Dr David Wilkins

Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

: wilkinsd3@cardiff.ac.uk
: +44 (0)29 2251 0935
: 12 Museum Place, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3BG

I am a qualified social worker and qualitative researcher with an interest in child and family social work, supervision and decision-making. I am a lecturer on the MA social work programme here at Cardiff, and an Assistant Director at the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre (Cascade).

My research on supervision has focused on observations of case discussions between managers and workers, seeking to understand the nature of these conversations, how they might be evaluated, and what difference they make for the worker's practice and for children and families.

My research on decision-making has sought to explore the impact of cognitive biases and how these can be mitigated, and how we might evaluate and measure the relationship between better assessments (those yielding a greater understanding) and decisions.

I have also worked on a number of other research projects, including literature reviews, observations of social work practice, quasi-experimental studies and randomised controlled trials.

Education

2014 D. Phil “How do social workers use attachment theory in practice?” University of Kent, UK
2007 MA (with distinction) in Social Work, Middlesex University, London, UK
2003 BA (Hons) in New Media Production, Bournemouth University, UK

Professional memberships

Registered social worker (Social Care Wales)

Previous academic positions

2015 – 2018 Senior Research Fellow, University of Bedfordshire

2014 – 2015 Senior Lecturer in Social Work (Academic Tutor), University of Bedfordshire (Frontline programme)

2011 – 2011 Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Anglia Ruskin University

2021

Wilkins, D. and Forrester, D. 2021. What do parents think about statutory child and family social work services in the UK?. British Journal of Social Work 51(6), pp. 2210-2227. (10.1093/bjsw/bcaa185)
Pitt, C., Addis, S. and Wilkins, D. 2021. What is supervision? The views of child and family social workers and supervisors in England. Practice (10.1080/09503153.2021.1959543)
Wilkins, D. and Meindl, M. 2021. A randomised controlled trial of a ‘checklist’ intervention to mitigate confirmation bias and improve forecasting accuracy in social work. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/research-report/a-randomised-controlled-trial-of-a-checklist-intervention-to-mitigate-confirmation-bias-and-improve-forecasting-accuracy-in-social-work/
Forrester, D., Wilkins, D. and Whittaker, C. 2021. Motivational interviewing for working with children and families. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Wilkins, D. 2021. Supervision in child and family settings. In: O'Donoghue, K. and Engelbrecht, L. eds. The Routledge International Handbook of Social Work Supervision. Routledge
El-Banna, A.et al. 2021. Systematic review of economic evaluations of children's social care interventions. Children and Youth Services Review 121, article number: 105864. (10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105864)
Forslund, T.et al. 2021. Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issues. Attachment and Human Development (10.1080/14616734.2020.1840762)

2020

Wilkins, D., Thompson, S. and Bezeczky, Z. 2020. Child and family social work during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review of the evidence in relation to social work practice, natural disasters and pandemics. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Natural-Disasters-Rapid-Review_Aug-2020.pdf
Wilkins, D., Thompson, S. and Bezeczky, Z. 2020. Child and family social work during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review of the evidence in relation to remote leadership. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Rapid_Review_Remote_Leadership_June_2020.pdf
Stabler, L., Wilkins, D. and Carro, H. 2020. What do children think about their social worker? A Q-method study of children's services. Child and Family Social Work 25(1), pp. 118-126. (10.1111/cfs.12665)
Wilkins, D.et al. 2020. Good judgement and social work decision-making: a randomised controlled trial of brief interventions to improve forecasting. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Good_judgement_and_social_worker_decision-making_report_Jan_2020.pdf
Wilkins, D. and Antonopoulou, V. 2020. Do performance indictors predict Ofsted ratings? An exploratory study of children’s services in England. Journal of Children's Services 15(2), pp. 45-59. (10.1108/JCS-07-2019-0035)
Wilkins, D.et al. 2020. Outcomes-focused supervision: a pilot and feasibility study. Project Report. [Online]. London: What Works Centre for Children's Social Care. Available at: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Outcomes-Focused-Supervision_full-report.pdf

2019

Wilkins, D. and Forrester, D. 2019. Predicting the future in child and family social work: theoretical, ethical and methodological issues for a proposed research programme. Child Care in Practice 26(2), pp. 196-209. (10.1080/13575279.2019.1685463)
Brand, S.et al. 2019. How family budget change interventions affect children being in care: a rapid evidence assessment. Project Report. [Online]. Cardiff, Wales: What Works for Children's Social Care. Available at: http://whatworks-csc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/WWCSC_Family_Budget_Change_rapid_evidence_assessment_Full_Report_Aug2019.pdf
Wilkins, D., Shemmings, D. and Pascoe, C. 2019. Child Abuse 5e An evidence base for confident practice. Open University Press.
Wilkins, D. and Antonopoulou, V. 2019. Ofsted and Children's Services: What performance indicators and other factors are associated with better inspection results?. British Journal of Social Work (10.1093/bjsw/bcy100)
Wilkins, D. and Antonopoulou, V. 2019. What does supervision help with? A survey of 315 social workers in the UK. Practice 31(1), pp. 21-40. (10.1080/09503153.2018.1437398)
Wilkins, D. and Antonopoulou, V. 2019. Ofsted and Children's Services: What performance indicators and other factors are associated with better inspection results? (Corrigendum). The British Journal of Social Work (10.1093/bjsw/bcy134)
Wilkins, D. 2019. Social work supervision in child and family services: developing a working theory of how and why it works. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 31(3), pp. 7-19. (10.11157/anzswj-vol31iss3id644)

2018

Wilkins, D., Jones, R. and Westlake, D. 2018. 'The activity does not archive well': Comparing audio and written records of supervision case discussions in Children's Services. Journal of Children's Services 13(3/4), pp. 93-109. (10.1108/JCS-03-2018-0005)
Wilkins, D.et al. 2018. Evaluating the quality of social work supervision in UK children's services: comparing self-report and independent observations. Clinical Social Work Journal 46(4), pp. 350-360. (10.1007/s10615-018-0680-7)
Wilkins, D. and Jones, R. 2018. Simulating supervision: How do managers respond to a crisis?. European Journal of Social Work 21(3), pp. 454-466. (10.1080/13691457.2017.1366429)
Wilkins, D., Lynch, A. and Antonopoulou, V. 2018. A golden thread? The relationship between supervision, practice, and family engagement in child and family social work. Child and Family Social Work 23(3), pp. 494-503. (10.1111/cfs.12442)

2017

Wilkins, D. and Whittaker, C. 2017. Doing child-protection social work with parents: what are the barriers in practice?. British Journal of Social Work, article number: bcx139. (10.1093/bjsw/bcx139)
Wilkins, D. 2017. How is supervision recorded in child and family social work? An analysis of 244 written records of formal supervision. Child & Family Social Work 22(3), pp. 1130-1140. (10.1111/cfs.12330)
Wilkins, D. and Antonopoulou, V. 2017. How not to observe social workers in practice. Social Work Education 36(7), pp. 837-843. (10.1080/02615479.2017.1340446)
Wilkins, D., Forrester, D. and Grant, L. 2017. What happens in child and family social work supervision?. Child and Family Social Work 22(2), pp. 942-951. (10.1111/cfs.12314)
Wilkins, D. 2017. Using Q methodology to understand how child protection social workers use attachment theory. Child and Family Social Work 22(S4), pp. 70-80. (10.1111/cfs.12276)
Wilkins, D. 2017. Does reflective supervision have a future in English local authority child and family social work?. Journal of Children's Services 12(2/3), pp. 164-173. (10.1108/JCS-06-2017-0024)

2015

Wilkins, D. 2015. The impact of 'being assessed' by a disabled children's team: a personal reflective account. Child and Family Social Work 20(1), pp. 10-18. (10.1111/cfs.12026)

2013

Wilkins, D. 2013. Balancing risk and protective factors: how do social workers and social work managers analyse referrals that may indicate children are at risk of significant harm. British Journal of Social Work 45(1), pp. 395-411. (10.1093/bjsw/bct114)

2012

Wilkins, D. 2012. Ethical social work practice in direct work with carers and children. Ethics and Social Welfare 6(4), pp. 404-410. (10.1080/17496535.2012.735816)
Wilkins, D. 2012. Ethical dilemmas in social work practice with disabled people. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities 16(2), pp. 127-133. (10.1177/1744629512444986)
Wilkins, D. 2012. Ethical dilemmas in social work practice with disabled people: young adults with autism. Ethics and Social Welfare 6(1), pp. 97-105. (10.1080/17496535.2012.651892)

2010

Wilkins, D. 2010. I'm not sure what i want (and I don't know how to get it): how do social care workers perceive the parental relationships of children with autistic spectrum conditions?. Journal of Social Work Practice 24(1), pp. 89-101. (10.1080/02650530903532799)

I teach on the following programmes:

MA Social Work
MSc Social Science Research Methods (Social Work in Action module)

Research interests:

Social work supervision and decision-making
Observations of social work practice

I am currently supervising seven students studying for Professional Doctorates and / or PhDs.

Areas of expertise

External profiles