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This paper explores isomorphic patterns in social work group supervision and social work practice through the lens of the psychoanalytical concept of parallel process and Bion's theory of learning from experience. Empirical data from group supervision sessions are presented, and a link is theorised between sessions characterised by high levels of anxiety and the presence of parallel process, whereby 'unthought' anxiety provoking phenomena described in social workers' practice appear to be repeated in supervision. Implications for supervision practice and social work more broadly are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recognition that some service users do not want social work involvement has grown in recent years, little research has explored what relationships between social workers and 'involuntary clients' look and feel like in practice and how they are conducted in real time. This paper draws from research that observed long-term social work practice in child protection and shows how relationships based on mutual suspicion and even hate were sustained over the course of a year, or broke down. Drawing on a range of psycho-social theories, the paper adds to the literature on relationship-based practice by developing the concept of a 'hostile relationship'. The findings show how hostile relationships were enacted through conflict and resistance – especially on home visits – and how anxiety and other intense feelings were often avoided by individuals and organisations. Much more needs to be done to help social workers recognise and tolerate hostility and hate, to not retaliate and to enact compassion and care towards service users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on findings from a psycho-social qualitative doctoral study, this paper considers the intimate and extraordinary emotional intensity, ambivalence and pain associated with the experience of mother social workers engaging with mothers and their infants in the context of child protection work. In this yearlong study undertaken with a group of female Irish child protection social workers, their role as mothers was an unanticipated emergent theme and was found to be inextricably linked to their work and their capacity for realistic decision-making. We consider the wider contexts of societal ambivalence about motherhood, mothering and social work itself, as a way of locating these experiences as fully psycho-social. The work discussion seminars offered as part of the research study afforded a rare opportunity for workers to talk about predicaments, failures and worries, in conditions of containment for anxiety, support for their learning, and a confidential reflective setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various studies in the science and culture fields have long recognised the power of play in facilitating human development and therapeutic processes. This paper focuses on the developmental potential of play in psychodynamic therapy supervision for social workers who function as therapists, but its conclusions might be applied to supervision of other social work interventions. It is suggested that play is represented in supervision by an illusion shared by the supervisor and supervisee of their complete togetherness in the supervisee's clinical struggles and clinical responsibility. This element of play temporarily reduces supervisees' sense of loneliness in their responsibility for clients' welfare and for the integrity of therapeutic processes. This illusion is healthy and growth promoting when supervisees acknowledge reality and when, by repeatedly experiencing this illusion, they assimilate it into their professional self. Through such a process, supervisees eventually internalise a professional community of supervisors, colleagues, and writers, who become symbolic representations that can be projected onto reality and facilitate professional interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work practice makes up part of modern people processing organisations. In their role of a person-related service provider, professionals intervene into the life circumstances of a clientele who regularly suffers from emotionally distressing experiences and critical thresholds of their living conditions. Emotions (one's own and those of the other) are therefore part of the professionals' everyday life experiences. Social workers must deal with contingent situations and social relationships frequently shaped by affection and multiple feelings that are only partly predictable. This paper aims to make analytically palpable the mostly ordinary and unobtrusive display of emotional states of the participants during a professional/client encounter. It argues that emotions are pervasively present in the professional/client interaction and that their management is pivotal to realise and secure a stable and resilient working relationship as a bedrock for sustained activities in a series. Based on two longer transcripts of audio-recorded German childcare planning conferences (CPC) referring to residential care it will be shown how feelings and emotions are locally managed in situ supporting the clients' respect and self-esteem during an institutionally goal-driven meeting even if they do not refer to them in an explicit or verbal kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a personal account of experiences of consultation to staff working in residential child care. The paper starts with experiences of receiving consultation while working in a therapeutic community, then of providing consultation to children’s homes, firstly from a group-analytic perspective and subsequently using a systems-centred approach. The author considers the goal of consulting to staff teams who care for traumatised children and draws conclusions about the different approaches regarding which are most likely to achieve the stated goal. Functional subgrouping - the central method of systems-centred approach - is described in action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the nature of students’ learning of the Egan Skilled Helper model in enabling them to develop collaborative communication skills which place service-users at the centre of decision making. The paper is a follow-up to an earlier paper which found that the Egan model was helpful to students as a communication and problem management tool and that they had transferred their learning into practice. The current study involves seven students from the first study and examines whether their knowledge and skills from learning the model in year one have been sustained two years later during their third year practice placement. A key finding is that participants were continuing to use most stages of the model (with the exception of challenging skills) with service-users in a variety of settings. Further findings are that the model is still useful in situations where goals are set by social workers rather than by service-users; and that it is the utilisation of role-play when learning the model which most embeds skills. The implications of these findings for skills training are discussed together with suggestions for further focus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across various welfare and justice systems, intensive key worker support is a model of working considered effective for individuals and families identified as having multiple and complex needs. The high profile ‘troubled families’ programme in England is the most recent prominent example of such a model. The key worker role is to assess an individual’s needs, carry out support planning, provide and/or co-ordinate the delivery of supportive interventions and complete care plan reviews. This requires the key worker to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals which, in turn, demands the ability to form effective relationships. In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change. I also explore the notion that the key worker-service user relationship is itself a ‘therapeutic’ medium and is therefore a productive practice in its own right. The paper suggests that while key workers might not be trained therapists or counsellors, they might be equipped to address some emotional challenges that individuals with complex needs face and build therapeutic relationships with them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent social work literature has stressed the importance of considering culture when working with individuals with mental health problems. This paper presents my personal experience, journaling, reflections, and research as a mental health social work practitioner and researcher working with refugee clients with mental health problems from a Muslim background. It also draws on my research experience in cross-cultural mental health. The paper emphasizes the significance of building rapport especially in the earlier stages of the professional relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of infant mental health (IMH) has evolved from a combination of theoretical frameworks focused upon early relationships and the complex interplay between individuals and their internal and external worlds. The main components of IMH practice: developmental guidance; emotional support; parent–infant psychotherapy; concrete support; and advocacy, demonstrate a connection between psychoanalytic theoretical frameworks and social work values and forms the basis of practice for IMH therapeutic programmes. This paper will trace the theoretical roots of IMH practice and utilise a clinical case example to illustrate the ways in which insights from object relational, self psychological and attachment theories are integrated into IMH home visiting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops Professor Eileen Munro's coverage of ‘emotional dimensions’ in her Review of Child Protection in England. It argues that managerialism has failed to recognise the importance of the emotional life of human beings and the importance of the relationships we build in social work and that this failure seriously hinders the quality and effectiveness of social work. The paper begins with an account of what an ‘emotional dimension’ might encompass and, drawing on conceptualisations mainly from neuroscience, looks at what is meant by the words emotions and feelings, affect, attunement and empathy. A second section looks at the skewed representation of logical thinking as innately superior to emotional and intuitive reasoning and the part played by conscious and unconscious elements within judicial decision-making. It then analyses the dangers evident in the more extreme and rigid forms of managerialism that can be found in some areas of social work and a final section argues that for managerialism to be humanised it calls for an emotionally responsive relationship-based practice to be located at the heart of social work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recovery approach to psychiatric rehabilitation has introduced a new set of challenges, enabling consumers to set goals and redefine their role in obtaining them. This has revolutionized the management of the relationship between service providers and consumers. In the present paper, we suggest that one of the important ways to supervise professionals interested in internalizing the recovery approach is to implement its major principles in the supervision work itself. The paper draws on intersubjective therapy concepts and guiding principles, which emphasize the development of the professional–consumer relationship in which the consumers' sense of agency can be respected and promoted. The principles we suggest here which may underlie supervision are: (1) clients or supervisees, with their own decisions and interests, are at the center of the rehabilitation therapy and supervision; (2) mutuality in the rehabilitative/supervisory relationship and ongoing discussion of the interactants' power and authority; and (3) the promotion of positive and empowering narratives and self-perceptions in the process of rehabilitation/supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Never before have public sector jobs been so threatened. Fear and anxiety have shifted their focus, from performance to survival. With reference to immediately contemporary works on the NHS in particular, such as Mandelstam (2011) and Leys and Player (2011), the paper establishes the factual validity of the crisis. The authors conducted a series of workshops for public sector staff to enable them to explore their reactions to the current situation. It is possible to identify increasing levels of denial and other forms of resistance to change similar to those first identified by Menzies' (1959). Drawing on the work of Bion (cited Obholzer & Roberts, 1994) the paper considers the dangers of a retreat to the paranoid schizoid position, and identifies a theoretical clue in Halton (2004) for turning the trauma of change into a creative opportunity. Art has access to emotional, spiritual and creative facets of the human mind that science cannot explore. Klein's (1975) consideration of the infantile and regressive aspect of art is acknowledged. The paper then considers what is revealed by a study of specific works of art which were presented in the workshops; including paintings by Bosch, Rousseau, Breughel and Goya. The work of Zagier-Roberts (1998) and Winnicott (1971) is called upon to endorse the usefulness of such a playful collage of responses. Art can be used to help people move through Kubler Ross' stages of bereavement (1997); not to acceptance but out of the paranoid schizoid position into the depressive position (Klein 1975). Revisiting the work of Halton (2004) and the concept of evolutionary creativity, a move on from the depressive position can begin. Collective validation can be affirmed through a rebooting of the essential public sector values while a radical turning away from organisational priorities, to face the service user, provides a more far reaching optimism than any envisaged by an essentially limited demand for modernisation. In conclusion the paper considers the recent contributions of Dienst (2011) and Dumenil and Levy (2011) to advocate tactical resistance to the denigration of the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the use of a psychosocial approach to researching drugs, race and ethnicity. It produces an analysis of interviews with Bobby, a mixed-race man in recovery from addiction. Sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives are brought to bear on the data in order to consider the character of Bobby's opportunities, identifications, crises and resolutions. Despite the affective components of the wider discourse on drugs and race, the majority of previous research on the subject has focused on the production of rational explanations produced within objectivist epistemological frames. In contrast, the methods used in this project seek an explicit engagement with the irrational and unconscious aspects of researching these subjects. The paper concludes by reflecting on the value of psychosocially oriented narrative methods in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Until at least 1990, the American Psychoanalytic Association advised dynamic therapists to present themselves as neutral, silent, emotionally distant, personally opaque and ‘seemingly unresponsive’. Therapists were encouraged to think of themselves as powerful authorities, trained to objectively analyze unconscious processes. The therapeutic relationship was carefully designed to foster regression, amplify transference and discourage spontaneous interaction. Relational theorists drastically revised the traditional, positivist guidelines. They argued that analytic treatment cannot reveal objective truth, that therapeutic narratives are co-constructed in a reciprocal, bi-directional, dialogic process, that the boundaries between patients and therapists should be flexible and permeable and that therapists should be authentic, emotionally engaged and selectively self-disclosing. The revisions are a 180° about face from what I originally learned. This paper describes my professional development over a 50-year period. Having originally learned to practice from a drive-ego-developmental perspective, I am now increasingly influenced by relational theories. The paper includes a theoretical discussion, two illustrative case studies and some reflections on the concept of neutrality. As my goal is to encourage other therapists to reflect on and discuss aspects of practice that puzzle them, and as I think confusion can, if attended to, generate professional development, the paper highlights some of my own conflicts and uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a PhD study, investigating the supervision of women service users (WSUs), by probation officers (POs) based on video data of one-to-one supervision sessions. The research identifies competing agendas of probation in England and Wales - one side emphasises punishment, whilst the other encourages humanistic, relationship-based practices. POs, routinely juggling these opposing expectations, appreciate traditional probation values of giving the WSU a voice and embracing psychodynamic approaches, to provide structure and support in confronting the complexities of officer/service user interactions. However, the data show that driven by managerialist enforcement requirements, it is the punitive discourse which is more frequently translated into practice. Organisational pressures, feelings about the person opposite, the offence or the individual's background can manifest as conscious or unconscious micro-messages or masking messages. Just as SUs put on masks to disguise negative emotions or feel powerful, so too do POs; POs recognise masks and deceptions in SUs and, similarly, SUs are aware of this dynamic with POs. The research identifies practitioner ambivalence to certain narratives, particularly sexual abuse or poor mental health and, it is argued, reflective supervision is needed to deconstruct difficult personal and professional issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship based social work practice has received increasing attention in recent years. The use of humour has infrequently been considered in relation to social work, and humour use is a neglected aspect in examining relationships in social work. As humour conveys humanity, is grounded in our earliest attachments and in the management of emotions, the purpose of this paper is to consider how humour operates in social work relationships. Importantly humour can help facilitate relationships with service users, and become a tool to help service users, social workers and their colleagues establish relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is considered to be a “schizophrenia spectrum disorder” as evidenced in part by its cross-listing in that chapter of the DSM-5. SPD is considered to be a condition with limited potential for positive change because one of its major features is the presence of a biologically based cognitive deficit. This assumption, however, is an example of the medical model’s creating a bias against psychosocial features that are always involved in character development. The social work profession’s bio-psycho-social perspectives focus more comprehensively on all features of the condition and promote a more optimistic view of clients’ change potentials. The purposes of this paper are to examine SPD from a social work perspective and to demonstrate, with a case example, how effective intervention can be organized and delivered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the complex task of working with adults with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour in a care home and the impact on relationships within the staff group and wider organisation. Examples are drawn from an organisational consultation to a home with a history of disputes, grievances and sick leave. The metaphor of ghosts is used to explore the processes by which the residents' own traumatic histories come to be played out by the care home staff. The paper concludes that an increased understanding of organisational processes in the residential care sector may help staff form more helpful relationships with service users and hence lead to better outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a holistic relationship-based approach to promoting the well-being of separated refugee children in the UK. Based on children's testimonies and case examples gathered over the past 10 years, it provides an overview of the practical and emotional support needs of separated children, including the asylum process, education, social services support, accommodation and health, from the point of arrival in the UK and through the transition to adulthood. Reflecting on practice, the paper explores strategies for supporting children suffering mental distress and considers the critical role that practitioners can play in the healing process by helping children to make sense of their experiences. Finally, the paper discusses the importance of both professional and personal relationships in enabling children to develop a sense of belonging and providing opportunities to share and create positive memories, which can help them move beyond stories of loss towards a more hopeful future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper makes a case for the value of using metaphors when attempting to describe and understand extreme mental states. Examples of metaphors are given from practice, literature, myth and the visual arts and, in particular, a close reading of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (1986). Commentary on and criticism of The Bell Jar are cited that highlight the value of this work as an aid to insight into how those in mental distress might feel. The nature and importance of accurate empathy is discussed, as is the difficulty of getting the balance right in empathic responses. Case studies linking theory and practice are cited. The hopes, ambivalence and displacement of the person seeking help are discussed, as are different ways of attempting to provide help. The paper concludes by emphasising the multi-faceted presentations of self by both caring professional and service user and the importance of recognising the subtleties of these in the context of the would-be therapeutic relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

All human beings have defences some of which are unconscious, that is, reactions that for the most part lie beyond our immediate awareness and control. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the important role that defences play in social work and to identify the knowledge and skills that are needed when working with anxieties that lead to defensive behaviour. The paper is in two parts. The first provides a theoretical account of what is meant by the term defences, anxiety, resistance and related concepts, and then goes on to describe a number of key defences that are regularly encountered in social work, and in other related fields of practice. A second section looks at how we can work creatively with unconscious, defensive reactions and resistances, particularly the importance of containing anxiety. It describes how transference, counter-transference and projective identification can aid our understanding and help to illuminate the feelings, fears and fantasies that are evident in our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the great amount of information social workers are expected to assimilate from a range of diverse sources, the experience of practice appears to be marked less by clear and precise knowledge and more by uncertainty and change. In this paper I suggest that in responding to uncertainty constructively, the concept of 'negative capability', first used by the poet John Keats and developed since, may provide a concise yet rich expression of some of the characteristics of effective practice. After discussing negative capability briefly in its original context, this paper considers its key elements and how these may be applicable to contemporary social work, drawing on insights from psychoanalysis and business and noting links with reflective practice and emotional intelligence. It emphasizes that negative capability's components of open-mindedness, attentiveness to diversity and the suspension of the ego are helpful, both in defining important aspects of effective and person-centred practice and in providing a counterpoint to managerialism by emphasizing the centrality of the relationship between worker and service user. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-injury among female adolescents has become an important clinical issue in social work practice. Anxiety has been cited as one of the primary reasons that self-injury occurs in this population. This paper explores the role of empathy in mitigating anxiety and helping with emotional regulation and highlights the need to empathically monitor the self-systems of female clients who self-injure. This paper considers issues of gender and family structure within this population and explores transference and countertransference as important processes that can help to develop empathy in the therapeutic relationship. A case study is presented to highlight these important processes. Implications for social work practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on ‘streetwalkers’ and ‘street sex workers’ who are unlicensed sex workers not belonging to a brothel and subject to criminalization. They often face great stigmatization and are usually considered victims by service providers. Five Singaporean ex-streetwalkers (n = 5), who had left the streets for at least six months and were currently receiving or had previously received skills training at a social service agency, participated in this study. Using an agentic framework and social relational theory principles, this qualitative study explored the impact of streetwalkers’ relationship with their children on their decision to enter and leave the streets and reasons for their successful help-seeking experiences. Findings revealed them to be agents who actively used strategies to meet their goals and to sustain close relationships with their children. The mother–child relationship context was a key influence on their decision to enter and/or leave the streets. Social work practice implications include tailoring service delivery to tap into their agentic capacities and identity as mothers; research and training in provision of proactive social services in a non-judgmental manner to preserve the dignity of these women while meeting both their own and their children’s needs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the potential contribution of forgiveness therapy to social workers who may often encounter clients who have experienced severe interpersonal injury, or who have inflicted significant harm upon themselves or others. Basic theoretical and empirical perspectives on the processes and dynamics of forgiveness, as well as an introduction to forgiveness therapy, are provided. A case example demonstrating the application of forgiveness therapy in a social work setting is utilized to underscore points of convergence and potential divergence between this innovative therapeutic approach and important social work values and practice concepts. Research directions that may promote the further incorporation of forgiveness and forgiveness therapy into social work are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A large amount of research has been completed on the impact of abuse and neglect on children's brain development, attachment and behaviour (Malinosky-Rummell & Hansen, 1993, ‘Long-term consequences of childhood physical abuse’,Psychological Bulletin, vol. 114, pp. 68–79; Margolin & Gordis, 2000, ‘The effect of family and community violence on children’,Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 51, pp. 445–479; Perry, 2002, ‘Childhood experiences and the expression of genetic potential: what childhood neglect tells us about nature and nurture’,Brain and Mind, vol. 3, pp. 79–100; van der Kolk, 2005, ‘Developmental trauma disorder’,Psychiatric Annuals, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 401–408). Research has also begun to address the impact on the professional's and carer's psychological well-being, as a result of working with children who have experienced abuse and neglect (Cunningham, 1999, ‘The impact of sexual abuse treatment on the social work clinician’,Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, vol. 16, pp. 277–290; Trippany, Kress and Wilcoxon, 2004, ‘Preventing vicarious trauma: what counsellors should know when working with trauma survivors’,Journal of Counselling and Development, vol. 82, pp. 31–37; Conrad & Kellar-Guenther, 2006, ‘Compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction among Colorado child protection workers’,Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 30, pp. 1071–1080). Psycho-dynamic concepts such as projection and splitting have begun to be explored in how children who have experienced abuse communicate their experience to their carers and the professionals involved with them. Some authors (Daleet al., 1986,Dangerous Families: Assessment and Treatment of Child Abuse, Tavistock Publications, London) have also explored the impact of the psycho-dynamics on the treatment team and the ‘splitting’ that can occur among professionals involved with the child. This paper aims to extend this reflection to also consider the impact of the professional's attachment history, early childhood experiences and current personal relationships on the child and caregiver's systems. Therefore, concepts such as counter-transference and adult attachment styles within the therapeutic relationship are explored and examples provided from my own practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I analyse a piece of social work practice using the reflections provided by a peer supervision (work discussion) group. I describe my work with an eight year child looked after, who telephoned me stating that he wanted to kill himself. I discuss the powerful unconscious processes that contributed to his risk-taking behaviour and my emotional experience of it. I reflect on how my knowledge of psychoanalytic theory enabled me to contain the powerful feelings being projected and to safely manage the situation. I highlight how reflective peer supervision groups are a helpful way to understand the complexities of the lives of children looked after and can help inform decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The therapeutic relationship is central to clinical social work practice. Integrating theories about the mechanisms of the therapeutic relationship can guide clinicians towards optimization of these processes. This paper offers an exploration of two psychoanalytic constructs which are often seldom brought together in the literature. Bion's container–contained refers to the therapist's function in processing the client's dissociated emotions in order to promote psychic integration. Kohut's concept of the selfobject refers to the therapist's role in providing responses that contribute to the client's self-cohesion. These ideas are discussed as being complementary and compatible, constituting useful guides to the ways in which the therapeutic relationship can promote development and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychoanalysis is a theoretical and practice discipline that has produced an extensive body of literature over the past 100 years. Psychodynamic psychotherapy developed from psychoanalytic thought and has been studied using both qualitative and quantitative methods including experimental studies, content analyses and case studies. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relevance of psychodynamic theories to social work and to review evidence that supports psychodynamic social work practice. We first provide a brief introduction to several relevant psychodynamic theories, including self psychology, intersubjectivity theory and relational theory. Next, we discuss the debates and controversies surrounding the study of psychodynamic psychotherapy. A review of existing evidence for psychodynamic practice with adults, children and adolescents is presented, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, literature reviews and other research. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of further research on psychodynamic and other forms of social work practice and the benefit of promoting psychodynamic theories in social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teams, and their managers, working at the interface between government policy and service to clients are subject to high levels of anxiety arising out of the persecutory manner in which well-intended policy demands are delivered and cost efficiencies imposed. Informed by Bion's ideas about group behaviours, these responses can be understood as a form of defensive behaviour and identified as Basic Assumption Me-ness. Basic Assumption Me-ness in team managers takes the form of managerialism at the expense of leadership, developing a shell that acts as a protection for the lonely, overburdened, vulnerable and soft inside. This hardness, evident through increased unavailability and a rather sadistic use of boundaries, is communicated to staff, who in turn pass it onto clients. In this manner, it infects all relationships thus stifling emotional engagement, creative thinking and practice. This paper then explores ways in which team leaders, courageous enough to take up their authority in an emotionally engaged manner, can reverse these dynamics to the relief and benefit of all concerned. Leaders need to insist on attendance at meetings and supervision where cases can be properly considered; demonstrate an ability to think about risk as ever present in the work because, as all are well aware, no amount of form filling can eliminate this; and acknowledge that the work requires constant assessment and judgement as well as an ability to stay with the unknown. The aim is to be responsive to the daily struggles of team members working face-to-face with clients and to remain aware of ‘the reality on the ground’ when engaging in an equally lively way with senior management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Shame has been a neglected topic within social work. Whilst other professions such as psychology and psychotherapy have explored the relevance of shame, social work has been slow to respond. This paper argues that shame is of great importance to child protection work. The causes and consequences of shame are explored. It is proposed that the roots of shame lie in the first few years of life and arise as a result of prolonged periods of lack of attunement between the child and his primary carers. The implications for social work and ways of working with shame are discussed. It is argued that shame is omnipresent within child protection work and that without an understanding of shame, social workers are likely to work in ways which further add to a person's sense of shame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]