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Participating and learning: citizen involvement in social work education in the Northern Ireland context: a good practice guide
- Author:
- DUFFY Joe
- Publisher:
- University of Ulster
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 100p.
- Place of publication:
- Londonderry
This guide aimed at improving the training of social work students in Northern Ireland, examines how service users and carers as citizens can be involved in the education of the students undertaking their degree course at the University. It is now compulsory for students, as part of their training, to understand the service user and carer perspective. Uniquely in the UK, students also have to demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and communities have been affected by the conflict which raged in Northern Ireland for almost 30 years. This Good Practice Guide is intended to help everyone involved in the training process – including academics, students, agency partners and potential clients of the social work students – find a common approach which will deliver the best results.
Service user involvement in teaching about conflict – an exploration of the issues
- Author:
- DUFFY Joe
- Journal article citation:
- International Social Work, 55(5), 2012, pp.720-739.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Service user involvement is now a well embedded feature of social work education in the United Kingdom, helping to provide understanding and insight into service users’ experience. A unique requirement of the social work curriculum in Northern Ireland is that social work students need to understand how the country’s history of violent political conflict has affected society. The purpose of this article is to describe a pilot project in which service users who had been injured, traumatised and bereaved through political violence were routinely involved in teaching social work students about the impact of conflict on their lives. The project involved a university teaching team of 5 members working with 8 members from a large nongovernmental organisation involved in providing services to victims of the conflict. The teaching methods involved lectures to the students on historical aspects of the conflict, sectarianism and policy aspects of service delivery to victims, together with tutorials in which case study/vignette material was used to concentrate on the knowledge and skills required by social workers. An evaluation of the project indicated that the students perceived the project approach as adding significantly to the quality of their learning experience.
Explicit argumentation as a supervisory tool for decision making in child protection cases involving human rights issues
- Author:
- DUFFY Joe
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 23(1), February 2011, pp.31-44.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper seeks to address the problems faced by social workers and their supervisors in decision making where there are competing human rights and child protection concerns. Social workers have been repeatedly criticised for intervening either too much or too little, especially in the wake of public enquiries following child deaths. In addition, high-profile court cases have consistently called for social workers to convey more clarity when justifying their reasons for interfering with human rights in child protection cases. This paper proposes that an approach using explicit argumentation may help supervisors and practitioners towards safer and more confident decision making in child protection cases involving the interference of the human rights of children and parents. Toulmin offers a structured approach to argumentation which may have relevance to the supervision of child protection cases when social workers and managers are required to balance these human rights considerations. This model takes the practitioner through a series of stages where any argument or proposed recommendation is subjected to intense critical analysis involving exposition of its strengths and weaknesses. The paper includes case material to practically demonstrate the application of Toulmin's model of argumentation to the supervision context.
Service user involvement and COVID-19: an afterthought?
- Authors:
- DUFFY Joe, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, early cite February 2022, p.bcac007.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
We are researchers and activists working in the field of service user involvement for many years in the UK and internationally who are concerned that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, years of progress in service user involvement have been unravelled by service users being left on the outside of key decisions and matters affecting their lives. Instead, we argue, they have become an afterthought. As authors, we combine both academic and service user experience and have been involved in advancing practice, understanding and guidance about the significant contribution that service users bring to knowledge production. This article examines the issues by focusing on the journey of service user involvement before and during the pandemic, as well as on what should come after. Turning to the experiences of disabled people as a case study example, we argue that going back to ‘normal’ would be fundamentally flawed, as evidenced by the marginalised way in which service users have been treated during this period of societal crisis. Our article concludes by urging a reflexive stance to ensure service user involvement re-establishes its pivotal position in public policy and practice. (Edited publisher abstract)
Differing knowledges: comparing the contribution of drama students and service users in role-plays preparing social work students for practice
- Authors:
- DUFFY Joe, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Education (The International Journal), 40(5), 2021, pp.624-640.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Much has been written about service user involvement in social work education with the literature recognizing the value of this particular type of experiential knowledge in helping students understand key competences and concepts. There is also extensive literature highlighting the role of simulation in assisting social work students to develop key insights in regard to skills and knowledge through role-plays. Using a Cross-Over design, this paper compares the contribution of drama students with service users in the preparation of social work students for field practice in Northern Ireland. Our findings suggest there is an important role for both drama students and service users working collaboratively to help social work students develop in key areas of social work competence and have implications for social work education in an international context. (Edited publisher abstract)
Personal and public involvement (PPI) and its impact: monitoring, measuring and evaluating the impact of Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) in health and social care in Northern Ireland: main report
- Authors:
- DUFFY Joe, et al
- Publishers:
- Public Health Agency, Patient and Client Council
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 172
- Place of publication:
- Belfast
Reports the findings of research conducted across Northern Ireland's five Health and Social Care Trusts during 2015 to examine the current state of personal and public involvement (PPI). That is, about how service users, carers and patients engage with staff, management and directors of statutory health and social care organisations. The specific aims were to identify best practice in PPI; identify barriers to effective involvement and ways to overcome these barriers; and to identify valid and reliable ways of measuring and evaluating the impact of PPI activity. The research included a literature review, using a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) approach; an on-line survey and focus groups with service users, carers, voluntary groups and Health and Social Care staff throughout Northern Ireland. The research identified positive progress with the implementation of PPI in Northern Ireland. It highlights the importance of strong leadership, coordination and partnership working for continued progress in PPI. Barriers to effective PPI were characterised by instances where staff lacked in empathy and communication insights, where tokenism continued to occur, where service users were left not knowing what the outcome/impact of their contributions were and where practical arrangements were ignored. The research makes 10 recommendations to help to meaningfully embed PPI into health and social care practice in Northern Ireland. (Edited publisher abstract)
Social work students learn about social work values from service users and carers
- Authors:
- DUFFY Joe, HAYES David
- Journal article citation:
- Ethics and Social Welfare, 6(4), 2012, pp.368-385.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Abingdon
Service-user and carer involvement is now an established feature of social work education in the United Kingdom. The paper describes a project where first-year students were facilitated in their understanding of the meaning of social work values by having the opportunity to discuss the practice application of their values teaching by visiting service users and carers. The project is sited within a module undertaken by 80 students in the first semester of the first year of the Bachelor of Social Work degree course at Queen’s University Belfast. This paper describes the ‘value talk’ which occurred when the students sought further meaning from service-user and carer groups in their community settings following classroom teaching on values. The paper discusses the detailed preparations involved in the project and also the learning which resulted. An evaluation was based on questionnaires completed by 160 students who participated in years 2 and 3 of the project and also on questionnaires completed by participating service user and carer groups. The findings show that the students' understanding of social work values was significantly influenced by the contributions from service users and carers.
Innovative approaches to involving service users in palliative care social work education
- Authors:
- AGNEW Audrey, DUFFY Joe
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work Education (The International Journal), 29(7), October 2010, pp.744-759.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
It has become commonplace to have service user participation in the education and training of student social workers and the post-qualifying education of staff. This article details this approach, as used in Northern Ireland, by contrasting two methods of user participation employed with under- and post- graduates. In both cohorts, students firstly watched DVD excerpts of narratives from people affected by cancer and then saw a live interview with a 25-year-old male who had been diagnosed with cancer at a young age. The aim was to promote understanding of the palliative care issues of individuals and families to the students as a key part of social work which will often be encountered in practice. The authors compared the success of the different teaching methods in achieving “meaningful and effective user involvement with seldom heard groups”, by using questionnaires to capture both quantitative and qualitative data. Topics addressed included employment background, perceived understanding of end-of-life care, the impact of using DVD teaching methods compared with live, facilitated interview methods, perceived learning outcomes, student evaluations of training sessions, and the 25 year old male cancer patient’s user views on his experiences during the training sessions.
Are we listening to children? An examination of the child's voice in social work reports to the court following parental separation disputes
- Authors:
- WEATHERALL Kerrylee, DUFFY Joe
- Journal article citation:
- Child Care in Practice, 14(3), July 2008, pp.275-292.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper examines the findings from a recent study investigating how children's interests and their rights are safeguarded through the representation of social workers in reports prepared for Court following parental separation disputes. A small-scale research study describes the views of family and childcare social workers on how children's wishes and feelings are reflected in Court-directed assessments in a large Health and Social Services Trust in Northern Ireland. The research employs a multi-data collection methodology involving the use of a focus group, postal questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically analysed in relation to representing the voice of the child, and examined both the social work task and the role of training as a form of support for social workers in this demanding area of work. The findings demonstrate that social workers do seek and represent the views of the child within Article 4 reports, but identify factors that impinge on the accuracy of representing children's views and promoting their rights. These factors relate to Trust and Court priorities, lack of therapeutic intervention for children, variation in social work practice, lack of training for social work staff in this area and, consequently, the need to increase confidence and support for social work staff undertaking this work. As a result of these findings, suggestions are proposed for informing practice and improving service delivery in this key area of family and childcare social work practice.
Macro impacts on caseworker decision-making in child welfare: a cross-national comparison
- Authors:
- DUFFY Joe, COLLINS Mary Elizabeth
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 13(1), March 2010, pp.35-54.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The authors compare factors impacting on decision-making in child and family social work in Northern Ireland and the United States. Four areas are considered: legislative framework, impact of child abuse tragedies on practice, the child within the family unit, and the children’s rights/human rights context. For each country the historical and political context of child welfare, particularly the tension between child safety and family support, and how children’s rights are attended to and interpreted are described. The authors comment that this review suggests the importance of context in influencing decisions. Political ideology, critical incidents, and economic resources influence prevailing views on child welfare. They suggest that a steadfast, balanced, vocal professional stance regarding the importance of both child safety and family support may counter ideological trends, economic challenges and political responses to high profile incidents. Continued commitment to high quality social work research might also serve to identify better strategies for intervening with families that can aim at both protection and support. Implications for social work training and education are also discussed. The authors conclude that, in general, more attention to social work as an international field would facilitate cross-national dialogue regarding strengths, weaknesses, successes, innovations, and contextual fit that may serve to enhance more humane and effective practice.