The current longitudinal study expands existing efforts to understand the active ingredients of effective interventions by learning from parents who experienced a family preservation intervention themselves. The current study reports on the reflections of 35 parents who child protection social workers referred to family preservation programmes. In contrast to a focus on intervention components, parents related the helpful interventions they received to the effectiveness of intervention processes-namely, to the quality of the relationships they had with their individual family preservation workers and with service teams at the programs they attended. Parents identified that workers in effective programs used specific relational skills to recreate a nurturing family environment that fostered
The current longitudinal study expands existing efforts to understand the active ingredients of effective interventions by learning from parents who experienced a family preservation intervention themselves. The current study reports on the reflections of 35 parents who child protection social workers referred to family preservation programmes. In contrast to a focus on intervention components, parents related the helpful interventions they received to the effectiveness of intervention processes-namely, to the quality of the relationships they had with their individual family preservation workers and with service teams at the programs they attended. Parents identified that workers in effective programs used specific relational skills to recreate a nurturing family environment that fostered parent engagement and change throughout the process of intervention.
Subject terms:
parents, social workers, social worker-service user relationships, family support;
Research on Social Work Practice, 18(6), November 2008, pp.555-564.
Publisher:
Sage
This article reports the results of a mixed-method study that examined processes and outcomes of parent-worker engagement in child welfare. Knowledge gained from a qualitative exploration of engagement at one neighbourhood-based child welfare agency informed the gathering of quantitative data from 74 different parent-worker dyads using in this sequential exploratory design. Seven themes instrumental to engagement emerged: (a) clear, collaborative goal setting; (b) hopefulness; (c) parent acknowledgment of their situations; (d) motivation; (e) respect for cultural differences; (f) honest and straightforward communication; and (g) persistent and timely efforts by all. Quantitative analyses yielded little relationship between engagement and either visitation rate or case disposition by 9 months post placement. Although these data provide support for the clinical benefits of working to improve parent-worker engagement in child welfare services, they fail to provide evidence of a relationship between engagement and improved case outcomes.
This article reports the results of a mixed-method study that examined processes and outcomes of parent-worker engagement in child welfare. Knowledge gained from a qualitative exploration of engagement at one neighbourhood-based child welfare agency informed the gathering of quantitative data from 74 different parent-worker dyads using in this sequential exploratory design. Seven themes instrumental to engagement emerged: (a) clear, collaborative goal setting; (b) hopefulness; (c) parent acknowledgment of their situations; (d) motivation; (e) respect for cultural differences; (f) honest and straightforward communication; and (g) persistent and timely efforts by all. Quantitative analyses yielded little relationship between engagement and either visitation rate or case disposition by 9 months post placement. Although these data provide support for the clinical benefits of working to improve parent-worker engagement in child welfare services, they fail to provide evidence of a relationship between engagement and improved case outcomes.
Subject terms:
parents, social worker-service user relationships, child protection;
Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services
Publication year:
2022
Pagination:
19
Place of publication:
Glasgow
The terms 'non-engagement' and 'non-compliance' describe deliberate behaviours that aim to reduce professional intervention. The term 'disguised non-compliance' in social work refers to uncooperative and hostile behaviours from parents, initially masked by a short period of cooperation that seeks to draw practitioners' attention away from any concerns. Disguised non-compliance socio-political discourses which stress individual failings, not social inequality and injustice. Subtle forms of discrimination can come into play. For example, parents experiencing multiple adversities might be seen and labelled as a group that commonly exhibits behaviours associated with disguised non-compliance. Disguised non-compliance can impact social workers' decision-making, focusing on parental
(Edited publisher abstract)
The terms 'non-engagement' and 'non-compliance' describe deliberate behaviours that aim to reduce professional intervention. The term 'disguised non-compliance' in social work refers to uncooperative and hostile behaviours from parents, initially masked by a short period of cooperation that seeks to draw practitioners' attention away from any concerns. Disguised non-compliance is not a well-defined or commonly understood term. There is currently no research that identifies the reasons for disguised non-compliance. Consequently, risk assessments or subsequent interventions may not be proportionate to what is required to protect children. To understand the reasons for non-compliance, social workers need to ask whether parental feelings of shame come into play, shaped by dominant socio-political discourses which stress individual failings, not social inequality and injustice. Subtle forms of discrimination can come into play. For example, parents experiencing multiple adversities might be seen and labelled as a group that commonly exhibits behaviours associated with disguised non-compliance. Disguised non-compliance can impact social workers' decision-making, focusing on parental behaviours without taking other factors into account. There should be a greater focus on shared parent-professional responsibility for successful engagement and for social workers to have a more critical understanding of socio-economic context and how power (and shame) shapes this. An exclusive and separate focus on the child's needs to address risks is needed. A position of 'respectful uncertainty' should be maintained in assessing risk and the interconnected factors which contribute to the complexity of decision-making in child protection.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
social work, social worker-service user relationships, non-compliant behaviour, parents, child protection;
Child and Family Social Work, 26(3), 2021, pp.467-475.
Publisher:
Wiley
... interviewees even think that professionals act to promote private interests, including economic ones. Parents' reflections revealed also positive experiences; respondents underlined the value of a participatory approach, characterized by transparency, constant dialogue and partnership among service users and professionals involved.
(Edited publisher abstract)
In the Child Protection context, assessment is a very delicate phase that often indelibly marks the whole process of helping. In the Italian context, it is very important to deepen this topic: first because it is rarely studied and second because parental skills assessment is carried out by social workers almost exclusively after a request of the Local Authority. This qualitative research aimed to investigate the experiences and the feelings of 16 people assessed about parental skills; furthermore, the study aimed to focus on the quality of their relationship with social workers. The findings have largely confirmed the evidence of international literature: most of the respondents described a difficult path, characterized by strict procedures, poor listening and lack of participation. Some interviewees even think that professionals act to promote private interests, including economic ones. Parents' reflections revealed also positive experiences; respondents underlined the value of a participatory approach, characterized by transparency, constant dialogue and partnership among service users and professionals involved.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
child protection, user views, assessment, social worker-service user relationships, parents;
Journal of Children's Services, 16(2), 2021, pp.89-103.
Publisher:
Emerald
Purpose: This paper is concerned with what intensive family intervention professionals reveal to the parents with whom they work about whether they themselves are parents or not, as a form of professional self-disclosure in child welfare work. This paper also addresses the act of lying in professional self-disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on material from a series of narrative interviews completed with practitioners from one family intervention programme in an English local authority as part of a study looking at how children’s services professionals experience the suffering of parents. The study was based on a psychoanalytically informed methodological approach, which is represented in the analysis provided in the paper. Findings: The overall team ethos regarding parental status disclosure is experienced and how particular positions are invested in regarding the role of self-disclosure in working relationships with parents. Originality/value: Child welfare and family intervention professionals are often asked personal questions by the parents and carers they work with, including questions about whether they are a parent or not. These questions can be difficult
(Edited publisher abstract)
Purpose: This paper is concerned with what intensive family intervention professionals reveal to the parents with whom they work about whether they themselves are parents or not, as a form of professional self-disclosure in child welfare work. This paper also addresses the act of lying in professional self-disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on material from a series of narrative interviews completed with practitioners from one family intervention programme in an English local authority as part of a study looking at how children’s services professionals experience the suffering of parents. The study was based on a psychoanalytically informed methodological approach, which is represented in the analysis provided in the paper. Findings: The overall team ethos regarding parental status disclosure is considered briefly first then two participants’ accounts are explored in depth. These involved, what can be considered as, questionable or unorthodox stances regarding parental status disclosure (and self-disclosure more generally). The exploration illustrates the role that practitioners’ personal lives and histories can play in influencing how the act of professional parental status disclosure is experienced and how particular positions are invested in regarding the role of self-disclosure in working relationships with parents. Originality/value: Child welfare and family intervention professionals are often asked personal questions by the parents and carers they work with, including questions about whether they are a parent or not. These questions can be difficult to answer and there is a need for dedicated empirical analysis into the ways in which professionals experience, think about and respond to them and what they disclose about themselves when working with families.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
social workers, disclosure, social worker-service user relationships, parents, intervention;
Journal of Public Child Welfare, 9(5), 2015, pp.463-486.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Place of publication:
Philadelphia, USA
Numerous child protective services (CPS) agencies have adopted differential responses as a system reform hypothesised to facilitate family engagement. This research tests a conceptual framework developed to examine dynamics between caregiver, agency, and caseworker factors that are assumed to impact caregiver engagement. Data from a randomized control study and structural equation modelling methods were used to explore the influence of these factors on caregiver satisfaction with their CPS experience. The results indicate that receipt of alternative response, caregivers' ratings of their caseworker's interaction style, and caregivers' positive emotional response influenced satisfaction with their intervention experience, while negative emotional responses did not.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Numerous child protective services (CPS) agencies have adopted differential responses as a system reform hypothesised to facilitate family engagement. This research tests a conceptual framework developed to examine dynamics between caregiver, agency, and caseworker factors that are assumed to impact caregiver engagement. Data from a randomized control study and structural equation modelling methods were used to explore the influence of these factors on caregiver satisfaction with their CPS experience. The results indicate that receipt of alternative response, caregivers' ratings of their caseworker's interaction style, and caregivers' positive emotional response influenced satisfaction with their intervention experience, while negative emotional responses did not.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
child protection, families, parents, social worker-service user relationships, user participation;