Modeling Practitioner-Survivor Partnerships:

The latest in our exciting line up of keynote speakers for the BASPCAN 2018 child protection congress

Clare Shaw, educationalist, writer and expert-by-experience and Sam Warner, consultant clinical psychologist and associate lecturer are an inspiring duo who will be launching our partnership day at the BASPCAN 2018 child protection congress.

Clare, our poet in residence for the congress, is an educationalist and a writer. Her work is explicitly grounded in academic and professional knowledge, and also in her own experiences of self-injury and using mental health services. She is the author of “Otis Doesn’t Scratch (PCCS 2015); co-editor of “Our Encounters with Self-injury” (PCCS 2013); and has published numerous articles and book chapters. Sam, co-convenor of the congress is a chartered and consultant clinical psychologist. She works as an academic, consultant, expert witness, researcher, psychotherapist, public speaker and trainer. Throughout Sam’s career she has focused on helping people make sense of trauma associated with abuse, neglect and loss; and related issues such as attachment difficulties, dissociation, self-harm and suicide. They work closely together delivering training and interventions in relation to mental health, self-harm, suicide, and sexual violence.

Developing practitioner-survivor partnerships:

playing to our strengths and sharing common ground

In their presentation,  Clare and Sam will draw on their experiences of working together to construct a model for sustaining an equitable partnership between practitioners and survivors. Their joint work is explicitly informed by structural and post-structural understandings of power. They will demonstrate how this has enabled them to explore the power differential between survivors and professionals that historically has prioritised professional accounts and marginalised survivor wisdom. Their presentation will include personal disclosure, reflexive practice and having a good sense of humour! They will draw on their own value base and coping strategies that have enabled them to challenge their own personal experiences of being located within structures of power.

Thinking Outside the Box: innovative perspectives on protecting children and young people

The BASPCAN tenth international congress will run from 8th-11th April 2018 at the University of Warwick.

The call for abstracts and registration are both now open, so I hope you will join us for this really exciting and inspiring conference.

For more details, to submit an abstract, or to register for the congress, please see our congress website:

Congress 2018

Prejudice, discrimination and unconscious bias: A keynote presentation at the 2018 BASPCAN congress by Kish Bhatti-Sinclair

Kish Bhatti-Sinclair, Reader in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Chichester is the latest in our confirmed list of keynote speakers for the 2018 BASPCAN international child protection congress.

Kish is well known for her work on social work, race and racism. This includes research on the importance of border controls and information technology in the countries of the European Union, globalisation in relation to social work values and inter-professional working in a culturally appropriate way.  Kish has shown a particular interest in research methodologies sensitive to the needs of black and minority ethnic (BME) populations.  Kish has worked on a number of research projects evaluating social work practice and used theories such as modern racism to test discriminatory attitudes and behaviours.

Prejudice, discrimination and unconscious bias: is it time to rethink our approaches to the victims and perpetrators of child sexual exploitation?

Victims of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) are often portrayed in popular media and some Government reports as working class, sexualised beings who are hard to reach and difficult to engage. Social workers and police officers are not pursuing cases for fear of being accused of racism.  There is a disproportionate reporting of Muslim men as sexual predators.  CSE is increasingly being located in areas with high Muslim populations.  The link between the exploitation of (mainly) young, white women victims to (mainly) Muslim men is adding to the fear, distrust and general anxiety about external threats such as immigration and terrorism.

Drawing on her own research on case data from the USA and UK, Kish will explore important themes in relation to how we respond to issues of race and racism in relation to child sexual exploitation.

This is just one of an inspiring collection of keynote talks planned for the 2018 BASPCAN international congress.

Registration for the congress is now open, and we are inviting abstracts from anyone wishing to present at the congress.

Take a look at our website where you can find out more about the congress, the exciting programme, and some of the ‘out of the box’ features which will make this a really worthwhile and inspiring time.

Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

– Albert Einstein