The Emotional Politics of Social Work and Child Protection

Book excerpt: Social work and child protection systems have for several decades been subject to cycles of crisis and reform, with each crisis drawing intense media and political scrutiny. In this book, Joanne Warner argues that to understand the nature of these cycles, we have to pay attention to the importance of collective emotions such as anger, shame, and fear. To do so, she introduces the concept of emotional politics. Using a range of cases from the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, Warner reveals that collective emotions are central to constructions of risk and blame--and that they are generated and reflected by official documents, politicians, and the media. She also suggests strategies for challenging emotional politics, including identifying models for a more politically engaged stance for the social work profession.