Assessment processes in social work with children at risk in Sweden and Croatia

The aim of this article is to compare Swedish and Croatian social workers' assessments and protection of a 4-year-old child exposed to risk in its own family. The data were collected from 87 Croatian and 72 Swedish social workers by means of a questionnaire, which incorporated a vertical vignette. Effects of the participant's country of residence were investigated with respect to: (i) risk assessments; (ii) perception of the main problems; (iii) tolerance of corporal punishment; (iv) judgements about appropriateness of interventions. The results suggest that Croatian social workers have a more child-protective approach than their Swedish colleagues. Swedish social workers have a more supportive approach than Croatian social workers. Despite fundamental similarities in assessments between the countries, significant differences were found in preferred interventions. The Swedish social workers were more in favour of keeping the child at home with the support of social services. The Croatian social workers were more in favour of removing the child from home by means of a care order. This might primarily be attributed to the differences in availability of family support services and to different discourses in Sweden and Croatia.     

The hidden welfare state, tax expenditure and social policy A comparative overview

This article describes, discusses and presents information about tax expenditure and its relation to social policy. It stresses that the hidden welfare state strongly influences social policy and that only looking at the direct provision of welfare goods may be misleading when making comparisons between countries. The article presents new figures on tax expenditure in relation to social policy and does so in a comparative perspective. It is argued that tax expenditure seems to have an upside down effect, but further research is needed to substantiate this. It concludes that tax expenditure strongly influences the provision, financing and delivery of social policy, and tax expenditure therefore has to be more fully integrated into the analysis of the welfare state.     

Social Work, Asset-based Welfare and the Child Trust Fund

Asset-based welfare represents a new departure in British incomemaintenance policy and the Child Trust Fund is its most importantcontemporary example. This Research Note explores the claimsmade for asset-based welfare in general and for the Child TrustFund in particular. It sets out the results of an investigationinto the views of young people into potential uses which individualsmight make of the Fund. It then suggests a series of reasonswhy social workers ought to take a particular interest in thedevelopment of asset-based welfare policies and the benefitswhich might flow from them.     

Children's Views of Family Group Conferences

The note reports one part of a research study which looked atthe experiences of the first twenty families who participatedin a family group conference pilot project. The research reportsthe largely positive views of twenty children aged between sixand sixteen who were interviewed and/or returned questionnaires.Based on the experiences of the children in this project, children’sinclusion in family group conferences is generally to be encouraged.They mostly valued the experience of being consulted and welcomedopportunities for families to develop relationships and worktogether on issues, free from the attentions of social services.Nonetheless, although family group conferences can usefullyinclude children and have a clear role in child welfare practice,they are not necessarily the route to empowering practice forall children and families.     

Learning to love (the state) again? Money,legitimacy and community sector politics

The erosion and dismantling of the post‐war welfare settlement has entailed an expanded role for the community sector, as a complex ‘mixed economy of service provision’ has developed. Critiques from both right and left have undermined the legitimacy of a statist model of welfare; state funding of non‐government community organisations is one aspect of the move away from centralised delivery. Despite their important role in this process, the distinctive perspectives of community sector organisations are rarely considered in broader theoretical and political debates. These organisations face significant dilemmas in struggling to maintain their viability and independence. Analysis of three major arguments for funding shows how organisations challenge the state's legitimacy by insisting on their own independent role but precariously rely on traditional sources of welfare state funding. This analysis draws into question the possibility of satisfactory non‐statist theories of welfare. It also suggests that the community sector might need to reposition itself as part of a broader public system of welfare, rather than in opposition to government, but that this strategy entails obvious risks for organisations' independence.     

An Exploratory Analysis of Seven Child Welfare Workers who Confused SIDS with Child Maltreatment Fatalities: A Brief Research Report

Abstract

Previous research shows that child welfare workers (CWWs) have low levels of knowledge of risk factors for child maltreatment fatalities. Further, these gaps in knowledge leave CWWs with misconceptions about causes of deaths and the characteristics of the perpetrators. This brief research report focuses on CWWs’ gaps in knowledge with regard to CMFs and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and explores the socio-demographic characteristics of seven workers who confused fatal child maltreatment and SIDS. These workers were experienced professionals—who were in their middle-age, mid-career, and well-educated—and had been trained in how to recognize risk factors for CMFs. Implications for training and collaboration with other professionals are discussed, as well as the need for research to evaluate training efficacy.     

Recurrence,eruptions, and a transnational turn: Three decades of strained relations between migrants to Norway and the Child Welfare Services

The relations between the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) and various migrant groups are notably strained. Numerous media accounts and a growing body of research reveal that many migrants to Norway fear the CWS. By combining quantitative and qualitative analyses of media accounts, this paper addresses the historical evolvement of such strained relations in Norway. Previous research has neglected this aspect. Findings show that migration issues related to the CWS have been topics of public debate in Norway for three decades, with foster care being a particularly intractable concern. With the onset of the decade beginning in 2010, however, matters have intensified and taken on transnational dimensions. In the discussion of our findings, we emphasize in particular how digital and social media have contributed to the recent changes.     

How to start to talk about money: developing clienthood in interaction in a social welfare office

The process of defining clienthood, in terms of real-time talk and the inherently local linguistic and interactive practices, which highlights the need for an explication of the interaction order, is analyzed in this article. The tracking of the objectives and patterns of actions of local interaction in a Finnish social welfare office between social workers and longterm clients reveals the ongoing negotiating about meaning, rights and social positions and the central role of institutional speech in the constitution of a social welfare office. Basic interactional solutions for managing the institutional task of dealing with the applicant's interested claims was found. The social workers could, using different practices, initiate the treatment of the question of benefits so that the participants, with mutual alignment, avoided representing the clients interested claims. Also the clients could initiate the treatment, but the social workers did not align with the initiations that could be classified as interested.     

Canadian Non-Profits in Crisis: The Need for Reform

This paper examines recent changes in the relationship between the Canadian state, at both federal and provincial levels, and those non-profit organizations concerned with social welfare. The 1995 federal budget marked a turning point for Canadian non-profit organizations as the federal transfer payments to the provinces were simultaneously restructured and reduced. This, in turn, meant that provincial funds flowing to non-profit organizations would also be cut, or terminated, and restructured as service contracts continued to replace grants. This followed a review of government funding to non-profit agencies initiated the previous year and came on top of a growing critique of non-profits as unaccountable, unrepresentative, professionalized, "special-interest" groups, who used public funds largely to sustain themselves, and pursued causes that should not be subsidized by government. At the same time non-profit organizations were increasingly expected to provide core social welfare services not only on the basis of "more for less" but also through charging for their services and increased corporate and individual fund-raising. All of these events took place in the context of the election to government, in 1993, of the Liberal Party, that had previously been strongly identified with the advance of a Canadian social agenda but now chose to adopt its conservative predecessor’s deficit reduction strategy through public expenditure cuts. For many Canadian commentators, such events have thrown non-profit organizations into crisis and during the past two years there have been attempts to bring together the diverse interests within the sector and build a stronger sense of identity and voice. However, there is also a strong argument to suggest that the vulnerability of such non-profit organizations has resulted, in part, from their over-dependence on government during the previous twenty-five years and the absence of a strong popular base. This paper explores the changing relationships between the Canadian state and non-profit organizations, and highlights what could be very similar dilemmas for their UK counterparts as government increasingly looks to non-profits to fulfil what has during the postwar period been its service-providing role.     

Searching for Local Solutions: Making Welfare Policy on the Ground in Ontario

Over recent decades welfare dependency has played a powerful role in defining the welfare “problem” and in passing appropriate “solutions.” One result has been the proliferation of short-term, low-cost employment programs and training programs that have emerged as critical sites for challenging and reforming the attitudes and behaviors of welfare recipients. By exploring work-readiness programs in four communities in Ontario, Canada, we provide insight into how these programs relate to the lived realities of those compelled to attend them. The research shows how dependency discourse informs program rules and content, raising expectations about both the benefits and the immediacy of work. This focus risks individualizing blame and ignoring the structural realities of labor markets and the systemic forces that create poverty and unemployment. Although the particular empirical focus is on Ontario, the approaches used and their outcomes resonate with strategies that are evident wherever neoliberalism has made its mark.