ABSTRACT
This chapter takes the reader on a journey through a research study the author conducted looking at face-to-face communication in child protection social work. It describes the way in which his curiosities and hunches about social work practice became the starting point for a qualitative study using observation and interview techniques informed by psychoanalysis. As a psychotherapist, she became interested in how social work feels on the front line and how psychoanalytic ideas can help make sense of the everyday difficulties of the social worker's task. The exploratory phase of the study led the author to focus on the tensions arising from social workers' shared responsibilities for care and control, and how these tensions affect conversations with parents when there are serious concerns about neglect. By showing how the research process unfolds, she hopes to encourage other practitioners to follow up their questions in a similar way.
