Developing an Open Dialogue inspired model of systemic social work assessment in a local authority children's social care department

Abstract

We outline a new approach to initial social work child and family assessment, focused on listening practices. The wider social context of contemporary children's services and, in particular, public concern about child death inquiries and the impacts of government's austerity policies create significant challenges for the development of listening practices. Our model seeks to develop listening practices which attend to these challenges, while retaining a focus on safe and effective social work practice. Our model develops principles of dialogicity and Open Dialogue, with systemic and narrative practices developed by Fredman and Jenkins. In crisis situations care must be taken to develop contexts for listening, where families and professionals are given opportunities to listen well to each other. Practitioner points Dialogicity principles and Open Dialogue practices can be applied in children's social care assessment contexts Listening is under‐theorised in children's social care contexts; listening theory can be applied in systemic social work assessment meetings Systemic practices can make valuable contributions to effective child and family social work Open Dialogue practices contribute to the development of communities of practice, and can be supported through manualisation

The introduction and implementation of open dialogue in a day center in Athens, Greece: experiences and reflections of mental health professionals

“…Findings revealed that professionals were able to develop a trans-professional identity and role, however the greatest challenge was to foster the professionals’ ability to genuinely listen. Interestingly, less experienced professionals without formal therapeutic training were reported as being better able to integrate Open Dialogue skills into their practices, a finding also reported by Clement and McKenny (2019) .…”

Implementing Open Dialogue approaches: A scoping review

“…Network meetings were generally perceived as validating and acknowledging, and participants appreciated the reflection practices between staff members. In the study by Clement and McKenny (2019), parents of children undergoing social assessment unequivocally described feeling supported during network meetings, and that the Open Dialogue approach made it easier to access help compared to previous experiences with services. In Dawson et al’s (2021) description of a network meeting, a young person at the center of concern had some trepidation before and during the meeting, but she and her family found it meaningful to share their concerns about each other.…”

Professional Practice in Child Protection and the Child's Right to Participate

“…According to Wenger (1998, p. 56), complexity lies in combining different components such as doing, talking, thinking, feeling, and belonging (cf. Clement & McKenny, 2019). define participation as a situational and iterative process in which all relevant actors enter into mutual dialogue.…”