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Jonathan Scourfield  DipSW PhD

Professor Jonathan Scourfield

DipSW PhD

Professor

School of Social Sciences

Email
Scourfield@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 75402
Campuses
sbarc|spark, Room 2.30 Glamorgan Building, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
cymraeg
Welsh speaking
Comment
Media commentator
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

I am Professor of Social Work and Deputy Director of CASCADE, the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre. I led the University's proposal to set up the Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE) with a £3m grant from Health and Care Research Wales.

I am speciality co-lead for social care research in Wales

Two School of Social Sciences academics in world top 100

 

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1995

Articles

Book sections

Books

Conferences

Monographs

Thesis

Research

My research has covered several different aspects of social work, including:

  • Child and family services
  • Working with men
  • Social work education
  • Research capacity-building

I have also done other research which is not directly related to social work, on:

  • The social context of suicide and self-harm
  • Identity and religion in children

I have used a wide range of research methods, usually through collaborating with people who have more expertise than me in those methods. As well as the most commonly used social science methods such as interviews, focus groups and surveys, I have used ethnography, discourse analysis, photo elicitation, simulated practice, randomised controlled trial, quasi-experiment, systematic review, analysis of cohort and panel study data, linkage of routine administrative data, and machine learning.

My research has been funded by various bodies, including the Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, National Prevention Research Initiative, Department for Education and Department for Health (UK Government), National Institute for Health Research, Health and Care Research Wales, Nuffield Foundation, Big Lottery and other charities.

Current research projects include:

 

Teaching

  • Introduction to Social Work Theory and Practice (MA Social Work)

  • Social Work Research in Action (Doctor of Social Work and MSc Social Science Research Methods)

  • Lectures and workshops on various topics, including research in government, experimental design, family support and working with fathers

Biography

I am a registered social worker who before becoming an academic worked as a secondary school teacher, group worker in a therapeutic community and probation officer. My academic background is a History degree at Cambridge, teacher training in London and social work qualification and PhD at Cardiff.

I started my academic career as an exclusively qualitative researcher, doing an ethnographic PhD, and then later moved to doing more quantitative, evaluative research after training in Epidemiology. I have taught on various social work programmes since 1996 when I started working at Cardiff University.

From January 2018 to May 2021 I was seconded to the Welsh Government as specialist policy adviser to the Minister responsible for social care. I am a trustee of the Family Rights Group.

Honours and awards

  • Fellow of the Joint Universities Social Work Association
  • Senior Research Leader, Health and Care Research Wales, 2022-25

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Registered social worker (Social Care Wales)
  • Member of British Association of Social Workers
  • Member of the Association of Professors of Social Work
  • Member of European Social Work Research Association

Academic positions

  • 1996-1999: Tutorial fellow, Cardiff
  • 1999-2005: Lecturer, Cardiff
  • 2005-2009: Senior lecturer, Cardiff
  • 2009-2011: Reader, Cardiff
  • 2011-present: Professor, Cardiff

Committees and reviewing

  • Member of ESRC Peer Review College
  • Grant reviewer for several other countries' research councils
  • Member of NIHR Research Programme for Social Care (RPSC) funding committee 
  • Reviewer for 30+ journals in social work, sociology and suicide research
  • Editorial board member, Journal of Social Work
  • Member of Strategic Advisory Group for National Office for Care and Support (Wales)

 

 

Supervisions

I am interested in doctoral supervision on the topics listed under the 'research' tab and on the effectiveness of social work in any field. I currently supervise Femi David, Katy Johnstone, Rebecca Messenger and Richeldis Yhap.

Current supervision

Kathryn Johnstone

Kathryn Johnstone

Research student

Rebecca Messenger

Rebecca Messenger

Research student

Past projects

  • Hannah Burgon - equine-assisted therapy
  • Dan Burrows - ethnography of hospital social work
  • Cynthia Charnley - people with learning disability as volunteers
  • Ali Davies - the voice of the child in multi-agency child sexual exploitation work
  • Charalambos Dionatos - national identity of Greek primary school children
  • Jeremy Dixon - supervision of mentally disordered offenders
  • Martin Elliott - variation in rates of looked-after children
  • Angela Endicott - child protection work with parents using drugs or alcohol
  • Rhiannon Evans - a school-based social and emotional learning programme
  • Stephen Gethin-Jones - outcome-based social care for older people
  • Wahida Kent - Black and minority ethnic parent carers of children with life-limiting conditions
  • Nina Jacob - people bereaved by suicide in young men
  • Jacqui Lee - whole-family approach 
  • Colette Limbrick - discourse around murder-suicide
  • Rachel Parker - self harm and schools
  • Lee Quinney - men with personality disorder
  • Tom Slater- social work role in suicide prevention
  • Andrew Smith - probation supervision of sex offenders
  • Lee Sobo-Allen - men who take on the care of children through the child protection process
  • Alex Vickery - men's help-seeking for mental health problems
  • Roz Warden - Islamic social work