Professor Jan Horwath
Professor of Child Welfare (BA Hons AppSocStud, CQSW, AcSS)
Head of Department
Room: Elmfield, LG25 | Telephone: 0114 222 6442 (external), 26442 (internal)
Academic Profile
I am a Professor of Child Welfare in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. I have a social work background and have worked as a practitioner, trainer and manager in a range of voluntary and statutory social work settings in England and New Zealand.
Since taking up an academic career in 1995, I have specialised in research and writing on child welfare policy and practice as well as professional education in social care. Findings from my studies have informed policy and practice developments Nationally and Internationally including The Republic of Ireland, Ukraine, Australia and South Africa.
Research
My research interests include:
- The management of child welfare systems
- The challenges of establishing and managing interagency partnerships
- Developing systems and practice for assessing the needs of vulnerable children
- Identifying and working with cases of child neglect
- Multidisciplinary training and professional development
- The role of the front-line manager in social work and caring professions
- The influence of religious beliefs on parenting
| Funded Research Projects | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Sponsor | Details |
| 2011-2012 | Caerphilly Safeguarding Children Board | Child protection planning in cases of chronic neglect |
| 2010-2011 | The Welsh Assembly | Planning & Interventions in Cases of Chronic Child Neglect in Wales: a literature review |
| 2009-2011 | Daphne III Programme European Commission | You Respond: Developing a Good practice guide and training manual for young people’s participation in research, policy and practice developments to prevent violence |
| 2009-2010 | Department for Children, Schools and Families | Analysis of current assessment practice and based on findings development of Training Pack to accompany the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families |
| 2008-2009 | South Yorkshire Social Care Agencies Consortium | Developing high quality practice learning opportunities managed by long-arm practice assessors. |
| 2006-2008 | Joseph Rowntree Foundation | Religious beliefs and parenting practices: a descriptive study Additional study on identification of influence of religion on assessing children in need and their families |
| 2006-2008 | Department for Children, Schools and Families | Evaluation of the Implementation of Child Death Review Teams by Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England |
| 2002-2006 | North East Health Board, The South East Health Board and The Western Area Health Board supported by the Irish Department for Health and Children | An action research study designed to develop and pilot a national framework for the assessment of vulnerable children in the Republic of Ireland. |
| 2002-2003 | The North Eastern Health Board Ireland | An investigative study of perceptions of child neglect amongst the police, health and education personnel working in the Republic of Ireland. |
| 2001-2004 | Department for International Development | An evaluation of the effectiveness of changes in service delivery in residential units for vulnerable children and adults in Crimea |
| 2001-2002 | Lincolnshire Social Services Department | What do children and family social work supervisors really do? A study of front-line practice |
| 2000-2001 | North Eastern Health Board, Ireland | Managing cases of child neglect in the Republic of Ireland: perspectives of social work practitioners and their managers. |
| 1999-2000 | Department for International Development | An action research study to establish the effectiveness of supervision training for front-line social welfare managers employed by the Ministry of Social Protection in Crimea. |
| 1999-2000 | Gateshead Metropolitan Council | A study of management and staff support required for effective practice within children’s fieldwork services. |
| 1997-1998 | PHARE European Union | Action research study to establish systems for practice teaching in the Czech Republic. |
| 1996 | University of Sheffield Research Fund | An investigation of the perception of and response to abuse by employees working in residential children’s units. |
| 1995-1996 | National Children’s Bureau and Salford ACPC | A national evaluation of the effectiveness of guidelines and procedures for post-registration child protection practice |
Publications since 2005
Horwath, J. (2013) Child Neglect: Planning and Intervention, Palgrave Macmillian, 312pp.
Horwath, J., Lees, J., and Sidebotham, P. (2012) 'The influence and religion on adolescent family life in England: an exploratory study of the views of young people and parents' Social Compass 59(2): 257-275
Horwath, J., Kalyva E. and Spyru, S. (2012) '"I want my experiences to make a difference" promoting participation in policy-making and service development by young people who have experienced violence', Children and Youth Services Review 34(1):155-162 2012
Horwath, J., Hodgkiss, D., Kalyva, E. and Spyrou, S. (2011) You Respond: Promoting Effective Project Participation by Young People who have Experienced Violence. A guide to good practice through training and development.
A free download of this guide to promote participation of young people who have been exposed to violence is available by clicking the cover image on the right of this page.
Horwath, J., and Morrison, T. (2011) 'Effective inter-agency collaboration to safeguard children: Rising to the challenge through collective development', Children and Youth Services Review 33(2):368-375, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.10.002
Sidebotham, P., Fox, J., Horwath, J. and Powell, C. (2011) 'Developing Effective Child Death Review: A Study of 'Early Starter' Child Death Overview Panels in England' in Injury Prevention, 17:i55-i63 doi:10.1136/ip.2010.027169.
Horwath, J. (2010) 'See the Practitioner, See the Child: The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families Ten Years On' in British Journal of Social Work. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcq137
Horwath, J (2010) 'Rearing a toothless tiger? From area child protection committee to local safeguarding children board' specially commissioned for issue of Journal of Children's Services, 5 (3):37-47.
Horwath, J and Lees, J. (2010) 'Assessing the Influence of Religious Beliefs and Practices on Parenting Capacity: The Challenges for Social Work Practitioners' British Journal of Social Work. 40(1):82-99. 10.1093/bjsw/bcn116.
Horwath, J. and Charles, M. (2009) ‘Investing in Interagency Training to Safeguard Children: An Act of Faith or an Act of Reason?’, Children & Society, Volume 23: 5, pp: 364-376
Horwath, J. and Lees, J. (2009) 'Religious Parents Just Want the Best for Their Kids': Young People's Perspectives on the Influence of Religious Beliefs on Parenting’, Children & Society Volume 23: 3, pp: 162-175. DO1: 10 1111/j.1099=0860.2008.00164.x.
(http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120123545/abstract)
Horwath, J. (ed) (2009) The Child's World: the Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Children in Need. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Horwath, J. (2009) 'Working Effectively in a Multi-Agency Context', in Cleaver, H., Cawson, P., Gorin, S. and Walker, S. (eds.) Safeguarding Children: A Shared Responsibility. Chichester: Wiley.
Horwath, J and Tidbury, W. (2009) ‘Training the workforce following a serious case review: lessons learnt from a death by fabricated and induced illness’, Child Abuse Review, Volume 18(3): 181 - 194
Horwath, J., Lees, J., Sidebotham, P., Higgins, J., Imtiaz, A.(2008) Religion, Beliefs and Parenting Practices: a descriptive study York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Sidebotham, P., Fox, J., Horwath, J., Powell, C., Perwez, S. (2008) Preventing Childhood Deaths: A study of "Early Starter" Child Death Overview Panels in England. London: Dcsf, 2008 ISBN 978-1-84775-163-8.
(2007) Child Neglect: Identification and Assessment. London: Palgrave, 296pp.
Horwath, J. (2007) ‘Safeguarding children: the assessment challenges’, in Wilson, K. and James, A. (eds) The Child Protection Handbook. (3rd Ed) pp. 246-265. London. Baillière Tindall
Horwath, J. (2007) ‘The missing assessment domain: practitioner subjectivity when identifying and referring child neglect’ British Journal of Social Work. 37 1285-1303.
Powell, C., Sidebotham, P., Horwath, J. and Fox, J. (2007) ‘Child death review processes: implications for school nursing’ British Journal of School Nursing 2 (2) 60-68.
Buckley, H., Whelan, S., Murphy, C. and Horwath, J. (2007) ‘Using an assessment framework: outcomes from a pilot study’ Journal of Children’s Service 2 (1) 37-47.
Horwath, J. and Morrison, T. (2007) ’Developing Multi-Agency Partnerships to Serve Vulnerable Children and their Families’ Child Abuse and Neglect. 31 (1) 55-69.
Buckley, H., Horwath, J. and Whelan, S. (2006) Framework for the Assessment of Vulnerable Children & their Families. Assessment Tool and Practice Guidance Dublin: Trinity College Children’s Research Centre. ISBN 1902230-29-9 pp 132.
Horwath, J. (2005) ‘Assessment and Intervention in Cases of Child Neglect: The Irish Experience’ Child and Family Social Work. 10 (2) 99-110.
Horwath, J (2005) Is this child neglect? The impact of difference in perceptions on social work practice, in Daniel, B. and Taylor, J. Neglect. Practice Issues for Health and Social Care. pp. 73-96. London: Jessica Kingsley.
A full list of publications can be downloaded by clicking the link on the right of this page.
Teaching
I teach on the MA in Social Work, the MA in Childhood Studies and the MA in Professional Practice with Children and Families.
I have developed open learning aids such as workbooks, videos as well as group learning materials for qualifying and post-qualifying programmes. I have a particular interest in innovative and creative approaches to assessing student. I have been commissioned by Government departments to develop training materials to accompany new Government Guidance.
Professional Interests
Nationally and internationally, I am involved in the strategic development of policy and practice in respect of social work and social care. For example:
- I work with government departments in the UK, Australia and South Africa to develop child welfare policy and practice.
- I routinely act as advisor to Governemnt departments, statutory child protection agencies and NGOs in Europe and Australia regarding the development of child protection policy and practice.
- I act as a consultant to local safeguarding children boards and local authorities in the UK on the strategic management of change to policies and practice.
- Through work funded by the European Union and The Department for International Development (DFID) in Ukraine and Czech Republic, I worked with government representatives to plan, implement and review collaborative developments in social care.
- I established with colleagues at the University of Nottingham and the NSPCC PIAT (Promoting Inter-Agency Training)- a national professional organisation for those engaged in multi-disciplinary child care training.
- I served the British Association for the Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (BAPSCAN) national executive and was chair of the conference and international relations committee. This involves organising multi-disciplinary conferences and a tri-annual international congress.
Postgraduate Supervision
I have experience of postgraduate supervision on topics related to child welfare.
I have particular interest in supervising students interested in the following research topics:
- Assessment
- Child neglect
- Child maltreatment
- Child welfare systems
- International comparative studies related to child welfare
I would welcome proposals at both international and national levels on any of the topics listed above.
To find out more about our PhD programmes, go to:
Studying for a PhD in Sociology