Empowerment in child protection work: values, practice and caveats

McCallum, Sharon; Prilleltensky, Isaac

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0860(199603)10:1<40::aid-chi5>3.0.co;2-i

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The chance to participate in formal meetings is often valued positively by children (Schofield andThoburn 1996, Littlechild 2000), and it can be seen as a means of empowerment (McCallum andPrilleltensky 1996, Munro 2001). However, concerns have been raised about the quality of children's participation (Thomas 2002, Winter 2006) and also about the continuing absence of children from child protection conferences.…”

Section: Review Meetings á the British Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

Vis

Thomas

2009

European Journal of Social Work

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The attempt to give children an effective voice in social work processes which can have substantial impact on their lives takes different forms in countries with varying professional cultures and legal frameworks. This paper reports on a study of children's participation in decision-making in care and protection services in Norway, which was carried out in conjunction with a project to support social work teams in enabling children to participate, using materials borrowed from England and Wales. The results showed that (a) taking an active part in decisionmaking did not correlate perfectly with (b) having an influence on the outcome. Cases were therefore classified as 'participation' or 'non-participation' using a combination of both the above criteria. Statistical analysis of the factors influencing children's participation enabled the proposition of a model which appeared to explain much of the variance. The results point to the inadequacy of equating social work conversation with children with effective participation in decision-making.Forsøk på å fremme barns deltakelse og innflytelse i beslutninger som angår dem gjøres i flere land. Fremgangsmåte avhenger blant annet av fagkultur og lovverk. Denne artikkelen er basert på undersøkelse av barns deltakelse i beslutningsprosesser i Norske barnevernssaker. Studien ble gjennomført i samband med utprøving og implementering av metoder for barns deltakelse som var utviklet i England og Wales. Undersøkelsen viste (a) at selv om barn tar del i beslutningsprosesser får ikke det nødvendigvis (b) betydning for utfallet av saken. Sakene ble derfor klassifisert som 'deltakelse' eller 'ikke-deltakelse', basert på en kombinasjon av begge disse kriteriene. Ut i fra statistisk analyse av faktorer som har betydning for om barn blir deltakere, foreslås en modell for å forklare denne variasjonen. Resultatet viser at det ikke kan settes likhetstegn mellom å snakke med barn og det å gi barn reell deltakelse i beslutningsprosesser.

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Section: Review Meetings á the British Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

Vis

Thomas

2009

European Journal of Social Work

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“…The practice of empowerment has long been embraced in social work and has seen the development of critical principles, such as participation and self‐determination, essential elements to understanding empowerment (Prilleltensky, ). For example, in order to fulfill a person's self‐determination, he/she needs access to opportunities to participate in a range of experiences (where necessary with support), notably, in decisions that affect them (Cawley & McNamara, ; McCallum & Prilleltensky, ). It is worth noting that for vulnerable groups, such as children and young people in kinship care, empowerment not only represents an outcome, but also indicates a process (Kaplan, Skolnik & Turnbull, ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing global interest in understanding and promoting children's empowerment has occurred over the recent past, partly as a result of the growing recognition of state obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Ataöv & Haider, ; Earnshaw, ; McCallum & Prilleltensky, ). Studies have documented cultural variation regarding what empowerment might mean across different contexts (Bradbury‐Jones, Irvine & Sambrook, ; Gersch, Lipscomb, Stoyles & Caputi, ; Nyawasha & Chipunza, ), and acknowledged the vital role played by parents and other significant adults in facilitating children's access to rights (Adu‐Gyamfi, ; Olin et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering Children Left Behind in China

Burton

Lonne

2016

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

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In the last two decades in rural China, increasing numbers of children of economic migrants have been left behind with kin, which is of growing concern for social work and welfare policy. The genesis of this rural to urban migration has been China's rapid economic development and greater opportunities for work in better paying jobs in cities. However, there is growing evidence of the negative impact upon these children. This paper reports the views of caregivers (n = 23) and school personnel (n = 5) from a small town in Northeast China. Interviews sought adults opinions on these children's needs, with the major outcome being children's need to be empowered – to be respected, to express themselves, to have influence, and to be supported to be able to more fully participate in education and their communities. We argue that caregiver strategies to empower children left behind provide insight into culturally appropriate processes and practices that underpin social inclusion. However, some discrepancies between the views of caregivers and school personnel alert us to the potential for tension between family and broader community and institutional views. Implications for social work practice include responding to the cultural values embedded in child rearing practices and local ideas about children's entitlements.

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It’s not about them without them: Kinship grandparents’ perspectives on family empowerment in public child welfare

Gentles-Gibbs

Zema

2020

Children and Youth Services Review

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Empowerment in child protection work: values, practice and caveats

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

Beyond talking – children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases

Empowering Children Left Behind in China

It’s not about them without them: Kinship grandparents’ perspectives on family empowerment in public child welfare

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