Analysing talk in child protection social work

Child protection social work is a sensitive and challenging field. In the UK studies commonly draw on qualitative interviews and observational accounts. Live recordings of child protection social work are especially scarce.... [ view full abstract ]

Child protection social work is a sensitive and challenging field. In the UK studies commonly draw on qualitative interviews and observational accounts. Live recordings of child protection social work are especially scarce. This paper discusses early findings from a research study collecting such data, and also draws on televised documentary examples, using methods and concepts from Conversation Analysis (CA). CA is the study of naturally occurring informal conversations, and of ‘institutional’ talk in contexts such as medical consultations, helplines and social care. The analysis seeks to reveal how social work communication is 'done', and how such institutional talk both resembles and departs from the norms of informal conversation. Are the usual ‘preferences’ that shape conversation evident? Are there distinguishing or unusual features? For example, CA suggests that everyday conversational preference is to mitigate ‘face threat’ through a variety of means, such as politeness, indirectness and humour. Child protection investigations and discussions frequently constitute a face threat to parents, and the paper explores how this is navigated in these encounters. Additionally, home visits by social workers, the hallmark of child protection work, bring the authority of the state into the living room, with social workers accompanied or inhabited by policy, procedure, managerial expectation, inspection bodies, the courts, and the media. Whether and how the impact of these ‘overhearers’ can be heard in their talk is examined. The paper sheds light on how institutional talk is conducted, the merits of Conversation Analysis as a method for its inspection, and the implications for social work education and workplace supervision.