‘Realising the (troubled) family’, ‘crafting the neoliberal state’

Crossley, Stephen

doi:10.1332/204674315x14326465757666

Cited by 54 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The TFP, which Cameron (2016) recently claimed was 'perhaps the most intensive form of state intervention there is', can thus be viewed as being at the vanguard of the crafting of a neoliberal state (Crossley, 2016b). Plans to extend the intensive keyworker approach to different groups have been mooted both inside government (Cameron, 2015) and by think-tanks (McNeil and Hunter, 2015).…”

Section: Dubois (2010: 183) Has Argued Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

From the desk to the front-room? The changing spaces of street-level encounters with the state under austerity

Crossley¹

2016

PPP

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The impact of recent welfare reforms and austerity measures have fallen unevenly on different regions and different household types in the UK. These changes are generally referred to as a 'withdrawal' or 'retrenchment' of the state. It is also possible, however, to argue that the state is actually extending its reach into the lives of disadvantaged or 'troubled' families. This article highlights how, in recent years, the site of government interventions into the lives of marginalised populations has progressively shifted from the public spaces of offices, and neighbourhood and community buildings, to the private, domestic spaces of the 'family'. The changing spaces of street-level encounters with the state are characterised as a shift from 'the desk' or 'the counter' to the 'front door' of the family home. The rhetoric surrounding the Troubled Families Programme is examined and some of the political and symbolic functions of the 'front-door' discourse are expounded.

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Section: Dubois (2010: 183) Has Argued Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

From the desk to the front-room? The changing spaces of street-level encounters with the state under austerity

Crossley¹

2016

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“…Many such expectations become cloaked in professional and academic discourses giving an appearance of objectivity, with families described as 'functional' or 'dysfunctional', 'healthy' or 'unhealthy', 'normative' or 'troubled' (Crossley 2016a(Crossley , 2016bSomerville 2000;Vetere 2013) -terms which obscure their underpinnings in culturally shaped value judgments. Yet these 'childhood' ideals are rooted in the affluence and expectations of particular cultural contexts (Gillis 2009;Hendrick 2009), even while such notions are promulgated through international social policy (Ansell 2005;Boyden 1997 Some of this work includes discussion of how to assess 'harm', as seen for example, in relation to issues of child labour (Ansell 2005;Bourdillon 2006;Morrow and Boyden 2010) which is increasingly recognized to be a complex and often locally specific issue to evaluate in terms of its mixed impact on children's lives, their view of themselves, and their position in their families.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Troubling Children’s Families: Who Is Troubled and Why? Approaches to Inter-Cultural Dialogue

McCarthy

Gillies

2017

Sociological Research Online

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This article draws on multi-disciplinary perspectives to consider the need and the possibilities for intercultural dialogue concerning families that may be seen by some to be 'troubling'. Starting from the premise that 'troubles' are a 'normal' part of children's family lives, we consider the boundary between 'normal' troubles and troubles that are troubling (whether to family members or others). Such troubling families potentially indicate an intervention to prevent harm to less powerful family members (notably children). On what basis can such decisions be made in children's family lives, how can this question be answered across diverse cultural contexts, and are all answers inevitably subject to uncertainty? Such questions arguably re-frame and broaden existing debates about 'child maltreatment' across diverse cultural contexts. Beyond recognizing power dynamics, material inequalities, and historical and contemporary colonialism, we argue that attempts to answer the question on an empirical basis risk a form of neo-colonialism, since values inevitably permeate research and knowledge claims. We briefly exemplify such difficulties, examining psychological studies of childrearing in China, and the application of neuroscience to early childhood interventions in the UK. Turning to issues of values and moral relativism, we also question the possibility of an objective moral standard that avoids cultural imperialism, but ask whether cultural relativism is the only alternative position available. Here we briefly explore other possibilities in the space between 'facile' universalism and 'lazy' relativism (Jullien, 2008(Jullien, /2014. Such approaches bring into focus core philosophical and cultural questions about the possibilities for 'happiness', and for what it means to be a 'person', living in the social world.Throughout, we centralize theoretical and conceptual issues, drawing on the work of Jullien (2008Jullien ( /2014 to recognize the immense complexities inter-cultural dialogue entails in terms of language and communication.

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“…The policy itself has its origins in the New Labour Government's 2006 Respect Agenda which claimed to identify a group of chaotic families who were a drain on public services, including health, social services, education and the police. As Crossley (2015) notes, the Respect Agenda was, at least nominally, focused on multiple disadvantages such as low income and poor housing. In this new incarnation, troubled families are described as: … households who: are involved in crime and anti-social behaviour, have children not in school, have an adult on out of work benefits and cause high costs to the public purse.…”

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition wider social discourses have moved from a concern with the impact of structural inequalities to a moralistic discourse (Welshman, 2012) that sees poverty as resulting from perceived individual failings. In the UK context, as the state has withdrawn from a programme of social welfare provision, those systems that remain have become increasingly punitive (Crossley, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wacquant, urban marginality, territorial stigmatization and social work

Cummins

2016

ANZSWJ

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Loic Wacquant is currently Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written extensively on issues related to urban poverty, race and the expansion of imprisonment. Wacquant is heavily influenced by the work of the late Pierre Bourdieu. Specifically, Wacquant employs Bourdieu's theoretical tools of analysis to provide a critique of contemporary neo-liberal social and penal policy. This article considers the potential applications of Wacquant's scholarship to contemporary social work practice. For the purposes of this analysis, Wacquant's work is divided into three broad areas: the analysis of neo-liberalism and precarious forms of employment, the development of the penal state and his critical approach to doxa. Bourdieu uses the term doxa to refer to those views or opinions that are taken for granted within any society. They thus create the limits of, or provide a strong framework for, political and policy debates. It is argued that Wacquant's theorisation provides an explanation of the forces that have led to the concentration of areas of poverty in the midst of relative affluence. In addition to facing long-standing problems of high unemployment, poor housing and a lack of social amenities, these areas -the banlieues in France, housing projects in the USA and estates in England -are stigmatized in public and media discourse. Wacquant's work can be used to challenge the development of a form of social work that places emphasis on bureaucratic managerialism. In addition, it should encourage social work as a profession to re-engage with criminal justice issues. Finally, the critical approach to doxa provides a model for social work to challenge the limitations of current debates.

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‘Realising the (troubled) family’, ‘crafting the neoliberal state’

Cited by 54 publications

References 19 publications

From the desk to the front-room? The changing spaces of street-level encounters with the state under austerity

From the desk to the front-room? The changing spaces of street-level encounters with the state under austerity

Troubling Children’s Families: Who Is Troubled and Why? Approaches to Inter-Cultural Dialogue

Wacquant, urban marginality, territorial stigmatization and social work

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