Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Director of Studies for the BA (Hons) Social Work programme in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent’s Medway campus.

I take an active interest in innovative developments in teaching and learning in my subject area. My main research interests include sociological approaches to risk, care, mental health and social welfare.

I worked with two colleagues to develop nationally accessible online learning materials on the mental health of older people.

I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I am a Mental Health Act Manager for an NHS Trust, which involves regular contact with service users and professionals and means I have an up-to-date working knowledge of mental health services.

Career
I am currently Senior Lecturer in Social Work, having joined SSPSSR in 2005. I previously held Lectureships in Health and Social Care at The Open University and in Applied Social Studies at Oxford. I have a background as a practitioner in community development and in statutory social work.

Find me
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Teaching

Current
I am Director of Studies for the BA (Hons) Social Work programme based at the University's Medway Campus.
I also teach two modules on the social work programme (Research Methods for Social Work and Adult Services and Community Care) as well as acting as personal tutor to undergraduates.

My teaching is directly informed by my research and the views expressed by students in classes and seminars make a valuable contribution to the development of my research ideas.

Research

Research interests
My main research interests include sociological approaches to risk, care, mental health and social welfare.

My work to-date has focused on the intersections of risk with gender, place, 'race' and ethnicity. I am particularly interested in the application of sociocultural approaches to understanding the way risk is constructed in contemporary society and, specifically, the role of documents such as inquiry reports and media accounts in this regard.

I have also explored the way social work practice is constituted in relation to risk work and the impact of cultures of inquiry, fear and blame on professional practice. I have explored the risk-related concepts of vulnerability and trust, and am developing an interest in the ways that people negotiate ‘everyday’ risk and insecurity, particularly people who are perceived as ‘outsiders’ or are otherwise marginalised.

My work on ‘affective community spaces’ focuses on the concept of care as experienced in everyday places such as cafes and libraries. I continue to maintain strong links with practice and decision-making about risk through my work as an associate hospital manager under the Mental Health Act.

Current
The strands of my work are all broadly linked to my overriding interest in critically exploring the concept of risk as it relates to political, cultural and social life and, specifically, to social work and social care practice.

I am currently developing my ideas about “affective community spaces”. This is work in which I collaborate closely with Gerry Bennison and Dawn Talbot, who are mental health service user consultants. Based on a study of a local cafe, the aim of this work is to contribute to our understanding of the concept of care and how ‘care work’ and subtle forms of risk management are undertaken in everyday and mundane ways in sites not normally associated with caring; by people who have no formal or informal responsibility to care or manage risk, and in ways that are invisible to all but those that are directly involved in the relationship. The findings of research that we have carried out in this area are reported in a paper that has recently been accepted for publication in Critical Social Policy.

This work also allows me to develop my interest in the theme of regeneration, which is of major importance in the Medway area and for the University itself.

Since spring 2008, I have been engaged in “action research” on the theme of risk and decision-making with staff and senior managers in Kent County Council’s Children’s and Adult’s Social Services Directorates. The aim of this research group is to address the current negative preoccupation with risk and fear of blame in social work and social care so that practice (including management practice) is more positively oriented.

We hope to establish a research institute which will enable closer links between research and practice and enable a ‘paradigm shift’ in terms of risk-thinking in practice. KCC have funded a research studentship, held by Jade Johns, and the aim of her PhD research is to examine risk, decision-making and the exercise of discretion by practitioners.

I have recently extended the work I have undertaken on mental health and risk into social work with children and families. This is because of the close parallels across these two service domains in terms of the impact of inquiries and serious case reviews; the evident role of key documents as ‘active texts’ in organising social action; and the relevance that the concept of moral panic may have in terms of explaining some characteristics of the media accounts of critical events. My current work involves the analysis of documents and texts in relation to political discourses around risk in children protection.

I collaborate with Dr Adam Burgess on developing research ideas which aim to explore the origins, process and the impact of risk-related public inquiries on British political and social life and on key professional groups such as doctors and social workers.

Supervision
I currently supervise postgraduate research students working across a range of topics. I can offer PhD supervision in risk and social work/social care; mental health; public inquiries and their impact on practice; and use of documents and texts in social research. If you have a proposal in these areas and wish to study at the University of Kent, please email me to discuss further.

Publications

Publications

• Warner, J & Sharland, E (2010) Editorial, Special Issue on Risk and Social Work: Critical Perspectives, British Journal of Social Work, 40(4), pp1035-1045.
• Warner, J., Milne, A and Peet, J (2010) My Name is Not Dementia: Literature Review, London: Alzheimer’s Society.
• Warner, J & Milne, A (2009) Older people with lifelong mental health problems, In Older People's Mental Health Today: A Handbook (Ed. T.Williamson), Brighton: Mental Health Foundation/OLM-Pavilion, pp.97-105.
• Warner, J (2009) The sociology of mental health: a brief review of major approaches, Sociology Compass, Vol 3.
• Warner, J (2009) Smoking, stigma and human rights in mental health: going up in smoke? Social Policy and Society, 8(2), pp275-286.
• Warner, J & Gabe, J (2008) Risk, mental disorder and social work practice: a gendered landscape, British Journal of Social Work, 38(1), 117-134.
• Warner, J (2008) Community care, risk and the shifting locus of danger and vulnerability in mental health, in A. Peterson and I. Wilkinson (eds) Health, Risk and Vulnerability. Oxford: Routledge.
• Warner, J (2007) Structural stigma, institutional trust and the risk agenda in mental health policy, in K. Clarke, T. Maltby and P. Kennett (eds) Social Policy Review 19: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy 2007. Bristol: The Policy Press/Social Policy Association.
• Warner, J. (2006) Inquiry reports as active texts and their function in relation to professional practice in mental health. Health, Risk and Society, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 223-237.

Activity

Memberships

• Member of the British Sociological Association.

Professional activities

• Involved in the Sociology of Mental Health Study Group.
• Co-convenor of the BSA Risk and Society Study Group.
• SSPSSR’s representative on the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee and Research Sub-committee.

Editorial

• Member of Editorial Board of Health, Risk and Society.
• Member of Editorial Board of Sociology Compass.