About Me

I have been continuously involved in practice, research and teaching in the field of social work since 1954. How did I get there?

I was born in South Croydon in 1930, the youngest child of Irish Protestant parents who emigrated from Dublin in 1920 when the Republic of Eire was established. My father had been a civil servant in Dublin under British authority who feared discrimination at the time of the change of government. My parents brought with them my father’s daughter by his first marriage. His first wife had died of TB as did his daughter when I was five. My brother, who was 7 years older than I, was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm for most of the war years.

Looking back, it is clear that from an early age, I was fascinated by the people –relatives, lodgers , relatives around me and sought in some way to make sense of their lives. Reading English Literature at Oxford enriched this search for understanding and two long vacations as an undergraduate, working at the Mulberry Bush School near Witney which cared for profoundly disturbed children, channelled my interest towards some form of therapeutic intervention From this, I went to the LSE where I took the course in “Child Care” social work in 1953.My tutor was Clare Winnicott.

My published work has been weighted towards child welfare; however, there are also a significant number of publications relating to care of vulnerable adults, social work and social work education generally, and interprofessional work in these fields. Of particular concern to me since the 1970s has been the issue of child protection/safeguarding which arose from my being a member of the inquiry into the death of Maria Colwell in 1973. (She was killed by her stepfather). This was a momentous event in the history of social work and allied professionals in this country. It has been followed by hundreds of ‘Serious Case Reviews’ into the deaths or serious injuries to children where maltreatment is alleged and has had profound consequences for social work. I have been involved in many such inquiries, in one way or another. In recent months these issues have received widespread national publicity.

However, from the 1980s, I have also been keenly aware of the predicament of some vulnerable elderly people. This was consolidated by a period as Chair of Age Concern, England. From the late 80s, there has been growing awareness of the issues surrounding the protection of vulnerable adults generally. I have also been involved in research in this field and have published widely on the topic.

I have travelled a good deal in Europe and the Far East.as lecturer ,consultant and related activities. In parallel ,I have supervised a significant number of overseas students, mostly for Ph Ds. Of particular interest have been my close links with China and Hong Kong, through a close association with the Poly- University of HK. (See Photos). I was involved in the resurgence of social work in China , after many years in which it was banned and played an active part in its early development. There are now more than 100 Social Work courses across China.

There are three main reasons for establishing this website. The first is to place on line a substantial amount of my published and unpublished work since 1954. Much of the former is out of print and many conference papers dealing with broad trends in social work were unpublished. Much of this material is now on the website and there may be more to follow.The documents have not been edited and present a historical record, warts and all, of my thoughts and feelings during those years.I believe there is material which will be of interest to those seeking to learn more of the history behind where we are now. So I hope that these papers will provide a resource for those who are interested in the development of social work over some fifty years

The second reason is that I am at present working on a memoir which I will probably put on the site ,hopefully in 2010.

The third reason for the site is to contribute to the debate about present day social work.

When I trained as a social worker in 1953, hopes were high for the emergence of a profession which would make a significant contribution to the well-being of children in need. Subsequently, such aspirations were extended more widely to include the wellbeing of many kinds of people in difficulty. 

For a number of reasons, which I have charted in my writings, this optimism has been dimmed over the past fifty-plus years. I believe that there is an urgent need to recapture ‘the vision’ and the ethical basis for social work. Without those, we are lost in tangles of bureaucracy and in anxious and despairing feelings about the tasks which must be undertaken. 

Social work is extremely complicated work. I believe that those who practice, research or teach it can only do so effectively if they seek to understand and utilise the interplay of mind and feelings in themselves and others.

During 2008 and 2009, despite some terrible events, there have been a number of indications that ,at last, the problems facing social workers are beginning to receive more sophisticated political and professional attention. There now seems to be a possibility of real change, provided social workers can organise themselves effectively. They need to be proactive as well as reactive. The plans for a national college may offer a launching pad for the renewal

When I set up the site, I thought it might be a chance to learn to blog! But I confess that I don’t feel comfortable with the chatty immediacy of it . So I am changing the invitation to a more personal one. I should be very pleased to receive by Email any reflections you may have about the content of the site or social work more generally, including the educational aspects. The format of the site has been changed accordingly. From such exchanges, it is possible that ideas for future action might be generated.