Social work at Sussex was ranked 1st in the country in the Guardian University Guide 2014, 3rd in both The Times Good University Guide 2012 and The Sunday Times University Guide 2012, and 4th in The Complete University Guide 2012-13.
Social work is a rapidly changing profession and here at Sussex we are at the forefront of innovation and development. We offer attractive opportunities in a department noted for its strength in professional education and its contribution to professional knowledge and practice.
We are among the leading institutions in the UK for the quality of our research and have recently launched the new Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY). We also have a proud tradition of providing rewarding opportunities for study, whether at initial qualifying, post-qualifying or doctoral levels.
We constantly build on our strong track record of interdisciplinarity to develop new approaches to inter-professional learning and research which recognise both the distinctiveness and the interconnected nature of social work as a discipline and a profession.
Joint Social Work Education Conference: 10-12 July
The annual JSWEC event, this year entitled Positive Practice in Hard Times: Social Work Fights Back, took place at Royal Holloway, University of London in July. As usual, the conference was attended by several members of faculty of the Department of Social Work and Social Care at Sussex.
The keynote address, Collective consciousness through creative connectivity, was given by doctoral researcher and newly-appointed Lecturer, Denise Turner. Other contributors included Senior Lecturer, Dr Michelle Lefevre, who presented: Improving social workers' communication with children: Developing the qualifying curriculum based on two articles recently published in the British Journal of Social Work and also Child & Family Social Work.
Michelle also hosted two 'special interest groups': Developing a picture of the social work academic workforce and Meet the Editors. In the latter session, Michelle was joined by colleague, Professor Imogen Taylor, both representing Social Work Education - The International Journal for which the two are editors.
Knowledge Transfer Partnership conference: 16 July 2013
Co-hosted by the Department of Social Work and Social Care and the Newhaven Community Development Association (NCDA), this conference entitled Co-producing Impact Evaluation: Making it Work, broght together representatives from charities, social enterprises, funders, commissioners, service users, carers and researchers to talk about how knowledge and expertise can be shared in the face of government cuts in the voluntary and care sectors to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive marketplace.
MA social work student inspires residents in rehab
Social work student and amateur photographer, Emma Fincham-Siley, encouraged service users at one of her placements, charity CRI, to take photographs of locations throughout Sussex that were significant to their recovery. The photographs were used for an exhibition in Hove as part of the annual Artists Open Houses in May 2013.
See more about how photography inspired CRI residents in rehab.
Adult safeguarding research
The Department of Social Work and Social Care is host to a growing body of research into adult safeguarding. Professor Suzy Braye and Dr David Orr, working with Professor Michael Preston-Shoot of the University of Bedfordshire, have undertaken four studies to date.
Funded by the Department of Health and published in 2011, the initial study explored the governance of adult safeguarding, with a focus on the work of Safeguarding Adults Boards. The second investigated self-neglect and the challenges of definition and intervention. A third study commissioned by Skills for Care explored workforce development needs for self-neglect practice. Most recently, the team has won research funding from the Department of Health to take their investigation of self-neglect further to carry out a national survey to identify how effective interventions are negotiated.
The findings will be invaluable in forming a picture of current organisational practice and in contributing to the research evidence base on how beneficial outcomes can be achieved.