Malcolm Carey
Biographic Data
| ID | 3601191 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Malcolm Carey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Malcolm |
| FAMILY NAME | Carey |
| SIGNATURE | CAREY M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chester |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1525-3855 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 155 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Ethical Frameworks to Support Parents With a Learning Disability in Social Care and Social Work
A significant proportion of parents in the UK with a learning disability have their children removed, with many young people subsequently living away from home in formal care. This raises numerous ethical questions for social work, not least relating to the moral tension between requirements to maintain the rights of parents with a disability whilst also protecting children who are vulnerable. This article looks at the findings of interviews unde…
Food bank perceptions and food insecurity of older people: Findings From an Empirical Study and How Health and Social Care Professionals Might Offer More Support
Food insecurity continues to increase in the UK and includes a lack of adequate resources to shop, cook and eat. Among social groups most likely to experience poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, relatively few older adults have traditionally accessed food banks. This is despite malnutrition representing a common cause of functional decline and mortality among older people. This article draws from interviews in Cambridge with older adults, …
Introduction to the special issue: Social Work and Social Control
Potential ethical frameworks to support professional social care employees who work alongside parents with a learning disability
Questions continue to be asked about the ability of many parents with a learning disability (PWLD) to support their children. Relatedly, in countries including Australia, the US and the UK, significantly more children are removed from PWLD than children whose parents have no additional needs. This article draws from qualitative interviews with a sample of professional social care employees in the north-west of England to better understand their e…
Towards the privileging of care-experienced children and young people’s educational and other ‘life chances’ within social work practice and education
Care-experienced children and young people frequently face adverse ‘life chances’ when compared to their peers. Their life-course trajectories typically include numerous personal, structural and culturally determined challenges set from a young age. Social workers in the UK now play a minimal role in direct support for young people and are instead encouraged to focus on short-term priorities, safeguarding investigations and monitoring ‘risky’ wor…
The neoliberal university, social work and personalised care for older adults
This article critically examines the impact of the neoliberal university upon social work education, research and practice relating to older people. The article appraises market-led pedagogical reforms, including of the training of social workers who go on to work with older adults, such as in support of policies including personalisation. Influence is drawn from the work of Nancy Fraser: specifically, her understanding of ‘progressive neoliberal…
Welfare Conditionality, Ethics and Social Care for Older People in the UK: From Civic Rights to Abandonment
Welfare systems are becoming ever more conditional, with access to state support increasingly rationed via a legion of legally-defined and financially-driven restrictions and rules. Civic protection and economic rights for older citizens within Western policy systems are subsequently diminishing and continue to give way to neoliberal discursive practices which prioritise welfare activation, autonomy, participation, asset-based yet precarious self…
Universal Credit, Lone Mothers and Poverty: Some Ethical Challenges for Social Work with Children and Families
This article critically evaluates and contests the flagship benefit delivery system Universal Credit for lone mothers by focusing on some of the ethical challenges it poses, as well as some key implications it holds for social work with lone mothers and their children. Universal Credit was first introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2008, and echoes conditionality-based welfare policies adopted by neoliberal governments internationally on the …
Universal Credit, lone mothers and poverty: Some context and challenges for social work with children and families
Universal Credit is a streamlined benefits delivery system initially introduced in the UK in 2008. Conditionality-based welfare policies are increasingly international in scale, and are now widely adopted by neoliberal governments on the basis that paid employment offers the most efficacious route out of poverty for citizen-subjects. Numerous studies suggest otherwise and highlight their negative impact upon the social rights, lived experiences a…
Some Ethical Limitations of Privatising and Marketizing Social Care and Social Work Provision in England for Children and Young People
This article analyses the negative ethical impact of privatisation, alongside the ongoing marketisation of social care and social work provision for children and young people in England. It critically appraises the implications of a market-based formal social care system, which includes the risk-averse and often detached role of social workers within ever more fragmented sectors of care. Analysis begins with a discussion of background policy and …
Some limits and political implications of participation within health and social care for older adults
This paper critically examines service user participation and involvement for older adults. It concentrates on research and community-led engagement for older people, and maintains that despite extensive support and expansion, participation offers a complex form of governance and ideological control, as well as a means by which local governments and some welfare professions seek to legitimise or extend their activities. Some of the paradoxes of p…
Is living well with dementia a credible aspiration for spousal carers
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Health Sociology Review on 21-5-18, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2018.1475249
The Tyranny of Ethics? Political Challenges and Tensions When Applying Ethical Governance to Qualitative Social Work Research
This paper examines problems which current ethical governance processes generate for qualitative researchers within social work. It draws upon case studies and critical theory to detail the unpredictable and diverse nature of much social work qualitative research. It argues that too often this research is pitted against a narrow institutional focus placed on positivist-orientated empirical research and income generation. Overtly instrumental inte…
Using Codes of Ethics for Disabled Children Who Communicate Non-verbally – Some Challenges and Implications for Social Workers
This article evaluates the use of professional codes of ethics by social workers specialising in work with disabled children who communicate non-verbally. It draws upon phenomenological interviews and other studies to highlight challenges faced by practitioners in a complex role which demands high-levels of skills and knowledge. Supporting other research, codes of ethics were rarely utilised by practitioners who typically maintain a vague appreci…
Biomedical nemesis? Critical deliberations with regard to health and social care integration for social work with older people
This article questions ongoing moves towards integration into health care for social work with older people in the United Kingdom. While potentially constructing clearer pathways to support, integration risks reducing welfare provisions for a traditional low priority user group, while further extending the principles of privatisation. Integration models also understate the ideological impact of biomedical perspectives within health and social car…
The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The version of record Carey, M. (2015). The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique. British Journal of Social Work, 45(8), 2406-2422. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcu088 is available online at: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/28/bjsw.bcu088
Mind the Gaps: Understanding the Rise and Implications of Different Types of Cynicism within Statutory Social Work
This paper explores the notable rise of cynicism among state social workers in Britain. Theoretically, cynicism has been viewed as ‘deviant emotion’ and pathology or as offering a type of employee resistance that may protect or support a person's identity. Drawing upon case study research with practising social workers, the article looks at three different case examples of employee cynicism. These include the cynic as organisational survivor, dis…
Here today, gone tomorrow? The ambivalent ethics of contingency social work
In the UK the number of state social workers supplied by independent employment agencies has increased significantly since the mid-1990s. Although state sectors of welfare such as education and health have always relied upon a steady supply of locum staff, there is no such tradition within social work. This paper explores some of the ethical tensions that have become apparent with the expansion of contingency social work. Questions remain about t…
Introducing 'Deviant' Social Work: Contextualising the Limits of Radical Social Work whilst Understanding (Fragmented) Resistance within the Social Work Labour Process
This paper draws upon case study research to explore deviant social work. This is defined as small-scale acts of resistance, subterfuge, deception or even sabotage that are typically hidden yet scattered throughout parts of the social work labour process. Taking a wide variety of forms that can include recalcitrant attitudes as well as practices, deviant social work can be seen as being distinct from radical social work, most notably due to its i…
The last resort? Similarities and differences between contingent ‘agency’ employment practices in social work and nursing
This article draws from a literature-based survey to detail some of the similarities and differences regarding the use of agency employees within social work and nursing. Empirical evidence suggests that risks tend to outweigh any benefits following any over-reliance upon ‘flexible’ labour. However, greater regulation of such staff has gradually emerged
It's a Bit Like Being a Robot or Working in a Factory': Does Braverman Help Explain the Experiences of State Social Workers in Britain Since 1971
State social work in Britain has experienced radical and sustained reforms which have seen it move from being an aspiring profession to an increasingly marginalized part of a receding state welfare sector. Neo-liberal reform, and in particular the privatization of state social work, has encouraged greater managerial control, increasing regulation, workloads and deskilling for social workers. Drawing from empirical evidence, this article criticall…
Critical Commentary: Happy Shopper? The Problem with Service User and Carer Participation
This critical commentary assesses the consequences and impact of forms of seemingly widespread, constructive and altruistic service user and carer participation (SUCP) within social work. In particular, and whilst drawing from Gramsci's understanding of hegemony and Levitas's critical interpretation of social exclusion, it is proposed that SUCP serves the interests of government, affiliated organizations, including those within social work and so…
The Quasi-Market Revolution in the Head: Ideology, Discourse, Care Management
The article explores the use of ideology by a group of care managers in the United Kingdom ( n = 44) in their work environments. It draws upon ethnomethodological research which investigated the motivations of qualified employees for entering and remaining within state social work. As well as exploring the impact and uses of ideology, the article also questions the disparagement of universalism in the postmodern inspired critique of welfare. This…
Care Management Unleashed: Enduring Ethical Tensions 20 Years after the Griffiths Report, 1988
This article looks at some of the moral implications of the radical reforms in the United Kingdom since the Griffiths Report was first published in 1988. It is suggested that, among others, two outcomes are particularly problematic. These are firstly, findings that care managers (the preferred name in the UK for social workers dealing mainly with adults and older people who require social care support in the community) no longer spend much time w…
What difference does it make: Contrasting organization and converging outcomes regarding the privatization of state social work in England and Canada
English The article explores the privatization of social work in both England and Canada. Although differences persist in the structural organization of social services in both countries, it is argued that such disparities are increasingly blurred by radical market reforms of the social work labour process (among other changes). French Cet article étudie la privatisation du travail social en Angleterre et au Canada. Même s'il subsiste des différe…
Peopling Skilled International Migration: Indian Doctors in the UK
This article uses a case‐study approach in relation to the migration of Indian doctors to the UK in order to illustrate the complexity and multi‐levelled nature of explanations for international migration. It argues that whereas, at the level of discursive consciousness, the movement of Indian doctors to the UK appears an economically driven and shapedphenomenon akin to other examples of highly skilled international migration, when the practical …
Introducing 'Deviant' Social Work: Contextualising the Limits of Radical Social Work whilst Understanding (Fragmented) Resistance within the Social Work Labour Process
This paper draws upon case study research to explore deviant social work. This is defined as small-scale acts of resistance, subterfuge, deception or even sabotage that are typically hidden yet scattered throughout parts of the social work labour process. Taking a wide variety of forms that can include recalcitrant attitudes as well as practices, deviant social work can be seen as being distinct from radical social work, most notably due to its i…
Anatomy of a Care Manager
The article considers the impact of the NHS and Community Care Act (1990), and the redefined role of 'care manager', upon social work. It draws from a three-year ethnographic study of five area teams; one based in inner London and the others, including a hospital team, based in the north of England. Particularly it uncovers the considerable impact of intense bureaucracy, circumscribed budgets and the consequential removal of the care manager from…
Everything Must Go? The Privatization of State Social Work
This paper considers the transformation of state social work over the past two decades. During this period, it is argued that a steady yet radical process of privatization has ensued which has had a considerable impact upon the experiences of 'service users', informal carers and social work practitioners. Not only does the private sector now dominate key sectors of social care, but it has also transformed the culture of state social work practice…
The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The version of record Carey, M. (2015). The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique. British Journal of Social Work, 45(8), 2406-2422. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcu088 is available online at: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/28/bjsw.bcu088
Is living well with dementia a credible aspiration for spousal carers
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Health Sociology Review on 21-5-18, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2018.1475249
Critical Commentary: Happy Shopper? The Problem with Service User and Carer Participation
This critical commentary assesses the consequences and impact of forms of seemingly widespread, constructive and altruistic service user and carer participation (SUCP) within social work. In particular, and whilst drawing from Gramsci's understanding of hegemony and Levitas's critical interpretation of social exclusion, it is proposed that SUCP serves the interests of government, affiliated organizations, including those within social work and so…
What difference does it make: Contrasting organization and converging outcomes regarding the privatization of state social work in England and Canada
English The article explores the privatization of social work in both England and Canada. Although differences persist in the structural organization of social services in both countries, it is argued that such disparities are increasingly blurred by radical market reforms of the social work labour process (among other changes). French Cet article étudie la privatisation du travail social en Angleterre et au Canada. Même s'il subsiste des différe…
Mind the Gaps: Understanding the Rise and Implications of Different Types of Cynicism within Statutory Social Work
This paper explores the notable rise of cynicism among state social workers in Britain. Theoretically, cynicism has been viewed as ‘deviant emotion’ and pathology or as offering a type of employee resistance that may protect or support a person's identity. Drawing upon case study research with practising social workers, the article looks at three different case examples of employee cynicism. These include the cynic as organisational survivor, dis…
Some limits and political implications of participation within health and social care for older adults
This paper critically examines service user participation and involvement for older adults. It concentrates on research and community-led engagement for older people, and maintains that despite extensive support and expansion, participation offers a complex form of governance and ideological control, as well as a means by which local governments and some welfare professions seek to legitimise or extend their activities. Some of the paradoxes of p…
The Order of Chaos: Exploring Agency Care Managers' Construction of Social Order within Fragmented Worlds of State Social Work
The paper explores the experiences of a small group of agency care managers, based in local authority Social Service Departments (SSDs). Utilizing a method influenced by ethnomethodology, it considers attempts by agency staff to construct order in their disparate worlds of work. It was discovered that organizational and legal procedures are especially significant in personal attempts to acquire order. In addition, conformity to established norms,…
Selling social work by the pound? The pros and cons of agency care management
This article considers the experiences of a small group of agency care managers (n = 23) working in London and the north of England. It was discovered that employment for occupationally migrant care managers can provide access to a potentially rich source of knowledge and skills, as well as a diverse and sometimes stimulating form of irregular employment. However, it was also discovered that work intensification, job insecurity and limited time s…
The neoliberal university, social work and personalised care for older adults
This article critically examines the impact of the neoliberal university upon social work education, research and practice relating to older people. The article appraises market-led pedagogical reforms, including of the training of social workers who go on to work with older adults, such as in support of policies including personalisation. Influence is drawn from the work of Nancy Fraser: specifically, her understanding of ‘progressive neoliberal…
Some Ethical Limitations of Privatising and Marketizing Social Care and Social Work Provision in England for Children and Young People
This article analyses the negative ethical impact of privatisation, alongside the ongoing marketisation of social care and social work provision for children and young people in England. It critically appraises the implications of a market-based formal social care system, which includes the risk-averse and often detached role of social workers within ever more fragmented sectors of care. Analysis begins with a discussion of background policy and …
Biomedical nemesis? Critical deliberations with regard to health and social care integration for social work with older people
This article questions ongoing moves towards integration into health care for social work with older people in the United Kingdom. While potentially constructing clearer pathways to support, integration risks reducing welfare provisions for a traditional low priority user group, while further extending the principles of privatisation. Integration models also understate the ideological impact of biomedical perspectives within health and social car…
Here today, gone tomorrow? The ambivalent ethics of contingency social work
In the UK the number of state social workers supplied by independent employment agencies has increased significantly since the mid-1990s. Although state sectors of welfare such as education and health have always relied upon a steady supply of locum staff, there is no such tradition within social work. This paper explores some of the ethical tensions that have become apparent with the expansion of contingency social work. Questions remain about t…
The last resort? Similarities and differences between contingent ‘agency’ employment practices in social work and nursing
This article draws from a literature-based survey to detail some of the similarities and differences regarding the use of agency employees within social work and nursing. Empirical evidence suggests that risks tend to outweigh any benefits following any over-reliance upon ‘flexible’ labour. However, greater regulation of such staff has gradually emerged
Potential ethical frameworks to support professional social care employees who work alongside parents with a learning disability
Questions continue to be asked about the ability of many parents with a learning disability (PWLD) to support their children. Relatedly, in countries including Australia, the US and the UK, significantly more children are removed from PWLD than children whose parents have no additional needs. This article draws from qualitative interviews with a sample of professional social care employees in the north-west of England to better understand their e…
Welfare Conditionality, Ethics and Social Care for Older People in the UK: From Civic Rights to Abandonment
Welfare systems are becoming ever more conditional, with access to state support increasingly rationed via a legion of legally-defined and financially-driven restrictions and rules. Civic protection and economic rights for older citizens within Western policy systems are subsequently diminishing and continue to give way to neoliberal discursive practices which prioritise welfare activation, autonomy, participation, asset-based yet precarious self…
Universal Credit, lone mothers and poverty: Some context and challenges for social work with children and families
Universal Credit is a streamlined benefits delivery system initially introduced in the UK in 2008. Conditionality-based welfare policies are increasingly international in scale, and are now widely adopted by neoliberal governments on the basis that paid employment offers the most efficacious route out of poverty for citizen-subjects. Numerous studies suggest otherwise and highlight their negative impact upon the social rights, lived experiences a…
The Tyranny of Ethics? Political Challenges and Tensions When Applying Ethical Governance to Qualitative Social Work Research
This paper examines problems which current ethical governance processes generate for qualitative researchers within social work. It draws upon case studies and critical theory to detail the unpredictable and diverse nature of much social work qualitative research. It argues that too often this research is pitted against a narrow institutional focus placed on positivist-orientated empirical research and income generation. Overtly instrumental inte…
Using Codes of Ethics for Disabled Children Who Communicate Non-verbally – Some Challenges and Implications for Social Workers
This article evaluates the use of professional codes of ethics by social workers specialising in work with disabled children who communicate non-verbally. It draws upon phenomenological interviews and other studies to highlight challenges faced by practitioners in a complex role which demands high-levels of skills and knowledge. Supporting other research, codes of ethics were rarely utilised by practitioners who typically maintain a vague appreci…
Care Management Unleashed: Enduring Ethical Tensions 20 Years after the Griffiths Report, 1988
This article looks at some of the moral implications of the radical reforms in the United Kingdom since the Griffiths Report was first published in 1988. It is suggested that, among others, two outcomes are particularly problematic. These are firstly, findings that care managers (the preferred name in the UK for social workers dealing mainly with adults and older people who require social care support in the community) no longer spend much time w…
Some Ethical Dilemmas for Agency Social Workers
This article considers some ethical consequences which are linked to the more recent rapid expansion in contingency social work. It is noted that increased privatisation within state social work has led to a much greater reliance upon flexible labour. Consequentially, the relationship between temporary workers and clients has altered, and new beliefs and attitudes have formed amongst some employees who lack permanency. With reference to Nietzsche…
Peopling Skilled International Migration: Indian Doctors in the UK
This article uses a case‐study approach in relation to the migration of Indian doctors to the UK in order to illustrate the complexity and multi‐levelled nature of explanations for international migration. It argues that whereas, at the level of discursive consciousness, the movement of Indian doctors to the UK appears an economically driven and shapedphenomenon akin to other examples of highly skilled international migration, when the practical …
Anatomy of a Care Manager
The article considers the impact of the NHS and Community Care Act (1990), and the redefined role of 'care manager', upon social work. It draws from a three-year ethnographic study of five area teams; one based in inner London and the others, including a hospital team, based in the north of England. Particularly it uncovers the considerable impact of intense bureaucracy, circumscribed budgets and the consequential removal of the care manager from…
Selling social work by the pound? The pros and cons of agency care management
This article considers the experiences of a small group of agency care managers (n = 23) working in London and the north of England. It was discovered that employment for occupationally migrant care managers can provide access to a potentially rich source of knowledge and skills, as well as a diverse and sometimes stimulating form of irregular employment. However, it was also discovered that work intensification, job insecurity and limited time s…
Everything Must Go? The Privatization of State Social Work
This paper considers the transformation of state social work over the past two decades. During this period, it is argued that a steady yet radical process of privatization has ensued which has had a considerable impact upon the experiences of 'service users', informal carers and social work practitioners. Not only does the private sector now dominate key sectors of social care, but it has also transformed the culture of state social work practice…
Some Ethical Dilemmas for Agency Social Workers
This article considers some ethical consequences which are linked to the more recent rapid expansion in contingency social work. It is noted that increased privatisation within state social work has led to a much greater reliance upon flexible labour. Consequentially, the relationship between temporary workers and clients has altered, and new beliefs and attitudes have formed amongst some employees who lack permanency. With reference to Nietzsche…
The Order of Chaos: Exploring Agency Care Managers' Construction of Social Order within Fragmented Worlds of State Social Work
The paper explores the experiences of a small group of agency care managers, based in local authority Social Service Departments (SSDs). Utilizing a method influenced by ethnomethodology, it considers attempts by agency staff to construct order in their disparate worlds of work. It was discovered that organizational and legal procedures are especially significant in personal attempts to acquire order. In addition, conformity to established norms,…
Social Theory, Performativity and Professional Power—A Critical Analysis of Helping Professions in England
Social Theory, Performativity and Professional Power—A Critical Analysis of Helping Professions in England Drawing from interviews and ethnographic research, evidence is provided to suggest a sense of "anxiety" and "regret" amongst state social workers and case managers working on the "front-line" within local authority social service departments. There have been a number of theoretical approaches that have attempted to ground the concept of "pow…
The Quasi-Market Revolution in the Head: Ideology, Discourse, Care Management
The article explores the use of ideology by a group of care managers in the United Kingdom ( n = 44) in their work environments. It draws upon ethnomethodological research which investigated the motivations of qualified employees for entering and remaining within state social work. As well as exploring the impact and uses of ideology, the article also questions the disparagement of universalism in the postmodern inspired critique of welfare. This…
Care Management Unleashed: Enduring Ethical Tensions 20 Years after the Griffiths Report, 1988
This article looks at some of the moral implications of the radical reforms in the United Kingdom since the Griffiths Report was first published in 1988. It is suggested that, among others, two outcomes are particularly problematic. These are firstly, findings that care managers (the preferred name in the UK for social workers dealing mainly with adults and older people who require social care support in the community) no longer spend much time w…
What difference does it make: Contrasting organization and converging outcomes regarding the privatization of state social work in England and Canada
English The article explores the privatization of social work in both England and Canada. Although differences persist in the structural organization of social services in both countries, it is argued that such disparities are increasingly blurred by radical market reforms of the social work labour process (among other changes). French Cet article étudie la privatisation du travail social en Angleterre et au Canada. Même s'il subsiste des différe…
It's a Bit Like Being a Robot or Working in a Factory': Does Braverman Help Explain the Experiences of State Social Workers in Britain Since 1971
State social work in Britain has experienced radical and sustained reforms which have seen it move from being an aspiring profession to an increasingly marginalized part of a receding state welfare sector. Neo-liberal reform, and in particular the privatization of state social work, has encouraged greater managerial control, increasing regulation, workloads and deskilling for social workers. Drawing from empirical evidence, this article criticall…
Critical Commentary: Happy Shopper? The Problem with Service User and Carer Participation
This critical commentary assesses the consequences and impact of forms of seemingly widespread, constructive and altruistic service user and carer participation (SUCP) within social work. In particular, and whilst drawing from Gramsci's understanding of hegemony and Levitas's critical interpretation of social exclusion, it is proposed that SUCP serves the interests of government, affiliated organizations, including those within social work and so…
Here today, gone tomorrow? The ambivalent ethics of contingency social work
In the UK the number of state social workers supplied by independent employment agencies has increased significantly since the mid-1990s. Although state sectors of welfare such as education and health have always relied upon a steady supply of locum staff, there is no such tradition within social work. This paper explores some of the ethical tensions that have become apparent with the expansion of contingency social work. Questions remain about t…
Introducing 'Deviant' Social Work: Contextualising the Limits of Radical Social Work whilst Understanding (Fragmented) Resistance within the Social Work Labour Process
This paper draws upon case study research to explore deviant social work. This is defined as small-scale acts of resistance, subterfuge, deception or even sabotage that are typically hidden yet scattered throughout parts of the social work labour process. Taking a wide variety of forms that can include recalcitrant attitudes as well as practices, deviant social work can be seen as being distinct from radical social work, most notably due to its i…
The last resort? Similarities and differences between contingent ‘agency’ employment practices in social work and nursing
This article draws from a literature-based survey to detail some of the similarities and differences regarding the use of agency employees within social work and nursing. Empirical evidence suggests that risks tend to outweigh any benefits following any over-reliance upon ‘flexible’ labour. However, greater regulation of such staff has gradually emerged
Mind the Gaps: Understanding the Rise and Implications of Different Types of Cynicism within Statutory Social Work
This paper explores the notable rise of cynicism among state social workers in Britain. Theoretically, cynicism has been viewed as ‘deviant emotion’ and pathology or as offering a type of employee resistance that may protect or support a person's identity. Drawing upon case study research with practising social workers, the article looks at three different case examples of employee cynicism. These include the cynic as organisational survivor, dis…
The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The version of record Carey, M. (2015). The Fragmentation of Social Work and Social Care: Some Ramifications and a Critique. British Journal of Social Work, 45(8), 2406-2422. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcu088 is available online at: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/09/28/bjsw.bcu088
Biomedical nemesis? Critical deliberations with regard to health and social care integration for social work with older people
This article questions ongoing moves towards integration into health care for social work with older people in the United Kingdom. While potentially constructing clearer pathways to support, integration risks reducing welfare provisions for a traditional low priority user group, while further extending the principles of privatisation. Integration models also understate the ideological impact of biomedical perspectives within health and social car…
The Tyranny of Ethics? Political Challenges and Tensions When Applying Ethical Governance to Qualitative Social Work Research
This paper examines problems which current ethical governance processes generate for qualitative researchers within social work. It draws upon case studies and critical theory to detail the unpredictable and diverse nature of much social work qualitative research. It argues that too often this research is pitted against a narrow institutional focus placed on positivist-orientated empirical research and income generation. Overtly instrumental inte…
Using Codes of Ethics for Disabled Children Who Communicate Non-verbally – Some Challenges and Implications for Social Workers
This article evaluates the use of professional codes of ethics by social workers specialising in work with disabled children who communicate non-verbally. It draws upon phenomenological interviews and other studies to highlight challenges faced by practitioners in a complex role which demands high-levels of skills and knowledge. Supporting other research, codes of ethics were rarely utilised by practitioners who typically maintain a vague appreci…
Some Ethical Limitations of Privatising and Marketizing Social Care and Social Work Provision in England for Children and Young People
This article analyses the negative ethical impact of privatisation, alongside the ongoing marketisation of social care and social work provision for children and young people in England. It critically appraises the implications of a market-based formal social care system, which includes the risk-averse and often detached role of social workers within ever more fragmented sectors of care. Analysis begins with a discussion of background policy and …
Some limits and political implications of participation within health and social care for older adults
This paper critically examines service user participation and involvement for older adults. It concentrates on research and community-led engagement for older people, and maintains that despite extensive support and expansion, participation offers a complex form of governance and ideological control, as well as a means by which local governments and some welfare professions seek to legitimise or extend their activities. Some of the paradoxes of p…
Is living well with dementia a credible aspiration for spousal carers
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Health Sociology Review on 21-5-18, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2018.1475249
Universal Credit, lone mothers and poverty: Some context and challenges for social work with children and families
Universal Credit is a streamlined benefits delivery system initially introduced in the UK in 2008. Conditionality-based welfare policies are increasingly international in scale, and are now widely adopted by neoliberal governments on the basis that paid employment offers the most efficacious route out of poverty for citizen-subjects. Numerous studies suggest otherwise and highlight their negative impact upon the social rights, lived experiences a…
Universal Credit, Lone Mothers and Poverty: Some Ethical Challenges for Social Work with Children and Families
This article critically evaluates and contests the flagship benefit delivery system Universal Credit for lone mothers by focusing on some of the ethical challenges it poses, as well as some key implications it holds for social work with lone mothers and their children. Universal Credit was first introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2008, and echoes conditionality-based welfare policies adopted by neoliberal governments internationally on the …
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