Marte Tonning Otterlei discusses her research on breaking bad news to parents during child care proceedings
Social workers often have to communicate difficult decisions to people they work with. Whether these are decisions about removing children from their care or a compulsory admission to hospital under mental health law, for example, social workers need particular skills in, and support with, breaking bad news. This does not feature prominently in social work education and there is not always sufficient attention paid to supporting practitioners with this in practice.
In this episode I talk to Marte Tonning Otterlei about research she has conducted on practitioners’ experiences of breaking bad news and what can be done to support them with this.
Marte is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Stavanger, Norway. She is also a PhD research fellow exploring caseworkers’ and parents’ experiences with care order processes. She has worked as a social worker in the Child Welfare Service in Norway for several years, and is particularly experienced in working with care order cases. Additionally, she has specialized in the education of the supervision of child welfare workers and has been appointed as an expert member of the County Social Welfare Board.
The full paper can be accessed here:
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