Problematic Parents and the Community Parent Education: Representations of Social Class, Ethnicity, and Gender

Widding, Ulrika

doi:10.1080/08952833.2011.548701

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Bacchi’s WPR approach is a well-established analytic method for interrogating drug policy with studies across the globe interrogating the ways in which influential high-level policy documents like Hidden Harm represent problems rather than simply addressing them (see for example, Brown & Wincup, 2019; Fraser & Moore, 2011a; Lancaster et al, 2017). It has also been used to explore parenting policy (e.g., Cook et al, 2015; Widding, 2011). WPR challenges the tendency for policies to operate as “taken-for-granted descriptions of conditions that ought to be rectified and/or eliminated” (Bacchi, 2017, p. 2).…”

Section: Analytic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Parental Drug Use in the UK: What’s Hidden in “Hidden Harm?”

Whittaker

Martin

Olsen

et al. 2020

Contemporary Drug Problems

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In 2003, the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs published Hidden Harm, the product of an inquiry that exposed the “problems” of parental drug use and its neglect by professionals. It outlined an extensive program of reforms designed to protect children from harm. Despite its far-reaching influence, it has rarely been subject to scrutiny, with analyses focusing on its impact instead. Drawing on Bacchi’s post-structuralist “What’s the Problem Represented to be” approach, we examine problematizations within Hidden Harm and their implications for the governance of family life. We illustrate how Hidden Harm produced a simplified version of parenting and child welfare within the context of drug use by largely equating drug use with “bad” parenting and child maltreatment and by ignoring the social determinants of health and the wider social ecology of family life. Using a tried-and-tested driver of policy change, Hidden Harm created a “scandal” about the lack of intervention by professionals that was used to justify and legitimize increased state intervention into the lives of parents who use drugs. Hidden Harm proposed simplistic “solutions” that centered on drug treatment, child protection and the responsibilization of professionals to govern “risky” parents. We argue these rationalities, subjectivities and strategies serve to marginalize and stigmatize families further and hide alternative approaches to understanding, representing and responding to the complex needs of children and families who are disproportionately affected by health and social inequalities. By uncovering what is hidden in Hidden Harm, we aim to stimulate further research and theoretically informed debate about policy and practice related to child welfare, parenting and family life within the context of drug use. We conclude with some ideas about how to reframe public discourse on parents who use drugs and their children, in tandem with collaborative responses to alleviate child poverty and inequalities.

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Section: Analytic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Parental Drug Use in the UK: What’s Hidden in “Hidden Harm?”

Whittaker

Martin

Olsen

et al. 2020

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“…Bacchi's approach has been used in a number of analyses that have examined discourses as particular forms of power in health and social policy and practice (see, for example, Begley and Coveney , Dwyer et al . , Widding ).…”

Section: Infant Mental Health Promotion: An Analytics Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant mental health promotion and the discourse of risk

Lawless

Coveney

MacDougall

2013

Sociology Health & Illness

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The field of infant mental health promotion has rapidly developed in academia, health policy and practice. Although there are roots in earlier childhood health and welfare movements, recent developments in infant mental health promotion are distinct and different. This article examines the development and practice of infant mental health promotion in South Australia. A regional, intersectoral forum with a focus on families and young children was used as a case study. In-depth interviews with forum members were analysed using a governmentality lens. Participants identified a range of risks to the healthy development of the infant. The study suggests that the construction of risk acts as a technique of governing, providing the rationale for intervention for the child, the mother and the public's good. It places responsibility on parents to self-govern. Although the influence of broader social contexts is acknowledged, the problematisation of mothering as risk shifts the focus to individual capacity, rather than encompassing the systems and social conditions that support healthy relationships. This research suggests that the representations of risk are a pervasive and potent influence that can act to undermine health promotion efforts that seek to empower and enable people to have more control over their own health.

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“…Another important question concerns how the 'turn to parenting' (i.e., Gillies, 2005;Ramaekers and Suissa, 2011;Faircloth, 2014) affects efforts to establish gender equality -one of the trademarks of the Nordic countries (see Gíslason and Símonardóttir, 2018). Several authors (e.g., Widding, 2011;Lee, 2014;Bråten and Sønsterudbråten, 2016) have observed, and problematised how -even in these countries where the idea of parents being equally obligated and important to children is so heavily promotedwomen or mothers are (still) regarded as the primary, self-evident parent (see Gíslason and Símonardóttir, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most Nordic studies that apply a social science perspective to parenting support comprise various forms of policy analysis. They typically investigate how parenting support policies are described, justified, and legitimised in policy documents, political debates, and handbooks of parenting support programmes (Widding, 2011; Danielsen et al ., 2012) (see also the contributions from Widding, 2018; Sihvonen, 2018; Sundsbø, 2018; Littmarck et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Social Science Perspectives On Parenting Support From the Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many social science researchers investigating parenting support in the Nordic countries have focused on critically appraising the content of structured parenting support. Widding (2011), for instance, studied the Swedish version of the Community Parent Education (COPE), a manual-based programme in which parents meet once a week (for ten weeks) to learn strategies for managing different kinds of undesirable child behaviour. The basis for the analysis was the COPE course leader manual and DVD containing a number of film sequences illustrating 'bad' parenting skills.…”

Section: Social Science Perspectives On Parenting Support From the Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parenting Support in Europe's North: How Is It Understood and Evaluated in Research?

Sundsbø¹

2018

Social Policy & Society

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Parenting support in the Nordic countries builds upon a century-long tradition of controls and services run by municipalities and county councils (Hagelund, 2008; Danielsen and Mühleisen, 2009; Lundqvist, 2015). However, with the introduction of structured parental guidance programmes from the 1990s onward (mainly based on research insights and experiences from the US and UK), new elements have been added to the former policy legacy (Lundqvist, 2015).

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Problematic Parents and the Community Parent Education: Representations of Social Class, Ethnicity, and Gender

Cited by 11 publications

References 2 publications

Governing Parental Drug Use in the UK: What’s Hidden in “Hidden Harm?”

Governing Parental Drug Use in the UK: What’s Hidden in “Hidden Harm?”

Infant mental health promotion and the discourse of risk

Parenting Support in Europe's North: How Is It Understood and Evaluated in Research?

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