Robert Meredith
School of Social Science and Public Policy
Social work in the media: Entertaining or informative?
In the context of an increasingly neo-liberal, market led social care system facing an
on-going merge with health care, social work is undergoing significant change to how
it is perceived. This coupled with the depiction of social work clientele in a media
phenomenon described as ‘poverty porn’ or ‘the war on welfare’; social work faces
an uphill struggle to redeem its public image. The aim of this research is to address
an issue previously identified: the frequently negative and often inaccurate portrayal
of social work in UK media. My aims are as follows: Explore the way that social work
is portrayed in fictional and non-fictional representations in television and film;
develop an understanding of how both media genres form a single understanding of
social work; develop an understanding of the role that social work plays in media
stories. These will be achieved in a three stage research design including interviews
with key individuals; media content analysis; focus groups with social workers. Social
workers are now, more than ever, required to take professional reputation and media
portrayal into their own hands. It is therefore paramount that social workers are
aware how they are represented in the media.
Postgraduate Conference 2016
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