Abstract There has been limited critical attention given to the experiences of mental health social workers who work within English social care, rather than health-related, frameworks. This study addresses this research gap through a Thematic Analysis of twenty-six interviews with social workers employed in English mental health social care roles. The study finds that social workers have varied experiences of the Care Act 2014, the primary social care legislation in England, with some recognizing opportunities for creativity and flexibility in fulfilling Care Act 2014 duties and others noting a fixed nature to these statutory frameworks. This is considered through a critical lens informed by Bourdieu’s triad of ‘habitus’, ‘field’, and ‘capital’, indicating experiences of misalignment between the dominant approaches and demands of social care practice and the core values and skills of social work participants. Participants in this study, nonetheless, navigated this tension through a Realpolitik approach, rooted in the achievement of ‘realist’ ends whilst retaining core aspects of the social work habitus and professional capital. This extends Bourdieu-informed critical perspectives to suggest strategies for the retention of core professional values within challenging practice environments alongside the need to promote the social work habitus within these fields of practice.
Harry Bark (Fri,) studied this question.