Touching matters: an ethnographic study of adult-child relationships and the use of touch in residential child care

This thesis explores adult-child relationships and the use of touch in residential child care. The discourses surrounding touch in residential child care are distinctly polarised: touch is identified as being both fundamental to child development and also feared as a result of increasing risk aversion resulting from the legacy of abuse scandals in the sector (Cooke, 2003; Steckley, 2012). There is currently a dearth of empirical research regarding how touch is used in residential child care, particularly with regards to observations of touch in practice. This research therefore contributes to filling this gap in research by utilising ethnographic methods of participant observation, semi-structured and ethnographic interviews to explore how staff members and children conceptualise, use and/or avoid physical touch in day-to-day practice. This research is examined through a lifespace framework and draws upon theories of intimacy in order to link the findings to wider sociological theories of relationships (Smith, 2005; Jamieson, 1998, 2011). By carrying out sustained observations of practice, this research examines how touch, as a facet of adult-child relationships in residential child care, is negotiated within the lifespace. It shows how intimacy is both cultivated and inhibited, thus contributing theoretically to wider sociological debates concerning adult-child relationships and touching practices, particularly in relation to professional relationships and intimacy (Morgan, 2009; Ferguson, 2011a). The fieldwork for this project took place over 6 months at Sunnydale House, a local authority children’s home in England. The findings suggest that touch is used much more regularly than has been previously suggested in literature (Ward, 1999; Cooke, 2003), that the majority of touch is instigated by children not workers and that recent organisational culture shifts have shaped the way that workers conceptualise touch. The findings also illustrate the complex range of factors which influence how touch is inhibited, including: risk aversion, emotional burn out, bureaucracy and the construction of children in care as ‘moral dirt’ (Ferguson, 2007). The thesis concludes by producing a typology of touching practices which synthesises the range of meanings behind the uses - and avoidance - of touch in residential child care practice. This typology is also used to re-conceptualise intimacy in professional relationships in a way that accounts for the messy ambiguity of adult-child relationships in the lifespace

Touching matters: an ethnographic study of adult-child relationships and the use of touch in residential child care

This thesis explores adult-child relationships and the use of touch in residential child care. The discourses surrounding touch in residential child care are distinctly polarised: touch is identified as being both fundamental to child development and also feared as a result of increasing risk aversion resulting from the legacy of abuse scandals in the sector (Cooke, 2003; Steckley, 2012). There is currently a dearth of empirical research regarding how touch is used in residential child care, particularly with regards to observations of touch in practice. This research therefore contributes to filling this gap in research by utilising ethnographic methods of participant observation, semi-structured and ethnographic interviews to explore how staff members and children conceptualise, use and/or avoid physical touch in day-to-day practice. This research is examined through a lifespace framework and draws upon theories of intimacy in order to link the findings to wider sociological theories of relationships (Smith, 2005; Jamieson, 1998, 2011). By carrying out sustained observations of practice, this research examines how touch, as a facet of adult-child relationships in residential child care, is negotiated within the lifespace. It shows how intimacy is both cultivated and inhibited, thus contributing theoretically to wider sociological debates concerning adult-child relationships and touching practices, particularly in relation to professional relationships and intimacy (Morgan, 2009; Ferguson, 2011a). The fieldwork for this project took place over 6 months at Sunnydale House, a local authority children’s home in England. The findings suggest that touch is used much more regularly than has been previously suggested in literature (Ward, 1999; Cooke, 2003), that the majority of touch is instigated by children not workers and that recent organisational culture shifts have shaped the way that workers conceptualise touch. The findings also illustrate the complex range of factors which influence how touch is inhibited, including: risk aversion, emotional burn out, bureaucracy and the construction of children in care as ‘moral dirt’ (Ferguson, 2007). The thesis concludes by producing a typology of touching practices which synthesises the range of meanings behind the uses - and avoidance - of touch in residential child care practice. This typology is also used to re-conceptualise intimacy in professional relationships in a way that accounts for the messy ambiguity of adult-child relationships in the lifespace

Developing a Proof-of-Concept Selection Test for Entry into Primary Teacher Education Programs

The purpose of this article is to report on the development of a proof-of-concept situational judgment test (SJT) to assist in the selection of candidates for primary teacher education (ITE) programs. Nine development steps involving practising teachers, teacher educators, and applicants to ITE programs were carried out to establish target attributes and to develop content for the test. The results from administering the test to 124 primary ITE candidates showed a near-normal distribution, high levels of reliability, and significant positive correlations with a range of concurrently administered interview scores. We conclude with a description of the necessary next steps needed to implement evidence-supported teacher education selection processes in a range of international settings

Revealing the hidden performances of social work practice:The ethnographic process of gaining access, getting into place and impression management.

Whilst the empirical process of research highlights substantive findings, understanding the methodological approach in which access is gained and sustained on field sites is also an integral part of the data. Gaining access in ethnographic studies, in particular, is a complex task which requires researchers to continually negotiate systems and processes in order that they may reflect on the socially embedded practices of their chosen fields. However once the researchers are accepted, the ethnographer then has to be aware of the effect their presence has on the field and that access is continual process of negotiation and contestation. Based on a longitudinal study which conducted a 15-month ethnography in two social work organizations, this article will explore the dilemmas various members of a research team experienced when trying to blend into the different sites. And then, once having achieved their desired position, the challenges they encountered when they realized their presence was affecting the performances of their participants. We conclude by discussing the importance of reflexivity, power and ethics. Ethnographic research may be a more natural way for researchers to collect data but it is also a method which positions researchers in situations where they can easily influence encounters and, in effect, become part of the findings as well

“Isn’t it funny the children that are further away we don’t think about as much?”: Using GPS to explore the Mobilities and Geographies of Social Work and Child Protection Practice

Social work is an inherently mobile and spatial profession; child protection social workers travel to meet families in diverse contexts, such as families' homes, schools, court and many more. However, rising bureaucracy, managerialism and workloads are all combining to push social workers to complete increasing volumes of work outside their working hours (Broadhurst et al., 2009, 2010; Unison, 2017). Such concerns lead to the perception that social workers are increasingly immobilised, finding themselves desk-bound and required to spend much of their working day navigating time-consuming computer systems. This immobilisation of social workers has considerable implications, restricting professionals' abilities to undertake the face-to-face work required to build relationships with families. However, until now, the actual movements of social workers, and how (lack of) movement affects ability to practice, remain unknown. In this paper we report on innovative research methods using GPS [Global Positioning System] devices that can trace social workers' mobilities and explore the use of office space, home working and visits to families in two English social work departments. This article presents unique findings that reveal how mobile working is shaping social care practitioner wellbeing and practice

Supervision in child protection: A space and place for reflection or an excruciating marathon of compliance?

Supervision is promoted as an essential element of effective professional practice in social work. Its benefits include promoting reflective social work and assisting with the management of the emotions generated in challenging practice. This article reports on the observations of supervision in a 15-month ethnographic study of social work teams on two very different sites in England, one using hot-desking the other a small team design. Our findings show how supervision is constituted by temporal, spatial and relational elements and that some current organisational designs do not create the ideal environment for reflective supervision to flourish. Far from providing an opportunity for containment of challenging emotions, supervision was sometimes a source of stress. It was experienced as reflective and containing where managers were accessible and space was made for thinking in a context of openness that encouraged regular deep conversations about current work. By experiencing the atmospheres of supervisory encounters and organisational cultures, this study has enabled us to produce new insights into the embodied nature of supervision as it is lived

Biodegradation of the Alkaline Cellulose Degradation Products Generated during Radioactive Waste Disposal.

The anoxic, alkaline hydrolysis of cellulosic materials generates a range of cellulose degradation products (CDP) including α and β forms of isosaccharinic acid (ISA) and is expected to occur in radioactive waste disposal sites receiving intermediate level radioactive wastes. The generation of ISA's is of particular relevance to the disposal of these wastes since they are able to form complexes with radioelements such as Pu enhancing their migration. This study demonstrates that microbial communities present in near-surface anoxic sediments are able to degrade CDP including both forms of ISA via iron reduction, sulphate reduction and methanogenesis, without any prior exposure to these substrates. No significant difference (n = 6, p = 0.118) in α and β ISA degradation rates were seen under either iron reducing, sulphate reducing or methanogenic conditions, giving an overall mean degradation rate of 4.7×10−2 hr−1 (SE±2.9×10−3). These results suggest that a radioactive waste disposal site is likely to be colonised by organisms able to degrade CDP and associated ISA's during the construction and operational phase of the facility