Ciarán Murphy
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 4009426 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Ciarán Murphy |
| NOMBRES | Ciarán |
| APELLIDO | Murphy |
| FIRMA | MURPHY C |
| AFILIACIONES | Edge Hill University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7137-0389 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 24 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 38 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 24 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2007 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
How does work support influence the relationship between stress and job satisfaction? (A Quantitative Study of Social Workers in the UK)
There is increasing concern about the high rates of turnover within the social work profession in the UK and the high-stress levels encountered by social workers. It is hence important to understand the factors that influence the manifestation of stress and job satisfaction. This quantitative study administered standardised instruments to 104 social workers through an online survey to assess the perception of stress, job satisfaction, work suppor…
‘I’d love to come back, but it would have to be different’. Exploring former child protection social workers’ rationale for leaving the English child protection system, and the changes required to con…
England’s children’s social work workforce is in a state of crisis, characterised by record vacancy and agency rates. However, research exploring the factors underpinning this has focussed on current practitioners’ ‘intention to leave’ practice, and there has been a dearth of enquiry that has considered former practitioners’ reasons for leaving social work roles. This remains a critical omission when we consider that former workers provide unique…
Social Workers' Perceptions of Stakeholder Contributions to Regional Variation in the Numbers of ‘Care Orders at Home’ Being Recorded
This study builds on and extends the limited literature pertaining to the increasingly common care arrangement for children in England—the ‘Care Order at home’ [COAH]. Employing online focus groups and individual interviews, the study explores with 16 practising social workers their experience of COAH in both Northwest England and Greater London. Findings support existing research to highlight the social workers' experience that COAH are more pro…
When a ‘Social Worker’ is NOT a Social Worker
This ethics in practice article reflects on the ethical dilemmas and tensions that emerged from a research study employing online interviews with social workers in the context of (i) how to respond to suspected Imposter Participants (ii) whether to report individuals for fraudulently posing as social workers; (iii) how to better screen for Imposter Participants whilst minimising the chance of excluding genuine participants and (iv) whether to rei…
Exploring the contrasting sources of stress and job satisfaction across three different areas of UK statutory social work
The UK social work workforce is in a state of crisis, characterised by high vacancy and agency rates, staff sickness and turnover. As such, recent years have seen an increased focus on how the job satisfaction of UK social workers can be better understood and improved, as well as how the factors underpinning workforce instability can be addressed. Previous research has largely failed to compare the contrasting sources of stress and job satisfacti…
I Do Not Feel Great About It, but It Was the Logical Decision’—An Exploration of Why England's Agency Social Workers Have Left Permanent Child Protection Roles
In 2023, England's statutory children's services recorded the highest number of agency social workers since records began. The cost of these workers, and the impact of an unsettled workforce on the children in receipt of their services, has led to a new set of national rules for agency social workers in children's social care. However, there has been a dearth of enquiry seeking to explore with agency social workers their rationale for leaving per…
What Factors are Contributing to Increasing Numbers of ‘Care Orders at Home’ in Northwest England
There is increasing understanding of the challenges associated with rising numbers of children entering England's public care system. Yet, commentators continue to overlook cases where children are ostensibly placed ‘in care’ of the local authority, but then simultaneously remain living at home with their parent(s)—a practice referred to as a ‘Care Order at home’. The purpose of this study was to look for evidence of increasing numbers of ‘Care O…
After 50 Years of ‘Protocolization’, What Is the Progress Towards Munro's Image of a More Flexible, Innovative and ‘Child‐Centred’ English Child Protection System
Fifty years after the formation of England's child protection system, the country continues to reel from new instances of high‐profile child death tragedies where children have been harmed despite practitioners complying with the processes and procedures designed to protect them. This article considers the continued obstacles posed by the ‘protocolization’ of England's child protection practice and further challenges the assumption that child pro…
Does qualifying route inform preparedness for child protection practice? An appraisal of the testimonies of 201 ‘early career’ social workers
England’s children’s social care workforce is in a state of crisis, with the problem perhaps more prominent in the field of child protection. This led the Review of Children’s Social Care to call for further evaluation of social work education pathways, particularly in their ability to prepare early career social workers for the rigours of contemporary practice. The study emerged in response to this call, but also in the context of a concurrent n…
What is the nature and impact of workplace friendships within child protection social work? Implications for emotional support, professional learning, job satisfaction and worker wellbeing
Stakeholders continue to express concern about the state of crisis facing the UK’s social work workforce, with statutory children’s services being an area causing particular apprehension. Here, high sickness and vacancy rates, and large agency costs are consistently being linked with poor working conditions, inadequate resources, limited time with children, and practitioners reporting a poor sense of ‘work-life balance’. Whilst suggested reforms …
Where are they now? An appraisal of former child protection social workers employment status and reasons for leaving child protection work
Literature on the UK’s social work workforce has historically focussed on the individual’s ‘intention to leave’ practice. However, there has been a dearth of enquiry that has sought to engage those individuals who have already left social work roles, to better understand their rationale; new employment status; and thoughts on if, and when, they might consider a return. This article reports on a mixed method qualitative study with seventy-two of E…
My dad said, ‘come on, enough is enough’” – an exploration of why social workers have decided to leave England’s child protection workforce
Purpose This paper reports on a study with 72 former child protection social workers. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an iterative mixed method design (comprising of focus groups, questionnaire and individual interviews). Findings Results highlighted the stressful nature of the job on practitioner health; the tendency to be targeted for threats, abuse, violence, and/or intimidation; and the job not being what practitioners had expec…
What do child protection social workers consider to be the systemic factors driving workforce instability within the English child protection system, and what are the implications for the UK Governmen…
In 2023, the UK Government published its long-awaited reform strategy for England’s children’s social care system. Whilst the strategy set out planned reforms for several aspects of the wider system, an area requiring particular ‘priority’ was the purported workforce instability seen within child protection social work. However, the strategy has subsequently faced criticism on the basis that the suggested reforms were not satisfactorily informed …
I Wouldn't Be Here Without Them’
Friendships can offer significant benefits, particularly in the challenging field of statutory social work, which is often characterised by high caseloads, limited resources and frequent exposure to trauma. However, the recent focus on how we can better promote the well‐being and job satisfaction of UK social workers, and relatedly, promote a more sustainable workforce, has failed to explore the influence of workplace friendships. This study expl…
What Challenges Emerge from Cases Where Children Are Made Subject to a ‘Care Order at Home’
A continued and unprecedented demand for England’s child protection services has coincided with increasing numbers of children being made subject to Care Orders within the Family Court. There is a growing understanding of the associated challenges—not least in terms of cost and placement availability. However, there has been limited discussion of the difficulties associated with children being made subject to a Care Order, but who remain living a…
Psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction
Frontline social workers work in difficult circumstances with clients who face significant trauma and distress. The increasing turnover of social workers is a matter of concern. This quantitative research explores psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction in a sample of 104 social workers in North-West England. The findings revealed significant correlations among the variables. It was seen that family life satisfac…
A more ‘child-centred’ system? The discretionary spaces of the child protection social worker
The Munro Review called for reform of the English child protection system so that practicing social workers were better able to exercise their discretion in the best interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of a multiple qualitative methods case study of a local authority child protection team. Utilising observation, documentary analysis, focus group, questionnaire, interview and ‘Critical Realist Grounded Theory’, the…
How learning from the lived experiences of child protection social workers can help us understand the factors underpinning workforce instability within the English child protection system
The English child protection system continues to be the focus of national commentary in light of several high-profile deaths and the recently published reports from the Review of Children’s Social Care, and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Whilst narratives of ‘failure’, ‘betrayal’, and ‘scandalous incompetence’ perpetuate, these forgo consideration of the complexity of child protection work, nor do they acknowledge that during the C…
From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”
Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider”…
Rising demand and decreasing resources
The Munro Review of Child Protection asserted that the English child protection system had become overly 'defensive', 'bureaucratised' and 'standardised', meaning that social workers were not employing their discretion in the interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of an ethnographic case study of one of England's statutory child protection teams. The research sought to explore the extent of social worker discretion r…
I don’t want my face on the front page of The Sun’
Purpose The backdrop to the Munro Review of Child Protection was a narrative propagated in the British national press, and perpetuated particularly by the then opposition Conservative Party, that the case of “Baby P” evidenced the English child protection system was “failing” and in need of reform. Subsequently, the review asserted that the system had become “over-bureaucratised” and “defensive” at the expense of social worker discretion in the i…
Evidence of Pre-mortem Opioid Use among Fentanyl Overdose Decedents in a Safety Net Healthcare System
A More ‘Child-Centred’ System? Child Protection Social Workers’ Willingness to Employ Discretion
The Munro Review highlighted obstacles hindering the realisation of an ‘effective’ and ‘child-centred’ English child protection system, including the ‘risk’ associated with the social worker’s discretionary space. The review called for reform to enable practicing social workers to exercise their discretion in the best interests of the individual child. This article reports on the results of an iterative qualitative mixed-methods case study of one…
Understanding the design of information technologies for knowledge management in organizations
Researchers report mixed findings on the successful application of information technologies (IT) for knowledge management (KM). The primary difficulty is argued to be the use of information management techniques and concepts to design and develop KM Tools. Also problematic is the existence of a multiplicity of KM technologies, the application and use of which differs across organizations. This paper argues that these problems stem, in part, from …
Rising demand and decreasing resources
The Munro Review of Child Protection asserted that the English child protection system had become overly 'defensive', 'bureaucratised' and 'standardised', meaning that social workers were not employing their discretion in the interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of an ethnographic case study of one of England's statutory child protection teams. The research sought to explore the extent of social worker discretion r…
I don’t want my face on the front page of The Sun’
Purpose The backdrop to the Munro Review of Child Protection was a narrative propagated in the British national press, and perpetuated particularly by the then opposition Conservative Party, that the case of “Baby P” evidenced the English child protection system was “failing” and in need of reform. Subsequently, the review asserted that the system had become “over-bureaucratised” and “defensive” at the expense of social worker discretion in the i…
A More ‘Child-Centred’ System? Child Protection Social Workers’ Willingness to Employ Discretion
The Munro Review highlighted obstacles hindering the realisation of an ‘effective’ and ‘child-centred’ English child protection system, including the ‘risk’ associated with the social worker’s discretionary space. The review called for reform to enable practicing social workers to exercise their discretion in the best interests of the individual child. This article reports on the results of an iterative qualitative mixed-methods case study of one…
Does qualifying route inform preparedness for child protection practice? An appraisal of the testimonies of 201 ‘early career’ social workers
England’s children’s social care workforce is in a state of crisis, with the problem perhaps more prominent in the field of child protection. This led the Review of Children’s Social Care to call for further evaluation of social work education pathways, particularly in their ability to prepare early career social workers for the rigours of contemporary practice. The study emerged in response to this call, but also in the context of a concurrent n…
Psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction
Frontline social workers work in difficult circumstances with clients who face significant trauma and distress. The increasing turnover of social workers is a matter of concern. This quantitative research explores psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction in a sample of 104 social workers in North-West England. The findings revealed significant correlations among the variables. It was seen that family life satisfac…
What Factors are Contributing to Increasing Numbers of ‘Care Orders at Home’ in Northwest England
There is increasing understanding of the challenges associated with rising numbers of children entering England's public care system. Yet, commentators continue to overlook cases where children are ostensibly placed ‘in care’ of the local authority, but then simultaneously remain living at home with their parent(s)—a practice referred to as a ‘Care Order at home’. The purpose of this study was to look for evidence of increasing numbers of ‘Care O…
I Wouldn't Be Here Without Them’
Friendships can offer significant benefits, particularly in the challenging field of statutory social work, which is often characterised by high caseloads, limited resources and frequent exposure to trauma. However, the recent focus on how we can better promote the well‐being and job satisfaction of UK social workers, and relatedly, promote a more sustainable workforce, has failed to explore the influence of workplace friendships. This study expl…
Understanding the design of information technologies for knowledge management in organizations
Researchers report mixed findings on the successful application of information technologies (IT) for knowledge management (KM). The primary difficulty is argued to be the use of information management techniques and concepts to design and develop KM Tools. Also problematic is the existence of a multiplicity of KM technologies, the application and use of which differs across organizations. This paper argues that these problems stem, in part, from …
What is the nature and impact of workplace friendships within child protection social work? Implications for emotional support, professional learning, job satisfaction and worker wellbeing
Stakeholders continue to express concern about the state of crisis facing the UK’s social work workforce, with statutory children’s services being an area causing particular apprehension. Here, high sickness and vacancy rates, and large agency costs are consistently being linked with poor working conditions, inadequate resources, limited time with children, and practitioners reporting a poor sense of ‘work-life balance’. Whilst suggested reforms …
From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”
Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider”…
Understanding the design of information technologies for knowledge management in organizations
Researchers report mixed findings on the successful application of information technologies (IT) for knowledge management (KM). The primary difficulty is argued to be the use of information management techniques and concepts to design and develop KM Tools. Also problematic is the existence of a multiplicity of KM technologies, the application and use of which differs across organizations. This paper argues that these problems stem, in part, from …
A More ‘Child-Centred’ System? Child Protection Social Workers’ Willingness to Employ Discretion
The Munro Review highlighted obstacles hindering the realisation of an ‘effective’ and ‘child-centred’ English child protection system, including the ‘risk’ associated with the social worker’s discretionary space. The review called for reform to enable practicing social workers to exercise their discretion in the best interests of the individual child. This article reports on the results of an iterative qualitative mixed-methods case study of one…
I don’t want my face on the front page of The Sun’
Purpose The backdrop to the Munro Review of Child Protection was a narrative propagated in the British national press, and perpetuated particularly by the then opposition Conservative Party, that the case of “Baby P” evidenced the English child protection system was “failing” and in need of reform. Subsequently, the review asserted that the system had become “over-bureaucratised” and “defensive” at the expense of social worker discretion in the i…
Evidence of Pre-mortem Opioid Use among Fentanyl Overdose Decedents in a Safety Net Healthcare System
A more ‘child-centred’ system? The discretionary spaces of the child protection social worker
The Munro Review called for reform of the English child protection system so that practicing social workers were better able to exercise their discretion in the best interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of a multiple qualitative methods case study of a local authority child protection team. Utilising observation, documentary analysis, focus group, questionnaire, interview and ‘Critical Realist Grounded Theory’, the…
How learning from the lived experiences of child protection social workers can help us understand the factors underpinning workforce instability within the English child protection system
The English child protection system continues to be the focus of national commentary in light of several high-profile deaths and the recently published reports from the Review of Children’s Social Care, and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Whilst narratives of ‘failure’, ‘betrayal’, and ‘scandalous incompetence’ perpetuate, these forgo consideration of the complexity of child protection work, nor do they acknowledge that during the C…
From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”
Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider”…
Rising demand and decreasing resources
The Munro Review of Child Protection asserted that the English child protection system had become overly 'defensive', 'bureaucratised' and 'standardised', meaning that social workers were not employing their discretion in the interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of an ethnographic case study of one of England's statutory child protection teams. The research sought to explore the extent of social worker discretion r…
What do child protection social workers consider to be the systemic factors driving workforce instability within the English child protection system, and what are the implications for the UK Governmen…
In 2023, the UK Government published its long-awaited reform strategy for England’s children’s social care system. Whilst the strategy set out planned reforms for several aspects of the wider system, an area requiring particular ‘priority’ was the purported workforce instability seen within child protection social work. However, the strategy has subsequently faced criticism on the basis that the suggested reforms were not satisfactorily informed …
I Wouldn't Be Here Without Them’
Friendships can offer significant benefits, particularly in the challenging field of statutory social work, which is often characterised by high caseloads, limited resources and frequent exposure to trauma. However, the recent focus on how we can better promote the well‐being and job satisfaction of UK social workers, and relatedly, promote a more sustainable workforce, has failed to explore the influence of workplace friendships. This study expl…
What Challenges Emerge from Cases Where Children Are Made Subject to a ‘Care Order at Home’
A continued and unprecedented demand for England’s child protection services has coincided with increasing numbers of children being made subject to Care Orders within the Family Court. There is a growing understanding of the associated challenges—not least in terms of cost and placement availability. However, there has been limited discussion of the difficulties associated with children being made subject to a Care Order, but who remain living a…
Psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction
Frontline social workers work in difficult circumstances with clients who face significant trauma and distress. The increasing turnover of social workers is a matter of concern. This quantitative research explores psychological distress, work–family conflict and family life satisfaction in a sample of 104 social workers in North-West England. The findings revealed significant correlations among the variables. It was seen that family life satisfac…
Exploring the contrasting sources of stress and job satisfaction across three different areas of UK statutory social work
The UK social work workforce is in a state of crisis, characterised by high vacancy and agency rates, staff sickness and turnover. As such, recent years have seen an increased focus on how the job satisfaction of UK social workers can be better understood and improved, as well as how the factors underpinning workforce instability can be addressed. Previous research has largely failed to compare the contrasting sources of stress and job satisfacti…
I Do Not Feel Great About It, but It Was the Logical Decision’—An Exploration of Why England's Agency Social Workers Have Left Permanent Child Protection Roles
In 2023, England's statutory children's services recorded the highest number of agency social workers since records began. The cost of these workers, and the impact of an unsettled workforce on the children in receipt of their services, has led to a new set of national rules for agency social workers in children's social care. However, there has been a dearth of enquiry seeking to explore with agency social workers their rationale for leaving per…
What Factors are Contributing to Increasing Numbers of ‘Care Orders at Home’ in Northwest England
There is increasing understanding of the challenges associated with rising numbers of children entering England's public care system. Yet, commentators continue to overlook cases where children are ostensibly placed ‘in care’ of the local authority, but then simultaneously remain living at home with their parent(s)—a practice referred to as a ‘Care Order at home’. The purpose of this study was to look for evidence of increasing numbers of ‘Care O…
After 50 Years of ‘Protocolization’, What Is the Progress Towards Munro's Image of a More Flexible, Innovative and ‘Child‐Centred’ English Child Protection System
Fifty years after the formation of England's child protection system, the country continues to reel from new instances of high‐profile child death tragedies where children have been harmed despite practitioners complying with the processes and procedures designed to protect them. This article considers the continued obstacles posed by the ‘protocolization’ of England's child protection practice and further challenges the assumption that child pro…
Does qualifying route inform preparedness for child protection practice? An appraisal of the testimonies of 201 ‘early career’ social workers
England’s children’s social care workforce is in a state of crisis, with the problem perhaps more prominent in the field of child protection. This led the Review of Children’s Social Care to call for further evaluation of social work education pathways, particularly in their ability to prepare early career social workers for the rigours of contemporary practice. The study emerged in response to this call, but also in the context of a concurrent n…
What is the nature and impact of workplace friendships within child protection social work? Implications for emotional support, professional learning, job satisfaction and worker wellbeing
Stakeholders continue to express concern about the state of crisis facing the UK’s social work workforce, with statutory children’s services being an area causing particular apprehension. Here, high sickness and vacancy rates, and large agency costs are consistently being linked with poor working conditions, inadequate resources, limited time with children, and practitioners reporting a poor sense of ‘work-life balance’. Whilst suggested reforms …
Where are they now? An appraisal of former child protection social workers employment status and reasons for leaving child protection work
Literature on the UK’s social work workforce has historically focussed on the individual’s ‘intention to leave’ practice. However, there has been a dearth of enquiry that has sought to engage those individuals who have already left social work roles, to better understand their rationale; new employment status; and thoughts on if, and when, they might consider a return. This article reports on a mixed method qualitative study with seventy-two of E…
My dad said, ‘come on, enough is enough’” – an exploration of why social workers have decided to leave England’s child protection workforce
Purpose This paper reports on a study with 72 former child protection social workers. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an iterative mixed method design (comprising of focus groups, questionnaire and individual interviews). Findings Results highlighted the stressful nature of the job on practitioner health; the tendency to be targeted for threats, abuse, violence, and/or intimidation; and the job not being what practitioners had expec…
How does work support influence the relationship between stress and job satisfaction? (A Quantitative Study of Social Workers in the UK)
There is increasing concern about the high rates of turnover within the social work profession in the UK and the high-stress levels encountered by social workers. It is hence important to understand the factors that influence the manifestation of stress and job satisfaction. This quantitative study administered standardised instruments to 104 social workers through an online survey to assess the perception of stress, job satisfaction, work suppor…
‘I’d love to come back, but it would have to be different’. Exploring former child protection social workers’ rationale for leaving the English child protection system, and the changes required to con…
England’s children’s social work workforce is in a state of crisis, characterised by record vacancy and agency rates. However, research exploring the factors underpinning this has focussed on current practitioners’ ‘intention to leave’ practice, and there has been a dearth of enquiry that has considered former practitioners’ reasons for leaving social work roles. This remains a critical omission when we consider that former workers provide unique…
Social Workers' Perceptions of Stakeholder Contributions to Regional Variation in the Numbers of ‘Care Orders at Home’ Being Recorded
This study builds on and extends the limited literature pertaining to the increasingly common care arrangement for children in England—the ‘Care Order at home’ [COAH]. Employing online focus groups and individual interviews, the study explores with 16 practising social workers their experience of COAH in both Northwest England and Greater London. Findings support existing research to highlight the social workers' experience that COAH are more pro…
When a ‘Social Worker’ is NOT a Social Worker
This ethics in practice article reflects on the ethical dilemmas and tensions that emerged from a research study employing online interviews with social workers in the context of (i) how to respond to suspected Imposter Participants (ii) whether to report individuals for fraudulently posing as social workers; (iii) how to better screen for Imposter Participants whilst minimising the chance of excluding genuine participants and (iv) whether to rei…
Social Work Education and Practice (19 obras) · Political science (15 obras) · Child Abuse and Trauma (14 obras) · Social Work (14 obras) · Child protection (13 obras) · Sociology (12 obras) · Law (11 obras) · Psychology (11 obras) · Child Welfare and Adoption (9 obras) · Public relations (8 obras)