Meet social work’s top bloggers no.4: Social Worker X

Social Worker X on why he started writing about the realities of frontline child protection work and why social workers should always take their lunch hours.

December 11, 2012 in Community Care

What’s your name or pseudonym?

Social Worker X. In my mind though I am Social Worker 007.

Where can we find you on the Twitter/blogosphere?

http://socialworkerx.blogspot.co.uk/ and I tweet at @socialworkerx.

What three words would best describe your blog?

Irritable, irritating and irrelevant.

What’s your role in social care?

Assistant manager in children’s services duty team.

Why did you start blogging/tweeting?

I’m always pontificating at work, so I thought I would try and annoy a wider audience.

If you could recommend one of your blog posts to social workers what would it be?

This one: Frontline, the saviour of Social Work?

I think I’ve been quite hard on Josh MacAlister (the man behind the Frontline scheme – an attempt to attract more ‘high quality’ graduates to social work) in this post.

I contacted him on Twitter a couple of times asking for a response but he hasn’t responded. I think if he met me he might hit me with his Russell Group PhD.

Can you recommend a social care blog (apart from your own?

It’s all about @Ermintrude2 isn’t it and her blogs at Not so big society? She’s the bees knees!

Favourite non-social care blog?

Not very original I know, but Ricky Gervais (check out his blog here) is a very funny guy and a real agitator. He has such a large following that he has a lot of power.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen in your job?

I met a guy once with severe mental health problems who thought one half of his brain was gay and the other was straight. That’s a bit of a dull example, because I really have seen some strange sexual stuff, but along with being strange it was also really unpleasant and not really for sharing.

What one tip would you give to NQSWs or people thinking about becoming social workers?

Always take your lunch hour!

What’s your most hated jargon in your job?

‘Corporate parent’. Conjures up visions of suits and paperwork, not someone you turn to for unconditional love and nurturing.

Best biscuit for a tea break?

I can’t reveal my actual favourite as I know this would also reveal my identity to anyone who works with me! However my secret second choice is choco leibniz, a masterpiece of German engineering and design, less of a biscuit and more of a gastronomic work of art.