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Dr Karen Broadhurst

Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Social Science

Degree: BA Hons (Psychology) DipSW, PGCE, PhD

Associated research centres and groups: Assure Evaluation, Child care, child protection and children in care, Child Welfare Research Unit CWRU

Current Teaching

I convene and teach courses on the BA and MA Social Work that focus on social work with children, families and young people. I chair the departmental ethics group and take a lead role in service user and carer involvement in the social work degrees. I teach on the faculty's cross disciplinary research methods programme for doctoral students, with a particular interest in applied discourse studies.I currently supervise a cohort of 6 PhD students.

Research Interests

Current Projects

I am currently involved in four socio-legal research projects:

1. Department for Education: Review of Contested Adoption Cases with Barry Luckock (Sussex University). This study has been commissioned by DfE to inform the national review of adoption and is the first ever study of birth parent contestation.

2. CAFCASS: Pre-proceedings Pilot. This study examines the role of the Children's Guardian in public law pre-proceedings work. Funded by the Child and Family Court Advisory Services, 2011-2013. The interim report from the Coventry and Warwickshire Pre-Proceedings Pilot is now available in full. An article in which Dr Karen Broadhurst and Ms Kim Holt set out the arguments that have provided the rationale for this project is available on the web-site of Family Law Week. Click on both links for free download.

3. Responding to the Southwark Judgment. This project has been commissioned by Lancashire County Council, with Lancashire Health and Housing and Barnardo's. The project examines innovative multi-agency solutions for young people aged 16-17. The study will follow these young people over a 12 months period in the first instance.

4. 'Hidden Mothers' within Public Law Children Act Proceedings (with Claire Mason). This study is focused on birth mothers - and repeat compulsory removal of children. Pilot work is complete profiling this 'hidden population' which calls for a post-proceedings protocol to respond to the needs of these vulnerable adults. Partners are in the process of harmonising datasets to produce the first detailed biographical profiles of this social group. Partners are the Tavistock Clinic London, Suffolk County Council, Coventry County Council, Lancashire County Council & the Universities of Essex and Brunel.

Recently completed projects:

1. Academic Lead: National Evaluation of Peer Support Pilot Programme - Children's Workforce Development Council. This national evaluation across 12 local authority areas, examined the potential and actual impact of peer support for children's services managers tasked to lead change in the context of workforce reform. This 12 months project completed inMarch 2011. Reports available from Lancaster University's Child Welfare Research Unit: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/groups/cwru/index.htm

2. Principal Investigator - Lancashire County Council Children's Services: 'Front-Door Troubles'. This project examined processes of referral and response in children's services and the operation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF). The project team worked alongside the local authority to troubleshoot 'front-door' problems with respect to safety and consistency of thresholds for initial response. In partnership with Lancashire County Council, the project aimed to generate new locally derived solutions to entrenched national/international problems of referral and response in child welfare and protection (completed, 2011). Reports available from project team.

3. Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legal Protocols: the case of the Public Law Outline. Working with Kim Holt (Bradford University), this project focused on the impact of the Public Law Outline, specifically the intended and unintended consequences of the new protocol's likely diversion of a percentage of 'edge of care' cases from care proceedings. The study focused in detail on decision-making in the administrative space, in regard to Human Rights issues (completed 2010). See publications list below.

4. A two year ESRC funded project, with the title:'Error blame and responsibility in child welfare: problematics of governance, an invisible trade' is recently concluded (with Sue White, Principal Investigator, Dave Wastell,Chris Hall, Sue Peckover and Andy Pithouse). There are a number of outputs from this project which focus on issues of regulation, discretion and the introduction and impact of Information Technology in child welfare practice. http://www.publicservices.ac.uk/research/error-blame-and-responsibility-in-child-welfare-problematics-of-governance-in-an-invisible-trade/. This project was graded 'outstanding' in peer review.

5. A 24 months study ofchildren missing from school systems (see publications list below for published reports of this project).This project was undertaken between 2002 and 2004 and was funded by the CYPU (Children and Young Person's Project) http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/activities/257/ - See publications list below for outputs.

Impact

I am leading in the development of the REF Impact case for the social work group.

Publications:

Free Access: Ten Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them (NSPCC): http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/findings/tenpitfalls_wda78613.html

Free Access: Broadhurst, K., Wastell, D., White., S., Hall., C., Peckover., S., Thompson., K., Pithouse, A and Dolores, D., (2009, Jan 19.) Performing Initial Assessment: Identifying the latent conditions for error in local authority children's services. British Journal of Social Work, available on line 19. Jan 2009 Advance Access. Abstract: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/40/2/352

Books:

Broadhurst, K., Grover, C., Jamieson, J. (2009) Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children. Wiley- Blackwell http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470682329.html

Broadhurst, K (2013 forthcoming) Child and Family Social Work: Relationships in Context, Palgrave.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

2013

Holt, K.E., Broadhurst, K. Doherty, P. & Kelly, N. (2013, in press) 'Access to Justice for families? Legal representation for parents where children are on the 'edge of care': an English case study. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law.

2012

Broadhurst, K. (2012) 'Moral agency in everyday safeguarding work: reclaiming hope in the small stories of family support - some lessons from John Dewey'. Families, Relationships and Societies, 1(3) pp293-309.

Broadhurst, K. & Mason, C. (2012) 'Social work beyond the VDU: foregrounding co-presence in situated practice, why face-to-face practice matters'. British Journal of Social Work, published online, Sept.5.2012, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcs124.

2011

Featherstone, B., Broadhurst, K. & Holt, K. E. (2011) 'Thinking systemically, thinking politically: building strong partnerships with families in the context of rising inequality, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcs124, British Journal of Social Work, published online, June 7.2011, doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr080.

Broadhurst, K., Holt, K.E. & Doherty, P. (2011) 'Accomplishing parental engagement in child protection practice? A qualitative analysis of parent-professional interaction in pre-proceedings work under the Public Law Outline'. Qualitative Social Work, published online, June 30, 2011,doi: 10.1177/1473325011401471

Wastell, D., Peckover, S., White, S., Broadhurst, K., Hall, C. & Pithouse, A. (2011) 'Social work in the laboratory: using microworlds for practice research'. British Journal of Social Work (Special Issue), 41(4) pp.744-760, doi. 10.1093/bjsw/bcr014.

Sen, R. & Broadhurst, K. (2011) 'Contact between children in out-of-home placements and their family and friends networks: a research review', Child and Family Social Work, 16(3), pp.289-309, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00741.x.

Pithouse, A., White, S., Broadhurst, K., Hall, C. & Wastell, D. (2011) 'Trust, risk and the (mis) management of contingency and discretion through new information technologies in children's services.' Journal of Social Work, 12(2) pp. 158-179, published online February 18, 2011,doi: 10.1177/1468017310382151

2010

Broadhurst, K., Wastell, D., White., S., Hall., C., Peckover., S., Thompson., K., Pithouse, A. & Dolores, D. (2010) 'Performing Initial Assessment: Identifying the latent conditions for error in local authority children's services'. British Journal of Social Work, 40 (2), pp.352-370.doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcn162

Broadhurst, K. Hall, C., Wastell, D., White, S. & Pithouse, A. (2010) 'Risk, Instrumentalism and the Humane Project in Social Work: Identifying the Informal Logics of Risk Management in Children's Statutory Services', British Journal of Social Work, 40 (4), pp. 1046-1064. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcq011

White, S., Wastell, D., Broadhurst, K. & Hall, C. (2010) 'When policy o'erleaps itself: the tragic tale of the Integrated Children's System', Critical Social Policy, 30(3), pp.405-429. doi: 10.1177/0261018310367675.

Wastell, D., White, S., Broadhurst, K., Hall, C., Peckover, S. & Pithouse, A. (2010), 'Children's services in the iron cage of performance management: street level bureaucracy and the spectre of Švejkism', International Journal of Social Welfare, 19(3) pp310-320.DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2397.2009.00716.x.

Broadhurst, K. & Holt, K. E. (2010), 'Partnership and the limits of procedure: prospects for parents and professionals under the new Public Law Outline', Child and Family Social Work, 15(1) pp97-106.DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2009.00648.x

2009

Pithouse, A., Broadhurst, K., Hall, C., Peckover, S. & White, S. (2009), 'Engaging early in children's needs through the common assessment framework (CAF): New challenges for practice in England and Wales', International Journal of Child Health and Human Development, 2(4), pp395-402.

White, S., Wastell, D., Broadhurst, K., Hall, C., Peckover, S. & Pithouse, A. (2009), 'Whither practice-near research in the modernization programme? Policy blunders in children's services', Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 23 (4) pp. 401 - 411. DOI:10.1080/02650530903374945

Older Papers

Broadhurst, K. (2007), "Parental help-seeking and the moral order. Notes for policy makers and parenting practitioners on 'the first port of call' and 'no one to turn to',"Sociological Research Online,12(6),http://www.socresonline.org.uk/12/6/4.html.*Paper listed in the 'International Bibliography on Membership Categorisation Analysis'.

Broadhurst, K., Mason, C. & Grover, C. (2007), "Sure Start evaluation and the 're-authorisation' of Section 47 child protection practices", Critical Social Policy, 27 (4), pp.443-461.

Broadhurst, K. & Pendleton, T. (2007),' Revisiting children 'home on trial' in the context of current concerns about the costs and effectiveness of the Looked After Children system: findings from an exploratory study', Child and Family Social Work, 12 (4), pp. 380-389.

Broadhurst, K. Dimopoulos, M. & Morgan, H. (2007), 'Reflections on an English/Greek exchange in Erasmus' anniversary year. Is English practice learning 'out of sync' with global scapes and flows?', The Hellenic Journal of Social Science and Social Work (September issue).

*Greek Translation only, invited paper, 6,500 words.

May-Chahal, C. & Broadhurst, K. (2006),' Integrating Objects of Intervention and Organisational Relevance: The Case of Safeguarding Children Missing from Education Systems', Child Abuse Review, 15 (6), pp. 440-455.

Broadhurst, K., May-Chahal, C. & Paton, H. (2005), 'Children Missing from School Systems: exploring divergent patterns of disengagement in the narrative accounts of parents, carers, children and young people', British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26 (1), pp. 105-119.

Grover, C., Stewart, J. & Broadhurst, K. (2004), 'Transitions to Adulthood. Some Critical Observations on the Children Leaving Care Act 2000', The Social Work and Social Sciences Review, 11 (1), pp. 5-18.

Broadhurst, K. (2003), 'Engaging parents and carers with family support services: what can be learned from research on help-seeking?' Child and Family Social Work, 8 (8), pp. 341- 350.

Edited works contributions:

Broadhurst, K. (2009) 'Supporting Parents under New Labour: How does every parent matter?', in Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (eds.), Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (2009) 'Introduction', in Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (eds.), Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (2009) 'Conclusion' in Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (eds.), Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Broadhurst, K & Pithouse, A. (2009) Can CAF deliver for children with additional needs? in Broadhurst, K., Grover, G. & Jamieson, J. (eds.), Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Broadhurst, K. (2007) 'Multi-agency responses to refugee children', in Rutter, J. and Koser, K. (eds.) Rebuilding the Sanctuary. Multi-disciplinary approaches to working with refugee children, Bergahn Books.

Wastell, D., White, S. & Broadhurst, K. (2009) The chiasmus of design: paradoxical outcomes in the e-government reform of UK children's services. In Dhillon, G. et al (eds). The role of IS in leveraging the intelligence and creativity in SMEs, Springer.

White, S., Wastell, D. & Broadhurst, K. (forthcoming) Performance Management in UK Child Welfare: Causes and Consequences of Injudicious Policy-Making. Chapter commissioned by Prof Holger Zeigler, University of Beilefeld for German book to be published by Waxmann.

Practice manuals and research reviews:

Broadhurst, K. (2008) Child Contact in Family Proceedings. A Resource Manual. Published online by Community Care Inform, http://www.ccinform.co.uk/Contact.

Broadhurst, K. (2008) Child Contact in Private Proceedings. A Research Review. Published online by Community Care Inform, http://www.ccinform.co.uk/.

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Supporting Parental Responsibility: Partnership, Contact and Reunification. A Resource Manual. Published online by Community Care Inform, http://www.ccinform.co.uk/.

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Supporting Contact in the Context of Care Proceedings. A Research Review. Published online by Community Care Inform, http://www.ccinform.co.uk/.

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Working in Partnership with Parents. A Research Review. Published online by Community Care Inform, http://www.ccinform.co.uk/.

Broadhurst, K., Fish, S. Munro, E. &White, S. (forthcoming) Good Practice in Risk Assessment in Safeguarding Work. NSPCC inform.

Media outputs/professional journal papers:

White, S., Wastell, D., Peckover, S., Hall, C. & Broadhurst, K. (2009) Managing Risk in a High Blame Environment: Tales from the 'Front Door' in Contemporary Children's Social Care, London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Oxford, London.

Broadhurst, K. & Hall, C. (2009) 'The informal logics of risk in safeguarding work', Professional Social Work, (June issue), 2009.

White, S. & Broadhurst, K. (2009), 'Raging against the machine', Professional Social Work, (January issue), pp 8-10.

White, S., Broadhurst, K. & Wastell, D. (2008), 'Research on problems in child protection when IT and humans interact', Community Care, 11/12/08, pp.22-23.

White, S., Wastell, D., Peckover, S., Hall, C., and Broadhurst, K. 'Getting it Wrong for Baby P? Despatches from the Frontline of Children's Social Care' Guardian Newspaper, Society, 19.11.2008.

White, S. Wastell, D., Peckover, S., Hall, C. & Broadhurst, K. 'ICS what part did it play in baby P?' Computer Weekly, 8.12. 2008.

SELECTED CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS

Refereed:

Broadhurst, K. & Holt, K.E. (2009) Partnership with Parents: Is the PLO more than just procedure? BASPCAN International Conference, University of Swansea.

Broadhurst, K. & Mason, C. (2009) Collating the Case: Myths, Methods and Metrics: Reclaiming the Home Visit: Joint Social Work/Education Conference, University of Hertfordshire.

Broadhurst, K. & Holt, K.E. (2009) Partnership with Parents and the Limits of Procedure. Joint Social Work/Education Conference, University of Hertfordshire.

White, S., Wastell. D., Broadhurst, K., Peckover, S., Hall., C. & Pithouse, A. (2008) Managing Risk in a high blame Environment: Flight Deck Simulation in Childcare Social Work, Joint Social Work Education and 2nd UK Social Work Research Conference, Homerton College, Cambridge, July.

White, S., Wastell., D., Broadhurst., K., Peckover., S., Hall.,C. and Pithouse, A. (2008) Microworld Simulation in Childcare Social Work: Investigating Risk, Blame and Performance Management, Oxford e-Research Conference, September 11-13, 2000.

White, S., Wastell, D., Broadhurst, K., Peckover, S., Hall, C. and Pithouse, A. (2008) Managing Risk in a High Blame Environment: Making a 'Flight Deck' Simulation in Childcare Social Work, Interim Meeting of the International Sociological Association Research Committee 33(RC33) On 'Logic and Method in Sociology' Sept 1-5, Naples, Italy.

Broadhurst, K. & May-Chahal, C. (2004) Mobile or Just Missing: International Sociology Conference, Lancaster University.

Invited Keynotes:

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Improving Safeguarding: What needs to Change? North West Regional Safeguarding Conference (Lancashire County Council Children's Services: Lancaster House Hotel, day conference).

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Improving Safeguarding: What needs to Change? North West Regional Safeguarding Conference (Lancashire County Council Children's Services: Preston Football Club Conference Facilities, day conference).

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Improving Safeguarding: What needs to Change? North West Regional Safeguarding Conference (Lancashire County Council Children's Services: Burnley Football Club Conference Facilities, day conference).

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Potential Doctoral Proposals

PhD completions

Kellie Thompson: Child Protection (The development of integrated services to safeguard children and support families, ESRC CASE studentship) graduated 2009

I am currently supervising the following PhD students:

Peter Denenberg (with Sociology): Child-centred study of foster care

Joy Spiliopoulos (with Educational Research) : Migrant identities

Marjorie Hearton: Adoption (Adoption panels and decision making)

Paula Doherty: Child Protection (Defining significant harm in safeguarding work: analysing decision-making in borderline Cases, ESRC CASE studentship).

Emily Yeend (with Statistics, ESRC sponsored student)

Brendan Gray: Fabricated and induced illness in children - exploring the possibilities for prevention

I welcome applications from PhD students in the field of child welfare (see research interests above).

Eprints Publications Repository and Bibliographic Database

Karen Broadhurst has 10 selected publication records listed on this webpage. Use links to access abstracts and full text where available. View all records to sort by date, type and title. For all ePrints records go to http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk

Broadhurst, K. and Holt, K. E. (2009) Partnership and the limitations of procedure: prospects for parents and professionals under the new Public Law Outline. Child and Family Social Work. ISSN 1356-7500

Broadhurst, K. and Wastell, D. and White, S. and Hall, C. and Peckover, S. and Thompson, K. and Pithouse, A. and Davey, D. (2010) Performing 'initial assessment':identifying the latent conditions for error at the front-door of local authority children's services. British Journal of Social Work, 40 (2). pp. 352-370. ISSN 0045-3102

Broadhurst, K. (2009) Supporting Parents under New Labour: How does every parent matter? In: Critical Perspectives on Safeguarding Children. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. ISBN 0470697563

Broadhurst, K. E. (2007) Parental help-seeking and the moral order. Notes for policy-makers and parenting practitioners on 'the first port of call' and 'no one to turn to'. UNSPECIFIED.

Broadhurst, K. E. and Pendleton, T. (2007) Revisiting children 'Home on Trial' in the context of current concerns about the costs and effectiveness of the looked-after children system: findings from an exploratory study. Child and Family Social Work, 12 (4). pp. 380-389. ISSN 1356-7500

Broadhurst, K. and Mason, C. S. and Grover, C. (2007) Sure Start and the reauthorisation of s.47 child protection practices. Critical Social Policy, 27 (4). pp. 443-461. ISSN 0261-0183

Broadhurst, Karen E. and May-Chahal, Corinne (2006) Integrating objects of intervention and organisational relevance: the case of safeguarding children missing from education systems. Child Abuse Review, 15 (6). pp. 440-455. ISSN 0952-9136

Broadhurst, Karen E. and May-Chahal, Corinne A. and Paton, Helen (2005) Children missing from school systems: exploring divergent patterns of disengagement in the narrative accounts of parents, carers, children and young people. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26 (1). pp. 105-119. ISSN 0142-5692

Featherstone, Brid and Broadhurst, Karen (2003) Engaging parents and carers with family support services: What can be learned from research on help-seeking? Child & Family Social Work, 8 (4). pp. 341-350. ISSN 1365-2206

Broadhurst, Karen and Hall, Chris and Wastell, Dave and White, Sue and Pithouse, Andy (2010) Risk, instrumentalism and the humane project – identifying the informal logics of risk management in children's statutory services. British Journal of Social Work, 40 (4). pp. 1046-1064. ISSN 1468-263X

Associated Keywords: Adolescent, Adoption, Applied Social Science, Child maltreatment, children in care, Children's centres, Conversation analysis, Discourse analysis, Ethnography, Ethnomethodology, Family law and society, Focus groups and interviewing, Globalisation & mobility, Help-seeking and family support, Informal care, Institutional talk, Parenting and family support, Parents, Philosophy of social research, Policy and practice improvement, Poverty and deprivation, Professional judgement, Qualitative research methods

View all research activities, ePrints, news and events associated with Karen Broadhurst.

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