“Isn't it funny the children that are further away we don't think about as much?”: using GPS to explore the mobilities and geographies of social work and child protection practice

Tom Disney, Lisa Warwick, Harry Ferguson, Jadwiga Leigh, Tarsem Singh Cooner, Liz Beddoe, Phil Jones, Tessa Osborne

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
147 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Social work is an inherently mobile and spatial profession; child protection social workers travel to meet families in diverse contexts, such as families' homes, schools, court and many more. However, rising bureaucracy, managerialism and workloads are all combining to push social workers to complete increasing volumes of work outside their working hours. Such concerns lead to the perception that social workers are increasingly immobilised, finding themselves desk-bound and required to spend much of their working day navigating time-consuming computer systems. This immobilisation of social workers has considerable implications, restricting professionals' abilities to undertake the face-to-face work required to build relationships with families. However, until now, the actual movements of social workers, and how (lack of) movement affects ability to practice, remain unknown. In this paper we report on innovative research methods using GPS [Global Positioning System] devices that can trace social workers' mobilities and explore the use of office space, home working and visits to families in two English social work departments. This article presents unique findings that reveal how mobile working is shaping social care practitioner wellbeing and practice.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-49
Number of pages11
JournalChildren and Youth Services Review
Volume100
Early online date18 Feb 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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