The role of self-conscious emotions in child protection social work practice: a case study of a local authority safeguarding service

Gibson, Matthew (2016). The role of self-conscious emotions in child protection social work practice: a case study of a local authority safeguarding service. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis reports on the first study into the role of self-conscious emotions, namely pride, shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment, in social work practice. Employing a qualitative case study research design, involving the safeguarding service of one local authority, ethnographic constructionist grounded theory methods were used to develop a conceptual understanding of these emotional experiences in the practice of the social workers involved. Integrating data from 246.5 hours of observations, 99 diary entries, 33 assessments written by the social workers, 19 interviews, and 329 pages of documents relating to the organisation, this study analyses the context for these emotional experiences within the case study site, how they were experienced, and their influence on the social workers’ practice. It argues that these emotional experiences are inherently part of practice, influencing what the social workers did and how they did it, which could be manipulated by others to regulate the social workers’ identities so that they acted in institutionally ‘appropriate’ ways. While some social workers felt proud to act in such a manner in some contexts, often resulting in a difficult experience for the parents, most social workers felt constrained, believing they were no longer doing social work, and in some contexts sought to resist the institutional expectations.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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