Your History Counts – Why we should preserve the memories of child protection practitioners through co-producing oral history life narratives?

A digital download from this History and Practice Special Interest Group.

Historians of child welfare, Dr Ruth Beecher and Dr Claudia Soares introduce their research projects ‘Recovery Histories’ and ‘Caring Communities’ and host a conversation about practitioner experiences in working with vulnerable or marginalised children over the last 75 years.

Both projects are innovative ‘firsts’ in trying to gather the histories of two under-researched areas. The Recovery Histories Project is investigating changing understandings of child sexual abuse, harm, trauma and recovery from the 1950s to the present day; Caring Communities: Rethinking Children’s Social Care, 1800-present is examining the labour, experiences and impact of children’s social care between 1800 and the present.

Whether you are a newly qualified practitioner or someone who has practised for many years, whether you have worked in statutory services or in outreach and early help, we would like to talk to you. We will discuss why is it important for us to understand, remember and preserve life stories of those who work with and support children and families and why everyone’s story matters. Come and find out how you can be involved in our research and the options depending on your availability and interests.

The session will be a mixture of presentation, discussion and Q&A and we will also have some short oral history snippets and archival materials to bring our histories alive.

About the video:

Video length: 119 minutes

Featuring: Dr Kate Wilson, Dr Ruth Beecher, Dr Claudia Soares,  AoCPP staff and event delegates.