Dr Caroline J. Bald
Lecturer
School of Health, Wellbeing & Social Care
Biography
I am a Lecturer in Social Work at The Open University and a registered social worker with a background in probation, criminal justice and social work education. My research focuses on the relationship between care and justice systems, particularly the experiences of people who must navigate different services, professional responsibilities and organisational boundaries.
My work explores acquired brain injury (ABI), safeguarding, rehabilitation and inclusion in social work and criminal justice settings. I am particularly interested in how professional language, service thresholds and organisational structures influence access to care and support. Working with practitioners, researchers, policymakers and people with lived experience, I seek to strengthen the connections between research, policy, education and practice. This includes contributing to NIHR-funded research on brain injury-informed social work education and developing opportunities for collaboration across adult social care and justice.
I hold a Professional Doctorate in Social Care Education. My doctoral research examined admissions decision-making in social work education in England, including the use of criminal record information, professional suitability and the role of regulatory expectations. This continues to inform my interest in professional gatekeeping, widening participation and the relationship between inclusion and belonging in regulated professions.
Alongside my academic work, I am Chair of the Brain Injury Social Work Group (BISWG), Co-Chair of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) England Criminal Justice Social Work Group and an elected BASW UK Council Director. I am also an elected board member of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and Chair of its Social Work, Crime and Criminal Justice Special Interest Group. My wider interests include social work history, particularly the changing relationship between probation and social work, and I am incoming Coordinator of the Social Work History Network.
I contribute to journal editorial boards and international research networks and am involved in editing international handbooks on criminal justice social work and social work histories. My published work spans criminal justice social work, acquired brain injury, social work education, professional inclusion and safeguarding.
At The Open University, my teaching and curriculum development bring together law, ethics, human rights and professional practice. I am particularly interested in the opportunities that distance and online learning offer for widening access to social work education, including for students balancing employment, caring responsibilities and study.
Across my research, teaching and professional roles, I am interested in how social work can contribute to more inclusive and connected systems of care and justice. I welcome opportunities for research collaboration, knowledge exchange, doctoral supervision and engagement with practitioners, professional organisations and policymakers.
Publications
Book
Bald, C. J., & Martinez Herrero, M. I. (Eds.). (2026). The Routledge International Handbook of Criminal Justice Social Work. Routledge.
Book Chapter
Bald, C. J. (2026). A divisive path: Criminal justice social work education across the four nations of the UK. In C. J. Bald, & M. I. M. Herrero (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Criminal Justice Social Work (pp. 60-73). Routledge.
Martínez-Herrero, I., & Bald, C. J. (2026). Advancing collectively criminal justice social work internationally. In C. J. Bald, & M. I. Martínez Herrero (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Criminal Justice Social Work (pp. 573-575). Routledge.
Bald, C. J., & Martínez-Herrero, I. (2026). Criminal justice social work: Repositioning a critical but overlooked field. In C. J. Bald, & I. Martínez-Herrero (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Criminal Justice Social Work (pp. 3-6). Routledge.
Bald, C. (2025). “We Are Open, the Door Is Just Very Heavy”: The Politicization of Social Work Education Admissions Decision-making in England. In R. Baikady, J. Przeperski, S. S.M., & M. R. Islam (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Power, Politics, and Social Work (pp. 447-460). Oxford University Press.
Bald, C., Amadiegwu, A., & Dehnavi, O. (2023). Decolonisation and critical social work pedagogies. In V. Ioakimidis, & A. Wyllie (Eds.), Social Work’s Histories of Complicity and Resistance: A Tale of Two Professions (pp. 244-260). Policy Press.
Bald, C., Tynan, R. R., & Dehnavi, O. (2022). A new emancipatory script: Gendered Post-Sentence Discrimination and Experiences of Reintegration. In I. Masson, & N. Booth (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Women's Experiences of Criminal Justice (pp. 487-498). Routledge.
Bald, C. (2020). Class of 2020: Experiences of Student Social Workers in a Pandemic. In P. Buzzi, & C. Megele (Eds.), Social Work and Covid-19: Relationship-based Practice in a Global Pandemic. Rhizomatic Publishers.
Bald, C., & Walker, S. (2020). Covid-19 and Social Inequalities in Health in the UK. In C. Ferstman, & A. Fagan (Eds.), Covid-19, Law and Human Rights : Essex Dialogues. A Project of the School of Law and Human Rights Centre (pp. 159-166). University of Essex.
Bald, C., Carter, L., Fagan, A., Gilbert, G., & Wylie, A. (2020). The Impact on Vulnerable Populations. Vulnerability: A Discussion. In C. Ferstman, & A. Fagan (Eds.), Covid-19, Law and Human Rights : Essex Dialogues. A Project of the School of Law and Human Rights Centre (pp. 147-148). University of Essex.
Digital Artefact
Bald, C., Darley, D., & Dyer, F. (2026, July 3). Naming Social Work: Reflections on Racial Disproportionality in Child Remand.
Let's Talk Social Work., & Bald, C. (2024, January 1). Brain Injury, Social Work and Human Rights. British Association of Social Workers.
Bald, C. (2020, June 11). The Trials of being a Working Class Academic in Social Work: the Spoils and the Apple Cart – the politics of compliance and complaint.
Journal Article
Bald, C. J., Martínez Herrero, M. I., & Šumskienė, E. (2026). [Editorial] Special issue editorial: teaching human rights social work. Social Work Education, 45(7), 1729-1734.
Norman, A., Holloway, M., Bald, C., Amadiegwu, A., Clark, M., Linden, M., Spirit, T., Ademakinwa, T., Mellor, K., Ricketts, A., Driver, L., Grant, S., Shephard, S., & Bateman, A. (2026). “I wasn’t prepared for that”: UK Social worker Experiences of Training in and Knowledge of Acquired Brain Injury. Journal of Social Work, (Early access).
Ryan-Morgan, T., Bald, C., & Holloway, M. (2026). The Mental Capacity Act (2005), Acquired Brain Injury and Decision-Making – What Does This All Mean for Social Workers?. Practice, (Early access).
Bald, C., Norman, A., Amadiegwu, A., Spirit, T., Ademakinwa, T., Linden, M., Holloway, M., Clarke, M., & Bateman, A. (2026). Hidden in plain sight: UK social work educator views of preparedness to work with individuals and families affected by ABI. Social Work Education, (Early Access).
Sumskiene, E., Martínez Herrero, I., & Bald, C. (2026). Response to the special issue ‘Social Work and Social Control’: a Delphi study connecting the coercive past and artificial intelligence futures of social work in Lithuania, Spain and the UK. Critical and Radical Social Work, (Early access).
Phillips, J., Bald, C., & Martínez Herrero, M. I. (2025). Every Social Worker is a Criminal Justice Social Worker. Probation Journal, 72(4), 355-365.
Bald, C., Hakak, Y., & Simpson, G. (2025). Introduction to the special edition: tools, techniques, and methods of the creative SW educator. Social Work Education, 45(4), 893-894.
Ravalier, J., Wegrzynek, P., Dimolareva, M., Bald, C., Albertson, D., Spicer-Manning, G., McGale, K., Toscano, T., & McEwan, T. (2025). A social worker-led evaluation of the professional capabilities framework. The British Journal of Social Work, 55(6), 3192-3212.
Bald, C., & Grant, S. (2025). “Prisons Are Full of People Like Me”: Brain Injury, Criminalisation and the Role of the Probation Service. Probation Quarterly, (36).
Linden, M. A., Holloway, M., Cooper, C., Amadiegwu, A., Bald, C., Clark, M., Mantell, A., Norman, A., Bateman, A., & Okpalauwaekwe, U. (2023). Social workers and acquired brain injury: A systematic review of the current evidence-base. PLoS ONE, 18(11), e0292128.
Ravalier, J. M., Wegrzynek, P., Mitchell, A., McGowan, J., Mcfadden, P., & Bald, C. (2023). A Rapid Review of Reflective Supervision in Social Work. The British Journal of Social Work, 53(4), 1945-1962.
Bald, C. (2023). Modernization or mistake? The impact of Covid-19 on social work course admissions in a university in England. Journal of Practice Teaching and learning, 20(1), 67-82.
Bald, C., Wyllie, A., & Martínez Herrero, M. I. (2022). Criminal records and public sector professional education: The role of criminal background checks in admissions to social work courses in England. Probation Journal, 69(3), 337-352.
Howells, A., & Bald, C. (2022). ‘This is my oasis’: an exploration of student hub support for social work students’ wellbeing. Social Work Education, 41(4), 556-576.
Bald, C. (2019). Domestic abuse: The work undertaken by Community Rehabilitation Companies. Probation Journal, 66(1), 138-142.
Bald, C., & Howells, A. (2019). How do we professionalise social work without losing our soul? A reflection on the role and purpose of practice placements within social work education. Journal of Practice Teaching and learning, 15(3), 75-87.
Bald, C. (2019). Post-release supervision for short-term prisoners: Thematic review. Probation Journal, 66(4), 465-467.
Bald, C., & Howells, A. (2017). Professionalising social work education without losing our soul: A critical reflection on the role and purpose of practice placements in the context of Teaching Partnerships. Journal of Practice Teaching and learning, 15(3), 75-87.
Bald, C. (2002). [Book Review] Residential Work with Offenders by Emma Wincup. Probation Journal, 49(4), 325-326.
Bald, C. (2002). [Book Review] Good Practice with Vulnerable Adults. Probation Journal, 49(2), 178-179.
Bald, C. (2002). [Book Review] Encyclopedia of Women and Crime. Probation Journal, 49(1), 59-60.
Bald, C. (2001). [Book Review] Domestic Violence: Guidelines for Research-Informed Practice eds. John P. Vincent, Ernest N. Jouriles, London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020. Probation Journal, 48(2), 161-162.
Bald, C. (2000). [Book Review] Making an Impact: Children and Domestic Violence - A Reader by Marianne Hester, Chris Pearson and Nicola Harwin, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2000. Probation Journal, 47(2), 151-152.
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Bald, C., & Howells, A. (2021, July 8-9). The 4 Cs Model of Wellbeing Education. Joint Social Work Education Conference.
