Ideology and Reality: Representation and Participation in Local Service Management Evaluating the Case of the Israeli Community Service Centre--Matnas

Correspondence to Dr Uri Yanay Paul Baerwald School of Social Work The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, 91905 Israel Summary Recent trends in social policy and administration encouragecitizen representation. This is based on the ideological assumptionthat representation yields participation and citizen participationultimately secures the interests of the poor and less visiblegroups in the community. In the Israeli network of CommunityService Centres (Matnas) citizen involvement was establishedby selecting or inviting residents to represent the communityalongside other delegates forming a local Board. Research findings indicate that the resulting ‘representativeparticipation’, operated contrary to expectations. Thelay local representatives who were presumed to represent thedisadvantaged of the community reported them as last priority,whereas the professionals representing various organizationson the Mamas Boards claimed to represent them as first priority.Meeting attendance records of the different representatives(a measure of participation) support this finding.     

Selection for Professional Training: The English and the American Experience

Summary Of the many issues arising from the Vyas case in England andthe Bakke case in the United States those of positive discrimination,selection on racial grounds, the nature and purpose of professionaltraining and the nature of fairness in selection for such training,are considered.     

Child Protection and the Media: Lessons from the Last Three Decades

Summary During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, sensationalist coverage ofa series of celebrated child abuse scandals in England and Walesresulted in the repeated vilification in the mass media of thosechild welfare agencies deemed culpable for the deaths of thechildren involved. This paper explores the contribution of themedia to the creation of the climate of fear, blame and mistrustwhich seems to have become endemic within the field of childprotection. It suggests that damaging distortions have beenintroduced into the child protection system as a result of thedefensive responses of the relevant authorities at both nationaland local level to the media onslaught. A more strategic approachto understanding and managing media coverage of this difficultfield is outlined.     

Muslim Women as Citizens in Australia: Diverse Notions and Practices

The paper explores the nature of Muslim women's activism before and after the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001. Drawing on the information gathered since the early 1990s, it argues that the focus on Muslim militancy has prompted Muslim women living in Western Australia to become more active citizens. The emerging activism is following two diverse directions: some Muslim women favour orthodox interpretations of Islam as guides to citizenship, whereas others favour a more liberal/moderate approach to being a Muslim and a citizen in Australia. Governmental agencies, it suggests, need to appreciate and take into account this diversity of views and approaches among Muslim women when designing their strategies for engaging Muslims living under their jurisdiction.     

Contract Management and Community Care: A Negotiated Process

Correspondence to Jackie Powell, Department of Social Work Studies, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. Summary Drawing on a wider study of community care arrangements forvisually impaired people in England and Wales, this paper exploresthe implementation of contractual arrangements as part of thedeveloping formalization of partnerships between local authoritysocial services departments and voluntary organizations. Itargues the importance of conceiving contract management as acomplex set of social processes involving a diversity of interestsand inequalities of power, where skills in negotiation are centralto promoting greater participation in community care policyand practice. It concludes with a brief discussion of the relevanceof social work to the implementation of this key area of contemporarycommunity care arrangements.     

Worker Participation and the Social Service Agency

Summary Is there real sharing of decision-making responsibility withinsocial service agencies? What hope is there for participationby the consumer of services if the agency worker nearest andmost relevant to him has little voice or leverage within theorganization? This paper examines the notion of worker participationwithin the context of the social services department and theprobation service, noting the imperfections of the ‘publicmandate’ behind the authority structure of these organizations.Above all it looks for continuity between the values socialservice agencies publicly represent and the values in theirday-to-day dealings with their own staff and clients. Currenttrade union proposals for worker representation at committeelevel are considered, and Dutch experience in extending theworkers' council from the industrial to the social welfare sphereis presented as one alternative model.     

The New American Social Work Gospel: Case Management of the Chronically Mentally III

Correspondence to Dr R. A. Cnaan, School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Summary Case management is currently the most popular mode of servicedelivery in the United States, especially in community programsfor chronically mentally ill people. Proponents of case managementclaim that it is cost-effective and that it assures provisionof necessary services to clients. In this paper I do not challengeits effectiveness but argue that case management neither empowersclients nor is it free of drawbacks. Given that many countriestend to model the United States, foreign social workers andother human service professionals should first examine the usefulnessof case management vis-à-vis their own cultural and economiccontexts, especially in the light of its many drawbacks.     

Sponsored Places: The Use of Independent Day-Care Services to Support Children in Need

Correspondence to: Dr June Statham, Project Director, Thomas Coram Research Unit, 27-28 Woburn Square, London WC1H OAA Summary The implementation of the Children Act 1989, with its emphasison family support through the provision of non-stigmatizinglocal services and on local authorities working in partnershipwith voluntary and private service providers, has given a newfocus to the use of independent day-care services to supportchildren in need and their families. This article uses datafrom research in England and Wales on the implementation ofthe Children Act as it affects early years services, to considerthe extent of sponsored day-care, the circumstances in whichit is used, and the issues it raises for local authorities,independent day-care providers and the children themselves.     

The assembly of active participation by parents of children subject to a multi‐agency model of early intervention in child and family services

The Common Assessment Framework provides a model of early intervention, which is familiar in local authorities throughout England, and asserts a participatory framework of child and family engagement. This paper is based on a qualitative study of parents and children who were subject to a multi‐agency process of early intervention in children's social care in a local authority in the Midlands of England. I advance the concept of assemblage to consider the basis of an active service user participation as rather more a struggle to achieve than something that has been granted by practitioner agencies. Interview extracts are used to show the enrolment and assembly of participation as a process of service users developing their active human agency in a multi‐agency setting. The article explores the assembling of skills in administration and management of meetings and plans, accessing knowledge and expertise through service user networks, and challenging professional expertise and institutional space while developing personal qualities of confidence and voice as a means of marshalling an effective participation in a multi‐agency setting.     

Citizen participation: conflicting interests in state and national agency policy making

This study examines citizen participation in agency policy making across levels of governance in the United States, to address the following questions: Do citizens pursuing economic policy goals participate and wield influence in agency policy making differently than do citizens pursuing noneconomic policy goals? Does citizen participation in state policy making differ from that in national policy making? Analysis of policy making and participation in one policy sector, public forest management, suggests that citizens favoring economic (timber) goals participate more, and perceive greater influence, in state agency decisions, while those favoring noneconomic (environmental preservation) goals participate more, and perceive greater influence, in national agency decisions. These differences result from several factors, including legal constraints, agency composition, use outcomes, geographic location of stakeholders, and job mobility.     

Participation of Disabled Children and Young People in Decision Making Within Social Services Departments: A Survey of Current and Recent Activities in England

A survey of all social services departments in England was undertakenin order to identify and investigate current work concerningthe participation of disabled children within decision makingregarding their own care and in service development. Developinga culture of, and good practice in, children’s participationis integral to government policy. Results demonstrate that disabledchildren are being involved in a range of decision-making areas;however, participation is not yet embedded or sustained acrossall social services departments, and the involvement of disabledchildren at a higher strategic level is still rare. The participationof disabled children needs further development including moreevidence on which factors can support and promote disabled children’seffective participation.     

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.     

公民参与:服务型政府的建构路径

服务型政府是"公民本位型"的民主政府。一方面服务基调的奠定为公民参与服务型政府构建提供了理论支撑;另一方面公民参与服务型政府构建也具有提高制度供给能力,推进决策科学化、民主化,推动公共服务民营化的现实价值。为此,要从参与氛围、组织载体、制度渠道、参与形式、公民素质等五方面来强化公民参与能力,推进服务型政府建设。     

Implementation of a Community-Based Approach to Dementia Care in England: Understanding the Experiences of Staff

ABSTRACT

Given the increasing numbers of people living with dementia, it is imperative that new, practical solutions are found to the issues faced by this group of people and their families. This article draws on findings from a qualitative study that explored the implementation of a community-based project to support people living with dementia in one local area in England. This approach has different names; in the United Kingdom it is Shared Lives or adult placement, which would be most comparable to family care in Europe and adult foster care in the United States. Interviews were conducted with 14 staff connected to the Shared Lives project. Interview data were coded using the normalization process theory constructs of coherence, cognitive participation, and collective action. Supportive program factors identified were a dedicated staff member and resources, and the availability of specialist knowledge and skills. Detriments to program success included lack of understanding about the service, perceptions it was a poor fit with existing practice, and wider organizational issues that negatively affected normalization of the intervention. Suggestions for future research go beyond staff opinions, stressing the importance of using a wider range of stakeholders and incorporating measurement of outcomes for people using the service.     

How can we Measure the Effects of Client Participation on the Effectiveness of Social Work Intervention?

Dr A. S. York, Bar-Ilan University, School of Social Work, 52 900 Ramat-Gan, Israel. Summary This paper examines the concepts of client or citizen participationin community work and of effectiveness in social work and otherrelated fields. It surveys and summarizes the literature inthese two fields, focusing on how the two key concepts are empiricallymeasured. After examining the literature on the effects of citizenparticipation on community work intervention, the paper putsforward an operative model for both researchers and practitionersto measure how the participation of clients can make communitywork more effective and productive.     

Discovering what children think: connections between research and practice

Summary This paper is concerned with children's involvement in decisionsand with what happens when adults communicate with childrento discover their thoughts and feelings. It is based on a studyof the participation of children aged between 8 and 12 in decisionswhen they are looked after by local authorities. The paper brieflydescribes the research and its main findings, before going onto describe aspects of the methodology in more detail. Thisleads to a discussion of the relationship between the methodsused in the research and those used in the social work practicethat was in part the subject of the research. The paper arguesthat, both in research and in practice, a commitment to involvingchildren in decision making must go with a determination tofind methods of communication that enable children to demonstratetheir competence.     

Private Children's Homes

Summary The paper provides survey and intensive research material onthe private children's homes sector. It is shown that this sectoris currently in decline. Private homes are found to be shelteringchildren with long and complex care histories and to adopt adistinctive residential style. Although private homes providevaluable long term continuity, they are less likely to offerthe same range of community services as do residential settingsmanaged by the local authority and voluntary child care agencies.     

Patronage and Participation, Problem and Paradox: a Case Study in Community Work

Summary This paper describes the emergence and development of a neighbourhood-basedself-help organization. For over three years it has been staffedby self-styled community workers. For the first two years theworkers were mostly ex-students who hoped that this organizationcould be a means of effecting radical forms of social change.They have been succeeded by local people whose main purposeis to provide a social service. This transition produced disagreementbetween the different community workers. But it is a trend whichshould confound any stereotype ideas about community workersas always out of sympathy with all aspects of the establishment. The organization has moved from concern with one issue to providingvarious community services. It has passed through stages ofdevelopment characterized by the liabilities of newness, byattempts to' plan and consolidate and by efforts to resist becomingan established organization. The latter stages also became liabilitiesof 'success'. A central problem in this community work enterprise is the relationshipbetween participation and patronage. This refers to the problemof how to elicit and maintain local interest and support andthe paradox, that although outside help may be one way of ensuringthat local groups survive, it may also limit local people'sinvolvement and influence their goals. Dependence on patronsand a reluctance to organize local participation affected theorganization's development: patrons provided various resourcesbut were possibly a disincentive to the development of localinitiatives. The nature of free participation resulted in anunintended drift towards more conventional forms of social service,albeit in an unconventional setting     

What Makes for Successful Groupwork? A Survey of Agencies in the UK

Summary This paper reports the findings of a survey of Social ServicesDepartments, Probation Services and the major voluntary agenciesin the UK. The survey aimed to shed light on the factors whichpromote successful groups in social work and probation agencies.The survey did not attempt to map the extent of current groupwork.A questionnaire was piloted in a Social Services Departmentin northern England with social work and social care practitionersparticipating in ‘The Groupwork Project’, a trainingand development programme which continues to have as its aimthe establishment of a groupwork service in a mainstream socialservices agency. The survey was designed to be illuminativeand exploratory rather than conclusive. In this paper, the authorsreflect on the research process and on the findings of the survey.These findings point to the complexity of factors consideredsignificant to the success of a group, and to the importanceof contextual factors in establishing and sustaining a groupworkservice.     

Parental Participation in Child Protection Case Conferences: The Social Worker's View

Correspondence to Dr Ann Macaskill, Health Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, 36 Collegiate Crescent, Sheffield S10 2BP Summary This article reports the findings of a questionnaire surveyof 118 local authority social workers' attitudes towards parentalparticipation in child protection case conferences. Argumentsfrom the professional literature both in favour of and againstparental participation were presented. Overall social workerswere found to be largely supportive of parental participationalthough aware of the potential problems. Other professionalgroups involved in case conferences were perceived as beingless enthusiastic about parental participation. The implicationsof these findings are discussed and some training needs identified.