Obituary – Brian Corby: child protection expert

Social work academic Brian Corby, the author of a key social work text on child abuse, has died aged 60 after a long struggle with myeloma.

He wrote Child Abuse: Towards a Knowledge Base, the third edition of which was published last year, and was known for his contributions to inter-professional work in child protection, inquiries into institutional abuse and family support.

He worked as a social worker for Liverpool Council from 1972 to 1978 before moving on to teach social work at Liverpool University. He became professor of social work at the University of Central Lancashire in 2001.

Corby’s Central Lancashire University colleague, professor of social work Andy Bilson, said: “Optimism about the capacity for professional interventions to offer creative solutions and new approaches to what may appear to be enduring problems characterised his work.”

He added: “A modest man, his humour, warmth, commitment and concern for others touched all those who knew him.”

Corby also published Applying Research in Social Work in 2006 and continued writing during his illness, working on various articles as well as a history of social work.

Bilson said his “principal achievement” consisted in synthesising existing knowledge and making it accessible to “countless” students and practitioners.