A Ground-Breaking Step for UK Social Work: Trauma-Informed Reform Comes of Age

The Trauma Regulation Board is proud to share a milestone moment: our founder, Rachel Fairhurst, has secured a contract with Routledge Publishing for her forthcoming book on trauma-focused social work reform.

This landmark publication introduces a pioneering model that critically evaluates current social work operations and service delivery. With both compassion and rigour, Fairhurst challenges traditional frameworks and offers a transformative approach that places trauma understanding at the very heart of social care.

Co-authored with Tom Hawkins (MSc Social Work), one of Rachel’s former lecturers, the book draws from deep clinical expertise and lived experience. It promises to reshape how social work is practised in the UK—bringing trauma-informed approaches into mainstream policy, training, and frontline services.

Why This Matters

This is more than a book; it is part of a wider movement. A movement calling for a decisive shift in how we support children, families, and communities affected by trauma. A movement to empower social workers to respond with empathy, insight, and effectiveness—rather than being constrained by bureaucratic systems that too often re-traumatise those they are meant to protect.

The Ethics Gap

At the heart of this reform is the recognition of an “ethics gap” in statutory social work. On paper, codes of practice emphasise dignity, justice, and participation (BASW, 2018; SWE, 2019; IFSW, 2018). In practice, however, these values are routinely subverted by structural pressures: case throughput targets, performance indicators, and rigid court timescales.

This gap can be understood through two contrasting moral logics:

• Punitive Ethics: where morality collapses into procedural adherence. Escalating cases through Section 47 enquiries, PLO gates, and court hearings is treated as synonymous with ethical fidelity. Escalation is rationalised as the “safe” option, since statutory compliance shields agencies from scrutiny—even when it intensifies harm.

• Protective Ethics: where legitimacy derives from the least-harm principle. Anchored in trauma-informed frameworks (SAMHSA, 2014; Blue Knot, 2020), it prioritises proportional intervention, recovery orientation, and relational safety, even when this means resisting throughput pressures.

The difference is stark. Under punitive ethics, families experience escalation, exclusion, and avoidable removals. Under protective ethics, the same statutory thresholds become opportunities for stabilisation and recovery.

A Case for Change

In the book, this gap is illustrated through the case of Ethan, 14, whose school referral becomes a test of whether statutory interventions follow punitive compliance or protective proportionality. His story makes visible what thousands of families experience daily: outcomes hinge less on law or need, and more on which ethical logic is enacted.

The lesson is clear: values are not the problem, implementation is. Without trauma-informed operationalisation, social work remains trapped in a compliance culture that erodes trust and amplifies harm.

The Role of the Trauma Regulation Board

The TRB exists to bridge this gap. By setting enforceable, trauma-informed standards for practice, supervision, and regulation, we aim to realign UK social work with its core values of dignity, justice, and participation. Rachel’s book with Routledge is one part of this wider project—providing the intellectual and clinical foundation for systemic reform.

This is a defining moment for social work in the UK. The challenge now is not whether trauma-informed practice is needed, but how quickly and effectively it can be embedded into policy, training, and frontline operations.

Call to Action:
The Trauma Regulation Board is committed to ensuring that trauma-informed ethics move from aspiration to implementation. To learn more about our work, and how you can be part of this change—explore our standards, resources, and upcoming programmes by keeping an eye on what we are doing. Or if you would like to contribute to change, contact us and get involved.

Stay tuned for updates on the book’s release and how the Trauma Regulation Authority will be supporting its integration into practice across the UK.