Knowledge Strategies for making safeguarding decisions in Social Work.

This study explores the complex and uncertain nature of decision-making in social work, focusing on how practitioners assess risk to children. Using a combination of a Decision-Making Exercise, the Thinking Aloud method, and the Human Value Questionnaire, the research examined the reasoning strategies of 24 experienced child safeguarding social workers. Findings showed that information accumulation often increased perceived risk, with key case factors—such as domestic violence, mental health, and parental capacity—strongly influencing decisions. Differences emerged between novices, competent practitioners, and experts in how they assessed risk, used evidence, and made interventions.

The study also identified how personal values (e.g., openness to change vs. conservation) shaped decision-making focus. While most participants followed set protocols and prioritised child protection thresholds, the depth of their arguments varied, with experts relying more on evidence and novices using more generalised reasoning. The limited use of theoretical frameworks or personal experience as backup highlighted the innate challenges in forming well-rounded judgments. Ultimately, the research underscores the need for multi-perspective analysis and improved training and technological support to strengthen decision quality in social work.

Implementing Social Pedagogy in English Residential Child Care.

In 2008, the UK government commissioned the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London, to pilot the introduction of social pedagogy in residential children's homes, as outlined in the Care Matters White Paper. The aim was to explore the impact and best approach for embedding this European model into English practice. Social pedagogy, common in continental Europe, is a holistic educational approach that considers young people's emotional, cognitive, and physical development, encouraging active participation in their lives and communities.

The pilot involved three groups of children’s homes, each with varying levels of social pedagogic input—from staff trained abroad working under UK job titles, to fully titled social pedagogues also tasked with staff training and awareness-raising. Homes were selected based on their openness to the approach. A total of 48 social pedagogues were recruited, though not all remained for the full programme. The pilot took place against a backdrop of concerns that bureaucratic regulation in children's homes risked undermining the quality and relational depth of care.

Re-Imagining Secure Care

Together with colleagues from Bournemouth University, Newcastle and Leeds Becket Universities, Stefan is researching the field of secure accommodation for children and young people. This is a wider research initiative which includes research into the design and build of secure, the experiences of staff working in secure and international perspectives of secure. This research uses a wide range of creative research methods like Lego Serious Play, Photo elicitation and arts based methods.

CyGamBit

Together with colleagues from the Science and Technology Faculty at Bournemouth University Stefan conducted research into the development and dissemination of an educational computer game called CyGamBit. CyGamBIT is designed to engage young people on current and emerging online threats that provides young people with the knowledge they need to stay safe online. Young people, educators and parents/guardians were all involved in the development of CyGamBIT, which covers the primary areas of concerns for all parties, and allows for their often contrasting priorities to be addressed in a shared learning experience.

Currently, I am involved in research about Re-Imagining Secure Care for Children, evaluating a project about Domestic Abuse and making Safeguarding Decisions in Social Work.

The Secure Care Experience: An immersive experience into working (and living) inside a Secure Children’s Home.

In this research, we are engaging social workers, professionals working with children in care and young people. We did produce a 360 immersive experience of being in a secure children's home which provides an unprecedented opportunity to give people an insight into what it is like to be in a secure children's home. We are using high resolution 360 recordings and photos we produced in a secure children's home to give professionals and stakeholders virtual access to these institutions. The aim is to influence the perception of what it is like to live and work in secure.

This research gives an unprecedented opportunity to virtually step inside an institution that is normally closed to the public. We feel that the opportunity to explore a locked institution, about which little is known, is motivating. It may particularly appeal to people who might consider a career in secure residential childcare if they could get more of a sense of what it might be like to work inside of this type of locked institution. This possibility is significant given the recruitment crisis in the sector. It may also appeal to young people considering studying at university level, providing an insight into research in the Social Sciences and the opportunities for societal impact. More generally, it may appeal to people who are not aware that children aged from 10 years old are deprived of their liberty in secure institutions in England and Wales, and who, with this information, want to know more.

Evaluation of Early Years Domestic Abuse Programme (Yellow Door). The programme is designed for children under the age of 5 who have been victims of domestic abuse, whether directly or through witnessing it (though some may be 6 when completing the programme). This evaluation will contribute significantly to understanding the benefits (and challenges) to delivering an early years programme. It will produce an evidence-base in relation to this specific programme, in the form of an open-access and accessible research report, and position it within wider national, international, practitioner and academic context. It will gather information from service users, including children, parent/carers, professionals and practitioners.