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Protecting children and young people: child protection committees
- Author:
- SCOTLAND. Scottish Executive
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Executive
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 29p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
Working with British Army families: a qualitative study of child protection practitioners' views and experiences
- Authors:
- TAYLOR Julie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse Review, 30(2), 2021, pp.166-173.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Research or practice guidance about working with UK army families with complex needs is limited. This paper reports a study that explored the views and experiences of health, social work and education professionals who worked routinely with army families in the context of concerns about children's welfare and protection. Contributing to the evidence base about army families in the UK, it identifies areas of ‘good’ child protection practice between military and civilian services, and highlights areas that require development. Key practitioner messages: closed, often tight-knit army communities can potentially provide protective factors for children; however, this environment can make it difficult to seek help or to speak out when there are concerns about children's safety or wellbeing; the needs and experiences of non-serving parents (often female partners) can be overlooked unless, or until, child protection concerns are serious; army-connected children benefit from accessing army and civilian health, education and welfare services; however, transitions and communication between these services need to be improved. (Edited publisher abstract)
Motivational interviewing for working with children and families: a practical guide for early intervention and child protection
- Authors:
- FORRESTER Donald, WILKINS David, WHITTAKER Charlotte
- Publisher:
- Jessica Kingsley
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 224
- Place of publication:
- London
Drawing on 20 years of practical experience, research and teaching in the field, this book is a comprehensive guide on the use of Motivational Interviewing (MI) in child protection and family social work. MI increases the likelihood of behavioural change, working with client resistance to encourage a constructive environment when initiating difficult conversations. This makes it particularly effective for child and family social care. Drawing on over 500 studies spanning 11 local authorities, this book uses recordings of real meetings between social workers and families to explain what MI is, how it can be used in child and family social work and how to improve MI skills. An invaluable resource for frontline child protection and family social workers, this book will enable to help you to better understand the needs of the people you support and be more effective in providing the right kind of support. (Edited publisher abstract)
Making acquaintance: compatibility of critical disability studies conventions with child protection and welfare social work practice in Ireland
- Author:
- FLYNN Susan
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 33(2), 2021, pp.137-148.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Substantial research evidence alludes to concerns, practical impediments, inefficiencies and injustices in Child Protection and Welfare (CPW) work with children with disabilities. Meanwhile, individualised perspectives and bio-medical discourses that have traditionally monopolised social work practice with disability are increasingly viewed as inadequate and reductive. In this context, particularly instrumental is the complexity and non-materiality that disability entails. As a cross-cutting intervention into these predicaments, this paper explores the practicalities of tentative links between CPW social work with children with disabilities, and the theoretical innovations of Critical Disability Studies (CDS), alluded to elsewhere. The proposition is, that three conditions of possibility may foster space for the effective integration of CDS conventions into CPW social work. These are instructive and refer respectively to: opening space for integration; application as an aid to reflective practice; and sensitising to nuanced and immaterial forces of disablement. The intention is, that abstract theory and non-materialist insights from CDS may be productively disruptive, and repurposed, for CPW students and practitioners seeking new ways to think through the present predicaments. (Edited publisher abstract)
Does it feel right? Emotional and embodied processes as a ‘shadowy epistemology’ in difficult child protection cases
- Authors:
- BJERRE Line Soberg, NISSEN Maria Appel
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 51(2), 2021, pp.600-616.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Social workers in child protection services must make difficult decisions often based on fragmented knowledge and the inevitable risk of not knowing what is important to know about a child and the family. Cases of severe neglect have been subject to public attention of politicians and media in several European countries often followed by reforms with a strong focus on standardising risk assessment and documentation. This article argues and shows that emotional and embodied processes are an important source of knowledge in child protection. Such processes appear in social workers’ narratives about worries for the well-being and security of children underpinned by moments of silence and symbolic bodily utterances. These ways of communicating emotions help social workers navigate and make sense in child protection cases, where knowledge is limited. The question ‘Does it feel right?’ becomes crucial in terms of identifying and expressing potential risks. However, as a legitimate professional question that can lead to valuable knowledge it remains latent. Therefore, emotional and embodied processes constitute a ‘shadowy epistemology’ (Bruner, J. (1991) ‘The narrative construction of reality’, Critical Inquiry, 18(1), pp. 1–21). Instead of denouncing these processes, we need to develop a professional language of understanding and naming them, and the aim of this article is to contribute to this. (Edited publisher abstract)
Child-focused practice in social work: beginning the naming journey when family and domestic violence is present
- Authors:
- MOSS Dan, MANDARA Mia, WENDT Sarah
- Publisher:
- Emerging Minds
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 7
This paper is for social work practitioners and students who work, or will work, with parents affected by family and domestic violence (FDV). It examines early engagement with parents – both those who perpetrate violence, and those who are affected by violence. While we acknowledge that violence occurs in families in different ways, given most violence is perpetrated by men, with children and women the victims, this will be the focus of this paper. Key messages include: when a parent is affected by FDV, they may describe this violence in different ways to a social worker – these descriptions can minimise the effects on children and mean that they don’t receive the support that they need for their social and emotional wellbeing; fathers who use violence may initially minimise their actions by blaming female partners or children, underreporting the seriousness of their actions, or describing their violence as communication or relationship issues; mothers who experience violence may believe that they are complicit or to blame for their partners’ actions, or the consequences for their children if they disclose; social workers who help parents name their experience of violence will be much more likely to provide early intervention and prevention support for children’s social and emotional wellbeing and safety. (Edited publisher abstract)
Social work intervention pathways within child protection: responding to the needs of disabled children in Ireland
- Author:
- FLYNN Susan
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 33(1), 2021, pp.51-63.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Whilst even minimal social work intervention entails judicious planning and strategic oversight, existing literature alludes to persistent concerns, inadequacies and challenges in safeguarding work with disabled children. In this context, critical commentary on the literature selects two influences on social work intervention for more in-depth consideration. The sustaining proposition of the paper is that barriers to optimum Child Protection and Welfare (CPW) social work intervention with disabled children in Ireland, are encountered at both structural and epistemological levels. On a structural level, it is proposed that social work intervention pathways must negotiate problematic and indistinct lines of demarcation between disability services and statutory CPW services. On an epistemological level, the utility of evidence-based and rights-based approaches for overcoming shortfalls in perceptions, attitudes and culture alluded to in current literature, is arguably substantial. Notwithstanding other impediments to effective practice such as time and resource constraints, the refined focus of analysis on these two aspects, pursues further detail within existing and limited knowledge on the subject matter. In concluding, to operationalise insights from the former review towards improving future practice, a conceptual framework derived from the Hardiker Model (1991) is applied to discuss lessons learned, moving forward. (Edited publisher abstract)
Safeguarding in social work practice: a lifespan approach
- Authors:
- CHISNELL Charlotte, KELLY Caroline
- Publisher:
- Learning Matters
- Publication year:
- 2019
- Pagination:
- 312
- Place of publication:
- London
- Edition:
- 2nd ed
Safeguarding is a serious and complex area of social work, and demonstrating an understanding of important theory, law, policy and skills for practice is essential and it is vital that this understanding extends across the lifespan. This book brings together common safeguarding themes and knowledge across social work with children, young people and adults to help do just that. Chapters cover: the historical development of safeguarding and protection across the lifespan; the nature and prevalence of abuse across the lifespan; the policy and legal context for safeguarding practice; safeguarding and the family; safeguarding and communities; safeguarding in residential settings; skills for safeguarding and protection; key themes for safeguarding practice – challenges and priorities. (Edited publisher abstract)
Paradoxes of pandemic
- Author:
- GALLAGHER Bernard
- Journal article citation:
- Professional Social Work, June 2020, pp.18-19.
- Publisher:
- British Association of Social Workers
This perspective suggests that while the COVID-19 crisis will have a huge impact on social issues like homelessnesss and child neglect, it may not be necessarily in ways we might predict. At the time this article was published more than 36,000 people across the UK had died from coronavirus and over 4,000 people who sleep rough had been placed in temporary accommodation. While there are legitimate fears lockdown and pandemic measures generally may have led to more child abuse and neglect, paradoxically, some children are also protected by the lockdown. With more people within a child's home, there are more individuals and more opportunities to supervise children and this may deter abuse by other people. The article also considers the 'social work' paradox, i.e. the key agency in child protection - social work - has received far less recognition during the pandemic. The article also discusses the 'government paradox' or the government's newfound concern over child protection and other social issues. The article concludes with the the suggestion that after the pandemic the government should seek to retain some gains, and in particular continue to treat child abuse and neglect, domestic abuse and rough sleeping, and other acute social issues, as the emergencies they are. (Original abstract)
Embodied social work practice within risk society
- Authors:
- SMEETON Joe, O'CONNOR Patrick
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work, 20(5), 2020, pp.673-691.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This paper critically discusses the limitations of theorising social work from psychological and sociological perspectives and argues that phenomenology offers more opportunity to understand the embodied experiences of service users and social workers themselves. The paper argues that psychology and sociology have a limited analysis of being-in-the-world, which ought to be social work’s primary consideration. The paper offers an overview of the sociology of risk before embarking on an extensive description and discussion of Heidegger’s and Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology applied to the lived experience of child protection social workers working within risk society. The argument is put that phenomenology is a useful tool for understanding the lived experience of social work practitioners. Findings: The authors conclude that embodied social work practice containing fear and anxiety can be thought of as akin to taking part in extreme risk sports and that this is an unhealthy experience that is likely to skew decision-making and adversely affect the lives of social workers and service users. Applications: The authors argue that phenomenology can enhance understanding of practice and decision-making and offers insights into the lived experience of social workers. Phenomenology is useful for helping social workers negotiate risk-saturated environments, through a focus on meaning. (Edited publisher abstract)