Professor Jonathan Scourfield

DipSW PhD

Professor

School of Social Sciences

: scourfield@cardiff.ac.uk
: +44(0) 29 2087 5402
Fax:: +44 (0)29 2087 4175
: sbarc|spark, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ

: Welsh speaking
: Media commentator
: Available for postgraduate supervision

I am Professor of Social Work and Deputy Director of CASCADE, the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre.

I am Co-Director of Research in the School of Social Sciences and speciality co-lead for social care research in Wales

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

Speaking engagements

Society for Social Work and Research conference, New Orleans (2017)
European Social Work Research Association conference, Edinburgh (2018)
European Social Work Research Association conference, Leuven (2019)
European Social Work Research Association conference, Amsterdam (2022)
European Social Work Research Association conference, Milan (2023)

Committees and reviewing

Senior member of ESRC Peer Review College
Past member of commissioning panels for AHRC and ESRC research programmes
Grant reviewer for several other countries' research councils
Past member of ESRC recognition panel for doctoral training in social work
Chair of the Health and Care Research Wales social care grants panel (and Deputy Chair of fellowships panel)
Reviewer for 30+ journals in social work, sociology and suicide research
Chair of the organising group for the Joint Social Work Education and Research conference 2021
Editorial board member, Journal of Social Work

2016

Evans, R. et al. 2016. GW4 Children and young people's self-harm and suicide research collaboration. Report.. Project Report. [Online]. GW4. Available at: http://decipher.uk.net/report-launch-gw4-children-young-peoples-self-harm-suicide-research-collaboration/
Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Moore, G. 2016. Gender, relationship breakdown, and suicide risk: a review of research in western countries. Journal of Family Issues 37(16), pp. 2239-2264. (10.1177/0192513X14562608)
Teater, B., Devaney, J., Forrester, D., Scourfield, J. B. and Carpenter, J. 2016. Quantitative research methods for social work: making social work count. Palgrave.
Henderson, M., Scourfield, J. B., Cheung, S. Y. and Sharland, E. 2016. Predictors of social service contact among teenagers in England. British Journal of Social Work 46(6), pp. 1485-1501. (10.1093/bjsw/bcv081)
Scourfield, J. B. et al. 2016. The response in Twitter to an assisted suicide in a television soap opera. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 37(5), pp. 392-395. (10.1027/0227-5910/a000377)
Scourfield, J., Coffey, A., Allely, C. and Yates, P. 2016. Working with fathers of at-risk children: Insights from a qualitative process evaluation of an intensive group-based intervention. Children and Youth Services Review 69, pp. 259-267. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.08.021)
Henderson, M., Scourfield, J., Cheung, S. Y., Sharland, E. and Sloan, L. 2016. The effects of social service contact on teenagers in England. Research on Social Work Practice 26(4), pp. 386-398. (10.1177/1049731514557363)
Scourfield, J. B., Culpin, I., Gunnell, D., Dale, C., Joinson, C., Heron, J. and Collin, S. M. 2016. The association between characteristics of fathering in infancy and depressive symptoms in adolescence: a UK birth cohort study. Child Abuse & Neglect 58, pp. 119-128. (10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.06.013)
Henderson, M., Cheung, S. Y., Sharland, E. and Scourfield, J. 2016. The outcomes of educational welfare officer contact in England. British Educational Research Journal 42(3), pp. 399-416. (10.1002/berj.3212)
Scourfield, J. B. and Lewinson, E. 2016. Engaging black fathers in child protection services. In: Bernard, C. and Harris, P. eds. Safeguarding Black Children: Good Practice in Child Protection. Jessica Kingsley, pp. 165-176.
Maxwell, N. et al. 2016. Independent evaluation of the Frontline pilot: Research report. Project Report. [Online]. Department for Education. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontline-pilot-independent-evaluation

2015

Henderson, M., Cheung, S. Y., Sharland, E. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. The effect of social work use on the mental health outcomes of parents and the life satisfaction of children in Britain. Children and Youth Services Review 58, pp. 71-81. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.09.007)
Bywaters, P. et al. 2015. Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: explaining the 'inverse intervention law'. Children and Youth Services Review 57, pp. 98-105. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.07.017)
Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Murphy, S. 2015. Pragmatic, formative process evaluations of complex interventions and why we need more of them [Editorial]. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 69(10), pp. 925-926. (10.1136/jech-2014-204806)
Scourfield, J. B. and Evans, R. E. 2015. Why might men be more at risk of suicide after a relationship breakdown? Sociological insights. American Journal of Men's Health 9(5), pp. 380-384. (10.1177/1557988314546395)
Scourfield, J. B. and Nasiruddin, Q. 2015. Religious adaptation of a parenting programme: process evaluation of the Family Links Islamic Values course for Muslim fathers. Child: Care, Health and Development 41(5), pp. 697-703. (10.1111/cch.12228)
Burnap, P., Colombo, G. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. Machine classification and analysis of suicide-related communication on Twitter. Presented at: 26th ACM Conference on Hypertext & Social Media, Cyprus, 1-4 September 2015HT '15- Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Hypertext & Social Media. Association for Computing Machinery pp. 75-84.
Evans, R., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. 2015. Implementation of a school-based social and emotional learning intervention: understanding diffusion processes within complex systems. Prevention Science 16, pp. 754-764. (10.1007/s11121-015-0552-0)
Evans, R., Scourfield, J. and Murphy, S. 2015. The unintended consequences of targeting: young people's lived experiences of social and emotional learning interventions. British Educational Research Journal 41(3), pp. 381-397. (10.1002/berj.3155)
Holland, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. Social work: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stack, S. and Scourfield, J. 2015. Recency of divorce, depression, and suicide risk. Journal of Family Issues 36(6), pp. 695-715. (10.1177/0192513X13494824)
Scourfield, J. B., Smail, P. and Butler, D. 2015. A systemic approach to improving the engagement of fathers in child safeguarding. Child Abuse Review 24(2), pp. 129-139. (10.1002/car.2333)
Slater, T., Scourfield, J. and Greenland, K. 2015. Suicide attempts and social worker contact: secondary analysis of a general population study. British Journal of Social Work 45(1), pp. 378-394. (10.1093/bjsw/bct112)
Colombo, G. B., Burnap, P., Hodorog, A. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. Analysing the connectivity and communication of suicidal users on Twitter. Computer Communications 73(B), pp. 291-300. (10.1016/j.comcom.2015.07.018)
Evans, R. E., Helen, M. E., Slater, T., Turley, R. L., White, J. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. Systematic review of self-harm and suicide in children and young people in the care of the state. Presented at: 28th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 16-20 June 2015. pp. 82-82.
Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2015. The unintended consequences of targeting: young people's lived experiences of targeted social and emotional learning interventions. Presented at: Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting: Integrating Prevention Science and Public Policy, Washington DC, USA, 29 May 2015. pp. 82-82.

2014

John, A., Dennis, M., Kosnes, L., Gunnell, D., Scourfield, J. B., Ford, D. V. and Lloyd, K. 2014. Suicide Information Database-Cymru: a protocol for a population-based, routinely collected data linkage study to explore risks and patterns of healthcare contact prior to suicide to identify opportunities for intervention. BMJ Open 4(11), article number: e006780. (10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006780)
John, A. et al. 2014. PRINTQUAL - A measure for assessing the quality of newspaper reporting of suicide. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 35(6), pp. 431-435. (10.1027/0227-5910/a000276)
Scourfield, J., Cheung, S. Y. and Macdonald, G. 2014. Working with fathers to improve children's well-being: Results of a survey exploring service provision and intervention approach in the UK. Children and Youth Services Review 43, pp. 40-50. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.04.009)
Jacob, N., Scourfield, J. B. and Evans, R. E. 2014. Suicide prevention via the internet. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention 35(4), pp. 261-267. (10.1027/0227-5910/a000254)
Segrott, J. et al. 2014. Cultural adaptation and intervention integrity: a response to Skarstrand, Sundell and Andreasson. The European Journal of Public Health 24(3), pp. 354-355. (10.1093/eurpub/cku039)
Scourfield, J. 2014. Improving Work With Fathers to Prevent Child Maltreatment: Fathers should be engaged as allies in child abuse and neglect prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect 38(6), pp. 974-981. (10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.05.002)
Scourfield, J. B. and Taylor, A. 2014. Using a book group to facilitate student learning about social work. Social Work Education 33(4), pp. 533-538. (10.1080/02615479.2013.832190)
Segrott, J. et al. 2014. Preventing substance misuse: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 UK (SFP 10-14 UK). BMC Public Health 14(1), article number: 49. (10.1186/1471-2458-14-49)
Evans, R. E., Murphy, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2014. The diffusion of social and emotional learning interventions: exploring and the role and impact of proselytism. Presented at: UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence Conference, Leeds, UK, 19-20 June 2014.
Segrott, J. et al. 2014. Fidelity of implementation of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 UK in Wales UK: a mixed-method process evaluation within a randomised controlled trial. Presented at: 7th European Public Health Conference, Glasgow, Scotland,, 19-22 November 2014.
Moore, L. A. R. et al. 2014. Strengthening Families Programme (10-14UK) substance misuse prevention programme: findings from NPRI randomised trial of a proportionate universalism adaptation of an intervention for families with children aged 10-14. Presented at: 10th UKSBM Annual Scientific Meeting, Nottingham, 3-4 December 2014. pp. 1642-1647.

2013

Scourfield, J. B., Gilliat-Ray, S., Khan, A. and Otri, S. 2013. Muslim childhood: religious nurture in a European context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jones, P. et al. 2013. Identifying probable suicide clusters in Wales using national mortality data. PLoS ONE 8(8), article number: e71713. (10.1371/journal.pone.0071713)
Scourfield, J. B., Warden, R., Gilliat-Ray, S., Khan, A. and Otri, S. 2013. Religious nurture in British Muslim families: implications for social work. International Social Work 56(3), pp. 326-342. (10.1177/0020872812474032)
Evans, R. E., Scourfield, J. B. and Murphy, S. 2013. The diffusion of social and emotional learning interventions: is belief and conviction enough?. Presented at: Society for Prevention Research 21st Annual Meeting, The Science of Prevention: Building a Comprehensive National Strategy for Well-being, San Francisco, USA, 28-31 May 2013.

2012

Maxwell, N., Scourfield, J. B., Holland, S., Featherstone, B. and Lee, J. 2012. The benefits and challenges of training child protection social workers in father engagement. Child Abuse Review 21(4), pp. 299-310. (10.1002/car.2218)
Maxwell, N., Scourfield, J. B., Featherstone, B., Holland, S. and Tolman, R. 2012. Engaging fathers in child welfare services: A narrative review of recent research evidence. Child and Family Social Work 17(2), pp. 160-169. (10.1111/j.1365-2206.2012.00827.x)
Scourfield, J. B., Taylor, C. M., Moore, G. and Gilliat-Ray, S. 2012. The intergenerational transmission of Islam in England and Wales: evidence from the Citizenship Survey. Sociology 46(1), pp. 91-108. (10.1177/0038038511419189)
Scourfield, J. B., Fincham, B., Langer, S. and Shiner, M. 2012. Sociological autopsy: an integrated approach to the study of suicide in men. Social Science & Medicine 74(4), pp. 466-473. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.054)
Khan, A., Scourfield, J., Gilliat-Ray, S. and Otri, S. 2012. Reflections on qualitative research with Muslim families. Fieldwork in Religion 7(1), pp. 48-69.
Scourfield, J. B., Tolman, R., Maxwell, N., Holland, S., Bullock, A. D. and Sloan, L. 2012. Results of a training course for social workers on engaging fathers in child protection. Children and Youth Services Review 34(8), pp. 1425-1432. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.03.022)
Slater, T., Scourfield, J. B. and Sloan, L. 2012. Who is citing whom in social work? A response to Hodge, Lacasse and Benson. British Journal of Social Work 42(8), pp. 1626-1633. (10.1093/bjsw/bcs190)

2011

Scourfield, J. B., Roen, K. and McDermott, E. 2011. The non-display of authentic distress: public-private dualism in young people's discursive construction of self-harm. Sociology of Health & Illness 33(5), pp. 777-791. (10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01322.x)
Maxwell, N., Scourfield, J. B., Gould, N. and Huxley, P. 2011. UK panel data on social work service users. British Journal of Social Work 42(1), pp. 165-184. (10.1093/bjsw/bcr051)
Fincham, B., Langer, S., Scourfield, J. B. and Shiner, M. 2011. Understanding suicide: a sociological autopsy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Holliday, J. et al. 2011. Pragmatic trials of non-NHS interventions: experiences from a randomised controlled trial of the Strengthening Families 10-14 UK Programme (SFP10-14 UK). Trials 12(S 1), pp. A98. (10.1186/1745-6215-12-S1-A98)

2010

Featherstone, B. et al. eds. 2010. Gender and child welfare in society. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

2009

Greenland, K., Scourfield, J. B., Maxwell, N., Prior, L. and Scourfield, J. 2009. Theoretical antecedents of distress disclosure in a community sample of young people. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 39(9), pp. 2045-2068. (10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00515.x)
Drakeford, M., Scourfield, J., Holland, S. and Davies, A. 2009. Welsh children’s views on government and participation. Childhood 16(2), pp. 247-264. (10.1177/0907568209104404)
Shiner, M., Scourfield, J. B., Fincham, B. and Langer, S. 2009. When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course. Social Science & Medicine 69(5), pp. 738-746. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.014)
Scourfield, J. B. and Maxwell, N. 2009. Social work doctoral students in the UK: a web-based survey and search of the index to theses. British Journal of Social Work 40(2), pp. 548-566. (10.1093/bjsw/bcn165)

2008

Roen, K., Scourfield, J. B. and McDermott, E. 2008. Making sense of suicide: a discourse analysis of young people's talk about suicidal subjecthood. Social Science & Medicine 67(12), pp. 2089-2097. (10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.019)
Scourfield, J. B. 2008. Professional doctorate programmes in social work: the current state of provision in the UK. British Journal of Social Work 40(2), pp. 567-582. (10.1093/bjsw/bcn139)
Scourfield, J. B. 2008. Mapping the provision of professional doctorate programmes in social work: a survey of UK universities. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
Fincham, B., Scourfield, J. b. and Langer, S. 2008. The impact of working with disturbing secondary data: reading suicide files in a coroner's office. Qualitative Health Research 18(6), pp. 853-862. (10.1177/1049732307308945)
Langer, S., Scourfield, J. B. and Fincham, B. 2008. Documenting the quick and the dead: a study of suicide case files in a coroner's office. The Sociological Review 56(2), pp. 293-308. (10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00789.x)
Scourfield, J., Roen, K. and McDermott, E. 2008. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people's experiences of distress: resilience, ambivalence and self-destructive behaviour. Health and Social Care in the Community 16(3), pp. 329-336. (10.1111/j.1365-2524.2008.00769.x)
Lambert, P., Scourfield, J. B., Smalley, N. and Jones, R. 2008. The social context of school bullying: evidence from a survey of children in South Wales. Research Papers in Education 23(3), pp. 269-291. (10.1080/02671520701809866)
Scourfield, J. B., Holland, S. and Young, C. 2008. Social work in Wales since democratic devolution. Australian Social Work 61(1), pp. 42-56. (10.1080/03124070701818724)
Scourfield, J. B. and Smalley, N. 2008. Social work doctoral students in the UK. Southampton, UK: The Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP). Available at: http://www.swap.ac.uk/docs/projects/rpt_jscourfield_online.pdf
Holland, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2008. Managing marginalised masculinities: men and probation. In: Tomsen, S. ed. Crime, criminal justice and masculinities. International Library of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Penology - Second series Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 427-440.
McDermott, E., Roen, K. and Scourfield, J. B. 2008. Avoiding shame: young LGBT people, homophobia and self-destructive behaviours. Culture Health and Sexuality 10(8), pp. 815-829. (10.1080/13691050802380974)
Scourfield, J. 2008. Men's mental health. The Irish Social Worker Summer

2007

Maegusuku-Hewett, T., Dunkerley, D., Scourfield, J. B. and Smalley, N. 2007. Refugee children in Wales: coping and adaptation in the face of adversity. Children & Society 21(4), pp. 309-321. (10.1111/j.1099-0860.2007.00102.x)
Scourfield, J. B., Jacob, N. K., Smalley, N., Prior, L. and Greenland, K. 2007. Young people's gendered interpretations of suicide and attempted suicide. Child & Family Social Work 12(3), pp. 248-257. (10.1111/j.1365-2206.2007.00498.x)
Featherstone, B., Rivett, M. and Scourfield, J. B. eds. 2007. Working with men in health and social care. London: SAGE Publications.
Chaney, P., Scourfield, J. B. and Thompson, A. eds. 2007. Contemporary Wales: an annual review of economic, political and social research. Vol. 19. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

2006

Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Holland, S., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. The significance of place in middle childhood: qualitative research from Wales. British Journal of Sociology 57(4), pp. 577-595. (10.1111/j.1468-4446.2006.00126.x)
Dunkerley, D., Scourfield, J. B., Maegusuku-Hewett, T. and Smalley, N. 2006. Children seeking asylum in Wales. Journal of Refugee Studies 19(4), pp. 488-508. (10.1093/refuge/fel019)
Scourfield, J. B., Dicks, B., Drakeford, M. and Davies, A. 2006. Children, place and identity: nation and locality in middle childhood. Abingdon: Routledge.
Featherstone, B., Hooper, C. A. and Scourfield, J. B. 2006. Special issue on gender and child welfare [Editorial]. Critical Social Policy 26(2), pp. 291-293. (10.1177/0261018306062583)
Scourfield, J. B. 2006. Gendered organizational culture in child protection social work. Social Work 51(1), pp. 80-82.
Scourfield, J. B. 2006. The challenge of engaging fathers in the child protection process. Critical Social Policy 26(2), pp. 440-449. (10.1177/0261018306062594)
Scourfield, J. B. 2006. Placing gender in social work: the local and national dimensions of gender relations. Social Work Education 25(7), pp. 665-679. (10.1080/02615470600905861)
Scourfield, J. B. and Pithouse, A. J. 2006. Lay and professional knowledge in social work: reflections from ethnographic research on child protection. European Journal of Social Work 9(3), pp. 323-337. (10.1080/13691450600828382)
Scourfield, J. B. and Coffey, A. J. 2006. Access, ethics and the (re)construction of gender: the case of researcher as suspected 'paedophile'. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 9(1), pp. 29-40. (10.1080/13645570500436122)
Dunkerley, D., Scourfield, J., Maegusuku-Hewett, T. and Smalley, N. 2006. The experiences of front-line staff working with children seeking asylum. In: Jones Finer, C. ed. Migration, Immigration and Social Policy. London: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 81-92.
Chaney, P., Scourfield, J. B. and Thompson, A. eds. 2006. Contemporary Wales: an annual review of economic, political and social research. Vol. 18. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

2005

Dunkerley, D., Scourfield, J. B., Maegusuku-Hewett, T. and Smalley, N. 2005. The experiences of frontline staff working with children seeking asylum. Social Policy and Administration 39(6), pp. 640-652. (10.1111/j.1467-9515.2005.00461.x)
Daniel, B., Featherstone, B., Hooper, C. A. and Scourfield, J. B. 2005. Why gender matters for Every Child Matters. British Journal of Social Work 35(8), pp. 1343-1355. (10.1093/bjsw/bch225)
Smalley, N., Scourfield, J. B. and Greenland, K. 2005. Young people, gender and suicide: A review of research on the social context. Journal of Social Work 5(2), pp. 133-154. (10.1177/1468017305054953)
Scourfield, J. B. 2005. Suicidal Masculinities. Sociological Research Online 10(2)
Scourfield, J. B., Evans, J., Shah, W. and Beynon, H. 2005. The negotiation of minority ethnic identities in virtually all-white communities: research with children and their families in the South Wales valleys. Children & Society 19(3), pp. 211-224. (10.1002/chi.831)
Scourfield, J. B. and Davies, A. 2005. Children's accounts of Wales as racialized and inclusive. Ethnicities 5(1), pp. 83-107. (10.1177/1468796805049927)
Holland, S., Scourfield, J. B., O'Neill, S. S. and Pithouse, A. J. 2005. Democratising the family and the state? The case of family group conferences in child welfare. Journal of Social Policy 34(1), pp. 59-78. (10.1017/S0047279404008268)
Hewett, T., Smalley, N., Dunkerley, D. and Scourfield, J. B. 2005. Uncertain futures: children seeking asylum in Wales. Project Report. [Online]. Cardiff: Save the Children Wales. Available at: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/online-library/uncertain-futures-children-seeking-asylum-in-wales

2004

Smalley, N. and Scourfield, J. B. 2004. The potential of research project websites. British Journal of Social Work 34(4), pp. 591-598. (10.1093/bjsw/bch068)
Holland, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2004. Liberty and respect in child protection. British Journal of Social Work 34(1), pp. 21-36. (10.1093/bjsw/bch003)
Scourfield, J., Davies, A. and Holland, S. 2004. Wales and Welshness in middle childhood. Contemporary Wales 16(1), pp. 83-100.
Chaney, P., Scourfield, J. B. and Thompson, A. eds. 2004. Contemporary Wales: an annual review of economic, political and social research. Vol. 17. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Smalley, N., Scourfield, J. B., Greenland, K. and Prior, L. 2004. Services for suicidal young people: qualitative research on lay and professional perspectives. Youth & Policy:The Journal of Critical Analysis 83, pp. 1-18.

2003

Scourfield, J. B. and Welsh, I. 2003. Risk, reflexivity and social control in child protection: new times or same old story?. Critical Social Policy 23(3), pp. 398-420. (10.1177/02610183030233005)
Scourfield, J. B. 2003. Gender and child protection. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

2002

Scourfield, J. B. and Drakeford, M. 2002. New Labour and the 'Problem of Men'. Critical Social Policy 22(4), pp. 619-640. (10.1177/02610183020220040401)
Scourfield, J. B. and Coffey, A. J. 2002. Understanding gendered practice in child protection. Qualitative Social Work 1(3), pp. 319-340. (10.1177/1473325002001003644)
Scourfield, J. B., Evans, J., Shah, W. and Beynon, H. 2002. Responding to the experiences of minority ethnic children in virtually all-white communities. Child & Family Social Work 7(3), pp. 161-175. (10.1046/j.1365-2206.2002.00243.x)
Pithouse, A. J. and Scourfield, J. B. 2002. Ready for practice? The DipSW in Wales: views from the workplace on social work training. Journal of Social Work 2(1), pp. 7-27. (10.1177/146801730200200102)
Scourfield, J. and Welsh, I. 2002. New times or same old story? Risk, reflexivity and social control in child protection. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
Scourfield, J. B. 2002. Reflections on gender, knowledge and values in social work. British Journal of Social Work 32(1), pp. 1-15. (10.1093/bjsw/32.1.1)

2001

Scourfield, J. and Drakeford, M. 2001. New Labour and the politics of masculinity. Working paper. Cardiff: Cardiff University.
Scourfield, J. B. 2001. Constructing men in child protection work. Men and Masculinities 4(1), pp. 70-89. (10.1177/1097184X01004001004)
Scourfield, J. B. 2001. Constructing women in child protection work. Child & Family Social Work 6(1), pp. 77-87. (10.1046/j.1365-2206.2001.00189.x)
Scourfield, J. 2001. Interviewing interviewers and knowing about knowledge. In: Shaw, I. and Gould, N. eds. Qualitative Research in Social Work: Method and Context. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 60-73.

2000

Scourfield, J. B. 2000. The rediscovery of child neglect. Sociological Review 48(3), pp. 365-382. (10.1111/1467-954X.00221)
Holland, S. and Scourfield, J. B. 2000. Managing marginalised masculinities: men and probation. Journal of Gender Studies 9(2), pp. 199-211. (10.1080/713677981)

1999

Scourfield, J. 1999. The construction of gender in child protection work. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Scourfield, J. B. and Dobash, R. P. 1999. Programmes for violent men: recent developments in the UK. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 38(2), pp. 128-143. (10.1111/1468-2311.00122)
Scourfield, J. and Drakeford, M. 1999. Boys from nowhere: finding Welsh men and putting them in their place. Contemporary Wales 12, pp. 3-17.

1998

Pithouse, A., Evans, J. and Scourfield, J. 1998. Standards for accreditation in home care: setting the agenda for induction and staff training. Journal of Integrated Care 6(6), pp. 256-262. (10.1108/14769018199800052)
Scourfield, J. B. 1998. Probation officers working with men. British Journal of Social Work 28(4), pp. 581-599.
Pithouse, A. and Scourfield, J. 1998. Engaging with the market; preparing for accreditation: Domiciliary care and the independent sector. Research, Policy and Planning 16(3), pp. 9-15.

1997

Pithouse, A. and Scourfield, J. 1997. Setting standards in home care accreditation: views from the field. Journal of Social Service Research 4, pp. 13-25.

1995

Scourfield, J. 1995. Changing Men: UK agencies working with men who are violent towards their women partners. Probation Monographs.

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

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 are:

Family group conferencing for children and families: Evaluation of implementation, context and effectiveness (Family VOICE)
Children in households with substance misuse, domestic violence or mental health problems: Who is at risk of entering care
Does local authority care make a difference to the lives of vulnerable children? Longitudinal analyses of a retrospective electronic cohort
I lead the work stream on routine administrative data linkage for the CASCADE partnership

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, Angela Endicott, Katy Johnstone, Rebecca Messenger, Rachel Parker and Richeldis Yhap.

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
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
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

Professor Jonathan Scourfield

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