Introduction: ‘Looking for Trouble?’ Critically Examining the UK Government's Troubled Families Programme

Abstract

The Troubled Families Programme (TFP) was launched by the UK Coalition Government in December 2011. Following the riots that took place in towns and cities across England during that summer, the then Prime Minister David Cameron promised to put 'rocket boosters' under plans to 'turn around' the lives of the country's 'most troubled families' by the end of the Coalition's term of office in May 2015. In his 'fightback' speech, delivered just a week after the riots had ended, Cameron (2011a) stated that the riots were not about poverty or race or government cuts. Instead, he argued that that the riots were 'about behaviour: people showing indifference to right and wrong; people with a twisted moral code; people with a complete absence of self-restraint'.Lone parent families and a dysfunctional system of social security were, in the government's eyes at least, equally culpable for the rioting (Cameron (2011a):

Stigma in relation to families living with parental mental illness: An integrative review

“…Similarly, among the papers identified there was a focus on ways in which, when parental mental illness is present, whole families become stigmatized, by professionals, services, and in policy (as for instance by referring to them as ‘problem families’, for example Cameron 2011). Again, there is potentially useful work from other social scientists that examines and critiques the ways in which certain families have been actively stigmatized over time, through being positioned as social problems in ways that individualize their problems and creates them as targets of punitive and stigmatizing policy interventions – often referred to as ‘troubled’ or ‘problem’ families (Crossley 2018; Crossley & Lambert 2017). Given the barriers to accessing mental health services that disclosure stigma and self‐stigma pose, it is incumbent on mental health advocates and leaders to address this stark disconnect.…”

Disability, special educational needs, class, capitals, and segregation in schools: A population geography perspective

“…Understanding a link between diagnoses of SEND, class, and poverty locates the “problem” and “cause” of SEND, within families. Professionals emphasised that SEND can be tied to poverty, and a gamut of family issues, ranging from intra‐family conflict, drug use, and family breakdown to social services intervention, reflective of “troubled families” discourses (Crossley & Lambert, ). These are part of broader neoliberal tendency to blame poor people and specifically poor parenting for their problems (Jensen & Tyler, ) rather than exploring structural underpinnings.…”

Contingent coping? Renegotiating ‘fast’ disciplinary social policy at street level: Implementing the UK Troubled Families Programme

“…A culture of disruption and irresponsibility that cascades through generations. (quoted in Crossley and Lambert, 2017: 81–82)…”

“…Earlier iterations of the TFP have received a great deal of negative academic critique (Crossley and Lambert, 2017; Lambert and Crossley, 2017) and the announcement of its renewal/expansion was met by further criticism. We review the literature on the TFP and Improving Lives which aims to place the programme on a firmer evidential foundation than its predecessors.…”