Professor Rick Hood
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education
- Department of Social Work and Social Care
- School of Education, Midwifery and Social Work
- Centre for Health and Social Care Research
- Kingston Hill
Professor of Social Work
- Email:
- rick.hood@kingston.ac.uk
About
I lead on research in the department with responsibility for undertaking applied research in the field of social work and social care, developing proposals and applications for external funding, supervising doctoral students, and supporting research and scholarship within the team. I am a registered social worker with over 10 years' experience of statutory child and family social work, and teach across a range of modules in pre- and post-qualifying social work courses. I have written two academic textbooks, Complexity in Social Work (2018) and Inequality and Social Work (2023), both published by Sage. I am co-chair of the BASW thematic group for children and families, and am a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Social Work.
My research takes a mixed methods approach to applying systems ideas to social care, particularly services for children and families. Recent grant-funded research has explored the link between system conditions and welfare inequalities in children's social care, the outcomes of services for different types of demand, and the social gradient of intervention using the national datasets for England. Other recent projects include a study of reunification and re-entry to care, an evidence review of decision-making and risk assessment, and an analysis of patterns of demand and provision in adult social care. I am currently leading on two mixed methods studies, the first exploring the link between financial precarity and child welfare interventions, funded by Nuffield Foundation, and the second examining stability and outcomes for children in children's homes, funded by the NIHR.
I believe that research, teaching and scholarship can make a difference to people's lives. The difference I would like to make is to promote systems thinking in social care policy, management and practice, draw attention to social inequalities, and harness the potential of human relationships and capabilities.
Qualifications
- PgCert, Professional Education and Training, Kingston University and St Georges, University of London
- PhD, 'Complexity and Interprofessional Working in Children's Services', Royal Holloway, University of London
- MSc, Social Work, Royal Holloway, University of London
- BA(Hons), German and Spanish, Jesus College, University of Cambridge
Domains
Selected Grants and Projects
2024-2026
NIHR, £349,821, What kinds of children's homes work well for which children? A mixed methods study of stability and outcomes using national administrative data (PI)
2023 - 2025
Nuffield Foundation, £298,770, Linking household benefits, financial precarity and child welfare (PI)
2022 - 2026
NIHR, £1.3m, What CAMHS interventions predict positive outcomes for which young people with a social worker: A mixed-methods study of clinical support and cost-effectiveness utilising linked operational data (Co-I)
2022 - 2024
Nuffield Foundation, £429,802, Rethinking Domestic Abuse in Child Protection: Responding differently (Co-I)
2021 - 2023
Nuffield Foundation, £184,129, Studying the outcomes of different types of demand in children's social care (PI).
2021 - 2022
What Work Centre for Children's Social Care, £19,962, Improving the chances of successful reunification for children who return home from care: a rapid evidence review (PI)
2018 - 2021
Nuffield Foundation, £317,659, Identifying and understanding the link between system conditions and welfare inequalities in statutory children's social care services (PI)
Consultancy and training
2023-24 Re-imagining pre-proceedings - Family Rights Group
2023 Overcoming cultural and behavioural barriers to information sharing in children's social care - Oxford/LB Newham
2020-2021 DIMA (Digital Maturity Project) - Achieving for Children / Home Office
2020-2021 Applying complexity concepts to the management of children's social care - Kent Children's Services
Publications
Inequality and social work
Hood, Rick (2023). London, U.K.: (Sage)
Complexity in social work
Hood, Rick (2018). London, U.K.: (Sage)
Knowledge brokering inside the policymaking process : an analysis of evidence use inside a UK government department
Shaxson, Louise, Hood, Rick, Boaz, Annette and Head, Brian, 2025, (21), 1, pp 6-25
Predictors of re-referral to children’s social care services : an analysis of the national datasets for England
Goldacre, Allie, Jones, Ed, Martin, Emma, Clements, Keith, Webb, Calum and Hood, Rick, 2025, Children and Youth Services Review (169), pp 108113
Typological and cumulative approaches to risk and adversity in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) : retrospective cohort analysis in South London
Coughlan, Barry, Marshall, Nicole, Woolgar, Matt, Mannes, Julia, Erkiert, Paige, Humphrey, Ayla, Smith, Jack, Drayak, Taliah, Crozier-Roche, Francesca, Morgan, Tessa, Hutchinson, Dustin, Graham, David, Hood, Rick and Duschinsky, Robbie, 2024, Comprehensive Psychiatry, pp 152568
Inequality and its implications for the social work profession : reflections on the UK Joint Universities Social Work Association Conference
Hood, Rick, 2024, The British Journal of Social Work (54), 8, pp 3425-3428
Factors associated with the school exclusion gap for children with social work involvement : a retrospective cohort study using national administrative data
Hood, Rick, Goldacare, Allie, Jones, Edward, Martin, Emma, Clements, Keith and Webb, Calum, 2024, The British Journal of Social Work
Intervention pathways following a social work assessment : an analysis of national administrative data for children's social care in England
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Jones, Ed, Martin, Emma, Clements, Keith and Webb, Calum, 2024, The British Journal of Social Work
Risk rates and profiles at intake in child and adolescent mental health services : A cohort and latent class analyses of 21,688 young people in South London
Coughlan, Barry, Woolgar, Matt, Hood, Rick, Hutchinson, Dustin, Denford, Ella, Hillier, Amy, Clements, Keith, Geraghty, Teresa, Berry, Ava, Bywaters, Paul, Bilson, Andy, Smith, Jack, Drayak, Taliah, Graham, David, Crozier‐Roche, Francesca and Duschinsky, Robbie, 2024, JCPP Advances
Negotiating the budget for evidence-informed policymaking : insights from a UK government department
Shaxson, Louise, Hood, Rick, Boaz, Annette and Head, Brian, 2024
Categorising demand for child welfare services using latent class analysis : a study of the national data-sets on children in need in England
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Jones, Ed, King, Adam, Clements, Keith and Webb, Calum, 2023, The British Journal of Social Work
Reunification and re-entry to care : an analysis of the national datasets for children looked after in England
Goldacre, A., Hood, R., Davis, A., Jones, E. and Wang, C., 2022, The British Journal of Social Work (52), 8, pp 4756-4777
Factors affecting the social gradient in children's social care
Goldacre, Allie and Hood, Rick, 2022, The British Journal of Social Work (52), 6, pp 3599-3617
Patterns of demand and provision in English adult social care services
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Abbott, Simon and Jones, Ray, 2022, The British Journal of Social Work, pp bcac011
What linking children's social care and benefits data can tell us
Hood, Rick, 2022, Policy in Practice
Exploring the impact of Ofsted inspections on performance in children’s social care
Hood, Rick and Goldacre, Allie, 2021, Children and Youth Services Review (129), pp 106188
Beyond the toxic trio : exploring demand typologies in children’s social care
Hood, R., Goldacre, A., Webb, C., Bywaters, P., Gorin, S. and Clements, K., 2021, The British Journal of Social Work (51), 6, pp 1942-1962
Using outcome measures in child protection work
Hood, Rick, Lansley, Sue, Mitchell, Toni and Gaskell-Mew, Elaine, 2021, (26), 3, pp 318-328
New development : using the Vanguard Method to explore demand and performance in people-centred services
Hood, Rick, O'Donovan, Brendan, Gibson, Jo and Brady, Dermot, 2021, (41), 5, pp 422-425
Exploring drivers of demand for child protection services in an English local authority
Hood, Rick, Gorin, Sarah, Goldacre, Allie, Muleya, Wilson and Bywaters, Paul, 2020, (25), 3, pp 657-664
Screen, ration and churn : demand management and the crisis in children's social care
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Gorin, Sarah and Bywaters, Paul, 2020, The British Journal of Social Work (50), 3, pp 868-889
Theories of power in interprofessional research : developing the field
Cohen Konrad, Shelley, Fletcher, Simon, Hood, Rick and Patel, Kunal, 2019, Journal of Interprofessional Care (33), 5, pp 401-405
An analysis of Ofsted inspection reports for children's social care services in England
Hood, Rick, Nilsson, David and Habibi, Ruth, 2019, (24), 2, pp 227-237
A study of practitioner–service user relationships in social work
Hood, Rick, Brent, Maria, Abbott, Simon and Sartori, Daniele, 2019, The British Journal of Social Work (49), 3, pp 787-805
Demand management is making problems worse for local authorities under pressure
Hood, Rick, 2019, Community Care
What to measure in child protection?
Hood, Rick, 2019, The British Journal of Social Work (49), 2, pp 466-484
Why are children treated unequally by social care services?
Hood, Rick, Gorin, Sarah and Goldacre, Alexander, 2018, Community Care
[Book Review of] Blinded by Science: The Social Implications of Epigenetics and Neuroscience, David Wastell and Susan White
Hood, Rick, 2017, The British Journal of Social Work (47), 6, pp 1824-1826
Complex systems, explanation and policy : implications of the crisis of replication for public health research
Grant, Robert L. and Hood, Rick, 2017, Critical Public Health (27), 5, pp 525-532
Collaborating across the threshold : the development of interprofessional expertise in child safeguarding
Hood, Rick, Price, Jayne, Sartori, Daniele, Maisey, Daryl, Johnson, Jessica and Clark, Zoe, 2017, Journal of Interprofessional Care (31), 6, pp 705-713
A study of performance indicators and Ofsted ratings in English child protection services
Hood, Rick, Grant, Robert, Jones, Ray and Goldacre, Allie, 2016, Children and Youth Services Review (67), pp 50-56
Exploring demand and provision in English child protection services
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Grant, Robert and Jones, Ray, 2016, British Journal of Social Work (46), 4, pp 923-941
How deprivation affects the way social work referrals are handled
Hood, Rick, 2016, Community Care
Child protection interventions are on the rise – and the trend shows no sign of slowing
Hood, Rick, 2016, Community Care
How professionals talk about complex cases: a critical discourse analysis
Hood, Rick, 2016, Child and Family Social Work (21), 2, pp 125-135
Be careful what you measure in child protection because it influences practice
Hood, Rick, 2016, Community Care
Combining phenomenological and critical methodologies in qualitative research
Hood, Rick, 2016, Qualitative Social Work (15), 2, pp 160-174
A conceptual review of interprofessional expertise in child safeguarding
Hood, Rick, Gillespie, Judy and Davies, Jonathon, 2016, Journal of Interprofessional Care (30), 4, pp 493-498
A socio-technical critique of tiered services: implications for interprofessional care.
Hood, Rick, 2015, Journal of Interprofessional Care (29), 1, pp 8-12
How professionals experience complexity : an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Hood, Rick, 2015, Child Abuse Review (24), 2, pp 140-152
Complexity and integrated working in children's services
Hood, Rick, 2014, British Journal of Social Work (44), 1, pp 27-43
Early experiences in extending personal budgets in one local authority
Norrie, Caroline, Weinstein, Jenny, Jones, Ray, Hood, Rick and Bhanbro, Sadiq, 2014, Working with Older People (18), 4, pp 176-185
The definition and deployment of differential core professional competencies and characteristics in multiprofessional health and social care teams
Jones, Ray, Bhanbhro, Sadiq M, Grant, Robert and Hood, Rick, 2013, (21), 1, pp 47-58
A critical realist model of complexity for interprofessional working
Hood, Rick, 2012, Journal of Interprofessional Care (26), 1, pp 6-12
Using evidence in social care
Ghate, Deborah and Hood, Rick (2019). In: Boaz, Annette, (eds.), Davies, Huw, (eds.), Fraser, Alec, (eds.) and Nutley, Sandra, (eds.), What works now? : evidence-informed policy and practice. Bristol, U.K.: Policy Press, pp 89-109
Assessment for social work practice
Hood, Rick (2016). In: Davies, Keith, (eds.) and Jones, Ray, (eds.), Skills for social work practice. London, U.K.: Palgrave, pp 82-104
Prevention and protection: the development of safeguarding in children’s services
Hood, Rick (2015). In: Evans, Tony, (eds.) and Keating, Frank, (eds.), Policy and Social Work Practice. London, U.K.: Sage, pp 48-65
How do policy officials allocate their resources to support evidence-informed policymaking? Towards a research agenda
Shaxson, Louise, Hood, Rick, Boaz, Annette and Head, Brian (2024). Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: (Kingston University)
Studying the outcomes of children’s social care provision for different types of demand
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Clements, Keith, Jones, Edward, Martin, Emma, King, Adam and Webb, Calum (2024). (Nuffield Foundation)
Feinstein, Leon, Hyde-Dryden, Georgia, Baginsky, Mary and Hood, Rick (2023). Oxford, U.K.: (Rees Centre, University of Oxford)
Covid-19 and trends in children's social care : an analysis of the national datasets for England
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, King, Adam and Jones, Ed (2022). Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: (Kingston University)
Impact of investing in prevention on demand for statutory children's social care
Webb, Calum, Bennett, Davara, Bywaters, Paul and Hood, Rick (2022). London, U.K.: (National Children's Bureau)
Improving the quality of decision making and risk assessment in children’s social care : a rapid evidence review
Hood, Rick, Abbott, Simon, Coughlan, Barry, Nilsson, David, Duschinsky, Robbie, Parker, Pamela and Mannes, Julia (2022). (What Works Centre for Children's Social Care)
Improving the chances of successful reunification for children who return home from care : a rapid evidence review
Hood, Rick, Abbott, Simon, Nilsson, David, Baginsky, Mary, Dimond, Claire and (2022). (What Works Centre for Children's Social Care)
Reunification and re-entry to care: an analysis of national children's datasets for England
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Jones, Ed and King, Adam (2021). (Kingston University and St Georges, University of London)
The case for change : a response
Featherstone, Bird, Webb, Calum, Bywaters, Paul, Gupta, Anna, Bilson, Andy, Morris, Kate and Hood, Rick (2021).
The social gradient in English child welfare services : an analysis of the national children's social care datasets
Hood, Rick and Goldacre, Allie (2021). (Kingston University and St Georges, University of London)
Evidence for system reform needed to address the socio-economic drivers of demand and reduce inequalities in child welfare provision.
Hood, Rick, Featherstone, Brid, Bywaters, Paul, Gupta, Anna, Bilson, Andy, Morris, Kate and Webb, Calum (2021). (Parent, Families and Allies Network)
Identifying and understanding the link between system conditions and welfare inequalities in children's social care services : Final Report
Hood, Rick, Goldacre, Allie, Gorin, Sarah, Bywaters, Paul and Webb, Calum (2020). Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: (Kingston University and St Georges, University of London)
Prevent SOC pilot evaluation report
Brady, Dermot, Watson, Susan and Hood, Rick (2018). Kingston Upon Thames: (Kingston University and St Georges, University of London)
Caring Dads: multi-site evaluation in London 2013-2015: final report
Hood, Rick, Lindsay, Jane and Muleya, Wilson (2015). (Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George's, University of London)
Evaluation of Caring Dads: a single site evaluation in an urban local authority: interim report
Hood, Rick, Lindsay, Jane and Muleya, Wilson (2014). (Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George's, University of London)
Evaluating the experience of older people and people with mental health issues of being assessed for and receiving a personal budget in Wandsworth
Weinstein, Jenny, Ellison, Sarah, Hood, Rick and Jones, Ray (2012). London, U.K.: (Wandsworth Local Involvement Network)
Dilemmas of a caring profession : the implications of inequality for social work
Hood, Rick(2024). In: Joint Universities Social Work Association Conference 2024, 27-28 Jun 2024 :Kingston upon Thames
Welfare inequalities : an existential challenge for social work?
Hood, Rick(2024). In: TCRU/Coram Joint Annual Lecture, 9 May 2024 :London, U.K.
Social work, systems thinking and digital technology
Hood, Rick(2021). In: Social work, human rights and digital technology : findings from research, 09 Dec 2021 :London, U.K.
Reflexive regulation: Exploring the impact of Ofsted inspections on children’s social care services.
Hood, Rick(2021). In: Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference 2021, 08-09 July 2021 :Online
Evidence and public health policy in complex systems : a view from the UK after COVID-19
Grant, Robert and Hood, Rick(2021). In: International Web Workshop on Computational Economics and Econometrics : Unfolding Policy Learning : Theory, Models and Applications, 02 Jul 2021 :Online
Socioeconomic inequalities: reforming an unjust child welfare system
Hood, Rick(2021). In: KEE 2: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Children’s Social Care and Social Work, 24 May 2021 :Online
Measuring what matters : a systems approach to evaluating impact and effectiveness in children's social care
Hood, Rick and Brendan, O'Donovan(2021). In: Evidence, Evaluation and Impact: Improving Outcomes for Children, 30 - 31 Mar 2021 :Held online
Concentrations of inequality in children's social care: lessons for policy and practice
Hood, Rick and Goldacre, Allie(2021). 16 Mar 2021 : Online
The challenges facing children : what's driving the demand for children's services
Hood, Rick(2020). In: Westminster Education Forum keynote seminar : Children's services in England - inspection, effective multi-agency working and innovation in delivery, 03 Jun 2020 :Online
Managing demand for children's social care
Hood, Rick(2019). In: European Social Work Research Conference 2019, 10-12 Apr 2019 :Leuven, Belgium
Identifying and understanding the link between system conditions and welfare inequalities in statutory children's social care services
Hood, Rick(2018). In: Social Work Seminar Series, 05 Dec 2018 :Edinburgh, U.K.
Regulation, risk and blame culture in social work
Hood, Rick(2018). In: 8th European Conference for Social Work Research : Social Work in Transition : Challenges for Social Work Research in a Changing Local and Global World, 19-21 Apr 2018 :Edinburgh, U.K.
An analysis of performance and inspection in English child protection services
Hood, Rick(2017). In: 7th European Conference for Social Work Research, 19-21 Apr 2017 :Aalborg, Denmark
Measuring outcomes and performance in child protection services
Hood, Rick(2017). In: Contemporary Issues and Debates in Social Work Education, Research and Practice, 14 Feb 2017 :London, U.K.
Inspection and the measurement of services
Hood, Rick(2016). In: Community Care Live Birmingham 2016, 10-11 May 2016 :Birmingham, U.K.
Exploring performance measures in child protection
Hood, Rick and Goldacre, Allie(2015). In: School of Social Work Annual Conference: Great Thinkers, Great Ideas, Great Impact, 23 Apr 2015 :Kingston, U.K.
How professionals experience complexity and joint working in child protection
Hood, Rick(2012). In: 8th Congress: Keeping Children Safe in an Uncertain World: Learning from Evidence and Practice, 15-18 Apr 2012 :Belfast, U.K.
Outcomes, indicators and professional work in integrated children’s services
Hood, Rick(2011). 27-29 Jul 2011 : York, U.K.
The tail and the dog : the role of research in developing integrated children's services
Hood, Rick(2011). In: European Conference for Social Work Research, 23 - 25 Mar 2011 :Oxford, U.K.