Calvin Swords

Calvin Swords
University College Cork | UCC · School of Applied Social Studies

Doctor of Philosophy
Assistant Prof Social Work & Doctor of Philosophy

About

23
Publications
5,093
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
80
Citations
Introduction
In November 2024, I was appointed as a Lecturer of Social Work in University College Cork. I was a Lecturer of Social Work in Maynooth University from 2021-2024. Prior to this, I undertook my PhD in Trinity College Dublin. My research explored impact of social constructionism on the recovery model and approach in Irish Mental Health Services. It was a qualitative study, focusing on interviews with key stakeholders. I successfully defended this in September 2021.
Additional affiliations
September 2021 - present
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Position
  • Lecturer
Description
  • Assistant Professor, Social Work.
September 2019 - July 2021
National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Position
  • Lecturer
Description
  • Currently Core lecturer for Medical Social Work Module for postgraduate Social Work Students
August 2019 - July 2021
Trinity College Dublin
Position
  • Lecturer
Description
  • Core lecturer in several modules for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Social Work. I am also Year Head for 1st Year Masters in Social Work Programme. I am a College Tutor to students also on placememt.

Publications

Publications (23)
Article
Full-text available
Purpose In 2020, the significance of “lived experience” and “service user” accounts of recovery has become central to the delivery of mental health policy and practice. Reflecting on the first known account of personal recovery in the late-20th century provided new hope and encouragement that those living with mental illness could live a fulfilling...
Article
Full-text available
The concept of recovery is well documented within mental health literature. Yet, it remains a contested notion since moving beyond a singular, biomedical focus in the late 20th century. Recovery is currently viewed as a unique, personalised journey for people living with mental illness. This article considers the significance of social construction...
Article
Full-text available
The 21st century has seen an increasing focus on the concept of co-production in seeking to tackle the tokenistic approach often taken by services to recovery in mental health. It originated from the scholarly work of Elinor Ostrom in America in the 1970’s and was further developed through the works of Edgar Cahn. In a bid to create a service that...
Article
Full-text available
Recovery within mental health service delivery is no longer a new consideration in the Western world. However, it is well-documented how challenging its implementation and translation to practice and reality have been in contemporary mental health systems. In conjunction with this, mental health social work is continuously being challenged and deba...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose The concept of personal recovery is now a key pillar of service delivery. It aims to support individuals to flourish and establish a new identity following an acute episode or diagnosis. This view of recovery is unique to each person on that journey. However, there has been a significant focus on measuring these experiences. This paper aims...
Article
This paper aims to present an in-depth exploration into the phenomenon of male suicide and the social work response to this complex issue. It considers the context of suicide, contributing factors to male suicidal ideation and suicide, and social work interventions for working with suicidal ideation. There is also a focus on examining the current s...
Article
While much research has been undertaken on the recovery-oriented approach towards mental health care in the context of high-income nations such as Ireland, research on its impact in low-income countries remains sparse. The concept of recovery within the mental health sector has been met with some success within high-income nations as the successor...
Article
Full-text available
Encompassing human rights-based approaches within mental health service delivery is essential to supporting the recovery of service users, their family members/carers/supporters. This is being increasingly led by social workers due to their role in responding to psychosocial challenges. This is seen in today’s mental health services through their w...
Chapter
Introduction Objects embody meaning – they can embody the social, emotional and psychological experiences which people carry with them as part of their unique, individual journey in this world. Material ethnography provides researchers with a route into those meanings through the study of objects to which people attach meanings related to experienc...
Technical Report
Full-text available
This study focuses on the views of members of the Troy Mental Health Association Social Club (Troy Social Club) regarding the benefits to them related to their membership of the club. TheTroy Social Club members who participated in the study identified a wide range of personal, social and peer group benefits related to their participation in th...
Article
Full-text available
The world continues to lurch from crisis to crisis. Amidst environmental decline, growing disparities in wealth and social dislocation, a minority of the world’s population ironically prosper while the silent majority struggle to maintain basic standards of economic and social well-being. Social workers are compelled to respond to societal issues s...
Article
Full-text available
Scapegoating is a ubiquitous, yet pernicious, phenomenon in today’s world. It manifests in innumerable ways. Social work, in line with its emancipatory value-base, seeks to engage with various scapegoated groups to challenge the experience. In this article, the authors draw on critical realism and mimetic theory to elucidate the causative mechanism...
Article
In cases where child protection concerns are evident, a central query within inter-professional, safeguarding assessments, centres on the parents’ capacity to change to enhance their child’s lived experience. Social workers, as key professionals co-ordinating such assessments, require analytical tools and models to enable them and others to reach a...
Article
Full-text available
The concept of recovery has been well documented in the Irish state’s policies on mental health. More widely, the notion has been contested and embroiled in a number of definitional debates. Given the formative nature of this unfolding discourse, this research explored the meaning of recovery from the perspectives of one inter-professional team del...
Article
The concept of recovery is well documented in Irish Mental Health discourse and policy in 2018. There have been 3 recent publications from the Advancing Recovery Ireland initiative, which has outlined how services can become more recovery orientated, focusing on several key themes; co-production, recovery education and family recovery. These are ke...
Presentation
Provided an overview of the need for a study exploring the impact of social constructionism on the recovery model and recovery orientated services in mental health services. The study is seeking to explore the significance of language, discourse and power on how key stakeholders conceptualise and integrate the concept of recovery into their lives....

Network

Cited By