Making Research Count (University of York)
The focus of these seminars is to present recent research and related findings and to explore their potential
implementation in policy and practice. This seminar is aimed at staff with policy, operational or training
responsibilities for the development and delivery in both children’s and adult’s social work and social care
services, as well as those working in health, education and other related services.
Examining communication during home visits:
A Discourse Analytic approach
Dr Chris Hall - School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health
Durham University
Date:
Wednesday 3rd October 2012
Time:
2.00 – 4.15pm (registration from 1.30pm)
Venue:
Conference Suite, Innovation Centre, York Science Park
Social work has long been associated with the home: visiting it, scrutinizing it, constructing it as assessable and
reportable. The origins of social work were “friendly visiting” dating back to the 1880s, and social work history has
been marked by completing versions of whether its gaze is used as a basis to promote scientific assessment or
social reform. The private world of the home visit is not seen by the public, rarely by the social work manager.
What happens in such encounters is usually only available through the social work report or the service user’s
complaint.
Whilst we know little about what happens during the home visit, it is clear that sensitive and purposeful
communication in these sometimes highly charged encounters can have positive outcomes. Difficult issues can be
more successfully addressed if the social worker is aware of and attends to key communication dilemmas.
However, textbooks on communication skills in social work rarely consider examples of actual social work
interaction, concentrating instead on hypothetical scenarios usually discussed in terms of general principles:
showing respect, offering reflection, displaying empathy.
This research project provides access to the home visit by engaging in detailed turn-by-turn analysis of
communication between social worker and service user in actual social work encounters. Working on a corpus of
audio recordings of home visits in both children’s and adult social care services, concepts from discourse analysis
are deployed to discover how social workers and service users manage communication dilemmas. Detail study of
how agreements are made, advice is resisted or boundaries are negotiated provides insights into how social work is
done on a daily basis.
This session will enable examples of transcripts to be examined and the opportunities for staff development and
promoting reflective practice considered. New technologies make audio recording much easier, even though data
protection protocols impose new constraints.
Chris Hall is a social care researcher at Durham University. He worked as a social worker and team manager in
London, before taking up research posts at the NFER, Dartington Social Research Unit and Huddersfield University.
He has carried out research in the area of child welfare policy and practice, in particular examining information and
communication technologies for collecting and sharing information (funded by the ESRC). He has a particular
interest in discourse and narrative methods to the analysis of social work communication and has collaborated with
colleagues in sociolinguistics.
The seminars in this series are free for nominated staff from member agencies of Making Research Count
(University of York) (see overleaf for details) and open to staff from other agencies at a fee of £50 per seminar. A
Booking Form can be found overleaf – please return to your Making Research Count (York) contact in your agency
if you come from a member agency.
List of Children’s and Adult Services Contacts for Making Research Count (York)
SERVICES
NAME
TELEPHONE
EMAIL
City of York Council (Children’s)
City of York Council (Adults)
Christine Shipley
Karen Darley
01904 553 026
01904 553 931
christine.shipley@york.gov.uk
karen.darley@york.gov.uk
East Riding (Children’s)
East Riding (Adults)
Angela Grasby
Ruth Bridgland
01482 396 411
01482 392 235
angela.grasby@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk
ruth.bridgland@eastriding.gov.uk
Hull (Children’s)
Hull (Adults)
Janice Barnby
Gill Ralph
01482 318 479
01482 318 464
janice.barnby@hullcc.gov.uk
gill.ralph@hullcc.gov.uk
Leeds (Children’s)
Leeds (Adults)
Rachael Simoes
Marion Lawson
0113 2475 769
0113 247 8693
rachael.simoes@leeds.gov.uk
marion.lawson@leeds.gov.uk
North East Lincs. (Children’s)
North East Lincs. (Adults)
Beckie Smith
Brian Page
01472 324 237
0300 3000 672
rebecca.smith@nelincs.gov.uk
brian.page@nhs.net
North Yorkshire (Children’s)
North Yorkshire (Adults)
Workforce Dev. Unit
Julia Spencer
01609 533 258
01609 536 399
CYPSworkforcedevelopmentunit@northyorks.gov.uk
julia.spencer@northyorks.gov.uk
Wakefield (Children’s and Adults)
Aga Knowles
01924 305 690
aknowles@wakefield.gov.uk
Booking Form Research Briefings Seminar Series 2012-13
A Discourse Analytic approach
Presented by Chris Hall
Wednesday 3rd October 2012
CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS is 19 September 2012
NAME:
………………….……………………………..………………….……………………….……………………….……
JOB TITLE:
………….………….………………………………………………………………………………….……………….
AGENCY:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….……
Please circle
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
OTHER
ADDRESS:……….…………..………………………………..………………….…………..………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….…………………
…………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….…………………
Tel. No: …………………………….………………..……….… Fax No: …….……………………….…….………………….…
Email: …………………………………..…………………..……………………………………………………….……….……
Any particular requirements (access, diet etc) ..………….………………………………………………………………………………….
Please tick as appropriate


I am a nominated member of staff from a member agency of Making Research Count (University of York)
and my attendance has been agreed by the contact for my agency – see above - and so
there is no charge
I enclose a cheque for £50 payable to ‘University of York’
(This fee is only refundable for cancellations received more than 14 days before the event)

Please send invoice for £50 to:
(This fee is only refundable for cancellations received more than 14 days before the event)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………..…….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….….
Tel: ………………………………………………
Email: …………………………….…………….………………..……...
Please return Booking Form to the Making Research Count (York) contact in your agency
(please see list above for contact details).
If you are from another agency, and/or paying full price please return Booking Form to:
Jane Phythian, Making Research Count (University of York), Dept. of Social Policy & Social Work, University of York, Heslington, YORK, YO10 5DD
Voicemail: Tel: 01904 321237
Email: jane.phythian@york.ac.uk
Website: http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/spsw/mrc