDS advisers in the South West to continue offering free and confidential advice, drawing on a unique breadth of experience and established track record in improving funding applications.
Please see our latest BUCRU/CoPMRE newsletter or find out more about how we could help you by visiting RDS SW website or contacting the RDS South West Bournemouth Office hosted within BUCRU (Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit):
Bournemouth University
Room R505, Royal London House
Christchurch Road
Bournemouth
Dorset, BH1 3LT
Tel: 01202 961939
Email: wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk
One of the first rules of drafting a scientific paper is that one cites the key literature in the respective field. So as someone who teaches people how to write and publish in this week’s experience of getting a paper rejected was not great, if not disheartening! Earlier this week we submitted a research paper to the Journal of Travel Medicine on a study of the health and well-being of female migrant workers in Nepal. This is high quality journal in which we have published before, including one paper on migrants’ health [1-3].
Two days later the journal editor emailed us to say: “”We feel that the scope of your paper would not justify a full original article in the Journal of Travel Medicine”, which is, in our opinion, a fair judgement. My co-authors and I between us have over 300 papers published and most have been rejected or at least we have been asked for a resubmission, so nothing new here. What was more upsetting than the rejection itself was the additional comment. The editor added:
“The authors should ideally include the two following references:
……(first reference omitted) …. +
Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health and well-being: a review of the literature.
Simkhada PP, Regmi PR, van Teijlingen E, Aryal N. J Travel Med. 2017 Jul 1;24(4). doi: 10.1093/jtm/tax021. Review.
We agree with the editor that we should have included the two listed key papers. Crucially, it is more than a little mistake to have missed the second paper since we wrote it ourselves. There are many lessons to be learnt from this: (a) check you have covered the key literature in your paper, either in the Background section and/or the Discussion; (b) don’t underestimate the importance of your own work; (c) you’re never too old to make mistakes (and to learn from them); (d) be thankful for good editors and reviewers; (e) do what you advise others to do; (f) etc. ………………
In shame,
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
With the forthcoming REF 2021 in mind we would like to encourage both staff and postgraduate students to consider writing up their literature reviews as journal articles. Systematic and scoping reviews are a great way of publishing quality publications. They are highly valued as REF submissions, especially, but not only, in the health field.
There is plenty of support at Bournemouth University: from academic colleagues, with vast experience in writing reviews, to the library team, who can advise on, for example, developing your systematic search strategy and which databases to search.
You can start with publishing your review question and research strategy on PROSPERO, international prospective register of systematic reviews. We would like to highlight just one BU example in the field of the social sciences. FHSS PhD student Orlanda Harvey published her proposed review ‘Support for people who use anabolic androgenic steroids: an investigation into what they want and what they currently access’ late last year on PROSPERO [1].
You might like to have a look at reviews published by Bournemouth University staff, which can be found by searching BURO, our institutional repository of research outputs. Moreover, BU academics have published several methods papers on the doing and writing systematic reviews [2-4].
Information about searching the literature for systematic reviews is available on this guide by the library team.
Other pages with useful information include:
Hopefully we have encouraged you to think about publishing your literature reviews as separate articles, and to seek help early in that process!
José López Blanco & Edwin van Teijlingen
For further information, please contact:
José López Blanco, Faculty Librarian (Health and Social Sciences), Library & Learning Support, Academic Services at tel 67350 or email: hsslibteam@bournemouth.ac.uk
References:
Dr. Andrew Harding and his BU PhD supervisors just published a new paper from his Ph.D. research [1]. This interesting paper ‘Suppy-side review of the UK specialist housing market and why it is failing older people’ reviews the supply-side of policies and practices that impact on the shortage of supply in the contemporary specialist housing market for older people in the UK. Andrew is currently based at Lancaster University.
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Reference:
Congratulations to Professor Jonathan Parker on the publication of his latest article in the International Journal of Social Work & Human Services Practice. [1] In this paper Professor Parker outlines the history and development of social work, primarily in the UK, in the context of uncertainty and ambiguity. He suggests that in an age of increased precariousness, social work itself represents a precarious activity that can be misconstrued and used for political ends as well as for positive change. As a means of countering potentially deleterious consequences arising from this, the concept of sacrifice which is used to consider social work’s societal role as scapegoat on the one hand and champion of the oppressed on the other. The paper concludes that social work’s potential for developing and encouraging resilience and hope is indicated in the ‘sacrifices’ social workers make when walking alongside marginalised and disadvantaged people.
The paper is Open Access, meaning that anybody across the globe with internet access will be able to read it free of cost.
Reference:
Congratulations to Faloshade Alloh (PhD student in Faculty of Health and Social Science), Dr. Pramod Regmi (Lecturer in International Health), Abe (Igoche) Onche (BU graduate MSc in Public Health) and Dr. Stephen Trenoweth (Principal Academic and Leaded for BU iWell Research Centre) on the timely publication of their paper on mental health in developing countries [1]. Despite being globally recognised as an important public health issue, mental health is still less prioritised as a disease burden in many Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). More than 70% of the global mental health burden occurs in poorer countries. The paper addresses mental health issues in LMICs under themes such as abuse and mental illness, cultural influence on mental health, need for dignity in care, meeting financial and workforce gaps and the need for national health policy for the mental health sector. This exciting paper has 51 references including several linking to BU publications on research in Africa [2-3] and several papers related to South Asia [4-6], particularly highlighting the recently completed THET project that was led by BU [4-5].
The authors highlight that although mental health education and health care services in most LMICs are poorly resourced; there is an urgent need to address issues beyond funding that contribute to poor mental health. In order to meet the increasing challenge of mental health illness in LMICs, there is a need for effort to address cultural and professional challenges that contribute to poor mental health among individuals. The authors suggest that mental health should be integrated into primary health care in LMICs. Creating awareness on the impact of some cultural attitudes/practices will encourage better uptake of mental health services and increase the ease when discussing mental health issues in these countries which can contribute to reducing the poor mental health in LMICs.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
Click here to view the full publication.
References:
Congratulations to professors Parker and Ashencaen Crabtree in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences on the publication of their latest paper ‘Wisdom and skills in social work education. Promoting critical relational social work through ethnographic practice.’
Reference:
This speech by the PM today was trailed in the press and here is the link to it as delivered. The Brexit bit is towards the end. [Selection of quotes below, my formatting and edited as otherwise it is a bit hard to follow, it was a long speech]
Government has always had a crucial role in supporting scientific research and the technological advancements that flow from it……from the founding of the learned societies under royal patronage in the seventeenth century to the expansion of state-funded research in universities through the twentieth century.
But to truly succeed we will go even further.
This is action from a strategic state to drive policy changes that will benefit our economy, our society and the individuals we serve.
……
So today I am setting the first four missions of our Industrial Strategy – one in each Grand Challenge. If they are to be meaningful, they must be ambitious and stretching. That means that our success in them cannot be guaranteed. But I believe that by setting a high ambition, we can achieve more than we otherwise would. So these are the missions I am setting today.
AI and data
First, as part of the AI and Data Grand Challenge, the United Kingdom will use data, artificial intelligence and innovation to transform the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and dementia by 2030.
Healthy ageing
Second, through our healthy ageing grand challenge, we will ensure that people can enjoy five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, whilst narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest.….
Future of mobility
Third, in the future of mobility grand challenge, we have a mission to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles and for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040. Technology is revolutionising how we power vehicles, how they are driven, how we navigate and how we access information about public transport.
Clean growth
And fourth, in the clean growth grand challenge, we will use new technologies and modern construction practices to at least halve the energy usage of new buildings by 2030.
….These four missions are just the beginning – and in setting further missions across the four grand challenge areas, we will work closely with businesses and sectors. ….
Science is an international enterprise and discoveries know no borders. The United Kingdom today is at the centre of a web of international collaboration.
When we leave the European Union, I will ensure that does not change.
The UK is ready to discuss these details with the Commission as soon as possible.
And to go with the speech, new Grand Challenges content.
They want new ideas, case studies etc – please contact policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like to be involved
Macmillian has published the specialist cancer adult nursing and support workforce census 2017.
The Education Policy Institute has published research on vulnerable children and social care in England.
On Tuesday there is a Westminster Hall debate on safeguarding children and young people in sport, and a Health and Social Care Select Committee examining childhood obesity.
Meindert Boysen has been appointed as Director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation.
On Friday Jeremy Hunt launched a review into the impact of technological advances on the NHS workforce.
On Wednesday there will be an adjournment debate on Mental Health Services
Clive Efford has joined the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee as a member. On Wednesday this committee will meet to consider Fake News.
David Clark, Kenny Dey and Nick Terrell have been appointed as members of the Oil & Gas UK Trade Association.
On Tuesday the Education Select Committee will examine Alternative Provision.
On Tuesday the Home Affairs Committee will meet to discuss Policing for the future.
On Wednesday there will be a Westminster Hall debate on reducing plastic waste in the maritime environment.
There is a new register of All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG). Check the list to see which fit with your research interests (scroll down past the country groups to the subject groups).
This week the following APPGs will meet: Social Work (on Tuesday), Industrial Heritage (Tuesday), Archaeology (Tuesday), Carers (Wednesday).
Catch up on last week’s policy news here, or email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk to subscribe.
On Tuesday evening, we were most fortunate to host a talk byProfessor Philippe Sands QC, the eminent human rights barrister and Professor of Law at University College London. The evening was a collaborative event between the Westbourne Literary Festival – the ‘Book Binge’ – and the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work’s Centre for Seldom Heard Voices: Marginalisation and social integration.
The talk concerned Philippe’s Sands extraordinary book East West Street: On the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity, which is described as part detective story, legal thriller and part family history. The family connections that Sands identifies with the two Nuremberg prosecutors who developed law relating to human rights and genocide, Hersch Lauterpacht and Rafael Lemkin, are made even stronger when drawing on the close association all three have with promoting human rights and fighting crimes against humanity, connected family histories, places and education. We were reminded, importantly in our current period in history, that the development of human rights in international legislation was undertaken and promoted by the British at the Nuremberg trials. The tradition of compassion, fair play and commitment to human rights that has characterised British society was again emphasised with a warning that we must not lose it.
The talk, and the wide-ranging Q&A held afterwards, was not restricted to the book. Indeed, the consequences of Brexit, Trump’s United States, and world turmoil that allows the rise of the far Right link directly to questions of human rights, abuses of those and to crimes against humanity. Just a few days after the US, UK and French strike on Syrian targets it is not surprising that discussion turned also towards these contemporary events.
The evening was open to the public and a large crowd supported it. Attendees were transfixed by Philippe Sands’ easy yet erudite manner, and our honoured guests, the Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth, Councillor and Mrs Williams, were eloquent in their praise of this fascinating, challenging and most timely talk.
Professor Jonathan Parker
Bournemouth University leads the Kosovo-strand of a major four-year AHRC ‘Global Challenges’ project titled ‘Changing the Story‘. This project aims at supporting the building of inclusive civil societies (CSOs) with, and for, young people in five post-conflict countries. It asks how the arts, heritage, and human rights education can support youth-centred approaches to civil society building in Cambodia, Colombia, Kosovo, Rwanda and South Africa. The Kosovo strand benefits from an established track record of collaboration with University of Prishtina (Co-I) and Stacion: Centre for Contemporary Arts in Prishtina as well as several arts-based civil society organisations in the country. The BU-led strand focuses on formal and informal civic education through the arts in Kosovo, to be explored locally by a Postgraduate Research Assistant, attached to University of Prishtina, through a critical review and proof of concept exercise during the first year. In support, BU is contributing a fully-funded PhD scholarship under the title ‘Imagining New Futures: Engaging Young People Through Participatory Arts in Post-Conflict Kosovo‘, which is currently being advertised.
International collaborative activities commenced last week in collaboration with an internationally-acclaimed CSO partner in Dorset, devoted to developing global youth citizenship through culture and the arts. The award-winning Complete Freedom of Truth project (TCFT), with which BU collaborated already previously, kindly offered a one-week residency to Albert Heta, Director of Stacion: Centre for Contemporary Arts in Prishtina. This residency brought together a group of artists, workshop leaders and young people from across the UK between February 12 and 16 in Bridport. Albert’s visit from Kosovo was funded by the AHRC and facilitated by BU’s new Research Centre ‘Seldom Heard-Voices: Marginalisation and Society Integration’ of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS). Together with Albert, some of the Centre’s members also participates in the events organised by TCFT, exchanged experiences and discussed best practice of working with young people of various background through the arts towards social justice. TCFT has a long history of working with young people, internationally, starting in post-conflict Srebrenica in 2008. Based on our observations during one week in Dorset, including of the issues selected as important by the young UK-participants during this period, we are currently reflecting on the extent to, and ways in, which arts-based interventions with a given set of young people in one specific socio-cultural context and its underpinning conceptualisations (such as of empowerment or vulnerability of, and pressures on, young people) can or cannot be transferred to another, such as that in which young people in Kosovo negotiate their aspirations.
Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers
sssievers@bournemouth.ac.uk
Photo credit below: Robert Golden
Kosovo strand activities begin via a global youth citizenship project
Our latest book Social Work with Disadvantaged and Marginalised People (Prof Jonathan Parker & Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree)
is published by Sage. The work offers theoretical and practice based perspectives and insights into the complexities and importance of working with people at the margins of societies. Everyone who works with people and especially social and community workers need to understand the powers and processes that lead to disadvantage and marginalisation and to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary to bringing about positive change and upholding social justice and human rights.
This need is reinforced in our present uncertain and insecure times. When the idea of writing this book was first mooted by our publishers we wondered what new approach could be brought to an area that seemed well trodden already in social work. What we found during the process of writing, however, was that there was a great deal to say on this hugely, perhaps fundamentally, important topic, in relation to the transition of social work as a profession operating in a society riven with inequities and divisions.
All times are ‘interesting’ for someone somewhere, but it seems a truism that we are currently living through a time of monumental and deeply uncertain transitions in the UK that will have a decisive bearing on lives and futures. Within the country we see that public services are stretched to crisis point and that public service pay caps are plunging public sector workers and many other working people into penury. We see that poverty is increasing, incomes are falling compared to rising household costs, and social welfare nets offer considerably less security than formerly.
Where then does this leave today’s social work graduates for whom amongst others, we have written this text? They are entering a beleaguered, under-funded profession and it could be said that social work is living through the ‘worst of times’, but, maybe also one of the best, to paraphrase Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities. The knowledge base of social work often constructs the concept of crisis as creating the tipping point to necessary change. We would suggest that this maybe where we currently are in England, we certainly hope so. For while the slow and unedifying helter-skelter journey downwards has taken time, as will the spiralling journey upwards, this can occur and maybe must occur, for the profession to survive. If change does happen and the profession eases itself up to a standing position, bedraggled and in tatters maybe, it should also take matters into its own hands and refuse to serve as political ‘whipping boy’ any longer, in the interests of marginalised and disadvantaged individuals and families everywhere in the England and the UK as a whole. If it fails to do this then it could be that social work in England, at least, will not survive into the future as a recognisable profession that adheres to international standards and values. If such were the case, then that indeed would be counted among the greatest national tragedies of our time.
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