Rights statement: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated versionLisa Morriss; Being Seconded to a Mental Health Trust: The (In)Visibility of Mental Health Social Work, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 47, Issue 5, 1 July 2017, Pages 1344–1360, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcw022 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcw022
Accepted author manuscript, 346 KB, PDF document
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Being seconded to a Mental Health Trust
T2 - the (in)visibility of mental health social work
AU - Morriss, Lisa
N1 - This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Social Work following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated versionLisa Morriss; Being Seconded to a Mental Health Trust: The (In)Visibility of Mental Health Social Work, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 47, Issue 5, 1 July 2017, Pages 1344–1360, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcw022 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcw022
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - The paper explores the implications of being a social worker seconded to a Mental Health Trust based on narrative interviews with mental health social workers. As part of a wider study, thirteen mental health social workers from across England were interviewed individually about their experiences of being seconded to a Mental Health Trust. Building on the work of Andrew Pithouse, the findings reveal the (in)visibility of mental health social work. The social workers were isolated within Health Trusts with minimal links to their Local Authority employers. They struggled to articulate and define social work. Instead, social work was depicted as being indefinable, involving working in liminal spaces and as filling the gaps left by other professions. Furthermore, the social workers were unable to make social work visible as social work is not ‘seen’ by the other members of the team. Finally, the social workers were unable to make social visible through supervision if they did not have a social work manager. The paper ends with an unexpected outcome of the research: the notion of the research interview as surrogate supervision.
AB - The paper explores the implications of being a social worker seconded to a Mental Health Trust based on narrative interviews with mental health social workers. As part of a wider study, thirteen mental health social workers from across England were interviewed individually about their experiences of being seconded to a Mental Health Trust. Building on the work of Andrew Pithouse, the findings reveal the (in)visibility of mental health social work. The social workers were isolated within Health Trusts with minimal links to their Local Authority employers. They struggled to articulate and define social work. Instead, social work was depicted as being indefinable, involving working in liminal spaces and as filling the gaps left by other professions. Furthermore, the social workers were unable to make social work visible as social work is not ‘seen’ by the other members of the team. Finally, the social workers were unable to make social visible through supervision if they did not have a social work manager. The paper ends with an unexpected outcome of the research: the notion of the research interview as surrogate supervision.
KW - Approved Mental Health Professional
KW - mental health
KW - supervision
U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/bcw022
DO - 10.1093/bjsw/bcw022
M3 - Journal article
VL - 47
SP - 1344
EP - 1360
JO - British Journal of Social Work
JF - British Journal of Social Work
SN - 0045-3102
IS - 5
ER -