Providing alternatives to infant institutionalisation in Bulgaria: How gatekeeping can benefit from a social development orientation

There is extensive research demonstrating the negative effects of institutionalisation on infants. Gatekeeping has been widely promoted as a key strategy to combat unnecessary institutionalisation. Its aim is to provide a range of services and a system of decision making based on assessments of children and families to ensure effective targeting of services. This paper provides details of research into the gatekeeping system in Bulgaria for children under three and examples from recent Bulgarian and international practice. It suggests that gatekeeping could benefit from a social development orientation including activities to combat poverty and promote social inclusion through supporting community and family strengths. The paper proposes changes to the orientation of gatekeeping for effective national strategies to combat institutionalisation.     

The place of “think family” approaches in child and family social work: Messages from a process evaluation of an English pathfinder service

Findings are reported from a process study of an English multi-disciplinary team working with families with long standing and complex problems. The approaches and methods of the team are described and placed in the context of UK policy developments and of UK and USA research on professional practice with families facing multiple difficulties. Basic data are provided on all families referred in the first year and analysed with respect to the first 100 completed cases. A broadly ethnographic research approach is used for the observational study of the team interactions and decision-making on individual cases. For a one-third sub-sample of 33 cases, process and interim outcome data are analysed from information systematically extracted from case records. These are complemented by qualitative data from interviews with managers and caseworkers and by observation of ‘team around the family’ and professionals' meetings. The researchers conclude that the service succeeds in engaging a majority of the referred families who have been hard to reach or hard to change in the past and whose children are either ‘on the edge of care’ or likely to be significantly harmed without the provision of an intensive service. The researchers concluded that improvements were made in the life chances of children in 75% of the families. Aspects of the service identified as associated with more positive outcomes are: the allocation of two key workers (one for the child/ren and one for the parent/s); the centrality of relationship-based practice and flexibility of the approach rather than strict adherence to any particular practice model; the fact that the service is firmly embedded within the statutory children's services department, allowing for continuity of relationships with team around the family members when the intensive service ends; and flexibility about case duration and intensity.     

A qualitative study on the pros and cons of ethnically matching culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) client families and child protection caseworkers

A review of the literature indicated that empirical research into the advantages and disadvantages of ethnically matching child protection caseworkers and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) client families is not extensive. The main aim of this study was to address this gap. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 CALD client families and 17 child protection caseworkers (as part of a larger study). It was found that if CALD families fear a breach of confidentiality (because of cultural reasons to protect the family's privacy and name), and this fear exceeds the two main benefits of ethnic matching – namely, that it helps overcome language barriers and provides (cultural) sensitivity – then they are likely to prefer a non-matched caseworker. This may be a challenge in child protection practice if the pool of culturally competent caseworkers is small. Another challenge identified was when CALD families preferred an ethnic match but was seen by case managers as a risk to the accurate assessment of a child's wellbeing because the caseworker was over-identifying with the client family. Thus, the provision of a culturally sensitive service can be at odds with the need to protect children from harm. This issue is seen as best addressed on a case by case basis. This study is significant because it has shown that ‘over-identification’ is an important work practice issue in this matter. It has also used empirical evidence to inform best practice principles regarding ethnic matching.     

Family preservation and child protection: The reality of Children's Court decision-making

Abstract

Ainsworth and Maluccio (Australian Social Work, December 1998) drew attention to the increased use of kinship care for children who need care away from their parents. This paper discusses the aim of family preservation, on which kinship care is predicated, and the challenges for legal decision-makers to meet this aim when children are before the courts in need of care and protection. It draws from findings of a study of magistrates' decision-making in child protection cases (Sheehan 1999). The paper provides examples of family situations that typically confront the Children's Court in Victoria and the court's response to them as it attempts to balance the importance of family ties and the reality of risk for a child; a reality that challenges valued beliefs about families and their ability to always care for their children.     

宪法视野下的海权保护

西方海权理论带有浓重的海洋霸权色彩.中国海权是海洋主权、海洋权利和制海权的统一,具有自卫性和有限性.我国海权的法律保护存在宪法关注缺失、立法相对滞后及体系不平衡等缺陷.宪法保护海权有其必要性,解决海岛海洋争端和提升我国海洋执法的正当性均需宪法提供明确的依据.党的十八大报告为海权入宪提供了契机,海权的宪法保护路径在于增设涉海条款直接保护海权、授权普通法律间接保护海权.     

论网络消费法律问题及其解决对策

在互联网飞速发展的今天,各个商业领域都充斥着电子商务网络,这不仅催生了消费者的个人利益扩展空间和网络参与空间,还诱发了许多网络消费法律纠纷。故我国需要依法设置保护消费者权益的政府专门机构,强化政府的消费者保护义务,加强公众传媒的社会监督力度,强化网络参与者网络言行的法律责任和道德评判,制定、修订和完善相关立法,建立和健全我国电子商务中消费者保护制度。     

虚拟社会的属性及其治理路径探析

虚拟社会作为现实社会在网络中的镜像,拥有虚拟实在性、匿名性、开放性、共享性、自律性等特性。其与现实社会既相区别又相联系,即它们在社会基础、社会关系和主体活动等方面有差异,但二者彼此互动统一于人类社会。基于此,我们认为,应从建立虚拟身份证明制度、构建虚拟伦理秩序、健全网络信息防护系统、完善舆情疏导机制等方面寻求治理路径。     

Unemployment Protection and Family Policy at the Turn of the 21st Century: A Dynamic Approach to Welfare Regime Theory

This article contributes to the welfare state regime literature from a substantive and methodological perspective. At a very abstract level we confirm the relevance of the welfare state regime theory and stability for the period from 1971 to the end of the 1990s. However, by analyzing family policy and unemployment protection, we observe a dual transformation of the welfare state, consisting of a trend towards a ‘socialization’ of family policies and a retrenchment in unemployment insurance benefits. Our Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) of the two policy domains captures the multi‐dimensionality of the decommodification and defamilialization concepts and visualizes welfare state developments over time in a Cartesian space. This dynamic analysis provides us with a nuanced understanding of welfare state regime stability and change.     

Missing Elements in the Protection of Children: Three Cases from China

ABSTRACT.

The article analyzes 3 severe cases of child abuse that were widely discussed in the mass media in China in 2007 based on a framework used by the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in its official publication World Perspectives on Child Abuse. The framework sets out the basic elements that must be included in systems of child protection: a) a responsible government or government-authorized organization; b) a set of institutional arrangements for reporting cases of child abuse, investigation, and intervening when necessary; and c) state guardianship or mechanisms to remove children from their parents’ care when necessary. By applying the framework to the 3 cases under analysis, the authors found that these basic elements are missing from the Chinese child protection system, and therefore, they recommend that a reform of the system to address these elements should be a priority for Chinese social policy. The article makes a number of recommendations for reform.     

Adoption as a means of child protection: the law and practice in Malaysia

Adoption in Malaysia is of two kinds; firstly, taking the child of another as a person's own child, where as a result, the adopted child will stand in equal footing with the natural children of the adoptive parents; and secondly, taking a child of another into a person's custody without affecting the biological status of the adopted child. This article wishes to discuss the law and practice of adoption in Malaysia as one of the means of child protection. The article will also examine as to whether the law is adequate to protect children who are the subjects of adoption.