Dr Jonathan Dickens
Senior Lecturer Director of PGR
| Job Title | Contact | Location |
|---|---|---|
|
Senior Lecturer
Director of PGR |
J dot Dickens at uea dot ac dot uk
Tel: +44 (0)1603 59 3634 |
Elizabeth Fry Building 1.07 |
Biography
Dr Jonathan Dickens joined the School in 1998. Before coming to UEA, Jonathan worked in London as a local authority social worker and then as a legal officer, advising and acting on behalf of the local authority in court proceedings relating to children. From 1994 to 1997 he lived and worked in Romania, as a trainer and consultant to teams of Romanian social workers. His special interests include child care law and the social policy contexts of social work, particularly the international dimensions of these issues. Jonathan is the School's Director of Postgraduate Research.
Representative publications
Books
Dickens, J. (2012) Social Work, Law and Ethics, London & New York: Routledge.
Dickens, J. (2010) Social Work and Social Policy: An Introduction, London & New York: Routledge
Journal Papers
Dickens, J. (2012) ‘The definition of social work in the UK, 2000-2010’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 21: 34-43
Dickens, J. (2011) ‘Social work in England at a watershed – as always: from the Seebohm report to the Social Work Task Force’, British Journal of Social Work, 41: 22-39.
Dickens, J. (2009) "Social policy approached to intercounty adoption", International Social Work, 52 (5), 595 - 607
Dickens, J. (2008) "Welfare, law and managerialism: inter-discursivity and inter-professional practice in child care social work", Journal of Social Work, 8, 1, 45-64. DOI: 10.1177/1468017307084735.
Dickens, J., Howell, D., Thoburn J. and Schofield, G. (2007) “Children starting to be looked after by local authorities in England: an analysis of inter-authority variation and case-centred decision-making”, British Journal of Social Work, 37, 4, 597 - 617.
Dickens, J. (2007) “Child neglect and the law: catapults, thresholds and delay”, Child Abuse Review, 16, 2, 77 - 92.
Dickens, J. (2006) “Care, control and change in child care proceedings: dilemmas for social workers, managers and lawyers”, Child and Family Social Work, 11, 1, 23-32.
Dickens, J. (2006) “Social work, law, money and trust: paying for lawyers in child protection work”, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 28, 3-4, 283-295.
Dickens, J. (2005) “Being ‘the epitome of reason’: the challenges for lawyers and social workers in child care proceedings”, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 19, 1, 73-101.
Dickens, J. and Groza, V. (2004) “Empowerment in difficulty: A critical appraisal of international intervention in child welfare in Romania”, International Social Work, 47, 4, 469-487.
Dickens, J. (2004) “Risks and responsibilities: the role of the local authority lawyer in child care cases”, Child and Family Law Quarterly, 16, 1, 1-14.
Dickens, J. (2004) “Teaching child care law: key principles, new priorities”, Social Work Education, 23, 2, 217 - 230.
Dickens, J. (2002) "The paradox of inter-country adoption: analysing Romania's experience as a sending country", International Journal of Social Welfare, 11, 1, 76 - 83.
Dickens, J. and Serghi, C. (2000) “Attitudes to child care reform in Romania: findings from a survey of Romanian social workers”, European Journal of Social Work, 3, 3, 247 - 260.
Dickens, J. (1999) “Family support in Romania and the UK: different circumstances, similar challenges”, Children & Society, 13, 3, 155 - 166.
Dickens, J. (1999) “Protecting the rights of the child in Romania: children’s rights perspectives on Romania’s 1997 child care reforms”, European Journal of Social Work, 2, 2, 139 - 150.
Key Research Interests
Research
My main research interests are in the fields of child care social work and the law; social policy and social work; and the development of professional social work, especially child and family work, in its international context.
The first interest – child care social work and the law – arises out of my professional background as a social worker and child care legal adviser. I am especially interested in the inter-professional relationships between local authority social work staff and lawyers in child care cases, and have a number of publications on this topic.
My interest in the social policy contexts of professional social work has its origins in a long-standing interest in philosophy (what is ‘equality’ or ‘justice’? What do we mean by notions such as ‘the good society’?), my experiences as a social work practitioner, and my time working as a social work trainer and consultant in Romania.
My time in Romania is the starting point for my third area of research, the international aspects of social work, especially services for children and families. I have written on the development of social services for children in Romania, the re-establishment of professional social work in that country, and the complex impact of inter-country adoption on Romania’s child welfare system.
Research supervision
I am pleased to supervise research students in any of my three main areas of interest – child care social work and the law, social work and social policy, and the international dimensions of professional social work, especially child care work.
I welcome UK and international students. I have experience of supervising PhD students from the UK, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Jordan.
[If you are interested in completing a research degree in the areas outlined above, please click here]
Teaching Interests
I teach courses on the BA and MA in Social Work. I teach a course called ‘Social Work and Society’, which is an introduction to social policy for social workers, and share in the teaching of social work law. I focus on child care law.
