Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Child Welfare Practice and Social Work Education

Social work in the field of child welfare is complex and full of challenges. In British Columbia Canada, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which is the main employer of social workers, entered a partnership with universities to educate baccalaureate social work students in a child welfare specialization. This paper examines an instructional approach to child welfare education at the University of Northern British Columbia. The geography of the university region as well as the need to maintain a critical standpoint presented challenges in the delivery of a child welfare specialization course. The development of an online child welfare practice course assisted the university in meeting the challenges. This paper describes the practice context for social workers in British Columbia as well as the design of the online course offered to social work students at the University of Northern British Columbia.     

How do you solve a problem like Maria? Family complexity and institutional complications in UK social work

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on UK data from an international, comparative project involving eight countries. The study examined how social workers’ conceptions and definitions of family impact on the way they engage with complex families, and how social policies that frame social work context impact on the way social workers engage with families. Focus groups were held in which social workers from four service areas (child welfare, addictions, mental health and migration) were asked to discuss a case vignette. Several factors were embedded in the vignette to represent a realistic situation a social worker may come across in their day-to-day work. Social workers clearly identified the complexity of the family’s situation in terms of the range of issues identified and candidate ‘causes’. However, typical first responses were institutional, looking for triggers that would signify certainty about their, or other agencies’ involvement. This resulted in a complicated story, through which the family was disaggregated into individual problem-service categories. This paper argues that understanding these processes and their consequences is critical for exploring the ways in which we might develop alternative, supportive professional responses with families with complex needs. It also demonstrates how organisational systems manifest themselves in everyday reasoning.     

Parent-child supervised visitation within child welfare and custody dispute contexts: An exploratory comparison of two distinct models of practice

This paper aims to untangle the assumptions and goals of supervised visitation services in the child welfare and custody dispute contexts, through presenting a legal analysis and review of social science literature. There is confusion in the literature on the specific roles, duties and expectations of supervised visitation services in facilitating parent-child contact within child welfare and custody disputes. A framework is outlined for understanding supervised visitation services in general. The overarching tenets of these services are discussed, and the assumptions of safety, protection and parent-child contact are explored. The legal context of supervised visitation in Canada is outlined, specifically examining the ‘best interest of the child’ principle and comparing the legal backdrop of visitation in child welfare and custody disputes. The social science literature is then reviewed with the goal of discerning supervised visitation across child welfare and custody disputes. The limited research on outcomes for children and families after utilizing supervised visitation services is discussed. This paper concludes with cautions and considerations for policy and practice for supervised visitation in child welfare and family law contexts, as well as recommendations for both fields.     

Social Workers’ Preparation for Child Protection: Revisiting the Question of Specialisation

Abstract

Child welfare work is a key field of practice for social work graduates and for graduates of a growing range of disciplines. In the present paper, the authors drew on a survey of 208 child welfare workers and interviews with 28 senior personnel in child and family welfare agencies to analyse perceptions of the educational preparation of social workers and other human science graduates for this field of practice. The findings indicated that child welfare workers and employers are ambivalent about the value of social work and other generic social science and human services programmes as preparation for tertiary or statutory child protection practice, which involves investigation, assessment, and intervention in child abuse and neglect. The authors argue that the social work profession must better balance generic and specialist aspects to prepare graduates for practice in specialist fields of high social work involvement, particularly in tertiary child protection work.     

西方儿童虐待成因的发展生态模型理论研究述评

发展生态模型是西方儿童虐待成因研究的重要理论框架,但国内对此缺少系统性介绍。该理论认为,儿童虐待产生自互动个体与嵌套生态系统层面间的交互影响,它主要以生态系统理论为理论基础,并以“生态整合模型”和“生态交互模型”为代表性理论模型。该理论具有重要的方法论意义,它可促使研究者突破单因素变量研究的窠臼,并转向多因素共构视角去理解儿童虐待成因;同时,也为儿童虐待治理实践提供了多因素和多层次的系统干预视角。该理论的出现丰富了儿童虐待研究者的理论想象力,可为我国家庭、学校等场域的儿童虐待和儿童保护研究和干预提供启示。     

Disability at work: Understanding the impact of the ADA on the workplace

It has been more than 25 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed by Congress. Many supporters of the law hoped that it would improve the employment outcomes for people with a disability, yet many scholars argue that it has fallen short in achieving this goal. Such judgments of success or failure are typically offered with little regard for the complex relationship between law and social change. In this paper, I apply a socio‐legal perspective to scholarly research regarding the impact of the ADA on employment. Socio‐legal studies offer a variety of concepts and perspectives, which better capture the complexity of law's impact on social life, and the various paths through which it might have an impact on social change. From this perspective, studies tend to assume that ADA law will either impact social change directly or indirectly. I discuss the findings of both of these approaches and conclude with some directions for future research.     

What's on Their Minds? The South African Child Welfare Academic Agenda from 2001 to 2010

Social work teaching and research is assumed to impact significantly on practice, readying students for employment and investigating areas relevant to practice. In South Africa, the historic divergence between the academic agenda and population needs is significant. In a context of transformation towards developmental social welfare, this paper investigates the extent to which tertiary education as well as research agendas match what South African child welfare practitioners have identified as priorities in the field. In a study examining trends and drivers in South African child welfare, it was found that the curriculum was largely being informed by the same trends that shaped practice. However, the research agenda differed markedly from the issues concerning practitioners. Also, practitioners thought that new graduates were ill-equipped to deal with practice demands in resource-poor and transforming (post-apartheid) environments. It is recommended that South African academics and practitioners ensure that child welfare curricula, academic enquiry and practice demands overlap more closely in order to better prepare novice social workers and provide leading research. With globalization and the increased need to respond to diverse populations, it becomes critical that social work education is reviewed both in the north and south to ensure its relevance for practice.     

Children as Witnesses: Understanding Their Capacities,Needs, and Experiences

Historically the law regarded children as inherently unreliable and made it difficult for them to testify. Since 1975 awareness of child abuse has increased and research has established that children can be reliable witnesses. Governments began to recognize the needs and capacities of children and enacted legal reforms to facilitate prosecutions for child abuse. This paper reports on a survey of victim witness workers and other justice system professionals which reveals some of the continuedfailings of that system in dealing with children. Althoughrelatively rare, there are cases of false allegations of abuse, usually a result of investigations by poorly trained professionals. Further legal reforms and better human supports are required to ensure that the needs of children are met and their capacities as witnesses are fully appreciated.     

Can a Munro-Inspired Approach Transform the Lives of Looked after Children in England?

This discussion paper will examine the lessons from the Munro Review relevant for looked after children. Although the Munro Review focuses on child protection, we will argue that some of its key principles have relevance for understanding looked after childhoods. The Munro Review provides an analysis of the current state of the child protection system, challenging bureaucratised practice and arguing for a reclaiming of professional social work identity, knowledge and understanding. There are three key principles of the Munro Review that this paper will focus upon. The first two are the recognition that risk cannot be eradicated and the bureaucratisation of practice is an inadequate response to the demand for public accountability. The third principle is that ethical integrity lies at the heart of services for children in public care. The key message of this paper is that a Munro approach can transform looked after childhoods. However, the current ‘child protection’ model of social work in England may prevent this shift in social work practice.     

Child Protection Social Workers' Engagement in Continuing Professional Development: An Exploratory Study

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study into the nature of child protection social workers' engagement in, and understanding of, continuing professional development (CPD) in Ireland. Qualitative methods were used given the exploratory nature of the research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight child protection social workers from a community-based child protection department in Ireland. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. A review of the literature is provided and key findings are outlined and discussed. These findings relate to the nature and frequency of participation in CPD, perceived motivators and barriers to participation in CPD, and social workers' views on the potential impact of statutory registration of Irish social workers (which was implemented in the months after this study was carried out) on CPD participation. Research limitations and suggestions for future research are considered, along with the implications of this study for social work practice.     

Index

This article discusses some of the reasons why social workers need to add to their understanding of the law and legal procedures, and to develop legal skills. It also explores several specific areas of the law to be studied: function, sources, concepts, procedures, and skills. A teaching approach to this material in an introductory course on law for social workers is then presented. The article concludes with suggestions for additional curriculum offerings.     

Using a real case scenario in teaching social work with children and families in different practice settings

Transforming classroom knowledge into practice competency is particularly challenging in social work with children and families. It involves complex, competitive practice approaches and different service settings with procedures and norms influencing a child’s wellbeing. The paper presents the content, application, and evaluation of a module based on a case scenario which considers the limitations and achievements of social work with children and families in different settings. A mixed-method approach was applied to this review process. Students were given an evaluative questionnaire based on the theoretical framework of experiential learning whereupon they wrote reflective essays describing their learning experience. Case method contributes to the acquisition of reflective, integrative, and stimulating knowledge. The participation level contributes to the students’ satisfaction during such learning. Students have learned that families with multiple and complex needs require a holistic approach that separate systems and services cannot provide. This way of learning, with certain limitations, allows activation and an intensive learning experience for large groups of students relevant for a number of social work schools.     

Working with Violence,the Emotions and the Psycho‐social Dynamics of Child Protection: Reflections on the Victoria Climbié Case

In recent years, attention to the psychological and emotional aspects of doing child protection has been largely ignored in the literature and squeezed out of understandings of welfare practices. This paper argues for the establishment of a coherent psycho‐social perspective at the core of social work education and practice and in inter‐professional child protection work more generally. Central to this must be recognition of the complexities of service users, especially the challenges of working with resistant and often hostile ‘involuntary clients’ and the impact of violence and other health, safety and contamination fears on the capacities of workers and professional networks to protect children. These issues are grounded in a critical analysis of the Victoria Climbié case and the Laming report into her horrific death which, despite its strengths, presents rational and naïve solutions to what must be understood as often irrational and inherently complex psycho‐social processes. A psycho‐social reading of the case permits us to explain the unexplainable in how Victoria's abuse was missed. The general implications of these arguments are drawn out for education, training and practice.     

Dressing the Part? The Significance of Dress in Social Work

This paper explores practice educators' views about the significance of dress for social work in the context of UK social work education. The findings, drawn from three focus group discussions, suggest that practice educators regard dress as an important way in which social workers demonstrate values in action. Dress is also seen to play a part in the development and maintenance of a professional social work identity, and is relevant to the physical and bodily experiences of ‘doing’ social work. Social workers should be aware of the significance of dress and self-presentation, and where student social workers fail to demonstrate such awareness, practice educators may have questions about their understanding of the complexity of practice. The paper notes that while participants expressed similar views about the meaning and impact of dress, these are based on the observation and experience of practice, and there is little research evidence specifically concerning dress in social work. The study contributes to an understanding of why practice educators consider that dress may be relevant in the assessment of a student's practice readiness, and suggests areas for further research about this everyday yet significant aspect of a social worker's working life.     

‘From awareness to practice’: children,domestic violence and child welfare

This paper traces the development of social care practice in relation to child witnesses of domestic violence. It suggests that this development has been dominated by subsuming the needs of these children into a child protection process. The paper outlines how this has led to significant (but often unclear) legal and policy initiatives which have failed, as yet, to be translated into practice. The paper argues that there are a number of important reasons why child witnesses of domestic violence should not always be assumed to need the response of a child protection system and that a future practice, legal and policy response should be based on a wider understanding of their needs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infusing Content on Older People with Developmental Disabilities into the Curriculum

Although older people with developmental disabilities (OPDD) are living longer than before and appearing more often as clients of social workers, this population has not been included in the growing effort to prepare social work students for practice with older clients. This article explores the issues unique to OPDD and their families. Using a model based on an ecological perspective, it indicates appropriate content on OPDD for infusion into social work curricula at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem levels. It also suggests relevant content for four foundation sequences.     

‘We have very different positions on some issues’: how child welfare workers in Norway and England bridge cultural differences when communicating with ethnic minority families

This article compares how child welfare workers in Norway and England experience and cope with communication problems resulting from cultural differences. This study is based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 53 front-line child welfare workers and draws on social theories that understand communication as a social act. We show cross-country variations in child welfare workers' perceptions of the communicative problems and coping mechanisms. In Norway, social workers think that minority parents' perceptions on children's needs and child-rearing and parents' lack of understanding of the child welfare system were challenging. Social workers in England perceive the physical abuse of minority children as problematic. They are also concerned about carers' fears of social workers forcing majority cultural values on minority families. While social workers in both countries spend more time with minority families, their approaches dealing with communication challenges correspond to their different problem perceptions. Social workers in Norway act as cultural instructors: they focus on the needs of the minority child and instruct parents about Norwegian values and the Norwegian welfare system. Social workers in England are cultural learners: they focus on practising in anti-oppressive ways, while protecting ethnic minority children from physical abuse. Both approaches avoid going into real communication about perceived problems and what a child might need. We also discuss the implications of these findings on social work practice.     

Protecting the child witness in the courtroom

The 1988 and 1991 Criminal Justice Acts have transformed the law and procedure governing the appearance of children as witnesses in criminal trials. Traditional legal constraints such as the competency test, the requirement of corroboration, the special warning to the jury and the hearsay rule have all been abolished or extensively qualified. In addition, the 1988 Act introduced a major procedural change in the form of the video-link which was designed to make it easier for children to give their evidence. A survey of existing research confirms that children do find the giving of evidence in open court stressful and that the experience may have long-term adverse consequences. A study for the Home Office indicated widespread acceptance of the use of the video-link among courtroom personnel and observational data confirm its effectiveness in empowering children's testimony. The 1991 Act allows pre-recorded video-taped interviews to be admitted as evidence in criminal cases but retains live cross-examination via the link. The legal requirements of such interviews will place heavy demands on interdisciplinary cooperation in training and the establishment of good practice. The impact of this novel scheme on child witnesses and the court deserves rigorous evaluation.     

Lay and professional knowledge in social work: reflections from ethnographic research on child protection

This paper is concerned with the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge in the practice of social workers. The contention is that identifying discrete sources of knowledge—such as evidence-informed materials—may be less important for explaining how social workers guide their practice than recognising the effect of the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge within organisational culture. The example used for this discussion is child protection work, with a particular emphasis on how practice can be seen to be gendered. In the course of making this overall argument, the paper draws on academic debates about the nature of knowledge in professional work and discusses lay and professional knowledge as revealed through ethnographic research carried out in a social work team in the UK.