joint social work education and research conference 2023

Social Work Education, Research and Practice in turbulent times

The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference is the UK's only conference covering the whole of the social work field. This year’s we welcome you to Glasgow city centre hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde

Dates: 15 th and 16 th June 2023

Venue: University of Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) 99 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD.

Our theme acknowledges the vital role that social work played during the pandemic and will continue to play as we confront the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, coupled with global conflict, the economic crisis, political change and unrest across the UK and beyond.  A flexible and more diverse social work profession that challenges injustice and discrimination is required to respond to social problems in times of crisis.  Our aim is to celebrate good practice while encouraging a renewed commitments to  more radical and critical Social Work that has activism at its centre.  We also acknowledge the impact of dealing with ongoing crisis on the profession and its workforce and we aim to showcase work that promotes the wellbeing of the profession.

Local Organising Committee:

Prof Trish Hafford-Letchfield

Prof Neil Quinn

Dr Gillian MacIntyre

Donna Thomson

Dr Janet Melville-Wiseman, JUCSWEC

Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference

The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference is the UK's only conference covering the whole of the social work field. This year’s we welcome you to Glasgow city centre hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde.

• Dates: 15 th  and 16 th  June 2023
• Venue: University of Strathclyde  Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC)  99 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD.

Our theme acknowledges the vital role that social work played during the pandemic and will continue to play as we confront the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, coupled with global conflict, the economic crisis, political change and unrest across the UK and beyond. 

A flexible and more diverse social work profession that challenges injustice and discrimination is required to respond to social problems in times of crisis.  Our aim is to celebrate good practice while encouraging a renewed commitments to  more radical and critical Social Work that has activism at its centre.  We also acknowledge the impact of dealing with ongoing crisis on the profession and its workforce and we aim to showcase work that promotes the wellbeing of the profession.

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Social work education and practice in turbulent times

The 2023 Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference will be held in Glasgow city centre on 15 and 16 June. It will be hosted by the School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde.

The theme – Social work education, research and practice in turbulent times – acknowledges the vital role that social work played during the pandemic and will continue to play as we confront the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, global conflict, the economic crisis, political change and unrest across the UK and beyond.  

The aim of the conference is to celebrate good practice, while encouraging a renewed commitment to more radical and critical social work that has activism at its centre. The impact of dealing with ongoing crisis on the profession and its workforce will also be addressed, with plans to showcase work that promotes the wellbeing of the profession.

Contributions for presentations and workshops are being sought. Further details are available on the event website . 

The conference is an excellent opportunity for social work academics, tutors, practice educators, people with lived experience, researchers, students, practitioners and policy makers, from across the UK and internationally, to meet together to network, share learning, new ideas, and to discuss contemporary issues impacting on social work education and practice.

Room 130, Spaces 1 West Regent Street Glasgow G2 1RW

[email protected]

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Making a real

Social work education and research across boundaries.

On behalf of the Planning Group I welcome you to the 17th Social Work Education Conference and the 9th UK Social Work Research Conference.

This year’s conference theme emerged once again through a crowd sourcing process. Participants at last year conference explored the theme of making connections and many new connections were made and old ones strengthened. Discussions that occurred at the event as well as afterwards on social media highlighted the many different ways the social work professions crosses boundaries and works in those “in between places”. This coalesced into this year’s theme: Social work education and research across boundaries.

This theme is especially appropriate this year. Once again social work practice, education and research are facing many challenges and a changing landscape. We are a strong profession and are used to inhabiting these in between places, but at times we may become weary. The 2015 JSWEC programme offers us the opportunity to recharge and strengthen connections across boundaries. We come together to celebrate our boundary crossing by exploring how we practice, research and educate in these liminal spaces.

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Conference & Events

Jswec conference.

JSWEC is our annual national Social Work Education and Research conference. Since 2018 our conference strategy has been to work in partnership with host HEIs to run the conference in countries and regions across the UK.

JSWEC2018 – hosted by Canterbury Christ Church University

JSWEC2019 – hosted by the University of Manchester

JSWEC2020 – hosted by Cardiff University/Prifysgol Caerdydd

About The SWEC

A planning group led by a conference chair coordinates an annual joint social work education conference that incorporates both research and teaching and learning.

Sub-Committees

SWEC is organised into three sub-committees reflecting its special activities and interests.

Home » Blogs » Joint Social Work Education and Research Conferenc…

Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC 2023 – Student Blog)

19th june 2023.

The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC) was held at the University of Strathclyde on the 15 th  and 16 th  June 2023. We (Emma Gennard and Jasmine Thomson, final year BA social work students) had the opportunity to co-present workshops at JSWEC about the importance of activism in the teaching of social justice alongside Dr Mel Hughes, and on the use of haikus in critical reflection alongside Dr Orlanda Harvey and Dr Louise Oliver.  

This experience left us feeling empowered because our workshops were well received, and we received positive comments from those at the conference after presenting which has helped to build our confidence. The opportunity to present made us feel both valued and respected, amongst the social work team at Bournemouth University and the wider group at the conference. The conference itself felt like a safe environment to be in and was full of like-minded people, we had a sense of belonging despite being students at a conference full of academics. Having the opportunity to present has not only to present, but to attend workshops has left us feeling inspired for the future.

We feel very grateful to have had this opportunity and are thankful to the social work team at Bournemouth University for encouraging and supporting us along the way.  

Our reflections on the first Trans Aware Cancer Care workshop

Assessing capacity – reflections on developing the toolkit, resilience, advocacy and wellbeing to meet the demands of placement , 3rd leadership conference through the national centre for cross-disciplinary social work, reclaiming resilience in menopause.

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Racialised experiences of ethnic minority birth mothers in children's services

• School of Social Work
• Centre for Research on Children and Families

Research output : Contribution to conference › Paper

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Racialised experiences of ethnic minority birth mothers in children's services. / Cornish, Carlene .

T1 - Racialised experiences of ethnic minority birth mothers in children's services

AU - Cornish, Carlene

PY - 2023/6/15

Y1 - 2023/6/15

N2 - Introduction: The voices, racialised and oppressive experiences of immigrant, non-fluent English speaking birth mothers from Black, Asian and other ethnic diverse backgrounds are rarely articulated in social work literature.   Aim & Objectives: This paper aims to reveal the devastating consequences of oppression and racial discrimination impacting birth mothers from racialised backgrounds. The objective is to illustrate the lived experiences of birth mothers through their interactions with key safeguarding agencies and the profound, cumulative effects on the child, mother, wider family and cultural identity. Methods, if relevant: Conscious of my positioning as a South African, mixed-race social worker and mother, the use of ethnographic research is beneficial as it facilitates the use of unstructured interviews. Thereby allowing opportunities for counter- storytelling, freedom of expression and critical reflections of Black, Asian and other ethnic diverse birth mothers’ lived experience of children’s social work.   Findings/Outcomes: The emerging key findings highlighted strong notions of power inequity, systemic failure, coercion, racism, deprivation and social class oppression. The data analysis framework draws on Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence (1977) and Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality (1989) to recognise multiple layers of discrimination and oppression for single, immigrant mothers on low income, excluded in the child protection and foster care system.Discussion/ConclusionThis research study identifies what racist social work and safeguarding practices look like and how it is experienced by birth mothers who are marginalised, stigmatised, excluded and silenced in contemporary social work practice.   Implication(s) for PracticeKey research findings demonstrate a breach of social work values and divergence from ethical social work practice. The effects of malpractice have been revealed, placing an urgent responsibility on the local authority to address the issue of oppression and racial discrimination amongst birth families.

AB - Introduction: The voices, racialised and oppressive experiences of immigrant, non-fluent English speaking birth mothers from Black, Asian and other ethnic diverse backgrounds are rarely articulated in social work literature.   Aim & Objectives: This paper aims to reveal the devastating consequences of oppression and racial discrimination impacting birth mothers from racialised backgrounds. The objective is to illustrate the lived experiences of birth mothers through their interactions with key safeguarding agencies and the profound, cumulative effects on the child, mother, wider family and cultural identity. Methods, if relevant: Conscious of my positioning as a South African, mixed-race social worker and mother, the use of ethnographic research is beneficial as it facilitates the use of unstructured interviews. Thereby allowing opportunities for counter- storytelling, freedom of expression and critical reflections of Black, Asian and other ethnic diverse birth mothers’ lived experience of children’s social work.   Findings/Outcomes: The emerging key findings highlighted strong notions of power inequity, systemic failure, coercion, racism, deprivation and social class oppression. The data analysis framework draws on Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence (1977) and Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality (1989) to recognise multiple layers of discrimination and oppression for single, immigrant mothers on low income, excluded in the child protection and foster care system.Discussion/ConclusionThis research study identifies what racist social work and safeguarding practices look like and how it is experienced by birth mothers who are marginalised, stigmatised, excluded and silenced in contemporary social work practice.   Implication(s) for PracticeKey research findings demonstrate a breach of social work values and divergence from ethical social work practice. The effects of malpractice have been revealed, placing an urgent responsibility on the local authority to address the issue of oppression and racial discrimination amongst birth families.

T2 - The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference

Y2 - 15 June 2023 through 16 June 2023