How do we know we've connected? Exploring communication between children who are looked after and their social workers

Communication with children is fundamental to the social worker role of protecting and promoting the wellbeing of vulnerable children. It enables social workers to form and maintain relationships with a child, learn about the... [ view full abstract ]

Communication with children is fundamental to the social worker role of protecting and promoting the wellbeing of vulnerable children. It enables social workers to form and maintain relationships with a child, learn about the child’s situation and understand the child’s perspective. Existing literature on social workers’ communication with children portrays it as a complex, partial and fragmented aspect of practice, with a lack of research that directly explores how social workers communicate with children. Little is known about how children and social workers, in their everyday encounters, experience the same interaction. This paper focuses on the second phase of a UK research council funded project – Talking and Listening to Children – in which children who are looked after and their social workers reflect on their experiences of a professional encounter. Utilising video stimulated recall techniques child-social worker dyads were videoed taking part in an everyday interaction, for example, an informal preparatory meeting for a formal review meeting. Each of the participants then had the opportunity to review the video footage of the encounter and to discuss with the researcher where they felt both parties in the exchange were in agreement, or not, with what was happening in the communication process. The paper will present key findings from the research, make recommendations for how the findings can enhance good communication practices with children and young people and consider how the use of video stimulated recall as a research methodology can empower both children and professionals in the interest of practice improvement.