scholarly journals RESILIENCE IN CHILD WELFARE: A SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVE

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot J. Hurley ◽  
Lisa Martin ◽  
Rhonda Hallberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Child Protection Workers

This study explores the concept of resilience as it is applied in child welfare practice from the perspective of front line child protection workers (CPWs). Specifically it examines how CPWs understand the concept of resilience and how they see themselves nurturing resilience in children and families. The paper also explores how working with resilient clients helps foster resilience in CPWs through a process of vicarious or shared resilience. This study is part of a larger three-site study conducted in Canada, Ireland, and Argentina examining the concept of resilience within specific socio-cultural contexts of child protection practice.

scholarly journals Adverse Childhood Experiences: Beyond Signs of Safety; Reimagining the Organisation and Practice of Social Work with Children and Families

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (8) ◽  
pp. 2042-2058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Spratt ◽  
John Devaney ◽  
John Frederick
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Systemic Analysis ◽  
Safety Programme ◽  
Signs Of Safety ◽  
Adverse Childhood

Abstract While an adverse childhood experience (ACE)-informed approach to child protection and welfare has become influential in USA, it has had markedly less influence in UK, this despite growth in adoption of ACE research as a basis for understanding population needs and aligning service delivery amongst policymakers and other professional groups. In this article, we note the development of ACE research and draw out implications for social work with children and families. We argue that current organisational and practice preoccupations, drawing on the example of the Signs of Safety programme, together with antipathy to ACEs in some quarters of the social work academy, have the effect of reifying a short-term and occluded view of the developing child’s needs so as to obstruct the systemic analysis and changes necessary to ensure that the child welfare system is redesigned to meet such needs. This suggests that post-Kempe era child welfare services are no longer conceptually or systemically adequate to protect children beyond immediate safety outcomes and consequently we need to reimagine their future.

Estonian child protection workers’ assessment perspectives: The need for competence and confidence

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karmen Toros ◽  
Michael C LaSala
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Further Training ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Welfare Work ◽  
Soviet Occupation ◽  
Trusting Relationships

After years of Soviet occupation, the country of Estonia is in transition, as are their newly developed child protection services. This quantitative study examines Estonian child protection workers’ perspectives about child welfare work and assessment in the context of children in need. These findings indicate that workers seem to overly rely on a deficit-based, as opposed to a strengths-based approach and lack skills for understanding their role, conducting assessments and engaging in trusting relationships with children and families. These findings suggest a possible holdover from Soviet philosophies, but definitely indicate the need for further training.

Silenced stories of social work with minority ethnic families in Norway

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Signe Ylvisaker ◽  
Marianne Rugkåsa ◽  
Ketil Eide
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Social Work Theory ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Minority Ethnic

This article draws on 160 cases of actual practice with minority ethnic families provided by child protection workers in Norway who were enrolled on the postgraduate course 'Child welfare in a minority perspective'. This course is part of a programme launched by the Norwegian government aimed at developing knowledge-based child protection practice. The article discusses the ways in which social workers construct stories about who their clients are and the reasons for their clienthood. Particular attention is given to parenting and the ways in which race, class and gender serve as overt, subtle or muted stories constructed in and through social work theory and practice.

Ethical decision-making in internet research – Investigating protest groups against Child Welfare Services on Facebook

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-317
Author(s):  
Edda Stang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Internet Research ◽  
Child Welfare Services ◽  
Welfare Services ◽  
Insight Into

At a time when both extensive international and national protest and criticisms are directed toward the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, it is of great interest to researchers to gain insight into the viewpoints presented in protest groups on social media. The paper aims to give insight into the ethical judgement involved in research on digital communities where it is difficult to decide whether certain material is public or not. In addition, the paper reflects on the social consequences of understanding some participants as vulnerable versus understanding them as citizens, in a social work/child protection context on social media. A considerable amount of literature focuses on ethical questions in Internet research. There is also literature on the ethical considerations connected to resistance and protest groups on social media. There is, however, less existing research about the ethical decision-making within the field of social work, child protection and client protests on the Internet. This paper analyses certain experiences from a qualitative research project regarding Facebook groups protesting Child Welfare Services in Norway. The paper concludes that in some social media research contexts, as the one presented here, taking extra care to anonymize participants in publications is sufficient to secure privacy, and covert collection of data is possible without jeopardizing ethical guidelines. Further, by developing practical ethical judgement, we can – in some social work contexts – avoid putting people into categories like “vulnerable” and instead approach the participants in public Facebook groups as citizens with socio-political opinions.

“Essential” services, risk, and child protection in the time of COVID-19: An opportunity to prioritize chronic need

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-223
Author(s):  
Johanna Caldwell ◽  
Ashleigh Delaye ◽  
Tonino Esposito ◽  
Tara Petti ◽  
Tara Black ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Long Term Outcomes ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Vulnerable Families ◽  
Essential Services

In many North American jurisdictions, socioeconomically vulnerable families are more likely to be involved with child protection systems and experience ongoing challenges. The current public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on these families via unemployment, “essential” work, isolation, and closures of childcare and schools, with negative implications for children’s developmental wellbeing. Experts warn that while child protection referrals have gone down, children who are at risk of maltreatment are less exposed to typical reporters (e.g., school professionals). At the same time, physical distancing measures are prompting many human service settings to shift toward virtual intervention with children and families. In this commentary, we suggest that a focus on short-term risk in the response to COVID-19 may obscure support for children’s long-term outcomes. We propose two policy considerations: (1) in the immediate term, that child protection workers be deemed “essential”; and (2) in the longer term, that permanent, universal basic income guarantees be implemented to support a baseline of predictability both in families’ material wellbeing and in fiscal budgets in the case of a future crisis. As we write, it is impossible to predict the longevity of these closures nor the extent of their impact on children and families. However, the present article mirrors commentary following previous crises noting the importance of going beyond immediate health risk mitigation to consider wellbeing with regard to children’s development and families’ socioeconomic needs in the long term.

Australian governments protecting children in detention: A view through the looking glass

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Max Liddell ◽  
Chris Goddard
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Double Bind ◽  
Theory Theory ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
The South ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Alice In Wonderland ◽  
Looking Glass

This article analyses the Australian Government’s communications on children in immigration detention, particularly those detained at Woomera and Baxter Detention Centres. The authors examine paradoxes and ‘double-bind’ theory; theory which analyses communications which continually put the target of them in the wrong and allow no escape. The analysis uses selected passages from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ to highlight the nature and impact of such communication. The authors conclude that the Australian Government has consistently used paradoxical communication. In doing so it has placed children and families in detention, child protection workers, the South Australian Government, and sometimes external critics in a communication trap from which it is difficult to escape. Other bodies such as Courts have also demonstrated much paradox in their behaviour and communications on detention issues.

scholarly journals Legislation’s Influence on Judiciarization: Examining the Effects of Statutory Structure and Language on Rates of Court Use in Child Welfare Contexts

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 354
Author(s):  
Angela Campbell ◽  
Mairi Springate ◽  
Nico Trocmé
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Professional Responsibilities ◽  
Protection De L’Enfance ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
The Way

This paper investigates the extent to which legislation influences decisions of child welfare workers regarding the referral of cases to court. It studies three Canadian jurisdictions: Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta, each of which takes a different legislative approach to the issue of court involvement in child protection. A critical examination of child welfare statutes in these provinces led to the prediction that rates of court use – or ‘judiciarization’ – would be highest in Quebec, followed by Ontario, and then Alberta. These predictions were then compared with data reflecting actual judiciarization rates in these three provinces for the year 2006. This data contradicted our initial predictions, in that Ontario’s rate of court use for child welfare cases was the highest of the three provinces, followed by Alberta, and then Quebec. Our research results thus suggest that legislation alone does not drive judiciarization in the child welfare context. As such, this paper illuminates the need for further study of the way in which child protection workers understand legislation as influencing their professional responsibilities and choices. Moreover, it indicates that further consideration is needed into how the use of judicial versus extra-judicial institutions might affect child welfare outcomes.Cet article examine la mesure dans laquelle la législation influence les décisions des travailleurs et travailleuses du bien-être de l’enfance quant à soumettre des cas aux tribunaux. On étudie trois territoires canadiens : le Québec, l’Ontario et l’Alberta, dont chacun prend une approche législative différente à la question de la participation des tribunaux dans la protection de l’enfance. Un examen critique des lois sur la protection de l’enfance dans ces provinces a amené à prédire que le taux d’utilisation des tribunaux – ou la «judiciarisation» - serait le plus élevé au Québec, suivi de l’Ontario puis de l’Alberta. Puis on a comparé ces prédictions aux données indiquant le taux réel de judiciarisation dans ces trois provinces pour l’année 2006. Ces données ont contredit nos prédictions initiales, le taux d’utilisation des tribunaux pour les cas de protection de l’enfance ayant été le plus élevé des trois provinces en Ontario, suivi de l’Alberta puis du Québec. Les résultats de notre recherche suggèrent donc que la législation à elle seule ne pousse pas à la judiciarisation dans le contexte de la protection de l’enfance. Ainsi, cet article fait voir le besoin d’étude additionnelle sur comment les travailleurs et travailleuses de la protection de l’enfance voient la façon dont la législation influence leurs responsabilités et leurs choix professionnels. De plus, il indique qu’il faut examiner davantage comment l’utilisation d’institutions judiciaires versus les institutions extrajudiciaires peuvent influencer les résultats de cas de bien-être de l’enfance.

scholarly journals Exploring dominant child protection discourses: new possibilities for practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimo Samater
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Emerging Themes

This research study focuses on attachment theory as a dominant discourse in child protection and the experiences of child protection workers. The literature on attachment theory and its influence on Eurocentric/Western knowledge is reviewed. As well, the use of reflective practice in child protection practice is discussed. This study includes qualitative interviews with three child protection workers in Southern Ontario who discuss their practice. Four emerging themes were derived from the narratives of the participants: recognition of attachment theory as being the pinnacle of child protection practice, use of observation as a tool to assess attachment, use of reflective practice and lastly, the stigma of Children’s Aid Society and impacts on practice. The findings in this study suggest how practice is led by policies and standards of the child welfare system and is rarely challenged. The need for the child welfare system to validate parent/child beliefs, values and practices from various ethnicities is discussed.

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