University of East London Homepage

UEL Social work experts debate prevention and child protection

Monday 19 October 2009

L-R Prof Andrew Cooper, Prof Stephen Briggs, Prof Steven Trevillion, Prof David Rose and Caroline Woods

Over seventy practising social workers, trainees, academics and members of the public attended Professor Steven Trevillion's inaugural lecture The Idea of Prevention in Social Work, with a panel of experts at the University of East London (15 October 2009).

Prof Trevillion explained: "We have come to believe that prevention is a special kind of social work needing special skills, but if we look at the history of social work from its earliest days we can see that it has always been a preventative profession. This has major implications for the education and training of social workers and the future of the profession, which we are addressing carefully at UEL"

The panel discussion, which followed looked at the harrowing cases of Baby P and Victoria Climbie. Social work manager Caroline Woods explained: “Often success for a social worker is measured in going to court and winning a prosecution, breaking a cycle of abuse that has been going on for generations.”

In working with service users, panel member Stephen Briggs says that it is important to recognise the intensity of emotional experiences for social workers, and that paying attention to these experiences can also help to understand service users' needs and their relationships. Andrew Cooper feels that large scale preventative interventions, such as, Sure Start are needed to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families, but it takes a long time for a community to reap the rewards.

UEL is one of the UK’s leading trainers for social workers and UEL’s undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes are highly sought after, due to the calibre of its tutors and links with professional organisations such as the Tavistock Portman NHS Trust. Future lectures, which are free for the public to attend, are planned.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information