‘London calling’: The Experiences of International Social Work Recruits Working in London: Table 1

Abstract

This recruitment of International social workers (ISWs) in England has been primarily aimed at 'plugging the gaps' in the child protection services. This paper reports on one aspect of a qualitative research project investigating the post-arrival integration, professional practice and development of 'international social workers' i.e. SWs trained and qualified outside of the UK working in London and the Home Counties. Findings demonstrate that as well as being a challenging professional and work experience this form of labour mobility is a profound life event for most ISWs and, as with human migration in other fields and countries, entails a complex social, emotional and cultural transition. KEY WORDS: International Social Worker, Labour mobility, child protection, England INTRODUCTION:Social work is essentially a 'local activity', rooted in the historical development and current manifestations of national welfare systems and the cultural norms of a given society. However, in the 21 st century 'age of migration', and notwithstanding that the majority of people remain in the countries of their birth (Castles and Millar, 2003), labour mobility is a worldwide phenomenon evident in a wide range of occupations and professions including social work (Bartley et al, 2013).The study reported here was a qualitative research project funded by of the Nuffield Foundation and carried out in South East England from 2011 to2012. The inquiry's aim was to investigate the postarrival integration, professional practice and development of International social workers (ISWs) from the perspectives of both international recruits (28) and social work managers (SWMs) (15) with experience of managing this group of social workers. This paper details the findings from the international social workers in this study i.e. SWs trained and qualified outside the UK and argues that the experience of professional adaptation, acculturation and professional dislocation reported on in other social work focussed cross-national studies (e.g. Fouche et al, 2013), should not be seen independently from the social and emotional dimensions associated with the experience of immigration. The reason for this is that a combination of professional and complex personal factors often forms the motivation for coming to the UK in the first instance, and thereafter provides the reference point through which social workers assess and reflect on their experience of professional practice in the UK, both as a new home (or at least one for now) and as a receiving country. Following is a summary of relevant theory and literature; the findings are then presented and discussed before drawing some conclusions.

Navigating the territories of transition: An exploration of the experiences of transnational social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Social workers relocate to other countries to undertake professional practice and this phenomenon has recently become more common among the Anglophone countries, as some existing studies have demonstrated (Bartley and Beddoe, 2018; Beddoe et al, 2012; Brown et al, 2014; Hanna and Lyons, 2016; Hussein, 2020; Modderman et al, 2020). One of the reasons for this growth is that countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have a shared tradition of recruiting overseas educated social workers to fill their labour shortages (Modderman et al, 2017).…”

Opportunities and challenges of a global profession: an international perspective

“…Meanwhile, the document lists a number of agency responsibilities including to ensure the provision of effective induction, supervision, workload management and opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD). With the possible exception of the last, these are all factors mentioned in various studies as having a particular impact on the experiences (whether positive or negative) of transnational social workers (for example, Fouché et al, 2015;Hanna and Lyons, 2016;and chapters in this volume by Beddoe et al;Brown et al;and Walsh-Tapiata et al).…”

The koru model: The stages of biculturation for foreign-trained social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…The koru model: The stages of biculturation for foreign-trained social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand Introduction Like many professions, social work has experienced the impact of globalisation. This is demonstrated by social work being a profession very much "on the move", with various authors exploring the impact of an increasing transnational social work workforce (Bartley et al, 2011;Bartley & Beddoe, 2018;Hanna & Lyons, 2017;Modderman et al, 2020;Pullen-Sansfaçon et al, 2012). Many studies have explored the process of settlement or acculturation for migrants into new countries (Zapf, 1991).…”