A University of Sussex DSW thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the aut hor, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Making the transition from university to the workplace: the emotional experiences of Newly Qualified Social Workers Makhan Shergill A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Social Work University of Sussex November 2018 2 Declaration WORK NOT SUBMITTED ELSEWHERE FOR EXAMINATION I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signed: Date: 5th November 2018 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been written without the support of my primary supervisor, Professor Michelle Lefevre. Her genuine interest in engaging and developing my ideas both cognitively and emotionally has been invaluable. I am sincerely grateful to Prof. Lefevre for sharing her expert knowledge during my whole doctoral journey and her tireless commitment to my academic development. I am also thankful to my second supervisors who made their own unique contributions along the way in shaping this thesis; my thanks to Dr Lel Meleyal, Prof. Gillian Ruch and Dr Reima Maglajlic for their contributions. I also acknowledge the support of my fellow doctoral student peers and their willingness to share their struggles which made my own feel like a normal part of the learning journey. A sincere mention to my friend John, for sharing his ideas and providing re-assurance and support over many years. I thank the participants who engaged in this study, and I hope that the findings to some degree, voice their emotional struggles and challenges of front-line practice as they strive to better the lives of those they work with. I offer my sincerest gratitude to my partner, Tajinder, for the countless years of unquestioning compromise that she has made to support my ambition to pursue a doctorate. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without her enduring unconditional support. I wish to acknowledge my children who have kept me focused on the everyday things in life and my responsibilities as a father. My son Simran has inspired me with his own achievements, and I am proud to have been a part of nurturing his academic journey. Finally, I owe a deep heartfelt debt of gratitude to my daughter Jasmine, who from the age of 13 has given me unwavering encouragement, at times when it felt too difficult to carry on, providing the emotional containment for my anxieties, she is an inspiration to behold. 4 Abstract Debates about the level of readiness of social work graduates to meet the demands of the workplace first arose in the late 1970’s. These debates are well documented and continue today in the Conservative government’s reform of social work and social work education. What is less well documented is how Newly Qualified Social Workers experience the transition to their first professional social work role upon completion of their social work degree. This small-scale qualitative research study explores the emotional experiences of social work graduates in England making this transition and identifies the role and influence of individual, cultural and structural factors in shaping this experience. Five graduates were interviewed on completion of their social work studies and then again approximately six months into practice. All participants worked in statutory children and families’ teams. The methodological design took a narrative psychosocial approach with the voice-centred relational method employed to co-construct narratives of the participants’ emotional experience of transition. Three dominant themes from the literature were combined to structure an additional thematic analysis of the data: the current competing conceptualisations of social work, the marginalisation of emotion in the workplace, and the increasing dominance of the neoliberalised work environment. The generated findings were then further explored with two separate focus groups of practitioners, not involved in the original study, to consider the analytic generalisability of the conclusions. The findings suggest that the emotional experience of transition is significantly influenced by a Newly Qualified Social Worker’s own early childhood experiences and personal dispositions, the availability of containing experiences and the influence of the neoliberalised workplace environment. Thus, Newly Qualified Social Workers’ emotions can be considered to be both psychosocially and socially structured within a political context. Word Count: 55097 words 5 Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures .......................................................................................................... 10 Chapter One: Introduction...................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Overview .......................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 Researcher positionality ................................................................................................... 11 1.2.1 Personal identity and the identifiable ........................................................................ 11 1.2.2 The accidental Probation Officer .............................................................................. 13 1.2.3 ‘Surface and depth’ in social work ............................................................................ 13 1.2.4 Re-surfacing themes from practice and research ....................................................... 14 1.3 Learnings from the early stages of the doctoral programme ............................................ 15 1.3.1 Initial exploratory study ............................................................................................ 15 1.3.2 The Critical Analytical Study .................................................................................... 16 1.4 The focus of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 17 1.4.1 Research aims and objectives .................................................................................... 18 1.4.2 Research question ...................................................................................................... 18 1.5 The structure of the thesis ................................................................................................ 19 Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ................................................................................. 21 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Key changes in social work education ............................................................................. 22 2.2.1 New Right Conservatism (1979-1997) ...................................................................... 22 2.2.1.1 The roles and tasks of social work ..................................................................... 24 2.2.1.2 The political and public concern over social work ............................................. 25 2.2.1.3 The review of social work education .................................................................. 26 2.2.1.4 Summary ............................................................................................................ 27 2.2.2 New Labour 1997-2010 ............................................................................................. 28 2.2.2.1 The modernisation and bureaucratisation of social work ................................... 30 2.2.3 Coalition Government (Conservative-Liberal Democrat: 2010-2015) ..................... 32 2.2.3.1 The continuing reform of social work education ............................................... 33 2.2.4 Conservative Government (2015: present) ................................................................ 34 2.2.4.1 The new reform agenda: the transformation of social work ............................... 35 2.3 The hegemonic status of neoliberalism ............................................................................ 37 2.3.1 Neoliberalism’s key propositions .............................................................................. 37 2.3.1.1 Marketisation ...................................................................................................... 38 2.3.1.2 Consummerisation .............................................................................................. 40 2.3.1.3 Managerialism .................................................................................................... 41 2.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 42 2.5 The role of emotion in social work .................................................................................. 43 6 2.5.1 The centrality of emotion and affect in social work .................................................