Austerity and anxiety: The role of relationship-based practice

Please note this session is postponed – new date to be confirmed.

Austerity has been with us in the UK for over a decade. This social work academy seminar will explore the impact of austerity, not simply in financial and economic terms, but in relation to its psychological effects on personal and profession wellbeing - what I have termed relational austerity.

Speaker: Professor Gillian Ruch, University of Sussex

How relational austerity shapes and influence contemporary practice will be explored with examples drawn from both social work research and continuing professional development contexts. Paradoxical understanding and containing conceptual frameworks are offered as hopeful ways to respond to these contemporary challenges.

Attendance at the Masterclass is free, but online registration is required.

Biography

Gillian Ruch is Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Social Care at the University of Sussex. She teaches and researches in the areas of child care social work and relationship-based and reflective practice and is committed to enhancing the wellbeing of children, families and practitioners. Her particular interests are in promoting psycho-social research methods and reflective forums that facilitate relationship-based practice. Gillian’s research includes an ESRC funded four UK nations project exploring how social workers communicate with children - and an ESRC Knowledge Exchange Project introducing a cognitive and affective supervisory approach to child and family social workers. Gillian has co-edited, with Danielle Turney and Adrian Ward, Relationship-based Social Work: Getting to the Heart of Practice. Gillian’s most recent publication Relationship-Based Research in Social Work: Understanding Practice Research, is co-edited with Ilse Julkunen from the University of Helsinki. Recent publications include:

Winter, K, Morrison, F., Cree, V., Ruch, G., Hadfield, M. and Hallett, S. (2018) Emotional Labour in Social Workers’ Encounters with Children and Their Families, British Journal of Social Work, Adv Access.

Ruch, G., Winter, K., Cree, V.E., et al (2017) ‘Making meaningful connections: insights from social pedagogy for statutory social work practice’, Child & Family Social Work, 22, 2,1015–1023,

Winter, K., Cree, V.E., Ruch, G., Hallett, S., Hadfield, M., Morrison, F. (2016) Effective communication between social workers and children and young people’, British Journal of Social Work, Volume 47, Issue 5, Pages 1427–1444.