Jennifer Lerpiniere

Ethical issues, research and vulnerability: gaining the views of children and young people in residential care

Children and young people in residential care are some of the most vulnerable in our society. They may have experienced violence and physical, sexual or emotional abuse. They may be involved in offending or the misuse of drugs and alcohol. They are separated from their families and have to cope with living in a group situation with other young people and staff members. Children and young people in residential care also possess strengths, competencies and resilience. We have much to learn from their experiences and perspectives, both generally and surrounding their time in care. This paper will address the ethical issues which arise from gaining the views of children and young people in residential care, drawing on the experience of carrying out three studies in particular (Kendrick et al. 2004, The development of a residential unit working with sexually aggressive young men. In: H.G. Eriksson and T. Tjelflaat, eds. Residential care: horizons for the new century. Aldershot: Ashgate, 38–55; Docherty et al. 2006, Designing with care: interior design and residential child care. Farm7 and SIRCC. http://www.sircc.strath.ac.uk/publications/Designing_with_Care.pdf; Steckley, L. and Kendrick, A., 2005. Physical restraint in residential child care: the experiences of young people and residential workers. Childhoods 2005: Children and Youth in Emerging and Transforming Societies, University of Oslo, Norway, 29 June–3 July 2005, Steckley and Kendrick 2007, Young peoples experiences of physical restraint in residential care: subtlety and complexity in policy and practice. In: M. Nunno, L. Bullard and D. Day, eds. For our own safety: examining the safety of high-risk interventions for children and young people. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, forthcoming). The paper will discuss: information, consent and choice about involvement in the research; confidentiality, privacy and safety. It will also explore some of the more complex issues of ethical good practice which arise from researching children in their own living space. The negotiation of childrens time and space must be approached carefully, with consideration of their rights and wishes. Sensitivity to children and young peoples priorities and preoccupations must be paramount.

‘It's against our law, never mind anyone else's’: the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and adults with learning disabilities

This study examines Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (the provision of goods, services and facilities) in relation to adults with learning disabilities. The study had a participatory element in that self‐advocates co‐facilitated focus groups and joined the Research Advisory Group. The paper presents views of people with learning disabilities, garnered through focus groups and interviews, about the Act and about using services. Awareness of their rights was generally low, although activists were generally better informed. While usually offered reasonable service in shops, pubs and other facilities, people were sometimes treated unfairly. This could take three forms – being treated with a lack of courtesy and respect, failure to make reasonable adjustments and outright refusal to serve. People felt a strong sense of injustice when treated in these ways but the majority were unlikely to complain, although a few had challenged unfair treatment. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and practice.

Re-engineering the multiple choice question exam for social work

The aim of this study is to devise a multiple choice question (MCQ) exam that provides students with opportunities to engage in a deep approach to learning. Multiple choice assessment is largely unused in social work degree courses in the UK because of associations with techniques such as guessing and rote learning, which do not correspond with deep approaches to learning. Strategies used to enhance opportunities for a deep approach to learning within the MCQ exam used in this study included certainty-based marking (CBM), enhancing the use of formative feedback and giving students responsibility for devising the MCQs. Results show that students use similar levels of deep learning when they completed a MCQ exam compared to those students who completed an essay exam. The deep learning approach for the MCQ exam was, however, less when compared to a different module that used an essay assignment. There is an increasing pressure on Higher Education to provide more robust assessment practices, and findings in this study suggest it may be time for social work tutors to reconsider the role of the MCQ format within the existing range of assessment tools.

Don’t get involved: an examination of how public sector organisations in England are involving disabled people in the Disability Equality Duty

The Disability Equality Duty (DED) came into force in December 2006. It stipulated that all public sector organisations were to develop policies to promote the equality of disabled people as staff members, consumers or visitors. Its emergence comes as part of a network of social policies developed over the last 20 years to promote disability rights and citizenship in the UK. However unlike previous legislation, the DED set in place the need for organisations to be proactive in their policies and work with disabled people to move towards change in public sector cultures and working practices. This article reports on this early stage of implementation in England. Findings show that whilst some progress has been made in securing change, practice varied greatly. Therefore if a fundamental change in the culture of work and service provision is to be secured, this key requirement will need to be given a higher priority by organisations.

Portfolios and practice-based learning : a student perspective

Whilst the practice placement is widely regarded as an integral component of social work qualifying courses there is less agreement about the most effective way of assessing student learning during this period on the course. This study explored students’ perceptions of a portfolio that was linked to the practice placement. The findings suggest the portfolio contributes positively to the learning process; however, this may be determined more by the separate parts of work than the compilation of an integrated or ‘holistic’ portfolio. If the portfolio is to be an effective assessment tool, it needs to complement fully students’ experience on placement rather than detract attention from it. Improvements in design will have to be mirrored by effective communication between tutors and practice teachers if the portfolio is to maximise practice learning.

Safeguarding children with intellectual disability: Lessons from a scoping study

The Quality of Life (QOL) working group was established in September 1999 as a research program of NCCTG. This is an exciting opportunity and provides external validation that the work done to date within NCCTG in QOL research is of high scientific caliber and clinical relevance to cancer patients. Now that the organizational structure is in place, we intend to move forward with an expanded and coordinated effort to improve the QOL of cancer patients by identifying specific resources dedicated to QOL considerations within the NCCTG.

Portfolios and practice-based learning

Whilst the practice placement is widely regarded as an integral component of social work qualifying courses there is less agreement about the most effective way of assessing student learning during this period on the course. This study explored students’ perceptions of a portfolio that was linked to the practice placement. The findings suggest the portfolio contributes positively to the learning process; however, this may be determined more by the separate parts of work than the compilation of an integrated or ‘holistic’ portfolio. If the portfolio is to be an effective assessment tool, it needs to complement fully students’ experience on placement rather than detract attention from it. Improvements in design will have to be mirrored by effective communication between tutors and practice teachers if the portfolio is to maximise practice learning.