Managing Emotions and Occupational Demands: A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experiences of Child Exploitation Support Workers

Journal article


Mason, S. and Childs, C. 2024. Managing Emotions and Occupational Demands: A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experiences of Child Exploitation Support Workers. British Journal of Social Work. pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcae173
AuthorsMason, S. and Childs, C.
Abstract

Protecting children from criminal and sexual exploitation is a priority for safeguarding teams across the globe. Supporting children who are at risk of exploitation is a demanding role with high staff turnover. Experiences of third-sector child exploitation support workers, commissioned to deliver interventions to safeguard children from exploitation, have been neglected. This study presents an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of semi-structured interviews of eight child exploitation support workers employed by a service in England. Three experiential group themes were developed that captured the emotional and occupational complexities of their experiences performing their role. “Costs and Rewards of Emotional Labour,” depicted how emotions were managed to meet the requirements of the role. “Navigating Autonomy: The Double-Edged Sword of Empowerment and Loneliness,” highlighted unique perceptions of autonomous working. “We are in really vulnerable situations at times”: Exploring Perceptions of Risk” demonstrated how, collectively, participants felt vulnerable to risks when carrying out their role. The study provides insight that these third-sector employees face similar challenges as the regulated workforce and that it is crucial that policymakers and senior managers develop safety and system improvements to increase employees perceived and actual safety and wellbeing.

Keywordsautonomy; child protection and welfare; emotions; risk; staff wellbeing; third sector
Year2024
JournalBritish Journal of Social Work
Journal citationpp. 1-19
PublisherOxford Academic
ISSN0045-3102
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcae173
Web address (URL)https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcae173/7889000
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online09 Nov 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted07 Oct 2024
Deposited28 Nov 2024
Supplemental file
License
File Access Level
Open
Permalink -

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/qqq59/managing-emotions-and-occupational-demands-a-phenomenological-exploration-of-the-experiences-of-child-exploitation-support-workers

Download files


Accepted author manuscript
Mason-Childs-BJSW-final-resubmission v2.docx
License: CC BY 4.0
File access level: Open


Supplemental file
Mason Childs BJSW preprint.docx
License: CC BY 4.0
File access level: Open

  • 7
    total views
  • 1
    total downloads
  • 6
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

The Yin-Yang of Spirituality: An Introduction to the Special Issue
Childs, C. and Howard, C. 2023. The Yin-Yang of Spirituality: An Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Scientific Exploration. 37 (4), pp. 582-585. https://doi.org/10.31275/20233231
Young peoples’ lived experiences of shifts between face-to-face and smartphone interactions: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Childs, C. and Holland, F. 2022. Young peoples’ lived experiences of shifts between face-to-face and smartphone interactions: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2022.2101356
Discourse analysis and emotions
Childs, Carrie 2022. Discourse analysis and emotions. in: De Gruyter.
WAF0042 - Inquiry: Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life
Spenser, Karin, Childs, Carrie and Adhikari, Joanna 2021. WAF0042 - Inquiry: Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life. UK Parliament.
Stresses, challenges, and rewards of home-based applied behaviour analysis intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder.
Parker, Vikki and Childs, Carrie 2019. Stresses, challenges, and rewards of home-based applied behaviour analysis intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder. Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. https://doi.org/10.1080/23297018.2019.1601590
Paradoxical invitations: challenges in soliciting more information from child witnesses
Childs, Carrie and Walsh, Dave 2018. Paradoxical invitations: challenges in soliciting more information from child witnesses. Research on Language and Social Interaction. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2018.1524561
Self-disclosure and self-deprecating self-reference: Conversational practices of personalization in police interviews with children reporting alleged sexual offenses
Childs, Carrie and Walsh, Dave 2017. Self-disclosure and self-deprecating self-reference: Conversational practices of personalization in police interviews with children reporting alleged sexual offenses. Journal of Pragmatics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.10.013
Directing and requesting: two interactive uses of the mental state terms want and need
Childs, Carrie 2012. Directing and requesting: two interactive uses of the mental state terms want and need. Text & Talk. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2012-0034
Discursive psychology and emotion
Childs, Carrie and Hepburn, Alexa 2016. Discursive psychology and emotion. in: Tileagă, C. and Stokoe, E. (ed.) Discursive Psychology: Classic and contemporary issues Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Routledge.
Formulations
Childs, Carrie 2015. Formulations. in: The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction Hoboken, New Jersey Wiley.
The personal experience of online learning: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Symeonides, R. and Childs, Carrie 2015. The personal experience of online learning: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Computers in Human Behavior. 51 (A), pp. 539-545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.05.015
“We all had an experience in there together”: a discursive psychological analysis of collaborative paranormal accounts by paranormal investigation Team members
Childs, Carrie and Murray, C. 2013. “We all had an experience in there together”: a discursive psychological analysis of collaborative paranormal accounts by paranormal investigation Team members. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 7 (1), pp. 21-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780880903304543
From reading minds to social interaction: respecifying Theory of Mind
Childs, Carrie 2013. From reading minds to social interaction: respecifying Theory of Mind. Human Studies. 37, pp. 103-122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-013-9284-y
'I'm not X, I just want Y': formulating 'wants' in interaction
Childs, Carrie 2012. 'I'm not X, I just want Y': formulating 'wants' in interaction. Discourse Studies. 14 (2), pp. 181-196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445612439819
Directing and requesting: two interactive uses of the mental state terms want and need
Childs, Carrie 2012. Directing and requesting: two interactive uses of the mental state terms want and need. Text & Talk.