Helen Cosis Brown

User and Carer Involvement in Social Work Education—A University Case Study: Manipulation or Citizen Control?

This paper provides an account of one universitys experience of involving service users and carers in the delivery of the new undergraduate and postgraduate social work degrees. It poses the question as to whether user and carer involvement in social work education can be viewed as a means of promoting citizen participation or whether it is a case of manipulating relatively powerless groups. In addressing this question, service users and carers and social work tutors describe, from their own distinct perspectives, the processes in which they were both involved.

Lesbian and gay fostering and adoption: out of the closet into the mainstream?

Recent public debates have discussed lesbians and gay men caring for children as a novel phenomenon, but such arrangements are not new. Helen Cosis Brown and Christine Cocker track debates concerning lesbian and gay families and examine the relationship between policy and practice that is evidence based and ideologically driven. They outline the complexities of adoption and fostering practice within its political and social context and argue that the paramountcy of the childs welfare is the lynchpin to understanding the issues involved with the placement of children with lesbian and gay carers. The emphasis, in examining the detail of practice, is on recruitment, assessment, matching and support.

The Legal Context for Social Work with Lesbians and Gay Men in the UK: Updating the Educational Context

This article considers some of the social, legal and political changes that have taken place in the UK over recent years to elevate the inequality and discrimination faced by lesbians and gay men and how these changes have affected social work practice. In doing this the paper highlights some of the debates from verbatim reports of proceedings in both houses of parliament that pre‐empted the passing of the legislation. These debates indicate the prejudicial attitudes of some members and show their opposition to lesbians and gay men having the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The paper then introduces the Equality Act 2006 and the Sexual Orientation Regulations 2007, which make it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. The paper considers various amendments that the introduction of equality legislation makes to other pieces of legislation before going on to discuss the impact the legislation will have on the way in which goods, facilities and services will be delivered. The paper concludes that changing the law might be one thing, but changing peoples attitudes is another. This conclusion has particular implications for social work education and practice.

Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity by David M Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman (eds)

that the right decision had been made for children to enter care and they often derived satisfaction from seeing them thrive. However, the court experience could reinforce feelings of powerlessness, shame, isolation and abandonment. Unless this is managed effectively by social workers, future involvement could be jeopardised. Not all parents expressed continuing resentment and anger: it was more complex than this. Parents continued to be engaged with children’s lives, often keeping and displaying photographs of them and certificates of their achievements obtained while living in foster care. Contact was complex for parents; for example, it could be expensive, knowing what to plan and anticipating the weather. Parents’ relationships with carers varied, although they often credited them with the stability they had offered their children. Family placement social workers played a key role in this but sometimes discouraged contacts with parents.