BA MCApSc PGDipSocSc PhD (Otago)
Associate Professor in Social Work
Contact details
Room 6C18, Richardson Building
Tel +64 3 479 5867
Email emily.keddell@otago.ac.nz
My research focusses on child welfare inequalities, child protection decision-making, the politics of child protection and the use of algorithmic decision tools in child protection. I pursue a critical perspective on child protection; one that examines the intersections between structural conditions, policy contexts, systems, power and micro practice.
My practice background is in child protection social work, residential work with children, and family support social work. I have taught at the University of Otago since 2005, covering child and family social work, micro theories and skills, child protection decision-making and generalist courses.
I am a Registered Social Worker, an associate member of Child Poverty Action Group, and a founding member of the Re-Imagining Social Work blog collective. I am a member of the editorial collective of the Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Journal, an associate editor of Qualitative Social Work, and on the editorial board of the BJSW sister journal: Practice.
Google Scholar: Emily Keddell
Teaching
I co-ordinate and teach:
SOWK 201 Fields of Practice
SOWK 302 Social Work for Children and Families: Analysis and Theory
SOWK 402 Social work for Children and Families: Advanced Practice
SOWK 490 Dissertation
Postgraduate supervision
I welcome approaches for supervision in the following areas:
- Many areas of child and family social work including: policy and systems design in the child welfare context, inequalities and the child welfare system, poverty reduction policies in the tax/benefit system, the use of predictive data analytics, decision-making and judgement, critical approaches to risk and safety, reunification and family maintenance, multiple child removal, and ethics.
- How people construct ethnic identities from multiple options and negotiate these in their family and social contexts.
Current and recent students
Gina Tompkins MA Human Services
Legislative changes to the Children Young persons and their Families Act
Nathan Jaquiery PhD
Stabilising factors in permanent placements for children or young people in the caresystem
Sue Whyte MSW
Self-Efficacy in Parents of Adolescents: Does attendance and completion of ‘Tweens & Teens’ alter parental self-efficacy?
Adele Parkinson PhD
Adult and Child Clients’ Views of a COPMI* Family Support Service: A Mixed Methods Study
Monique Harvey MSW
“Baby Mama” The daily life of being a teenage parent
Monica Hannan MSW
The Impact of Notification to CYF on the NGO Client-Worker Relationship
Karlene Lee MSW
New Zealand Non Government Organisation Social Service Manager’s job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction and the implications for retention
Karen Service MSW
Women’s views of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
Jan Young MSW
The Role of Mothers in Shared Care arrangements for children following relationship separation
Jude Buckingham MSP
Pre practicum service learning to enhance counsellor education
Publications
Keddell, E. (2017). Interpreting children’s best interests: Needs, attachment and decision-making. Journal of Social Work, 17(3), 324-342. doi: 10.1177/1468017316644694
Keddell, E. (2018). The vulnerable child in neoliberal contexts: The construction of children in the Aotearoa New Zealand child protection reforms. Childhood, 25(1), 93-108. doi: 10.1177/0907568217727591
Beddoe, L., & Keddell, E. (2016). Informed outrage: Tackling shame and stigma in poverty education in social work. Ethics & Social Welfare, 10(2), 149-162. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2016.1159775
Keddell, E. (2016). Constructing parental problems: The function of mental illness discourses in a child welfare context. British Journal of Social Work, 46(7), 2088-2103. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcv096
Keddell, E. (2016). Substantiation decision-making and risk prediction in child protection systems. Policy Quarterly, 12(2), 46-56.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Keddell, E. (2017). The Child Youth and Family Review: A commentary on prevention. The Policy Observatory. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology. 35p. Retrieved from https://thepolicyobservatory.aut.ac.nz/publications/the-child-youth-and-family-review-a-commentary-on-prevention
Keddell, E., & Hyslop, I. (2016). First findings from phase one of the Child Welfare Decision-Making Variability Project. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. 8p.
Keddell, E., Richards, K., & Mikaele, T. (2011). Homebased family support service evaluation. Anglican Family Care Dunedin. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. 38p.
Other Research Output
Keddell, E. (2017, February). Supporting "hard-working" families? Re-imagining Social Work in Aotearoa New Zealand blog. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2017/02/supporting-hard-working-families/
Keddell, E. & Hsylop, I. (2016, October). Improving decision-making consistency in child protection: Attending to invisible decision drivers. Presentation to the Office of the Chief Social Worker, Wellington, New Zealand. [Research Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2016, July). Like water on a rock: Using academic privilege and social media to dispute dominant doxa. Centre for Applied Research in Health, Welfare and Policy (CARe), University of Salford, Manchester, UK. [Seminar presentation].
Keddell, E. & Hsylop, I. (2016, October). First findings: Phase one of the Decision Variability Project. Presentation to the Office of the Chief Social Worker, Wellington, New Zealand. [Research Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2016, July). Is decision consistency in child welfare achievable without reversion to technical–rational approaches? Child Welfare Inequalities Project, University of Coventry, UK. [Research Presentation].
Ballantyne, N., Beddoe, L., Hyslop, I., Keddell, E., Lowe, S., Stanfield, D. (2016, July). Submission on the Children, Young Persons, and their Families (Advocacy, Workforce, and Age Settings) Amendment Bill. Re-imagining Social Work in Aotearoa New Zealand blog. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2016/07/submission-on-the-children-young-persons-and-their-families-advocacy-workforce-and-age-settings-amendment-bill/
Keddell, E. (2015, April). The pictures in our heads: Part two. Re-imagining Social Work in Aotearoa New Zealand blog. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2015/04/the-pictures-in-our-heads-part-two-the-child-protection-reforms-and-the-causes-of-child-abuse/. [Online Forum].
Keddell, E. (2015, June). Predictive risk modelling: On rights, data and politics. Re-imagining Social Work in Aotearoa New Zealand blog. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2015/06/predictive-risk-modelling-on-rights-data-and-politics/. [Online Forum].
Keddell, E. (2015, April). The pictures in our heads: Part one. Re-imagining Social Work in Aotearoa New Zealand blog. Retrieved from http://www.reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2015/06/predictive-risk-modelling-on-rights-data-and-politics/. [Online Forum].
Keddell, E. (2014, September). The nitty gritty of poverty reduction: Strategies and their politics. Continuing Professional Education Seminar, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Research Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2013, June). Evaluating risk: What the research can and can't tell us. Dunedin Family & Youth Courts Association, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Invited Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2013, October). Early intervention, predictive risk modelling and the White paper on Vulnerable Children: Some ethical considerations. Continuing Professional Education UniTube presentation, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2013, March). Decision-making in child welfare: A study of practice. National Practice Manager's Hui, Open Home Foundation, Wellington, New Zealand. [Invited Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2012, November). Theorising the ethics of social work decision-making: Rocks and hard places. Continuing Professional Education presentation for the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW), Dunedin, New Zealand. [Invited Seminar].
Keddell, E. (2009, December). Move over 'risk': Making space for safety in child protection services. Research Seminar at the University of Utah, College of Social Work, Salt Lake City, Utah. [Department Seminar].
Chapter in Book - Research
Keddell, E., & Stanley, T. (2017). Risk work in the formation of the 'professional' in child protection social work. In S. A. Webb (Ed.), Professional identity and social work. (pp. 94-107). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Keddell, E. (2016). Child protection reform and welfare reform in Aotearoa New Zealand: Two sides of the same coin? In J. Maidment & L. Beddoe (Eds.), Social policy for social work and human services in Aotearoa New Zealand: Diverse perspectives. (pp. 237-251). Christchurch, New Zealand: Canterbury University Press.
Keddell, E., & Stanley, T. (2015). Moving from risk to safety: Work with children and families in child welfare contexts. In K. van Heugten & A. Gibbs (Eds.), Social work for sociologists: Theory and practice. (pp. 67-84). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Keddell, E., & Pukepuke, T. (2014). Children witnessing parental violence: A social worker from Aotearoa/New Zealand responds [Case studies and analyses for the web: Invited response]. In J. E. Bettmann, G. Jacques & C. J. Frost (Eds.), International social work practice: Case studies from a global context. (pp. 5-7). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Journal - Research Article
Keddell, E. (2018). The vulnerable child in neoliberal contexts: The construction of children in the Aotearoa New Zealand child protection reforms. Childhood, 25(1), 93-108. doi: 10.1177/0907568217727591
Keddell, E. (2017). Interpreting children’s best interests: Needs, attachment and decision-making. Journal of Social Work, 17(3), 324-342. doi: 10.1177/1468017316644694
Beddoe, L., & Keddell, E. (2016). Informed outrage: Tackling shame and stigma in poverty education in social work. Ethics & Social Welfare, 10(2), 149-162. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2016.1159775
Keddell, E. (2016). Constructing parental problems: The function of mental illness discourses in a child welfare context. British Journal of Social Work, 46(7), 2088-2103. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcv096
Keddell, E. (2016). Substantiation decision-making and risk prediction in child protection systems. Policy Quarterly, 12(2), 46-56.
Keddell, E. (2016). Weighing it up: Family maintenance discourses in NGO child protection decision-making in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Child & Family Social Work, 21(6), 512-520. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12168
Keddell, E. (2015). The ethics of predictive risk modelling in the Aotearoa/New Zealand child welfare context: Child abuse prevention or neo-liberal tool? Critical Social Policy, 35(1), 69-88. doi: 10.1177/0261018314543224
Keddell, E. (2014). Theorising the signs of safety approach to child protection social work: Positioning, codes and power. Children & Youth Services Review, 47(1), 70-77. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.011
Keddell, E. (2014). Current debates on variability in child welfare decision-making: A selected literature review. Social Sciences, 3(4), 916-940. doi: 10.3390/socsci3040916
Keddell, E. (2012). Going home: Managing ‘risk’ through relationship in returning children from foster care to their families of origin. Qualitative Social Work, 11(6), 604-620. doi: 10.1177/1473325011411010
Keddell, E. (2011). A constructionist approach to the use of arts-based materials in social work education: Making connections between art and life. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 31(4), 400-414. doi: 10.1080/08841233.2011.597678
Keddell, E. (2011). Reasoning processes in child protection decision making: Negotiating moral minefields and risky relationships. British Journal of Social Work, 41(7), 1251-1270. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr012
Keddell, E. (2009). Narrative as identity: Postmodernism, multiple ethnicities, and narrative practice approaches in social work. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 18, 221-241.
Keddell, E. (2007). Cultural identity and the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989: Ideology, policy and practice. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 32, 49-71.
Keddell, E. (2006). Pavlova and pineapple pie: Selected identity influences on Samoan-Pakeha people in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Kōtuitui, 1(1), 45-63. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2006.9522410
Journal - Research Other
Keddell, E., Stanfield, D., & Hyslop, I. (2016). The social work voice: Doxa and dissent in neoliberal times. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 28(2), 1-6. [Editorial].
Keddell, E. (2013). Why do Pacific people with multiple ethnic affiliations have poorer subjective wellbeing? Negative ingroup affect mediates the identity tension effect, Manuela & Sibley, 2012. Social Indicators Research, (December). doi: 10.1007/s11205-013-0548-8
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Keddell, E. (2012). Parents need help, not surveillance. Otago Daily Times, (14 September).
Keddell, E. (2012). Child poverty: Inevitable evil or avoidable ill? Otago Daily Times, (6 June).
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Keddell, E. (2017, January). Big data and vulnerable children: How much should 'vulnerability' justify privacy overrides? Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Bioethics Conference: Bioethics and Health Law in the Information Age, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Bywaters, P., Featherstone, B., Mason, W., Morris, K., & Keddell, E. (2016, July). Interventions and inequalities: Do child welfare interventions reveal, reinforce or redress inequalities? Verbal presentation at the 6th International Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth (CSCY) Conference: The Social, the Biological, and the Material Child, Sheffield, UK.
Keddell, E. (2016, November). To punish parents or protect children? The neoliberal ambivalence of child poverty policies in Aotearoa New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the Children's Rights Symposium: International and National Perspectives, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Keddell, E., & Hyslop, I. (2016, June). Improving decision-making consistency in child welfare contexts: Accounting for ethical, knowledge and institutional dimensions. Verbal presentation at the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development (SWSD), Seoul, South Korea.
Keddell, E. (2015, October). The construction of children in the Aotearoa New Zealand Child Protection Reforms: Opportunities and constraints. Verbal presentation at the 2nd Aotearoa New Zealand Childhood Studies Colloquium: What Does Childhood Studies Mean for Research, Policy and Practice? Dunedin, New Zealand.
Keddell, E. (2015, April). Researching the role of ethnicity in child protection decision-making: How does it impact on risk perceptions and intervention models? Verbal presentation at the 14th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect: Cultural Responsiveness in a Multi-Agency World, Auckland, New Zealand.
Keddell, E. (2014, November). Constructions of children in safety plans: reconciling child as victim and child as agent. Verbal presentation at the 1st New Zealand Childhood Studies Colloquium, Auckland, New Zealand.
Keddell, E. (2013, October). Early intervention, predictive risk modelling and the White Paper for Vulnerable Children: Some ethical considerations. Verbal presentation at the Children in Crisis Conference, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Keddell, E. (2010, March). Joint action: Constituting identities between the survey and the person. Invited presentation at the Victoria University Institute of Policy Studies Inter-disciplinary Workshop on Ethnic Identity, Identification and Change, Wellington, New Zealand.
