Dr Matthew Gibson

• PhD: The role of self-conscious emotions in child protection practice (2016)
• PG Dip in Specialist Social Work with Children, Young People, their Families and Carers, University of Birmingham (2009)
• MA in Social Work, University of Birmingham (2005)

The modules he teaches are:

• Law, Policy, and Interagency Working
•  Risk, Analysis, and Decision Making
• Help, Support, and Direct Work
• Organisations, Systems, and Leadership
• Dissertation

Matthew is interested in supervising students with interests in:

- Emotions in practice, particularly shame
- Child and family social work practice / Child protection work
- Family experiences of social work practice 

If you are interested in Matthew supervising your research, please contact Matthew to discuss your proposal. 

2020-2025: Shame and Medicine Project.

2018-2019: Office for Standards in Education: An Evaluation of the New Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS).

2017: West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership: Leadership and Practice Development: A Review of the Literature.

2016-2018: Bexley Council: Pioneers Fostering Project.

2015-2017: Achieving for Children’s England Innovation Fund Project: Better by Design.

2012-2016: Pride and Shame in Child and Family Social Work

2015-2016: Munro, Turnell, and Murphy and Partnering Local Authorities’ England Innovation Fund Project: Transforming Children’s Services with Signs of Safety Practice at the Centre. Open Source IT Project Development.

2015: A Review of Birmingham Safeguarding Children’s Board’s Serious Case Reviews and Learning Lessons Reviews 2009-2014.

2014-2015: An Evaluation of Gloucestershire County Council’s Assessed and Supported Year in Employment.

2014-2015: An Evaluation of Herefordshire Children’s Wellbeing Directorate’s Risk and Resilience Assessment Tool.

2014: Independent review of a new IT system for Birmingham City Council.

Presentations

Gibson, M. (2025). “Hidden Injuries of Medicine: Findings from a 5-year Empirical Study into Shame in Medicine.” In Shame and Medicine Conference, Exeter, 11^th June 2025. Exeter: University of Exeter.

Gibson, M. (2024). “Shame in social work.” Invited speaker. In Emotions and Reasons in Neoliberal Society, 18, September, 2024. Lecce, Italy: Italian Association of Sociologists.

Gibson, M. (2021). “Collaborative Skills Development.” In 7th European Conference for Social Work Research: Social Work Research: Contributing to Innovations in Practice, Policy, and Social Development, Bucharest, Romania, 5-7 May 2021.Bucharest: ECSWR.

Gibson, M. (2017). “Understanding shame: An overview of the issues and debates in shame research.” In 7th European Conference for Social Work Research: Challenges in social work research – conflicts, barriers and possibilities in relation to social work, Aalborg, Denmark, 19-21 April 2017.Aalborg: ECSWR. pp.42 (Conference Publication 7).

Gibson, M. (2016). “Understanding the Emotional Impact of Safeguarding on Professional Practice.” In Building Honest & Effective Relationships with the Communities and People we Serve, Bristol, 11, July 2016. Bristol: Bristol Safeguarding Children’s Board.

Gibson, M. (2016). “Are we educating for the wrong profession? Findings from a field study on how shame and pride are being used to refashion social workers into a new type of professional.” In NOPT Conference 2013, Wolverhampton, 6, July 2016. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton.

Gibson, M. (2016). “Who is knocking at the door? Compliance and authenticity in social work practice.” In Knocking at the Door, Stafford, 17, March 2016. Stafford: Staffordshire County Council.

Gibson, M. (2015). “Which voice of the child? Masks, identities, and the need to belong.” In West Midlands Principal Child and Family Social Workers Conference: Hearing the Voice of the Child, Birmingham, 6, March 2015. Birmingham: IEWM: pp. 1 (Conference Publications; 1).

Gibson, M. (2013). “Shame and Guilt in Child Protection Social Work: New Interpretations and Opportunities for Practice.” In 13th International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) European Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Gibson, M. (2013). “Using Narrative Practice to develop struggling students.” In NOPT Conference 2013. Oxford: Ruskin College.

Gibson, M. (2012). “The ‘Sexual Abuse Case’ Survival Guide: Tools for working with families where there has been sexual abuse.” In Practitioner Conference: Tools to Take Home, Birmingham, 10, December 2012. Birmingham: University of Birmingham. pp. 1 (Conference Publications; 2).

Gibson, M. (2012). “Safety planning in high risk child protection cases.” In Practitioner Conference: Contemporary Risk Assessment and the Signs of Safety Approach, Birmingham, 8 May 2012. Birmingham: University of Birmingham. pp. 1 (Conference Publications; 1).

Gibson, M. (2012). “Meaningful partnership: Re-imagining how social work can facilitate sustained change to provide safety in families where there are risks of sexual abuse.” In British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN) 8th Congress: Keeping Children Safe in an Uncertain World: Learning from Evidence and Practice, Belfast, 15-18 April 2012. York: BASPCAN. pp. 125 (Conference Publications; 8).