2009: Building Service Users' Knowledge: Understanding Child Protection Services from the Recieving End

Funded by SSHRC ($98,000.00). This research developed knowledge about how social workers and parents can work together in cases of child abuse and neglect. Rather than addressing this issue form a social work perspective and asking how workers can understand and work with parents, the research took a new and innovative research approach by asking how parents can understand and work with child protection workers.

Data gathering is complete and the project has now entered a dissemination and writing stage. Some of the findings have been reported here (more to follow):

Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2009). What parents say: Service users’ theory and anti-oppressive child welfare practice. In Jeannine Carriere & Susan Strega (eds). Walking this path together: Anti-oppressive child welfare practice. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.

Dumbrill, G. C. (2009, June). A social work service users association: The key to promoting harmony and justice in a world of conflict? Promoting Harmony and Justice in a World of Conflicts: An International Conference on Social Work and Counseling Practice. City University. Hong Kong.

Dumbrill, G. C. (2009, May). A social work service users association: A remedy for social service regulation and privatization? Canadian Association for Social Work Education Annual Conference: Social Work Identity in the age of Interdisciplinarity and Globalization. Carleton University, Ottawa.

Dumbrill, G. C. (2009, April). Balancing power: The need for a child welfare service users’ union. Gender and Child Welfare: 3rd Interdisciplinary Conference. Cardiff School of Social Sciences. Cardiff, UK.

Dumbrill G. C. (2006, October). A child welfare service users union: An idea from the reviving end of intervention. Paper presentation at the Whitaker Field Education Conference: Social Justice In Social Work Education and Practice: Unfolding the Elsewhere and Otherwise. University of Victoria, British Columbia.

2008: Developing a Pedagogy for Teaching Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice

Supported by McMaster University teaching and learning award ($9,198.00). I am a co-researcher on this project with nine other faculty members and students. The research identifies the best teaching practice and content for educating social work students about anti-oppressive practice (AOP). Identification has taken place by gathering data from focus groups with students and interviews with faculty members involved in AOP education across Canada. Data collection is complete but analysis continues even though some dissemination has already taken place in a number of setting including:

Sin, R., Ross, M., Semley, A., Fortino, J., Carlos, A., Henry, T., Lovelace, L., Balogh, K., Neil, M., Dumbrill, G., & Sinding, C. (2007, May). Facilitating Anti-Oppressive Dialogue through Personal Inquiry: A New Model of Learning for Social Work Practice. Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work Conference, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

Sammon, S., Cho, M., Cosby, R., Dumbrill, G,. Ferreira, C., Lee, B., Palmer, S., Swan, T., Westwood, A., Young, M. (2004, May). Transforming the social work curriculum? A community, faculty, student collaboration in designing anti-oppression education. A presentation at the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work 2004 Annual Conference, “Social work and place: Confluence and transformation.” Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Supported by a University of Victoria Dean of Faculty of Human and Social Development award for the development of computer mediated curriculum and a innovations in teaching award ($15,000.00). In this project Professor Rice-Green of the University of Victoria and I examined the outcomes of online and classroom child welfare undergraduate education that utlizes modified "learning objects."

Read about this research:

Dumbrill, G. C., & Rice-Green, J. (2008). Indigenous knowledge in the social work academy. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 27 (5), p. 489-503.

Dumbrill, G. C., & Rice-Green, J. (2007). Including Indigenous knowledge in Web-based learning. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 25 (1/2), p. 103-116.

[Reprinted in C. K. Law, Y. C. Wong, & J. Y. C Fung. (2007). HUSITA7—The 7th international conference of human services information technology applications: Digital inclusion—building a digital inclusive society. New York: Haworth Press.]

Rice-Green, J., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2005). A child welfare course for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students: Pedagogical and technical challenges. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 23 (3/4), 167-181.

[Reprinted in R. J. MacFadden, B. Moore, M. Herie & D. Schoech (Eds.), Web-based education in the human services: Models, methods, and best practices. New York: Haworth Press].

Dumbrill, G. C., & Rice-Green, J. (2004, August). Including Indigenous Knowledge in Web-Based Learning. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Application, Hong Kong.

Rice-Green, J., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2003, June). Developing diverse and inclusive social work knowledge systems. A presentation at the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work 2003 Annual Conference, “Diversity and inclusion: Putting the principles to work.” Halifax, Nova Scotia.

2002: Parental experience of child protection intervention

My doctoral research, using a grounded theory, to develop understanding of how parents experience and make sense of child protection intervention. The primary finding was that parental experience of child protection intervention is shaped by the ways they perceive workers using power in the casework relationship (Funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada doctoral award).

Read about this research:

Dumbrill, G. C. (2006). Parental experience of child protection intervention: A qualitative study. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 30 (1), 27-37.  

Dumbrill, G. C. (2003). Child welfare: AOP’s nemesis? In W. Shera (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on anti-oppressive practice (pp. 101-119). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.

1999: Developing cultural competence through web-based instruction

Undertaken with Dr. Rob MacFadden & Dr. Sarah Maiter, this research examined Web-based instruction. Important characteristics for Web-based social work education were identified (Funded by the University of Toronto and Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies).

Read about this research:

MacFadden, R. J., Herie, M., Maiter, S., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2005). Achieving high touch in high tech: A constructivist, emotionally-oriented model of web-based instruction. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 25 (1-2), 21-44.

[Reprinted in R. Beaulaurier & M. Haffey (Eds.), Technology and social work education and curriculum. New York: Haworth Press].

MacFadden, R. J., Maiter, S., & Dumbrill. G. C. (2002). High tech and high touch: The human face of online education. Journal of New Technology in the Human Services, 20 (3), 283-300.

[Reprinted in P. S. Anderson & H. Resnick (Eds.) (2002). Innovations in technology and human services. (pp. 283-301). New York: Haworth Press.]

MacFadden, R. J., Dumbrill. G C., & Maiter, S. (2000). Web-based education in a graduate faculty of social work: Crossing the new frontier. Journal of New Technology in the Human Services, 13 (1&2), 27-38.

Cech, M., Morrison, M., & Macfadden, R. (1999). Cultural compitence in social work: A Web-based learning program. The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies Journal, 43 (3), 4-5. (download copy here) 

1995: Client views of child welfare services

Undertaken with Sarah Maiter, this qualitative study examined parent's views of the effectiveness of child protection services and their recommendations for ways to improve service delivery. Parents made several recommendations about ways to improve services. As a result of this study a parent and former client was invited to sit on a Children's Aid Society Board of Directors committee responsible for the design and delivery of services.

Read about this research:

Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2004). Moving from clients evaluating services to clients designing services, The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 48 (4), 17-21.

Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2003). Child protection clients designing the services they receive: An idea from practice. Child and Family: A Journal of the Notre Dame Child and Family Institute, 7 (1), 5-10. (download copy here)  

1993: To what extent is the struggle between those supporting and opposing the Social Work Act in Ontario a struggle between world views?

Research undertaken at York University as a M.S.W. thesis. This study was quantitative requiring instrument design followed by several forms of validity and reliability testing before administering to a sample of two hundred social workers. No significant relationship was found between workers political "world-view" and their support of the Social Work Act.

1986: Ways of providing anti-racist training to social service staff.

Research for Southwark Social Services, London, England, identifying staff training needs and recommending ways of meeting those needs.

1985: The needs of South Asian elders

Multi-methodological research conducted for Southwark social Services, London, England.

1982: Community work among South Asian groups

Undertaken at the University of The South Bank as part of a BSc. (Hons) degree in social science. Research was qualitative and focused on the predominantly Western/European conceptualizations of "community" utilized by government Community Development Workers and the impact of these frameworks had on service delivery to South Asian groups.