scholarly journals Mothers’ Experiences with Child Protection Services: Using Qualitative Feminist Poststructuralism

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 913-928
Author(s):  
Megan Aston ◽  
Sheri Price ◽  
Martha Paynter ◽  
Meaghan Sim ◽  
Joelle Monaghan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Feminist Poststructuralism ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
Resource Center ◽  
Family Resource ◽  
Support Methods ◽  
The Impact

Background: The postpartum period is often portrayed as a blissful, calm and loving time when mothers, partners and family members bond with their newborn babies. However, this time may be experienced quite differently when mothers are monitored by Child Protection Services. Having a baby under these circumstances can be very difficult and traumatizing. While all new parents require support and information to help them through the transition to parenthood and address physical and psycho-social changes, mothers who are involved with Child Protection Services require more specialized support as they encounter higher incidences of postpartum stressors and higher rates of poverty, mental illness and substance abuse. The impact of support for mothers involved with Child Protection Services is not well-understood from the perspective of mothers. Aim: The aim of the study was to understand how new mothers in Nova Scotia prioritized their postpartum needs and where they went to obtain information and support. Methods: Feminist poststructuralism was the methodology used to understand how the experiences of five mothers who accessed a family resource center and had been involved with Child Protection Services in Nova Scotia Canada had been personally, socially and institutionally constructed. Results: Themes include: (1) We are Mothers, (2) Being Red Flagged, (3) Lack of Trust, (4) Us Against Them and (5) Searching for Supportive Relationships. Conclusion: Personal stories from all participants demonstrated how they experienced stigma and stereotypes from healthcare workers and were often not recognized as mothers. They also struggled to find information, supports and services to help them keep or regain their babies.

Drug use by parents: The challenge for child protection and drug and alcohol services

2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Ainsworth
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Family Reunification ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parental Drug Use

This article focuses on parental drug use and the impact on child welfare. The gravity of this issue is well documented in a number of reports from government and in annual reports from relevant state and territory departments. Yet, there has been little attention to this issue in Australian journals in spite of the fact that this is probably the most critical issue child protection services have had to face for two decades or more. Parental drug use is almost certainly responsible for the rise in the number of children, especially young children, entering out-of-home care. Drug use also creates issues in relation to family reunification. The final part of the article proposes an enhanced three stage model of family reunification that addresses these issues. This model is based on greater collaboration between child protection services, drug treatment agencies, and the legal system.

Pregnant women involved with statutory child protection services: The impact of difficult-to-reach on recruiting a non-biased sample

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-63
Author(s):  
Rosemaria Flaherty ◽  
Leah Bromfield
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Mobile Telephone ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Message Service ◽  
The Impact

Pregnant women involved with statutory child protection services could be considered hidden in society or ‘silenced’ due to the lack of published evidence on whether state intervention with this group is beneficial. Scholars continue to call for research exploring the experience of at-risk pregnant women, in particular, for research that examines the impact of prenatal state involvement on outcomes for newborn babies, their mothers, and their significant others such as fathers, partners, families and communities. This study describes a researcher’s experience of attempting to recruit a purposeful sample of women who were the subject of an unborn child high risk birth alert in New South Wales, Australia. Short Message Service mobile telephone messages were utilised to invite participation via an opt-in approach, as a means to hear women’s experiences of the services they received while pregnant with their last child. From a population of eighty-nine, the strategy recruited only two participants. By describing the process undertaken to recruit a non-biased sample of at-risk women to a qualitative research study, future researchers may be able to deploy recruitment strategies that enable and encourage at-risk women to participate in research, in turn, allowing us to hear their voices.

scholarly journals Protection of Children in Difficulty in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Fang Zhao ◽  
Ning Zhu ◽  
Juha Hämäläinen
Keyword(s):  
Child Protection ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Protection System ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
The Media ◽  
Professional Systems ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study investigated the resilience of the Chinese child protection system in responding to the special needs of children in difficulty under the specific circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study applied qualitative document analysis of child protection administrative documents, in-depth interviews with 13 child protection professionals, and an in-depth case study of 14 children living in difficulty, complemented by relevant information available in the media. The results indicate that there are good policies in China’s child protection services but the organizational and functional fragmentation complicates implementation, suggesting a need for the development of bottom-up practices. The essential conclusion supported by these results is that the child protection system should be regarded and developed as a systematic project combining the legal, policymaking, and professional systems of child welfare services as well as governmental and non-governmental forces. As the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the need to develop the field of child protection holistically as an integrated system in terms of social sustainability in China, an international literature-based comparison indicates that the pandemic has also raised similar political awareness in other countries.

scholarly journals ‘Rising demand and decreasing resources’: Theorising the ‘cost of austerity’ as a barrier to social worker discretion

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
CIARÁN MURPHY
Keyword(s):  
Social Worker ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Protection Services ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Effective System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost

Abstract The Munro Review of Child Protection asserted that the English child protection system had become overly ‘defensive’, ‘bureaucratised’ and ‘standardised’, meaning that social workers were not employing their discretion in the interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of an ethnographic case study of one of England’s statutory child protection teams. The research sought to explore the extent of social worker discretion relative to Munro’s call for ‘radical reform’ and a move towards a more ‘child-centred’ system. Employing an iterative mixed methods design – encompassing documentary analysis, observation, focus group, questionnaire, interview and ‘Critical Realist Grounded Theory’ – the study positioned the UK Government’s prolonged policy of ‘austerity’ as a barrier to social worker discretion. This was because the policy was seen to be contributing to an increased demand for child protection services; and a related sense amongst practitioners that they were afforded insufficient time with the child to garner the requisite knowledge, necessary for discretionary behaviour. Ultimately, despite evidence of progress relative to assertions that social worker discretion had been eroded, the paper concludes that there may still be ‘more to do’ if we are to achieve the ‘child-centred’ and ‘effective’ system that Munro advocated.

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