Exploring emotions within formal and informal forums: messages from social work practitioners

The paper explores the views of social work practitioners regarding their ability to explore the emotional content of their practice in formal and informal forums. The responses from a questionnaire and interview based study of a Scottish local authority reveal that supervision is subject to issues of 'safety', permissions, managerialist approaches and individual relationships. Informal support from peers was valued due to its unrecorded, on-demand and supportive nature. The findings have implications for seeking improvements in supervision as suggested by the Social Work Task Force, and for securing of the validity and place of emotions in practice.