Poverty, Child Protection and Parental Participation - Connecting Critical and Practice Theories in Everyday Social Work. The Department of Social Work welcomes Dr. Yuval Saar-Heiman who joins us from Israel.
Dr Yuval Saar-Heiman
The Department of Social Work is delighted to welcome Dr. Yuval Saar-Heiman who has joined our social work community as a Senior Research Fellow. Dr Saar-Heiman is on a two-year European Commission funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships research project - Poverty, Child Protection and Parental Participation (PCPPP), working with Prof Anna Gupta. This research developed from their joint article on poverty-aware social work in the child protection system. The PCPPP study involves a comprehensive study on parent advocacy programmes in the UK. It aims to offer a comprehensive outlook on the development of such programmes, on parents' involvement in policy designs and on participatory practices with parents living in poverty.
Previously a Lecturer at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel, where he completed his PhD in the Spitzer Department of Social Work, Dr Saar-Heiman practiced as a social worker in a child and family community centre. His research work revolves around the development of the Poverty-Aware Paradigm (PAP). Early work focused on the practical applications of a poverty aware paradigm, based on the conceptualization of poverty-aware practice through the experiences of women who took part in a special PAP program. His PhD study built on his former research in this area but dealt specifically with one of the most complex and conflictual arenas in society and specifically in social work – the child protection system and the need to safeguard children.
Inspiration to enter this complex field derived from the intersection of academic work and previous research with the practical experience of being a social work practitioner. Specificly, Dr Saar-Heiman’s research deals with the relationship between poverty, child protection and social work practice. He strives to connect critical and radical theories with everyday social work practice and to bring issues of poverty and social inequilty to the forefront of social work with families and children. As a qualitative researcher using diverse contemporary qualitative methodologies Dr Saar-Heiman’s publications include critical reflection, case study analysis and performance ethnography.
The social work community at Royal Holloway, external practice agencies and people who use social work and social care services have already benefited from hearing about this important area of research in recent webinars on poverty-aware practice. New updates will be shared over time.
Selected publications:
Saar-Heiman, Y. (2019) Poverty-Aware Social Work in the Child Protection System: A Critical Reflection on Two Single Case Studies. Child & Family Social Work, 24(4), 610-618.
Saar-Heiman Y. & Krumer-Nevo, M. (2019) "You decide": Relationship-based Knowledge and Parents’ Participation in High-Risk Child Protection Crisis Interventions. British Journal of Social Work. online early view https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz086
Saar-Heiman, Y. & Gupta, A. (2019) The poverty-aware paradigm for child protection: A critical framework for policy and practice. British Journal of Social Work, 50(4), 1167-1184.
Saar Heiman, Y., Krumer-Nevo, M. & Lavie-Ajayi, M. (2018) Intervention in a real-life context: Therapeutic space in poverty-aware social work. British Journal of Social Work, 48(2), 321-338.
Saar-Heiman, Y., Lavie-Ajayi, M., & Krumer-Nevo, M. (2017). Poverty-aware social work practice: service users' perspectives. Child & Family Social Work, 22(2), 1054-1063.
