Social Work and Conflict

By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council

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I was recently given the chance to deliver in a webinar with Siobhan Maclean and the Student Connect Team. I was delighted, once again (see here for previous talk on report writing), to be part of a series of highly engaging, informative and practice-relevant webinars that I had been watching over the past several months. We are extremely fortunate to be practising in a time whereby we have access to such a wonderful resource. I find their contribution to the social work community inspiring and I was very grateful for the opportunity to contribute.

Conflict is an ever-present and unavoidable feature of child protection social work. Parents are often fearful, frightened or angry about social work involvement and/or may be unwilling or resistant to change. This makes relationships tense and difficult. Most agree that improving the lives of children and families depends on building and maintaining effective relationships. Yet, there is surprisingly little guidance on how to achieve this in such a difficult context.  This webinar explores some ideas and methods that facilitate the development of effective and meaningful relationships, even in the context of child protection social work.

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By Richard Devine (15.10.21)