Social work and social control

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:51:58 GMT

Social work exists in a constant tension between caring and protecting vulnerable people, and the control mechanisms within the broader context social workers operate in. Where are the lines drawn in its dual role as an instrument of the state and an advocate for social justice? In this episode Malcolm Carey and Gurnam Singh, guest editors of the Critical and Radical Social Work special issue on social work and social control, speak with Richard Kemp about this paradox of care and control. They discuss the extreme scrutiny faced by unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, the higher standards parents with a learning disability face and the many ways social workers exercise empathy to work both with, and around, the system to help those who need it the most....

The myth of the hormonal female

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 12:11:33 GMT

We’ve all blamed PMS on hormones but, despite popular belief, no direct causal link between female sex hormones and PMS has ever been proven. So why does the ‘hormonal woman’ stereotype persist? And how does it fuel outdated, sexist narratives about female health? In this episode, Jess Miles speaks to Sally King, a visiting fellow in menstrual physiology at King’s College London, about the myths and sexist tropes that blame the healthy reproductive body for the female-prevalence of emotional distress and physical pain. They discuss why so much of menstrual health focuses on hormones while overlooking the inflammatory nature of the cycle and what needs to change in healthcare, education and everyday conversations....

How to be creative with data analysis

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:37:02 GMT

Alongside a growing interest in creative methods, researchers are increasingly exploring how to bring creativity into data analysis. But how do you strike the balance between innovation and maintaining a systematic, rigorous and ethical approach?Jess Miles talks to Helen Kara, Dawn Mannay, and Alastair Roy, editors of The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis, about the role of creativity in research, its benefits for analysis and communication, and the anxieties and difficulties people might experience around using creative methods for the first time....