Moreover we were interested in the ways in which a brief shadowing of a practicing BIA helped to make sense of these disparate elements in practice. We sought evidence of the use of key elements including specific sections of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) as well as case law professional values practice guidance and classroom education. The context is learning about key aspects of Mental Capacity legislation and the data for the study came from work submitted by fifty students on four successive iterations of a 'best interests assessor' (BIA) training course in England. The focus of this paper is the way in which learning on a post graduate professional academic training module is developed and articulated via processes of shadowing and the production of two assignments (a written case study and a reflective piece). The aim is to demonstrate how the use of insights from theory and research can lead to an enhanced understanding of the circumstances that led to a child death or serious injury, one which is grounded in current knowledge and evidence. In this article, an anonymised case study of a child death inquiry is used to analyse the decision-making processes of child protection practitioners using a range of theory and research. A general observation is that, in some inquiry reports, there is little, if any, reference to research and theory about child protection practice and policy. Such changes have, at times, been criticised as ‘knee jerk’ reactions and can lead to well-meaning but possibly counter-productive initiatives. A key objective of such inquiries is to discern what may have been done by public agencies to prevent the child’s death or serious injury and this may, in turn, lead to changes in existing policies or the development of new policies. In most child protection jurisdictions, a case of child death or serious injury through the actions or inaction of a parent or carer is responded to with an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of the child. Recommendations for practice are made, including the need for organisations to provide social workers and supervisors with spaces where they can engage with the emotional and relational aspects of their practice and explore their identity as social workers. The way in which functions of supervision are dispersed across teams in day-today practice will also be highlighted as a key finding. In exploring key themes from the interview, supervision, and observation data, a key finding of the study is the context-dependence of how case narratives are presented and the role identity plays in these differing presentations. Five key themes, situated within the first two sensemaking stages, are explored in presenting the analysis: case framing, case history, testing and weighing information, generating hypotheses, and feelings and relationships. The analysis highlights that social work sensemaking involves the process of constructing a case narrative through three stages: initial formulations, developing the narrative, and adopted accounts. Data are derived from semi-structured interviews (n=22), recordings of formal one-to-one supervision sessions (n=17), and from participant observation of office case-talk (n=19) and group supervision (n=2) across two local authorities. This study contributes to addressing these gaps using an ethnographic approach it explores how one-to-one supervision, informal supervision and peer discussion, and group case discussion support social workers' sensemaking. Social work supervision should offer a space where sensemaking can take place individually and collaboratively, yet little is known about what actually happens in supervision. However, the sensemaking process that underpins decision-making and judgement has received comparatively little scholarly attention. The way that children and families social workers make judgements and take decisions in their day-today practice has been an area of significant interest in the early part of the twenty-first century.
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