UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF THE MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP ON SEX WORKERS’ DECISION TO ENTER AND LEAVE THE STREETS – LESSONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

This paper focuses on ‘streetwalkers’ and ‘street sex workers’ who are unlicensed sex workers not belonging to a brothel and subject to criminalization. They often face great stigmatization and are usually considered victims by service providers. Five Singaporean ex-streetwalkers (n = 5), who had left the streets for at least six months and were currently receiving or had previously received skills training at a social service agency, participated in this study. Using an agentic framework and social relational theory principles, this qualitative study explored the impact of streetwalkers’ relationship with their children on their decision to enter and leave the streets and reasons for their successful help-seeking experiences. Findings revealed them to be agents who actively used strategies to meet their goals and to sustain close relationships with their children. The mother–child relationship context was a key influence on their decision to enter and/or leave the streets. Social work practice implications include tailoring service delivery to tap into their agentic capacities and identity as mothers; research and training in provision of proactive social services in a non-judgmental manner to preserve the dignity of these women while meeting both their own and their children’s needs.     

Independent child protection assessments: incorporating a therapeutic focus from an integrated service context

Assessment following serious child abuse is a significant activity for the social work, psychology and psychiatric professions. Notwithstanding the profound significance of the consequences for abused children and their families from recommendations made by such assessments, there is little research which examines the process and outcome of child protection assessments. This paper describes the professional practice principles of an independent assessment team and presents preliminary findings from a retrospective examination of 160 major independent assessments undertaken over a period of 11 years. The review suggests that nearly 60% of the families gained some therapeutic benefit from the assessment process and outlines the areas in which such benefits occurred. It is argued that structuring assessments in a way which maximizes the possibility of parents/carers effecting changes in problem areas is the essence of a constructive partnership relation with families. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment and intervention in cases of suspected ritual child sexual abuse

Agency workers have been heavily criticized over their handling of alleged ritual child sexual abuse cases, particularly in respect of their assessments and interventions. However, a study of referrals to police and social service departments revealed that agency workers raised suspicions of ritual abuse in respect of both child ‘victims’ and adult ‘survivors’ very rarely. Furthermore, they did this only after an assessment which showed the cases to possess a number of ‘troubling’ features. While agency workers believed that all the child ‘victims’ had been subject to serious sexual abuse, virtually all of them were circumspect as to whether this had occurred in a ‘ritual’ context. Initially, agency workers were generally open-minded as to the experiences of adult ‘survivors’, but by the end of their assessments, they tended to be more concerned about their mental health and less concerned about issues of ritual abuse. Finally, agency workers appeared to act appropriately in terms of the types of intervention they used and the way in which they applied these. These results suggest that there should be more confidence in the ability of agency workers to respond to cases of alleged ritual abuse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A qualitative data analysis: family victim advocates in child advocacy centers

ABSTRACT

Family victim advocates in child advocacy centers provide a valuable resource to children and parents involved in child abuse investigations. This work requires that family victim advocates be knowledgeable in such areas as child development, crisis intervention, community resources, family relationships, child welfare and criminal justice systems. Because family victim advocates provide essential services to parents and caregivers, the role requires ongoing training and education to remain current on the ever-changing complexities of working with not only the children and families but also the criminal and child protection systems responsible for investigating these cases. The current study reports the findings from a nationwide survey of family victim advocates employed in child advocacy centers related to their motivation for doing the work as well as their perceptions of their training and potential training needs. A group of doctoral students comprised the research team and worked collaboratively under the supervision of university faculty to conduct the qualitative data analysis. The findings describe the characteristics and motivations of family victim advocates working in child advocacy centers and emphasize the need for more advanced trainings that focus on skill-building and strengths-based practices utilized to support children and parents in child abuse cases.     

Professional judgements and decisions on placement in foster care and reunification in Portugal

This study aims to analyse professional judgements and decisions made in the Portuguese child care system in face of a case vignette of child maltreatment. Using the approach proposed by Benbenishty et al. [(2015). Decision making in child protection: An international comparative study on maltreatment substantiation, risk assessment and interventions recommendations, and the role of professionals’ child welfare attitudes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 49, 63–75. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.03.015], we assessed the decisions of professionals, such as to place the child in foster care or reunify her with her family, on the basis of a series of judgements (e.g. substantiation of alleged abuse and neglect, risk assessments) that are influenced by the characteristics of the case, the decision-making context, and mother's and child's wishes. We conclude that there are different approaches to the case based on different professionals' attitudes that can be classified in two groups: one more pro-removal and the other anti-removal. These groups presented different risk assessments and intervention recommendations, and their decisions where significantly influenced by the mother's and child's wishes. Furthermore, we have done comparisons with studies made in other countries, concluding that the country context can be an important factor that leads to different outcomes. Implications for both practice and research are presented.     

Children at risk: rationales for risk assessments and interventions

In this study, we examine and compare the rationales that social workers and laypersons give for their judgments, assessments and decisions in cases of alleged child abuse and neglect. We have used Toulmin's framework to explore the structure of the arguments/rationales of social workers and laypersons. We analyzed separately basic and complementary level arguments. We used Rosen's work to analyze the content of the backing provided by respondents for their claims.We presented two groups of respondents—52 social workers and 50 laypersons—with a case vignette that was a referral of a child and family made by a family physician. Respondents were asked to read the case, provide their assessment of risk to the child, recommend an intervention, and give written and detailed rationales for their assessment and recommended intervention.The findings indicate that social workers and laypersons differ in the structure and in the content of their rationales. Social workers formulated significantly more complete arguments, both basic and complementary levels of arguments, than laypersons. The content of the backing for the judgments was also significantly different: Social workers used more theory, experience and policy than the laypersons who used more general knowledge and values.In the discussion, we address the training implications of the fact that social workers pay very little attention to rebuttal of arguments, and do not refer to research evidence as a basis for the arguments they make. We recommend that more research focus on arguments and rationales given by professionals in this area.     

Systemic differences in views on risk: A comparative case vignette study of risk assessment in England,Norway and the United States (California)

This article examines how child welfare workers from three countries assess risk to a child in the context of different risk assessment tools, child welfare systems and welfare regimes. Previous research suggests that there are distinct differences between child protection-oriented child welfare systems such as England and the U.S., and family service-oriented child welfare systems such as Norway (Gilbert et al., 2011). We use a case vignette method to analyze how 299 child welfare workers from England, Norway and California (U.S.) assess risk. The case vignette describes the case of ‘Beatrice’, a nine year-old girl of Black African descent who was born with an organic heart disease and a cleft palate. We found that respondents from California assessed the risk to be the lowest, followed by respondents from England and Norway. The risk factors that respondents highlighted as important for their assessment also varied significantly between countries, displaying different perceptions of elements in a case constituting risk. Respondents from Norway, who, comparatively, practice within the context of the least regulated assessment platform, identified the most homogenous assessments and types of reasoning, whereas both the assessment of risk levels and identifications of risk factors were more heterogeneous among workers in England and California. We argue that the different risk assessment tools only partly influence what workers identify as risk factors in a case, and that type of welfare states and child welfare systems is also an influence. This study thus supports existing scholarship on the distinctions between child welfare systems. However, we also found significant differences in perceptions of risk factors between England and the United States.     

The role of the medical provider in the evaluation of sexually abused children and adolescents

It was only 30 years ago that the medical community began to develop an increased awareness of child sexual abuse, and the role of the medical provider in the evaluation of sexually abused children has evolved significantly. As clinicians worldwide develop a greater understanding of the impact of the sexual abuse evaluation on the child, the roles of the physician and nurse have changed. In the United States, current practice often uses a multidisciplinary assessment involving skilled forensic interviewing of the child and a medical examination done by a medical provider with specialized training in sexual abuse. In order to minimize child interviews, these assessments are frequently held in settings such as child advocacy centers, where forensic interviewers and medical clinicians, child protective service workers, and police and district attorneys can work jointly to address the legal and protective issues in a coordinated fashion.     

The role of observation in the assessment of child neglect

This paper focuses on physical and emotional neglect from a social work perspective. Neglect is the highest category of registration on Child Protection Registers in England, and is therefore a significant preoccupation for social work. However, historically, social workers have found child neglect a difficult area of practice. In this paper, we suggest that neglect is best understood as an absence of care, that is, a breakdown in the relationship between the primary carer and child which results in difficulties in offering reliable and adequate care. One focus of assessment in cases of child neglect, therefore, needs to be on ascertaining the nature and degree of relationship failure. We set out a framework to inform such assessments which critically examines the relationship between primary carer and child/ren. We note that discussion of neglect often involves criticism of women/mothers, and seek to develop an approach to child neglect which challenges stereotypical ideas about gender and caring, ideas which can lead to inappropriate intervention and to mother‐blaming. Consideration is given to operationalizing this framework of ideas. Intentional, structured observation is identified as a particularly useful tool in accurately assessing the complexities of the mother – child relationship, and the discussion considers observation's contribution to the assessment of neglect at a number of different levels. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What would you learn to improve your work in child protection? Social workers’ continuing education requests

This article presents the results of a study of the continuing education requests of child protection social workers. The work presented is part of a larger research project realized in Lombardy (a region of Italy), conducted to gain knowledge and data about social workers’ opinions, activities, and workloads. Through the participation of 300 child protection social workers engaged in fieldwork, a specific part of the research was dedicated to continuing education requests. Starting with their perceptions about the competences and abilities required for practice, social workers were invited to express their opinions about educational needs. Using an online survey constructed ad hoc, the social workers’ continuing education needs were investigated first with multiple choice questions and subsequently using a priority scale. The interviewees expressed educational needs in 22 different areas. The data collected open perspectives to new child protection work and encourage the people responsible for education to support democratic and participatory approaches. The conclusions offer suggestions for social work education and practice.     

‘..It takes a lot of brain space’: Understanding young carers’ lives in England and the implications for policy and practice to reduce inappropriate and excessive care work

This qualitative study, undertaken in England, explored young carers’ perspectives on the nature of their caring responsibilities. The findings are significant, particularly in the context of England's Care Act 2014, which seeks to prevent children engaging in ‘excessive’ or ‘inappropriate’ caring. Our research placed children at the heart of the debate on what constitutes appropriate care. The findings raise key questions regarding effective implementation of contemporary child policy, duties of care towards children in caring roles and priorities for child protection and family support policy and practices, with the potential to inform thinking around child's well-being in wider contexts.     

Social work students’ reflections on a solution-focused approach to child protection assessment: a qualitative study

This exploratory study examines how Estonian graduate social work students’ reflections of the solution-focused approach in the context of child protection assessment can change as a result of coursework in this model. Students’ responses indicate some changes in the nature of responses after the solution-focused training course, including the adoption of techniques that help to focus on solutions (e.g. miracle question and scaling questions). Following the training, students underscored the importance of changing problem-focused ‘traditional thinking’. The findings highlight a challenge in social work education, suggesting a need to target goal-directed talk throughout the social work curriculum to support competence in conducting comprehensive, strength-based assessments.     

Participatory discourse: Engagement in the context of child protection assessment practices from the perspectives of child protection workers,parents and children

ObjectiveThis article describes empirical results of the views of child protection workers, parents and children along different dimensions including interpretation of engagement, approaches with families in the engagement process, collaboration and relationship, barriers and factors promoting engagement.MethodA qualitative study was undertaken of a sample of eleven child protection workers, eleven parents and eleven children in one county in South-Estonia. The study explored the participants' experiences and perspectives of the engagement, within the context of assessment in child protection practice, through in-depth semi-structured interviews.ResultsResults indicate that child protection workers demonstrate an over-reliance on expert- and deficit-based approaches, indicating a requirement for a focus on traditional social work assessment, concentrating on problems, and more investigative, coercive, and judgement-focused approaches. Both workers and parents valued the quality of relationships, emphasising trust, dialogue and support as important elements of engagement. According to children, they were not always considered as a subject in the assessment process, including their needs as the primary focus; children expressed the wish to be more heard and understood, with their opinions being taken into account.ConclusionsFindings propose that child protection workers are ‘stuck in the past’, in traditional deficit-based discourse, however families prefer ‘modern’, strengths-based perspectives.     

Child-centered approach in the context of the assessment of children in need: Reflections of child protection workers in Estonia

Objective

This article describes empirical results on how practitioners understand the concept of child-centered approach and how it is applied in practice, extending knowledge of the unresearched phenomena in Estonian child protection practice.

Method

A small-scale study included twenty child protection workers from different regions in Estonia, exploring the child-centered approach in assessment practices through in-depth semi-structured interviews.

Results

Results indicate that child-centered approach in the child protection workers' practice is characterized, firstly, by doing work for the child, and less by working with the child, including the fact that some practitioners are somewhat unclear about the meaning of child-centered principle. Majority of the participants underscored the importance of child involvement and partnership in the decision-making process, nevertheless, their case reflections showed that most of them did not include the child in the assessment.

Conclusions and implication for practice

Findings highlight several challenges in Estonian child protection system and suggest a need to find ways to support child protection workers' competence and confidence to conduct comprehensive assessments based on the child-centered approach, including the child in the assessment process.     

Aspiring to Partnership. The Signs of Safety approach to child protection

There is a worldwide trend towards increased collaboration in child protection practice which is primarily driven by researchers and policy makers. This sees child protection workers with the task of finding ways to implement the policy and build partnerships with the families they work with. The Signs of Safety approach to child protection casework, which was developed by the authors in conjunction with child protection workers in Western Australia, is designed as a practical method to foster a cooperative relationship between workers and families. This approach draws extensively on the ideas and experience of ‘brief therapy’ and is designed to be used in child protection practice from the intake and investigation stages through to case closure. This paper presents the different practice elements of the approach, the thinking that informs it as well as its application to assessment and case planning. Some case material describing the application of the approach is also presented. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving evidence-based social work practice with youths exhibiting conduct problems through structured assessment

A key task in evidence-based case management of youth is the assessment of research-based risk and protective factors. In the present study we compare assessments of social workers using a structured assessment instrument with assessments of social workers not using such an instrument. Assessments of the exact same case—a vignette about a 14-year-old boy—conducted by 30 social workers using a structured assessment instrument and 30 social workers not using such an instrument were compared. The 60 assessments were also rated by independent researchers and senior social services managers, blind to whether an instrument had been used in the assessments or not. As hypothesized, using a structured assessment instrument resulted in the identification of a greater number of research-based risk and protective factors, and the assessments were rated as better in terms of general adequacy, quality, accuracy and potential treatment effectiveness, than when an instrument was not used. The present study demonstrates that social workers’ assessments of youth become more evidence-based, adequate and potentially more treatment effective when a structured assessment instrument is used as compared to when it is not.     

Do Foster Parents and Care Workers Recognize the Needs of Youth in Family Foster Care with a History of Sexual Abuse?

Children in family foster care have the right to participate in decisions regarding their life, however, adults often advocate on behalf of children. This Q methodological study explored whether shared perspectives among foster parents and care workers resemble shared perspectives of youth regarding the psychosocial needs experienced by youth with a history of sexual abuse. Participants sorted a set of statement cards according to what they thought was most important for youth. By-person factor analyses examined how the Q sorts of foster parents and care workers related to those of youth. The results showed that foster parents mostly recognized the group of youth who value an instrumental relationship with their carers, while care workers mostly recognized the group of youth who value support of both foster and birth parents with regard to their preparation for independent living. The two youth groups characterized by ambivalence and autonomy were barely recognized. Results are discussed in light of the expected roles of foster parents and care workers, and youth’s contact with birth parents. Lastly, this study highlights the importance of youth participation, because youth offer unique and varying perspectives about their needs.     

Decision-Making processes in the child protection system: A comparative study between students and professionals in Portugal

Abstract

This research aims to achieve a better understanding of factors that influence the assessments and decisions of professionals and students about the possibility to remove a child at risk from her birth family. The study also analyzes the influence of the attitudes of the child’s mother on that decision. It was used a questionnaire based on a case vignette of alleged child maltreatment. Compared with students, professionals were more pro-removal, more in favor of reunification and parents’ participation in the decisions, and had a higher assessment of emotional abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. Mother’s wish did not show to have any impact in the two samples regarding maltreatment, risk assessments, and intervention recommendations.     

Dating and Sexuality among Minority Adolescents with Disabilities: An Application of Sociocultural Theory

Adolescents with disabilities, American Indians, Hispanics, and African Americans are more likely to experience victimization and pregnancy as teens. This study explored ethnic and racial minority youth with disabilities’ dating and sexual experiences from the perspectives of social workers using Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with master’s degree–holding high school social work practitioners. Social workers described family beliefs and practices, socioeconomic status, special education, historical influences, and resiliency as aspects of adolescents’ lives that impacted their dating and sexuality. Social workers’ dialogue concerning family beliefs and attitudes toward abusive relationships were interpreted as internally oriented signs used by adolescents with disabilities to navigate their dating and sexuality. Socioeconomic status, family practices, and special education were interpreted as externally oriented meditational tools. Social workers reported that many adolescents experienced a history of violence, but that some adolescents adapted their cultural heritage by creating new values for themselves and engaged in healthier dating and sexual behaviors than their peers. Finally, although social workers were a source of support to adolescents with disabilities, they were also at times a portal for ethnocentric discourse.     

Family Unity Meetings: Decision Making and Placement Outcomes

ABSTRACT

The sample consisted of all families (747) who were invited to receive a Family Unity Meeting from a Public Child Welfare Agency in a large urban county. Data was derived from the review of agency case files. The design was a retrospective case review with an embedded prospective study. This study describes factors that distinguish between CPS clients who accept an invitation to participate in a Family Unity Meeting (FUM) and those clients who decline to participate. The meeting process is described, and logistic regression is used to identify variables that predicted successful outcomes FUM meetings.

Families with reunification as a goal were the most likely cases to agree to participate followed by Voluntary and Permanency Planning cases. Cases with severe neglect were the least likely group to participate in a meeting process. Approximately nine people attended an average meeting. Maternal relatives were more likely to attend than paternal relatives.

Empirical evidence was found to support the notion that FUM expands the notion of family. Only 38% of children were placed with a parent after a meeting, but 82% of children were placed with a family member. Children were not placed with either the parent or family if the social worker had placement as a goal before the meeting. Cases with permanency plans were also less likely to be placed with the family. Social workers were more likely to agree with a placement with relatives if they had a concern about parental drug abuse. Having a maternal aunt in attendance at the meeting was predictive of having a child placed with the family.

Social workers and families stated concerns prior to the meeting diverged. Families were more concerned with economic and financial issues than were the social workers. Social workers were more concerned with child protective service issues (type of abuse, placement issues, etc.) and the behavior of the parent (substance abuse, mental health, etc.) than was the family. Paying attention to family issues such as finances may be a necessary precursor to families focusing on more complex matters like substance abuse or parenting practices.

Placement outcomes were consistent with worker's goals stated before the meeting. If a social worker said they wanted to place a child with the family before the meeting, that placement was most likely the outcome of the meeting. Social workers may be guiding the decisions of the family. If this interpretation is correct then it raises questions about who makes decisions at the meeting. An alternative conclusion is that the social workers are good diagnosticians who know prior to the meeting if placement is necessary, and know what decisions the family will make.