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Dumbrill Gary, Associate Professor

photo of Gary Dumbrill

Gary Dumbrill

Associate Professor

Faculty
School of Social Work

Area(s) of Interest:

Biography

I am an Associate Professor at McMaster University. My current research focuses on place and being. This research examines the way physical places, objects and artwork that have cultural, religious, or political meaning for people, shape their identity, their ideas about who they are, their relationship with others, and the ways they understand fairness and social justice. This study builds on my overall program of research and teaching that focusses on anti-oppression, anti-racism, social inclusion and exclusion, and related social justice themes. Most of my research is participatory, community based, and grounded in the knowledge and the stories of people’s everyday lives. I place emphasis on developing theory not in the academy, but "on the street" in partnership with those whose lives are impacted by the theories, policies and practices that the academy, governments, and social workers produce.

Prior to my academic career, I worked in child welfare in both England and Canada. I left the field to undertake a PhD at the University of Toronto and this led to my current academic career, but I remain involved in child welfare through my research, teaching and also through training and consultation I provide to the field.

Before I decided, or perhaps discovered, that social work was for me, I explored several career options, including a short time in the British Royal Marines and also several years working in London (England) in construction and eventually as a bricklayer.

Research & Supervisory Interests

My research revolves primarily around one central question, how we can we do child welfare work well. I answer this question by developing child welfare service users’ knowledge and theory. I define “service users’ knowledge” as the lived experience service users have of their troubles and the services and policies that attempt to address them, and “service users’ theory” as the refinement of this knowledge by service users into explanations about the causes of these troubles, and into recommendations for practices, services and policies that address them. The service users I focus on are parents, not because their views are more important than the views of children and youth, but because their voices are often unheard.

All of my child welfare research is connected to the wider social work theme of anti-oppressive policy and practice, which is an umbrella term I use for social work approaches that address service user troubles and the social inequalities that cause or compound them. I situate service users’ knowledge and theory as central to anti-oppression, and as such this knowledge and theory is not only about how to do social work well, it is also about the ways we think about and organize social work, social policy, and ourselves as a society. As such, although child welfare is the entry point for most of my research, my interest in anti-oppression also results in a research focus on broader social justice themes that examine racism, colonization, whiteness, social inclusion and exclusion, and related topics.

Education

  • PhD, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada (2003)
  • MSW, School of Social Work, York University, Canada (1993)
  • CQSW & Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Studies, Croydon College, England (1984)
  • BSc (Hons), Polytechnic of the South Bank, Faculty of Social Sciences, London, England (1983)

Teaching

Courses Taught

Undergraduate (McMaster unless otherwise noted)

  • Social Work 2BB3: Anti-Oppressive Perspectives, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020
  • Social Work 4SB3: Critical Child Welfare: From Theory to Practice II, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
  • Social Work 4SA3: Critical Child Welfare: From Theory to Practice I, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Social Work 4W03: Child Welfare, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018 (winter) & 2018 (fall), 2019, 2021 (winter)
  • Social Work 2A06: Theory, Process and Communication Skills for Social Work, 2013-2014
  • Social Work 4D06: General Practice II, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2010-2011
  • Social Work 4Q03: Inquiry into Anti-Oppression: Facilitating the Dialogue, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (co-taught)
  • Social Work 323: Anti-Oppressive Practice, 2002 (University of Victoria, School of Social Work)
  • Social Work 375: Child welfare practice 2001, (University of Victoria, School of Social Work)
  • Social Work 4380: Child Welfare Policies and Services, 1997 (Co-taught, York University, School of Social Work)

Graduate (McMaster unless otherwise noted)

  • Social Work 702: Special Topics - Reimagining Child Welfare, 2017
  • Social Work 700: Social Work Practice - Critical Frameworks, 2016
  • Social Work 773: Doctoral Research Seminar 2013-2014, 2014-2015
  • Social Work 772: Qualitative Methods for Social Work, 2013
  • Social Work 738: Social Work Research Methods, 2012
  • Social Work 711: Children and Families, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
  • Social Work 4617: Cross-cultural Social Work & Diversity, 2002, 2003 (online-University of Toronto)
  • Social Work 505: Graduate Child Welfare Seminar, 2002 (University of Victoria, School of Social Work)
  • Social Work 4625: Identifying and Responding to Child Maltreatment, Issues for Social Work Practice with Children and Families, 2001 (University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work)
  • Social Work 4380: Child Welfare Policies & Services, 2000 (University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work, taught as a part of a team)
  • Social Work 4103: Elements of Social Work Practice, 1997 (University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work, co-taught)
  • Social Work 4105H: Social Work Practice Lab, 1997 (University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work, co-taught) 

Research

I disseminate my research in books, journals, and also in knowledge exchange projects. Publications and conference presentations include:

Books

  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Yee, J, Y. (2018). Anti-Oppression: Ways of Knowing, talking and doing. Oxford University Press, Toronto, Canada.

Contributions to books

  • Yee, J. Y., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2022). Evolving theory of whiteness: A journey from W. E. B. Du Bois to shame and call-out culture. In S. S. Shaikh, & B. A. LeFrançois, & T. Macias (eds.), Social Work Theory—Critical Praxis. Halifax, Canada. Fernwood Publishing.Dumbrill, G. (2017). Emic and alliance: Anti-oppressive social work in child protection. In D. Bains (Ed.), Doing anti-oppressive practice: Social justice social work (3rd ed., pp. 57-69). Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
  • Yee, J. Y., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2016). Whiteout: Still looking for race in Canadian social work practice. In A. Al-Krenawi, J. R. Graham, & N. Habibov (Eds.), Diversity and social work in Canada (2nd ed., pp. 13–37). Toronto, Canada: Oxford University Press.
  • Greene, S., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Dumbrill, G. C., Ion, A., Beaver, K., Porter, M., & Desbiens, M. (2016). A community-based research approach to developing an HIV education and training module for child and family service workers in Ontario. In H. M. Montgomery, D. Badry, D. Fuchs, & D. Kikulwe (Eds.), Transforming child welfare: Interdisciplinary practices, field education, and research (pp. 163–185). Regina, Canada: University of Regina Press.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2015). Adjusting a power imbalance: There is no anti-oppression without service users' voice. In Esquao Sohki Aski [Jeannine Carriere] & S. Strega (Eds.), Walking this path together: Anti-oppressive child welfare practice (2nd ed., pp. 124–138). Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2011). Doing anti-oppressive child protection casework. In D. Bains (Ed.), Doing anti-oppressive practice: Social justice social work (2nd ed., pp. 51–63). Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2009). What parents say: Service users’ theory and anti-oppressive child welfare practice In S. Strega & J. Carriere (Eds.), Walking this path together: Anti-racist and anti-oppressive child welfare practice (pp. 127–141). Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2003). Child welfare: AOP’s nemesis? In W. Shera (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on anti-oppressive practice (pp. 101-119). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
  • Yee, J. Y., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2003). Whiteout: Looking for race in Canadian social work. In J. Graham & J. Al-Krenawi (Eds.), Multicultural social work in Canada. (pp. 98-121). Toronto, Canada: Oxford University Press.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (1998). Carols in the trenches. In T. S. Nelson & T. S. Trepper (Eds.), 101 more interventions in family therapy. (pp. 397-401). New York, NY: Haworth Press.

Journal Articles

  • Greene, S., Ion, A., Dumbrill, G., Teengs, D. O., Beaver, K., & Vaccaro, M.-E. (2018). “It’s better late than never”: A community-based HIV research and training response to supporting mothers living with HIV who have child welfare involvement. Journal of Law and Social Policy, 28(1/4), 61-80.
  • Damiani-Taraba, G., Dumbrill, G., Gladstone, J., Andrew, Koster, A., Leslie, B., Charles, M., (2017). The evolving relationship between casework skills, engagement, and positive case outcomes in Child Protection: A structural equation model. Children & Youth Services Review, 79, 456-462. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.05.033
  • Gladstone, J., Dumbrill, G., Leslie, B., Koster, A., Young, M., & Ismaila, A. A. (2014). Understanding worker-parent engagement in child protection casework. Children and Youth Services Review. 44, 56-64. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.002
  • Dumbrill, G. (2012). Anti-oppressive child welfare: How do we get there from here? Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 57(1), 2-8. (Note: Journal and this article now peer reviewed)
  • Gladstone, J., Dumbrill, G., Leslie, B., Koster, A., Young, M., & Ismaila, A. A. (2012). Looking at engagement and outcome from the perspectives of child protection workers and parents. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 112-118. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.09.003
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2010). Power and child protection: The need for a child protection service users’ union or association. Australian Social Work, 63(2), 194-206. doi:10.1080/03124071003717655
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2009). Your policies our children: Messages from refugee parents to child welfare workers and policy makers. Child Welfare, 88(3), p. 145-168.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Green, J. (2008). Indigenous knowledge in the social work academy. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 27(5), p. 489-503.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Rice-Green, J. (2007). Including Indigenous knowledge in Web-based learning. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 25(1/2), p. 103-116.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2006). Ontario’s child welfare transformation: Another swing of the pendulum? The Canadian Social Work Review, 23(1-2), p. 5-9.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2006). Parental experience of child protection intervention: A qualitative study. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 30 (1), 27-37.
  • Rice-Green, J., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2005). A child welfare course for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students: Pedagogical and technical challenges. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 23(3/4), 167-181.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Herie, M., Maiter, S., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2005). Achieving high touch in high tech: A constructivist, emotionally-oriented model of web-based instruction. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 25(1-2), 21-44.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2004). Moving from clients evaluating services to clients designing services, The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 48(4), 17-21.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2004). To understand ‘Others’ we must first understand ourselves: How Canada’s dominant White culture shapes our perceptions of ethnic minorities. British Columbia Association of Social Worker’s Perspectives Newsmagazine 26(3), 12-13.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2003). Child protection clients designing the services they receive: An idea from practice. Child and Family: A Journal of the Notre Dame Child and Family Institute, 7(1), 5-10.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2003). Multicultural social work revisited. New Brunswick Association of Social Workers Dossier Newsmagazine 14(2), 11-12.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2003). Developing racial and cultural equity in social work. Connection: Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers Newsmagazine, 10(37), 1 & 21-23.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2003). Developing racial and cultural equity in child welfare. The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 47(2), 27-31.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Maiter, S., & Dumbrill. G. C. (2002). High tech and high touch: The human face of online education. Journal of New Technology in the Human Services, 20 (3), 283-300.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Dumbrill. G C., & Maiter, S. (2000). Web-based education in a graduate faculty of social work: Crossing the new frontier. Journal of New Technology in the Human Services, 13(1&2), 27-38.
  • Duval, J., Clouthier, K., & Dumbrill, G. C. (1999). All have won, so all deserve prizes: An interview with Scott Miller. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 18 (3), 77-94.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (1996). Developing racial and cultural equity in social work practice. The Social Worker, 64(3), 89-94.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (1994). Preparing children in care for independence: A developmental process. The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 38(4), 15-19.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (1994). Foster parents and natural parents: Establishing a powerful working alliance. The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 38(3), 12-15.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (1992). Foster parent notes. The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies Journal, 36(7), 12-16.

Conference Presentations

  • Lo, S. W., & Dumbrill, G. C. (forthcoming 2020, May). Our Families Your Policies: Refugee Parents Speak about Canadian Social Service Systems. Poster presentation at, C2UExpo 2020. Algoma University, Canada.
  • Chaplin, J., Ion, A., Sinding, C., Dumbrill, G., Gizzarelli, R., Penney, S., Wright, K., Jones, N., Perkins, A., Robertson, S. (2019, June). Preparing for Critical Practice in Child Welfare: A Collaborative Justice-Focused Educational Program Towards Transformation in Child Welfare. Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE) Conference. Vancouver, Canada.
  • Yee, J.Y., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2019, April). Courageous leadership and organizational change: Towards equitable outcomes. CIECYR Equity & Inclusivity Symposium 2019, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.
  • Dumbrill, G., Ion, A., Chaplin, J., Sherry-Kirk, S., Greene, L., Sinding, C., Maikawa, T., et al. (2018). The McMaster BSW with child welfare specialization: The story of its development. 3Voices in Child Welfare Conference. McMaster University, ON, February 22, 2018.
  • Greene, S., Ion, A., Muchenje, M., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Carroll, S, Lotfi, M., Dumbrill, G. C. (2018). The Positive Parenting Pilot Project: a community-based HIV research and training response to supporting mothers living with HIV who have child welfare involvement. 3Voices in Child Welfare Conference. McMaster University, ON, February 22, 2018).
  • Ion, A., Daly, C., Greene, S., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Dumbrill, G. (2017). Building capacity, strengthening knowledge and skills: Effectiveness of HIV training for child protection workers and social work students in Ontario [poster presentation]. 26th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR conference). Montreal, QC, April 6-9, 2017.
  • Gladstone, J., Damiani-Taraba, G., Dumbrill, G., Koster, A., Leslie, B., and Young, M. (2016, August 31). Client engagement and intervention outcomes: Yes, there is a relationship and here's what it looks like. The 21st ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Calgary, August 31, 2016.
  • Greene, S., O’Brien-Teengs, D., Dumbrill, G., Ion, A., Shindler, S., Porter, M., Beaver, K. (2015). Developing an HIV education and training module for child and family service workers in Ontario: Lessons learned from the positive parenting pilot project [poster presentation]. 24th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research. Toronto, ON. May 2015.
  • Marquis, B., Vander Kloet, M,. Dumbrill. G. Joshi, A., Lo, W., Rossi, V. (2014, June) Transforming teaching and learning environments to increase inclusion. STLHE 2014: Transforming our teaching and learning experiences. Queens University, Kingston, Canada.
  • Dumbrill, G. (2014, April). Disadvantaged by social workers: The social construction of "bad parenting" philosophies. Global Social Sciences Conference, hosted by Hong Kong Baptist University, National Taiwan University, China Youth University for Political Sciences. Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
  • Dumbrill, G. (2013, June). Building theory from service users' definitions of good anti-oppressive practice. Canadian Association for Social Work Education Annual Conference. Victoria, Canada.
  • Dumbrill, G. (2013, April). Learning from service users: What they say, how they say it, and why we all need to listen. Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Symposium. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
  • Leslie, B., Gladstone, J, Dumbrill, G., Koster, A., Young, M., & Ismaila, A., A. (2012, September). Effective intervention begins with client engagement. Paper presented at the European Scientific Association on Residential and Foster Care for Children and Adolescents (EUSARF), Glasgow, Scotland.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2012, May). Left at the border: Service user perspectives in social work. Canadian Association for Social Work Education Annual Conference. Waterloo, Canada.
  • Gladstone, J., Dumbrill, G., Leslie, B., Koster, A., Young, M., & Ismaili, A. (2011, May). The influence of engaged worker-client relationships on child welfare outcomes. Paper presented at the Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER),5th Annual International Conference on Sociology, Athens, Greece.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2010, June). A service users association: The key to anti-oppressive child protection policy and practice. Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies 2010 International Conference on Child Welfare and Child Wellbeing: Putting Children First. Toronto.
  • Young, M., Gladstone, J., Koster, A., Leslie, B., Dumbrill, G. C., Ismaili, A. (2010, June). Parent–worker engagement: What it is and how to do it. Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies 2010 International Conference on Child Welfare and Child Wellbeing: Putting Children First. Toronto.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2009, June). A social work service users association: The key to promoting harmony and justice in a world of conflict? Promoting Harmony and Justice in a World of Conflicts: An International Conference on Social Work and Counseling Practice. City University. Hong Kong.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2008, May). Your Policy Our Children: Refugee Parents Speak about the Impact of Canadian Social Policy on their Families. A poster presentation at Symposium 2008. Cultural Diversity and Vulnerable Families: A Bias in Favour of Cultural Competence. University of Quebec in Montreal.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2007, June). Oppression and anti-oppression in organized spirituality: An example from Christianity. The Second North American Conference on Spirituality and Social Work "Spirituality in Challenging Times: A Resource for Practice, Advocacy, and Self-Care." Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Lo, W. (2007, May). Bridging service users’ and service providers’ knowledge systems: Issues of power. Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work Conference, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
  • Sin, R., Ross, M., Semley, A., Fortino, J., Carlos, A., Henry, T., Lovelace, L., Balogh, K., Neil, M., Dumbrill, G., & Sinding, C. (2007, May). Facilitating Anti-Oppressive Dialogue through Personal Inquiry: A New Model of Learning for Social Work Practice. Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work Conference, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
  • Dumbrill G. C. (2006, October). A child welfare service users union: An idea from the reviving end of intervention. Paper presentation at the “Whitaker Field Education Conference: Social Justice In Social Work Education and Practice: Unfolding the Elsewhere and Otherwise.” University of Victoria, British Columbia.
  • Koster, A., Dumbrill, G. C., Lovell, P., Mulroney, M., Niemi, D., Rivard, D. (2006, June). Developing a Collaborative Child Welfare Model for Ontario. Poster presentation at the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies and Children’s Mental Health Ontario “working together” conference, Toronto.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Rice-Green, J. (2004, August). Including Indigenous Knowledge in Web-Based Learning. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference of Human Services Information Technology Application, Hong Kong.
  • Sammon, S., Cho, M., Cosby, R., Dumbrill, G,. Ferreira, C., Lee, B., Palmer, S., Swan, T., Westwood, A., Young, M. (2004, May). Transforming the social work curriculum? A community, faculty, student collaboration in designing anti-oppression education. A presentation at the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work 2004 Annual Conference, “Social work and place: Confluence and transformation.” Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Rice-Green, J., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2003, June). Developing diverse and inclusive social work knowledge systems. A presentation at the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work 2003 Annual Conference, “Diversity and inclusion: Putting the principles to work.” Halifax, Nova Scotia.
  • MacFadden, R., Herie, M., Dumbrill, G., & Maiter, S. (2003, May). Thinking and feeling: Building a constructivist, emotionally-oriented model for online education. A presentation at the Nexus Conference, “Connecting teaching, technology and inclusive education.” Toronto, Ontario.
  • Dumbrill, G. C. (2002, May-June). Child welfare: AOP’s nemesis? A presentation at the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work 2002 Annual Conference, “Anti-oppressive practice and global transformation: Challenges for social work and social welfare.” Toronto, Ontario.
  • Yee, J. Y., & Dumbrill, G. C. (2000, May). Racism: A forgotten concept in child welfare? A presentation at the Millennium integrated children's conference. Toronto, Ontario.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2000, May). Developing web-based training in child welfare: An early look at the present & future of human services education. A presentation at the Millennium integrated children's conference. Toronto, Ontario.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (2000, April). Developing a graduate level Web-based course on cultural competence. A presentation at the conference, “Teaching, learning and research in today's university: Information technology and the university professor.” University of Toronto.
  • MacFadden, R. J., Maiter, S., & Dumbrill, G. C. (1999, September). Web-based course delivery in a graduate faculty of social work: Crossing the new frontier. A paper presented at Husita-5 Conference. Budapest, Hungary.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Trocmé, N. (1999, February). The social construction of modern child welfare—learning about the present by researching the past. Paper presented at the 1st International interdisciplinary conference on advances in qualitative methods. Edmonton, Alberta.
  • Maiter, S., & Dumbrill, G. C. (1997, March). Consumer centered child protection services. Paper presented at the 74th Annual Orthopsychiatry Conference, Toronto, Canada.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., & Maiter, S. (1996, June). Many cultures many solutions: Being competent in the world of diversity. A presentation at the millennium international conference. Toronto, Ontario.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., Maiter, S., & Mason, V. (1995, May). Consumer empowerment: An out-of-home care example. A presentation at the Child Welfare League of America, Atlantic Region Training Conference. Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Dumbrill, G. C., Maiter, S., & Mason, V. (1995, May). Consumer-centered practice: Establishing powerful working relationships with the parents of children in care. A presentation at the Growing 95' Conference. Toronto, Ontario.