Search results for ‘Subject term:"child protection"’ Sort:
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Future proofing child protection social work
- Author:
- SHEMMINGS David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Children's Services, 12(2/3), 2017, pp.202-210.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: How might the profession of child protection social work be “future proofed”, i.e. remain intact and of value beyond its present existence? The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This is a discussion/“think piece” paper, in which the author argues that foregrounding the art and science of helping relationships is a way forward. Recognising and promoting the centrality of helping relationships is the direction in which the author believes (or is it hopes?) social work should head, because “more of the same” is not, in the author’s view, possible to sustain for much longer. Treading the well-worn but pot-holed path of box-ticking, endless risk assessment and perfunctory statutory visiting is likely to lead to continuing problems retaining social workers and, for those who do stay, increased burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma, each of which interrupts or delays the development of working alliances with family members. Findings: Growing reliance on thresholds and checklists to assess risk has served to increase referrals. As a result, social workers spend much of their time on triaging and filtering rather than working with the children and families that most need help and protection. Further, it is not what is in the practitioner’s toolkit that matters: rather, it is a defined set of personal skills and qualities that tips the balance to achieve lasting change. Thus, in order to “future proof” social work, we would do well to deepen our understanding of how helping relationships can lead to lasting change. Supporting social workers in this work is not just the responsibility of individual practitioners and their professional bodies, action also needs to be taken at governmental and managerial levels. Originality/value: This is a discussion/“think piece”. (Publisher abstract)
Family group conferencing in Dutch child welfare: which families are most likely to organize a family group conference?
- Authors:
- DIJKSTRA Sharon, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 83, 2017, pp.255-263.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Aim of the present study was to identify which families involved in child welfare are willing to organize a Family Group conference (FGc; phase 1) and which are most likely to complete a conference (phase 2). Data were used of a Dutch randomized controlled trial (N = 229). First, the proportion of families willing to organize an FGc and actually completing a conference was determined. Then, for each of the phases, reasons for dropout according to parents, child welfare workers and FGC-coordinators were assessed and categorized and family characteristics were linked to completion rate. Results showed that 60% of the families (137 families) were willing to organize an FGc and 27% (62 families) eventually completed a conference. Reasons for dropout were lack of motivation, high-conflict divorce situations and need for other professional care. Broken and/or newly formed families were less likely to complete a conference, whereas families with indications for child maltreatment were more likely to complete a conference. Future research is needed to examine other possible explanations for the relatively low success rate, such as attitude of child welfare workers towards FGC and the lack of understanding of the aim of FGC by child welfare workers and families. (Publisher abstract)
The Norwegian child protection services in stormy weather
- Author:
- HENNUM Nicole
- Journal article citation:
- Critical and Radical Social Work, 5(3), 2017, pp.319-334.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
By examining children as symbols within a Norwegian context and, further, as icons in a larger Western context, the article shows how these ways of understanding children give the Norwegian child protection system both its strength and its potential to misuse power. It is clear that, today, there exist in Norway children whose experiences contravene hegemonic understandings of children. Many of these children encounter child protection professionals who seek to provide them with childhoods in keeping with the Norwegian consensus about how children should be and how childhood should be lived. The situations of such children are often interpreted with reference to two universal images: one involving the discourse of children's rights; and the other involving the discourse of psychosocial rehabilitation. These images need to be changed in order to fit the realities of children's own subjectivity, opportunities and material conditions of life. (Publisher abstract)
Moral panics and social work: a rejoinder to Smith et al
- Author:
- PILGRIM David
- Journal article citation:
- Critical and Radical Social Work, 5(3), 2017, pp.351-355.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
A rejoinder to a response from Mark Smith and his colleagues to the author's original article in this journal on social work and moral panics. The author makes a brief concession to a couple of points made, but goes on to defend the main propositions in his original article. (Edited publisher abstract)
Moral panics and social work: a response to David Pilgrim
- Authors:
- SMITH Mark, CREE Vivien, CLAPTON Gary
- Journal article citation:
- Critical and Radical Social Work, 5(2), 2017, pp.223-229.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
The authors comment on the article 'Child sexual abuse, moral panics and emancipatory practice' by David Pilgrim. The authors argue that David Pilgrim seeks to use their book, 'Revisiting moral panics' (Cree et al, 2015), to construct a straw man, which needs to be knocked down to preserve his own particular view of child sexual abuse. The authors argue that there are many problems in the way he does so, and they provide a response. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mandated reporters' experiences with reporting child maltreatment: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
- Authors:
- McTAVISH Jill R., et al
- Journal article citation:
- BMJ Open, 7(10), 2017, Online only
- Publisher:
- BMJ Publishing Group
Objective: To systematically search for research about the effectiveness of mandatory reporting of child maltreatment and to synthesise qualitative research that explores mandated reporters’ (MRs) experiences with reporting. Design: As no studies assessing the effectiveness of mandatory reporting were retrieved from a systematic search, the review conducted a meta-synthesis of retrieved qualitative research. Searches in Medline (Ovid), Embase, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Sociological Abstracts, Education Resources Information Center, Criminal Justice Abstracts and Cochrane Library yielded over 6000 citations, which were deduplicated and then screened by two independent reviewers. English-language, primary qualitative studies that investigated MRs’ experiences with reporting of child maltreatment were included. Critical appraisal involved a modified checklist from the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and qualitative meta-synthesis was used to combine results from the primary studies. Setting: All healthcare and social-service settings implicated by mandatory reporting laws were included. Included studies crossed nine high-income countries (USA, Australia, Sweden, Taiwan, Canada, Norway, Finland, Israel and Cyprus) and three middle-income countries (South Africa, Brazil and El Salvador). Participants: The studies represent the views of 1088 MRs. Outcomes: Factors that influence MRs’ decision to report and MRs’ views towards and experiences with mandatory reporting of child maltreatment. Results: Forty-four articles reporting 42 studies were included. Findings indicate that MRs struggle to identify and respond to less overt forms of child maltreatment. While some articles (14%) described positive experiences MRs had with the reporting process, negative experiences were reported in 73% of articles and included accounts of harm to therapeutic relationships and child death following removal from their family of origin. Conclusions: The findings of this meta-synthesis suggest that there are many potentially harmful experiences associated with mandatory reporting and that research on the effectiveness of this process is urgently needed. (Edited publisher abstract)
Ending domestic violence: SafeLives Insights national briefing
- Author:
- SAFELIVES
- Publisher:
- SafeLives
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 4
- Place of publication:
- London
This briefing draws on Insights data collected between April 2014 and March 2017, to explore the experiences of children exposed to domestic abuse, and the involvement of children’s social services in these cases. Insights is a ‘whole family’ outcomes measurement programme specifically designed for specialist domestic abuse services supporting adults and children who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse. The data reveals that two in five children (41%) in families where there is domestic abuse have been living with that abuse since they were born. For some children, this exposure to abuse does not only start early, but persists into later childhood. Of all the children in our dataset who had been living with abuse for their whole lives, over a third (37%) were more than five years old. The paper estimates that at the time they start school, at least one child in every class will have been living with domestic abuse since they were born. The paper makes a number of recommendations, including: ensuring that there is an effective referral pathway for children who are affected by domestic abuse, and that professionals who have concerns can access advise from a specialist; ensuring specialist training is available to practitioners working with children and young people in a variety of settings; and developing and testing interventions which focus on the perpetrator of abusive behaviour, including those who are parents. (Edited publisher abstract)
Child protection and family support practice in Ireland: a contribution to present debates from a historical perspective
- Authors:
- DEVANEY Carmel, McGREGOR Caroline
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Social Work, 22(3), 2017, pp.1255-1263.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper takes the opportunity of the current child welfare system change in Ireland to promote the value of learning from history to better understand the interface between family support and child protection. The paper draws from the histories of child protection and family support to illuminate the commonalities and differences that have come to define the two practices. Using findings from two historical studies – one on family support and the other on child protection – the paper demonstrates the unique features and the many integrated elements of family support and child protection in Ireland. It is argued that students and practitioners need to be provided with a stronger sense of the historical developments that have shaped the present. This will enable comprehension of the complex context within which current relations between ‘protection’ and ‘support’ are negotiated and help to avoid operating in a vacuum of a present only viewpoint. The paper concludes with reference to the need for students and practitioners to navigate the complex relationship between family support and child protection at practice, policy and organisational level through a well-informed knowledge of the historical as well as the present context. (Publisher abstract)
Beyond the risk paradigm in child protection: current debates and new directions
- Editor:
- CONNOLLY Marie
- Publisher:
- Palgrave
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 232
- Place of publication:
- Basingstoke
For decades, child protection systems have striven to provide responsive services to vulnerable children and families in the face of the constant change and instability caused by the bureaucratisation of child protection. This book lends a strident voice to the argument for a shift beyond the current risk paradigm, towards genuine cultural change. Topics covered include: risk as a major driver of professional practice; the risk paradigm and the media in child protection; predictive risk modelling as a signal of adversity; new knowledge in child protection – neuroscience and its impacts; disproportionality and risk decision-making in child protection; service users as receivers of risk-dominated practice; engaging families and managing risk in practice; assessment and decision making to improve outcomes in child protection; signs of safety as promising comprehensive approach for reorienting CPS organisations' work with children, families and their community supports; working differently with domestic violence; family risk and responsive regulation; responding differently to neglect – an ecological approach to prevention, assessment and treatment; positive leadership in child protection; and informal and formal support for vulnerable children and families. (Edited publisher abstract)
‘London calling’: the experiences of international social work recruits working in London
- Authors:
- HANNA Sue, LYONS Karen
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 47(3), 2017, pp.719-736.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This recruitment of international social workers (ISWs) in England has been primarily aimed at ‘plugging the gaps’ in the child protection services. This paper reports on one aspect of a qualitative research project investigating the post-arrival integration, professional practice and development of ‘international social workers’, namely those trained and qualified outside of the UK working in London and the Home Counties. Findings demonstrate that, as well as being a challenging professional and work experience, this form of labour mobility is a profound life event for most ISWs and, as with human migration in other fields and countries, entails a complex social, emotional and cultural transition. (Publisher abstract)