Critical reflections on public involvement in research: Involving involuntary recipients of social services to improve research quality

Abstract Public involvement in research has become a common feature of the research process across health and social sciences. Public involvement means that people with lived experience of the research topic advise on, and sometimes co-produce, any or all stages of the research process from setting the research agenda through to dissemination and impact activities. Social work research has an established record of public involvement, but the literature on involuntary recipients of social services, such as child protection services, is limited. This article reflects on a standing research advisory group of parents in a large children’s social care university research centre. All parents in the group have experience of the child protection process. Parents and staff have co-written this article, which engages thematically with critical debates in the literature on public involvement relating to ethics, quality, and impact, and practical barriers.