The affective dimensions of poverty, including the impact of wider policydiscourses and services that ‘other’ and shame people in poverty, areincreasingly recognized. In response, Lister [(2013). Power, not Pity:Poverty and Human Rights. Ethics and Social Welfare, 7(2), 109–123]advocates for ‘a politics of recognition&respect’ that centralizes thevoices, participation and lived experiences of those who live inpoverty. This paper considers how applying Lister’s theory couldimprove child protection (CP) social work in England, from a humanrights and social justice perspective. The paper draws on findings froman ATD Fourth World participatory research project aimed at updatingthe course content for a pre-existing social worker training module onpoverty awareness. The project brings together families withexperience of poverty and CP interventions, social work practitionersand academics.