Shepard Masocha

Shepard
Masocha

Biography

I am originally from Zimbabwe where I attained a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Economic History from the University of Zimbabwe in 1996. Thereafter, I taught history up to A-Level at Mt Pleasant High School, Harare until my appointment as a tutor in 1999 at the University of Zimbabwe in the Department of Economic History. I held this post until I relocated to the United Kingdom in 2001. I contributed towards the teaching of undergraduate courses. During this period, I also studied for a Masters Degree in African Economic History with particular emphasis on labour and agrarian studies. Upon relocating to United Kingdom, I worked as a supply teacher in London schools before making the decision to embark on a social work career. I obtained a Masters Degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work at the University of Nottingham. In 2008, I was awarded a studentship to study for a PhD in Social Work at the University of Dundee. I am currently a registered social worker with the Scottish Social Services Council. I am also involved in the teaching of undergraduate courses in the School of Education, Social Work and Community Education on a casual basis.

I have a wide ranging research interest in social work practice with ethnic minorities and mental health issues that affect this service user group. At the moment, I hope to further my interest in social work practice with ethnic minorities and asylum seekers in particular by focusing on how social work professionals construct asylum seekers as objects of knowledge and targets of intervention. Through using critical discourses analysis (van Dijk, Wadok) and also discursive social psychology (Edwards, Wetherell and Potter) as my main methodologies, I am interested in analysing how social workers enact their discourses in everyday practice through language use taking into account that these local meanings are situated in wider larger discourses. My work is heavily influenced by the works of Michel Foucault. My research focuses on the critical study of social work with asylum seekers and the intersecting discourses of race, racism, culture and social citizenship. I anticipate that my work in addition to fulfilling the requirements of my current PhD studies will also result in a number of publications.

My supervisors are Dr Murray Simpson and Dr Sharon Jackson.

Degrees & Qualifications

• BA (Hons) Economic History - University of Zimbabwe
• MA in African Economic History (thesis pending) - University of Zimbabwe
• MA and Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work - University of Nottingham

Research Interests

• Social work practice with asylum seekers
• Social work practice with Black and Ethnic Minorities
• Anti oppressive and anti racist practice
• Mental health social work with Black and Ethnic Minorities
• Looked After Children

Publications