The Latest Bulletin

The sixth edition of the bestselling textbook Anti-Discriminatory Practice has now been published and the second edition of The Professional Social Worker  Anti-discriminatory Practice The Professional Social Worker Other titles by Neil Thompson are available from here Neil Thompson Amazon author page

When I undertook my management training many years ago we were taught the importance of a ‘strategic’ approach, which meant at all times being clear about what we were trying to achieve – that is, what our strategic goals are. Our strategy, then, is the plan for achieving these goals, hence the term ‘strategic’. At that point I had been a practising social worker for a number of years and, to me, having clarity about what we were trying to achieve was second nature. So, I was surprised when so many of the other students on the course seemed to think that this ideas of a ‘strategic’ approach was something new and exciting. Since then I have learned that I…

Two thirds of lesbian and bisexual women have experienced discrimination in the workplace, research has found. The study, conducted by the British LGBT Awards, interviewed 1,200 lesbian and bisexual women in the UK to analyse their experiences at work. 64 per cent said that they had experienced some kind of negative treatment including sexual discrimination, inappropriate language, lack of opportunity or bullying at work. Click here to read more

Sense, the national deafblind charity, has responded to new research which reveals that one in 10 businesses within the UK believe they are unable to employ disabled people. The survey, which was commissioned by Disability Rights UK, highlighted a range of negative attitudes preventing employers from offering jobs to people with disabilities, such as fearing possible discrimination claims (33%) and believing disabled people would need additional time off work (12%). Sense is concerned that despite the Government’s commitment to halving the disability employment gap, not enough action is being taken to break down the barriers preventing disabled people from finding employment. Click here to read more

A comprehensive online database featuring the latest scientific evidence on what works in dementia care and treatment has been developed by the researchers at the Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science (PSSRU at LSE). Launched ... Wednesday 3 August, the toolkit devised by Adelina Comas-Herrera, David McDaid, Professor Martin Knapp and colleagues, is the first of its kind globally, and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Dementia Evidence Toolkit brings together more than 3,000 journal articles and 700 reviews of research studies in one place. The aim is to make all this information publicly available in a form that is clear and easy to understand for dementia patients, their families…

Several kids had been targeting Beth for weeks. Beth was sweet, absent-minded, easygoing and resigned to being mistreated. Some of her fellow eighth-grade students were using social media to call her fat and stupid, and they would drop dirty tissues on her head as they passed her desk. As her school counselor, I wanted to help, but Beth would never call out the bullies. She worried she would make the situation worse, and she insisted she was fine. Beth’s classmate Jenna, however, was so disturbed by the mean behavior that she brought me a handwritten list of the perpetrators and pleaded with me to make them stop. Jenna — a confident, popular student — barely knew Beth, but she couldn’t…

Being invited to a job interview is a big deal for most people because it holds the promise of something we aspire to, but also requires that, in a short timescale and in unfamiliar circumstances, we present ourselves in the best possible light in order to convince our interviewers that we are the person they are looking for. For many, anxiety about the potential for under-performing turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy because anxiety gets in the way of doing our best. So, how can we minimise the anxiety? While each job interview will have unique interpersonal dynamics and demands, there are nevertheless some general points which it can be helpful to consider. In this guide we offer 20 key points…

As a student, I did everything right to land a job in financial services. High GPA...check. Leadership roles on campus...check. Polished resume...check. Networking pitch...check. Mastery of interviewing techniques...check. Jobs came easily through referrals by professors, peers, and career services. I was hitting all the markers of success. Yet, by my mid-twenties I felt unfulfilled in my career and like a stranger to myself. While I was progressing quickly, speed became irrelevant once it dawned on me that I was going the wrong way. What made it even more scary was my confusion about what to do next. The best resume writing tips and interviewing tactics weren’t useful because I had overlooked two of the most crucial components of career planning — self-awareness and…

Marc Jones, an employment law specialist and a partner at at full service law firm Turbervilles Solicitors, shares his expert advice on the thorny and often overlooked issue of discrimination. Over the past 40 years, a number of laws have been passed – including the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1996, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and more recently the Equality Act 2010 –  to create a more tolerant and politically correct society in this country. Yet how much ‘PC’ behaviour is actually reflected at work? How many of us are aware that office banter or a joke we make could be regarded offensive, or even worse, unlawful? Recent research from Turbervilles Solicitors, conducted amongst more than 1000 employees across Britain,…

Sarah Hendrickx and Matthew Tinsley discuss the potential links between autism and alcohol addiction, and the need for improved autism awareness amongst alcohol support services. Throughout my time of working in the autism field, the subject of alcoholism in relation to autism continues to pop up on a fairly frequent basis. It was this that led me to suggest to my autistic friend and recovering alcoholic Matt Tinsley, that we write a book on the subject back in 2008 (Asperger syndrome and Alcohol, Hendrickx & Tinsley, JKP). At the time, I contacted every expert in the autism field that I could think of (Tony Attwood, Uta Frith to name just a couple) to ask if they thought Matt and I were…