Insights on Research in Social Work

Research in the School of Sociology and Social Work

In this UTAS Open Day public lecture, Dr Margaret Hughes, Dr Sonya Stanford and Ms Jos Baltra-Ulloa discuss the place of research in a social work context and in dealing with marginalised people. This lecture is presented by the UTAS Faculty of Arts.

Field of Practice

Dr Sonya Stanford, undergraduate and postgraduate lecturer, Coordinator BSW Hons Program, discusses:

Theory and practice together
Sexual assault crisis support
Education of developing social workers
Risk in social work

Ms Jos Baltra-Ulloa, PhD student in Social Work:

Teaches in undergraduate areas
Working with people of refugee background
Social work as a way of life

Dr Margaret Hughes, Coordinator BSW Program, Lecturer, Social Work:

Domestic violence crisis service
Death and dying – community palliative care services

Research Areas

Dr Margaret Hughes: Death and Dying

Supporting people at the end of life
Understanding death, grief and bereavement

Understanding the lived experience of palliative care in the context of a home death Ms Jos Baltra-Ulloa: Cross-Cultural Social Work Practice

The refugee experience
Refugee re-settlement
The impact of Whiteness in social work practice
Decolonised social work practice
Community practice
Participatory research

PHD topics

Dr Margaret Hughes:

Research into people who had attended the death of a close person who died from a life limiting illness in the setting of the home
Interviews with people from 18-80 years
Attending to the death and final arrangements, including body disposition, final ceremony and memorialisation

Ms Jos Baltra-Ulloa:

Interviewed social workers who had worked with people of refugee background
Interviewed people of refugee background who had worked with social workers
Interviewed social workers of refugee background
Earning community trust and respect to attract research interviewees
Looking inwards and towards social work as a particular culture to then understand what social work is, why and how social work practice takes place

Social Work skills

Networking
Use of self
Transparency
Compassion
Listening skills
Eating and sharing food
Respect
Different communication skills
Understanding broader socio-political contexts
Using interpreters to understand across languages, dialects and cultures
Earning trust by acknowledgment of differences
Privacy in research
Earning membership to a community to then proceed with social work

Q+A

How would you deal with upset and emotional clients?

Respectful response
If unsure, always ask
Apologise for inappropriate responses
Creation of a safe environment
Understanding of cultural differences, sometimes emotion is not shown
Sometimes the most help you can be, is to not be there
Knowing when to not push and to step aside
Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
Let your good heart come through
Show dignity for other people’s lives

How do you stop yourself becoming too affected by the stories of your clients?

Supervision
Do not become the focus of attention, but do not stop being affected
Do not pretend we are steel traps
It’s not all about tears
Working for change