Darryl is part-time PhD student in the School of Allied Health and Community at the University of Worcester.
Darryl’s main research interest is the perceived contribution of social workers within an integrated setting.
His PhD research concerns the perceptions of social workers operating within this integrated framework from the experts; the social workers and the community professionals working alongside them. It will explore the cultural and professional differences, examining the cache of social workers, their relevance, and contribution to the integrated Trust which is a result of an agreement made under section 75 of the National Health Services Act 2006 between a local authority and an NHS body in England. In doing so, he aims to investigate the perceptions of social workers from within the profession and from community colleagues. It is not the intention to prove or disprove hypotheses or to test theory; rather it is an exploratory piece aiming to explore social phenomena from which an understanding might be developed. The data will then be subject to thematic analysis within a social constructionist epistemology (i.e., where patterns are identified as socially produced, but no discursive analysis is conducted). He is conducting a mixed methods study utilising a survey and subsequently interviews/discussions in the ethnographic tradition, eliciting qualitative information about respondents’ perceptions pertaining to the issues under investigation.
Darryl is a member of the British Association of Social Workers and is HCPC registered.
His supervisors are Dr Theresa Mitchell and Dr Peter Unwin and Dr Tim Kilner.
Darryl is very grateful to Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Partnership NHS Trust for funding his PhD.
Prior to commencing his PhD, Darryl completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice (Doctorate Level 8) on leadership in social work.
In addition to working towards his PhD Darryl works as an approved mental health professional, best interest assessor and supervisor being the lead practitioner on mental health and mental capacity issues for his locality.
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Sociology with Psychology, 2005, University of Central England
MA Social Work, 2007, Keele University
PGDip in Mental Health Social Work, University of Wolverhampton