| Post: | Associate Tutor (Social Work and Social Care) |
| Other posts: | Research Student (Social Work and Social Care) |
| Location: | |
| Email: | D.M.Turner@sussex.ac.uk |
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Biography
I am a final year Postgraduate Research student in the Dept of Social Work and Social Care at the University of Sussex (see Research Interests).
I am a qualified and experienced Social Worker and have previously worked within Children and Families; Mental Health and Probation, as well as within the voluntary sector.
I also have experience of working within the Arts and I have a general interest in the role of creativity within human development.
Contact: D.M.Turner@sussex.ac.uk Twitter: @DeniseT01
Further details see 'Role.'
Role
I am an Associate Tutor within the Department of Social Work and Social Care. Additionally I work as a Graduate Support Assistant with responsibility for enabling PhD research students in areas where extra support may be helpful. As part of this role I convene a weekly 'Twitter' discussion group ( Weds 8-9 p.m #eswphd).
The 'Wiki' page for this (including archived Twitter chats and blog space etc )is available as www.eswphd.org.uk
I also convene a monthly Writing Group in conjunction with the University of Brighton. The shared blog for this is available at: http://eswphd.org.uk/blog/eswriters/
I work closely with the Service Users/Carers network within the Department of Social Work and Social Care and am committed to the contribution of this group to Social Work Teaching and Research.
I am in the final year of my own PhD research study which focusses on parent's experiences of professional intervention following sudden, unexpected child death. My experiences of working with this subject has led to an interest in the role of emotion within 'experience-near research' and I am working with a colleague Claire Bennett to support Doctoral researchers in this area. We are planning a one day conference with Wendy Hollway , Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the Open University followed by a series of research supervision groups - www.sussex.ac.uk/esw/internal/hollway.
Activities
Media Activities
I have been a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'Woman's Hour' discussing my research.
I have been a contributor to the 'Guardian online' in an article linked to my research.
Conference Activities
Keynote Speaker: Child Bereavement Trust (2010)
Coroner's Support Service (2011)
Somerset Local Safeguarding Children's Board (2011)
Joint Social Work Education Conference 2013: 'Collective Consciousness through creative
Connectivity' (Joint Keynote address) http://www.jswec.net/index.php/annual/2013
Presentations:
International Autobiography Association (UK) 2010
University of Sussex, Doctoral conference, 2011
NSPCC: New Horizons in Safeguarding Children (Manchester, 2012)
University of Sussex, Doctoral Conference, 2012
'Discourse, Power and Resistance', Greenwich, UK, 2013
Forthcoming Presentations:
'A Narrative Future for Healthcare' Kings College, London, Uk . June 21 - 21. 'Telling the Story' : An experience of researching sudden, unexpected child death. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/innovation/groups/chh/Narrative-Medicine-conference-/About-the-Narrative-Medicine-conference.aspx
Joint Social Work & Education Conference, 'Positive Practice in Hard Times' - London, Uk July 2013 : Dangerous Knowledge?' A personal experience of the service user role in social work education' http://www.jswec.net/index.php/annual/2013
Peer Reviewed Publications:
Turner. D & Webb.R (2012) "ethics and/or Ethics in Qualitative Social Research: Negotiating a Path around and between the Two" Journal of Ethics & Social Welfare: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17496535.2012.745583.
Reviews: I am a Member of the Editorial Board for the journal 'Social Work Education' : http://www.tandfonline.com/action/aboutThisJournal?show=aimsScope&journalCode=cswe20
I am a Peer reviewer for both 'Ethics and Social welfare' and 'Children and Society'
PhD Research: 'Telling the Story': What can be learned from parent's experience of the professional response following the sudden, unexpected death of a child.
In the U.K all sudden, unexpected deaths of children are subject to a 'rapid response' by police and other professionals and are treated as potential crimes until proven otherwise. Parents therefore simultaneously become both 'victims' and 'suspects' at a deeply traumatic time and the complexities of negotiating this have led to some famous miscarriages of justice.
Following the successful Appeals of both Angela Cannings and Sally Clark, new guidance was issued on investigating sudden, unexpected child death. However despite advice to professionals on the importance of understanding parental perspectives, first-hand accounts from parents remain largely absent from the field.
My research seeks to fill this knowledge gap by eliciting the narrative accounts of parents who have experienced the sudden, unexpected death of a child and subsequent professional response but without charges being brought. As well as providing profound insights for professionals working in this field, the research study also raises wider questions about the sequestration of death and the implications of the safeguarding response for families and particularly for other children. The research was prompted by my previous work as a Social Worker within both Children & Families and Mental Health but also by the sudden, unexpected death of my own son, Joe and the subsequent investigation. I believe the blend of these experiences makes the research perspective almost unique as well as raising many issues about attempting this kind of 'experience- near' work.
My wider research interests include the challenges of working on 'taboo' and 'emotionally complex' research; negotiating ethical processes ethically; creative and explatory methodologies; narrative ways of knowing and inventive methods in academic writing.
I teach with the Service Users and Carers network on the CPD 'Risk Module' for Social Workers and on a bi- annual 'Resilience Workshop' for M.A and B.A level students.
I have also taught on modules for the Ed/D and DSW programmes as well as running Workshops for the Teaching Learning and Development Unit on 'Ethics' and 'Researcher Identity.'