Residential and Foster Care in the European Community: Current Trends in Policy and Practice

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University College, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This article compares residential care, foster care and theiralternatives in the countries of the European Community. Thefollowing common trends in policy and practice are examined:the decline of residential child care; changes in the populationof separated children; the trend towards small-scale provision;the development of an ecological perspective; increasing differentiationof care provision; professionalization; and alternatives toresidential and foster care. The pace of development is uneven across EC countries. Overall,the trends high-lighted are more apparent in the northern countriesthan in the southern states.     

Victimization, Care and Justice: Reflections on the Experiences of Victims/Survivors Involved in Large-scale Historical Investigations of Child Sexual Abuse in Residential Institutions

Correspondence to Professor Matthew Colton, Centre for Applied Social Studies, School for Social Science and International Development, University of Wales Swansea, Science Tower, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK. Summary Large-scale investigations into historical child abuse in residentialinstitutions have been undertaken throughout the United Kingdom.This paper reflects on the experiences of those who give evidencein such investigations, drawing on interviews carried out withtwenty-four victims/survivors. Emerging themes include: thefactors which motivate victims/survivors to make disclosures;the impact on individuals of involvement in an investigation;the nature and effectiveness of help and support offered tovictims/survivors; the level of priority given to the needsof victims/survivors; and issues concerned with power and gender.The concluding discussion highlights vital issues for socialworkers and social services departments.     

Children in Need: Definition, Identification and Support

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper examines the way in which local authorities operationalizethe concept of need contained in Part III of the Children Act1989. Findings from an empirical study conducted by the authorssuggest that difficulties are being encountered in operationalizingneed, and that these difficulties stem from an inherent contradictionbetween the all-embracing spirit of the Act and current politicaland social realities. The paper identifies key dilemmas in theimplementation of Part III of the Children Act and highlightsconflicts facing social services departments.     

Sexual Abuse by Men who Work with Children: An Exploratory Study

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK. Summary This paper reports findings from an exploratory study on sexualabuse by men who work with children. As a first step towardsfilling a major gap in the relevant research literature, in-depthinterviews were carried out with a small sample of men servingprison sentences for sexually abusing children in their trust.The paper focuses on their accounts of their life histories,including their experiences of prison treatment programmes,and provides a detailed picture of their thinking, feelingsand motivations. In revealing how the men construct their ownsense of masculine identity within social and professional contextsthat are dominated by a heterosexual, white male hegemony, thepaper challenges purely psychological explanations of why mensexually abuse. It concludes that sexual abuse in organizationalsettings is less likely to be challenged if masculinity is notfocused on as an issue of power.     

Evaluation with One Eye Closed: The Empiricist Agenda in Social Work Research

Please address requests for reprints to Peter Raynor, Centre for Applied Social Studies, University College of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper was originally presented at a conference on ’theeffectiveness of social work‘ at Swansea in 1981. It arguesagainst a narrowly empiricist model of evaluation in socialwork, suggesting that while such a model may help to improvethe technical efficacy of methods, it can tell us little aboutthe desirability of the goals towards which our methods aredirected, or the social functions which they serve. The finalsection points to some possible resources for rational discussionof areas which ’scientific‘ models of evaluationtend to neglect.     

'The Social Worker as Bad Object': A Response to Marguerite Valentine

Correspondence to Nigel Thomas, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary Valentine's article in the British Journal of Social Work (Vol.24, No. 1, February 1994) examined the processes whereby socialwork agencies defend against feelings of blame introjected bysocial workers as a result of public projections of fear andanxiety about child abuse. One of these processes is claimedto be the increasing regulation of practice, exemplified bythe Childrens Act 1989. While welcoming Valentine's generalargument, this article argues that it contains a fundamentaland serious misreading of the Children Act.     

Quality Assurance, Pre-Sentence Reports and the Probation Service

Correspondence to Dr Peter Raynor, Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP. Summary During the months immediately preceding the implementation ofthe 1991 Criminal Justice Act the Home Office commissioned astudy of quality assurance and quality control procedures usedby probation services in their work on social inquiry reportsand in their preparation for the change to pre-sentence reports.This paper summarizes the results of that study, which includeda survey of current practice in probation services and the developmentof a quality control instrument for assessing the quality ofpre-sentence reports. It is emphasized that the views expressedin this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily thoseof the Home Office.     

Foster and Residential Children's Perceptions of Their Social Environments

University of Oxford, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OXI 2ER. Summary This paper compares foster and residential children's perceptionsof their social environments (placements). The exercise formedpart of a larger examination of care practice in special fosterhomes and Children's Homes. The application of a combinationof quantitative and qualitative techniques showed that the fosterchildren's perceptions of their placements generally comparedfavourably with those of the residential children.     

A 'Missed Opportunity' Re-assessed: the Influence of the Day Training Centre Experiment on the Criminal Justice System and Probation Policy and Practice

Correspondence to Maurice Vanstone, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales College of Swansea, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary In 1973 four probation day training centres were set up in Liverpool,London, Sheffield and Pontypridd as part of an experimentalproject which focused on providing a community based trainingprogramme for offenders who would otherwise have been imprisoned.The experiment, which lasted from 1973 to 1981, has never beenproperly evaluated. This paper, whilst not purporting to fillthat gap, is an attempt to critically review its significancewithin the context of the criminal justice system from botha policy and practice perspective. It further reflects on thereasons for the formulation of the training centre model asa community based semi-institution. It examines its originalpurposes of diverting offenders from custody and helping them,against the charge that they not only failed to achieve thosepurposes but had the unintended consequence of drawing inappropriatepeople into a burgeoning network of state control. Throughoutthe paper a distinction is drawn between the day training centresand the numerous day centres that were established in the probationservice during the late 1970s and the 1980s.     

Degrees of Involvement: The Interaction of Focus and Commitment in Area Child Protection Committees

Correspondence to Robert Sanders, Lecturer in Applied Social Studies, The Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP; e-mail: R.Sanders{at}swan.ac.uk Summary As part of a review of the role and effectiveness of Area ChildProtection Committees (ACPCs), the authors examined a numberof aspects of the involvement of member agencies in the processof joint development of child protection policies. Interviewswith agency representatives and analysis of documents were usedto explore ACPC composition, attendance at meetings, agenda-setting,effectiveness of representation, and perceived inter-agencyrelationships. Substantial differences were found in the extentto which agencies were involved in the ‘ownership’of the child protection system, with some agencies which couldmake important contributions very much on the periphery of theprocess. It is suggested that this helps to perpetuate the currentemphasis on investigation and registration despite researchfindings which strongly challenge the effectiveness of suchan approach. The article looks at two factors that may influenceagencies' involvement: decentralization of decision making,and the mismatch between the dominant ACPC agenda and policypriorities within agencies other than social services and police.They conclude that basic principles underpinning child protectionservices, for example the policy emphasis on investigation ofall allegations, the development of child protection as a serviceapart from mainstream child welfare, and the role of socialservices as the lead agency should be examined to achieve theeffective involvement of all ACPC member agencies.     

Probation Practice, Effectiveness and the Non-Treatment Paradigm

Correspondence to Dr Peter Raynor, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper reports interim and largely positive results fromthe continuing evaluation of ‘Straight Thinking on Probation’,a substantial intensive probation programme in Mid-Glamorganbased on the work of Robert Ross et al. (1988) in Canada. Thepotential effectiveness of this type of programme is then discussedin relation to the influential model of the probation service'srole advanced by Bottoms and McWilliams in their 1979 ‘non-treatmentparadigm’. Are such programmes ‘treatment’,based on a model of offender pathology and therefore in conflictwith the paradigm, or are they ‘help’, based ona model of empowerment? An attempt to answer this question alsorequires consideration of how far the ‘non-treatment paradigm’was itself a response to perceived ineffectiveness requiringrevision in the light of new evidence. It is argued that suchrevision need not threaten the underlying moral philosophy ofthe paradigm.     

Perceptions of Stigma and User Involvement in Child Welfare Services

Correspondence to Dr E. M. Scholte, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences/Centre for Research on Youth Welfare, University of Leiden, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands. Summary This paper explores the perceptions of social disqualificationor ‘stigma’ that service users attributed to publicchild welfare services in random samples of service users takenfrom the Netherlands, a part of Spain (Catalonia) and a partof the United Kingdom (Wales). It was found that, in all threesamples, foster and residential care invoked the greatest senseof stigma, while the health related and the preventive familyservices were perceived as the least stigmatizing types of publicwelfare services. Comparative analysis further revealed thata positive attitude towards the use of public welfare services,a perception of supportive or non-stigmatizing social normsregarding the use of such services, and a perception of publicwelfare services as helpful correlated in all three sampleswith higher levels of user satisfaction and involvement in theservices. It was further found that, in the British and Spanishsamples, a positive attitude towards public welfare services,as well as a perception of public welfare services as helpfulfor their recipients, were the predominating factors promotinghigher levels of satisfactory user involvement in the services,while, in the Dutch sample, a perception of supportive socialnorms was the factor that most promoted satisfactory user involvement.     

Visitors' Views on Residental Homes

Correspondence should be addressed to Justine Schneider, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Applied Social Studies, University of Durham, 15 Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HL, UK. Email: Justine.Schneider{at}durham.ac.uk Summary Relatives and other people who visit residential care homeshave an opportunity to formulate their own views about the qualityof care, often over a considerable period of time. They maybe experienced in providing care themselves, and many have beenthe principal carer before admission of the resident. They canbe decision makers in purchasing care, and their preferenceswill therefore influence the market. Finally, through theirfrequent attendance, they too form part of the environment ofa home. This paper reports the findings of a survey of 228 visitorsto 17 residential care homes throughout England. It shows whothe visitors were, what they did, their likes, dislikes andideas for improvements. It summarizes what aspects were mostimportant to visitors, many of whom were former carers; thishas implications for purchasers and providers of residentialcare. It closes with a methodological discussion about how thevaluable views of visitors may be tapped without encounteringreticence due to guilt or fear of retribution affecting theresident.     

Determinants of Substitute Child Care Practice

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford CX1 2ER Summary The first part of this paper attempts to examine the factorswhich help to define foster and residential care practices.The discussion is informed by a comparative study of fosterhomes and Children's Homes, which was reported in the previousissue of this journal (BJSW 18:1). Overall, care practices inthe foster homes compared very favourably with those observedin the Children's Homes. It is argued that this finding owesmuch to the bureaucratization of Children's Homes. The secondsection considers the implications of my work for policy andpractice in the field of substitute child care. Use is madeof the insights provided by the preceding section to suggestways by which the major shortcomings identified by empiricalresearch might be ameliorated. This statement includes an argumentin favour of a significant expansion of family placement forolder children in public care, and a proposal for a child-orientedalternative to the sorts of Children's Homes visited.     

Conflicts, Conciliation and Social Work

Correspondence to Adrian L. James, Lecturer in Applied Social Studies, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX. Summary This article seeks to draw together some issues and themes whichare identifiable in recent social work literature and practice,and in the criminal and civil law. It explores the nature ofconciliation as a method for dealing with conflict. It alsoconsiders some aspects of the nature of social work and theprocess by which problems become the object of social work treatment.It is argued that this process can effectively limit the scopefor client involvement in seeking solutions to their problems,and that conciliation might offer some potential for increasingthis, whilst also revitalizing the ethical base of social workpractice.     

Foster and Residential Care Practices Compared

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER Summary This paper reports what is, remarkably, the first systematic,in-depth, comparative study of foster and residential care practices.The overall research objectives were: (1) to delineate and comparecare practice in special foster homes (i.e., homes accommodatingchildren traditionally considered too old or disturbed for fosterplacement) and Children's Homes for older children in localauthority care; and (2) if possible, ascertain whether the responsesmanifested by children in such settings can be related to thecare practices they experience. The approach adopted was essentially sociological. A lengthyperiod of field-work in two local authorities featured the useof a range of research instruments and included the collectionof data on the following: the management of recurrent–mainlydaily–social events; children's community contacts; theprovision of physical amenities; the controls and sanctionsused by caretakers vis-à-vis children; the roles of caretakersand their behaviour and attitudes towards children; and thecharacteristics of children, their behaviour towards caretakers,perceptions of their social environments and progress duringplacement. Quantitative methods were used in data analysis becausethey provide a useful guide to the import of observed differencesbetween foster homes and Children's Homes. Care practice in the foster homes was, overall, significantlymore child-oriented than in the Children's Homes. Moreover,the responses of residential children appeared to fall shortof offering justification for the ways that the lives of suchchildren seemed to differ from those of foster children.     

The Protective Environment of Children: Towards a framework for anti-oppressive, cross-cultural and cross national understanding

Correspondence to Department of Social Work, School of Applied Social Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN. Summary The article explores the strengths and limitations of existingcross-cultural, cross-national and anti-discriminatory theoryand research in the child protection field. The way in whichstructural, cultural, personal and inter-personal factors combineto create the child's protective environment is analysed anda framework for an integrated approach to anti-oppressive understandingand practice is suggested. The framework identifies four factorswhose impact at national, community and family levels needsparticular consideration. These factors are the value attachedto children, the status of women and carers, the social interconnectednessof children and carers, and the extent and quality of the protectivesafety nets available. Examples are provided to illustrate theframework's usefulness in practice. It is argued that childprotection theory and practice in Britain needs to take moreaccount of collective and community-based approaches if anti-oppressiveand user-empowering practice is to be achieved.     

Women Whose Children have been Sexually Abused: Reflections on a Debate

Catherine Humphreys, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Summary Women whose children have been sexually abused have been thesubject of a polarized debate between feminist practitioners/writersand family therapists. This paper explores the development ofthat debate, outlining the key characteristics of work whichwas informed by family systems perspectives and the contrastingunderstandings which feminist perspectives brought to analysisand practice. Both feminist perspectives and family therapyhave changed since the original debate erupted. This articleexplores issues which may have been obscured within feministperspectives. These are, first, the difficulties in the mother-childrelationship and, second, the contribution which aspects offamily therapy can make to progressing the interests of womenand children in the aftermath of child sexual abuse.     

Working with Female Offenders: Beyond 'Alternatives to Custody'?

Correspondence to Anne Worrall, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Applied Social Studies and Social Work, University of Keele, Keele, Staffs. ST5 5BG. Summary Developments in the Probation Service in the 1980s have beendominated by the rhetoric of ‘Alternatives to Custody’.At the same time, there has been an increasing awareness ofgender biases within the criminal justice system. This articlereports on research into the attitudes of probation officersand female offenders and explores the implications of thesefor future work with women by the Service.     

Keyworkers Re-examined: Good practice, quality of care and empowerment in residential care of older people

Correspondence to Rosemary Bland, Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland Summary Social work definitions of ‘good practice’ in residentialcare which were originally developed in work with children andyoung people have also been applied to residential settingsfor other user groups, including older people. However, anylink between such elements of practice and positive outcomesfor users has not always been demonstrated. The introductionof market principles and orientations into social welfare inthe 1980s re-defined the social work ‘client’ asa ‘consumer’ with the associated power to make choicesin the area of social care. The success with which such an approachcan be applied to services for people who are very often, notin a position to exercise much choice, is debatable. Alongsidethe notion of the ‘consumer’ or ‘user’of services has grown the ideology of ‘empowerment’of people who use social work services. Drawing on findingsfrom a recent study, this article explores the contributionof the keyworker role to good practice and the empowerment ofolder people living in residential homes. It concludes that,because their understanding of the concept and practice is largelyundeveloped, the role as currently interpreted is not consonantwith good practice and tends rather to reinforce the power ofstaff.