The Influence of Child Protection Orientation on Child Welfare Practice

Spratt, Trevor

doi:10.1093/bjsw/31.6.933

Cited by 94 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The need for refocusing local authorities' interventions towards a more child welfare-oriented practice has been formulated among professionals and academics (Hearn, 1995). Studies on how practice is dealing with this different scope in childcare/child protection have shown that practice is resistant (Spratt, 2000(Spratt, , 2001. A later study by Hayes and Spratt (2008) confirmed these findings, showing that social workers developed quasi child protection responses to child welfare cases and that the need to manage the risk inherent in child welfare cases has led to the development of management strategies on the part of social workers that they term 'child protection light'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using 'Consensual Ideology': A Way to Sift Reports in Child Welfare

Östberg

2012

British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using 'Consensual Ideology': A Way to Sift Reports in Child Welfare

Östberg

2012

British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Gilbert et al [5] outline the differences between the policy orientations of nation states, deriving three main types: child protection, child welfare and child focussed. Others have examined the interrelationship between these orientations and decision reasoning, noting that the first leads to a focus on specific acts of abuse, the second locates the cause of problems in family needs, while the final one can result in a 'child-centric' practice that protects children's individual rights and wellbeing, but may downplay family relationships [37][38][39][40][41].…”

Section: Policy Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Policy orientations can be described as broad "flavour differences" in overall policy directions [5,[37][38][39]42]. Within a child welfare orientation, the best interests of the child are closely linked to the interests of the family as a whole, and assessments include strengths, as well as difficulties.…”

Section: Policy Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These three orientations thus shape policy frameworks, but the application of these orientations is not straightforward, with "mixed" orientations increasingly common [5,39]. Kriz and Skivenes [46] provide an example of this contrast, stating that "the American and English welfare systems provide social assistance to the most destitute, with a child welfare system that focuses on risks for children.…”

Section: Policy Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review

Keddell

2014

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article considers selected drivers of decision variability in child welfare decision-making and explores current debates in relation to these drivers. Covering the related influences of national orientation, risk and responsibility, inequality and poverty, evidence-based practice, constructions of abuse and its causes, domestic violence and cognitive processes, it discusses the literature in regards to how each of these influences decision variability. It situates these debates in relation to the ethical issue of variability and the equity issues that variability raises. I propose that despite the ecological complexity that drives decision variability, that improving internal (within-country) decision consistency is still a valid goal. It may be that the use of annotated case examples, kind learning systems, and continued commitments to the social justice issues of inequality and individualisation can contribute to this goal.

show abstract

“…Child protection authorities in Anglophone countries are often considered to adopt forensic, child-focused and risk-adverse practices to protect children from their parents (Fargion, 2014). In contrast, the community sector, due to the lack of statutory authority, often has greater scope to view child welfare in a broader context of family wellbeing and needs (Spratt, 2001(Spratt, , 2003.…”

Section: Benefits and Challenges Of Collaborative Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative practice in statutory in child protection practice: Parental agreements and procedural justice

Venables¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Internationally, there is a growing trend to introduce alternative pathways for children and their families involved with statutory child protection systems. These alternatives focus on developing partnerships with families in order to promote children's safety and well-being within their homes. The form that alternative pathways take varies by jurisdiction.In Queensland (Australia), where this study takes place, the State Government has identified the use of parental agreements to be the least intrusive option available to the child protection authority when a child has been substantiated, via a full investigation, as in need of protection. These agreements are known as 'Intervention with Parental Agreement' (IPA) and allow for the statutory authority to work in partnership with families to address child protection concerns, without the use of a court order. Little is known about how IPA occurs and the extent to which its collaborative ethos is realised in practice.This study aims to provide a detailed understanding of collaborative practice in statutory child protection, using the example of IPA. The study has a key focus on procedural justice, that is the quality of treatment that people receive from an authority during decision-making processes (Tyler, 2006). Using a two-phase, qualitative methodology the study explores the perspectives of practitioners and parents involved in IPA practice.Phase one involved semi-structured interviews with 33 practitioners from the Queensland child protection authority, tertiary family support services and a service responsible for providing cultural guidance in cases that involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Phase two of the study involved semi-structured interviews with four parents. The interviews captured their unique experience of being subject to IPA, with a focus on their procedural justice judgements.The findings of the study indicate that the crisis-driven nature of statutory child protection in conjunction with the dominance of a risk-adverse culture is perceived by practitioners to be a barrier to collaborative practice. However, the local office culture within branch offices of the child protection authority and relationship-driven models of practice were found to facilitate collaboration in IPA practice.In particular, the nature and quality of three key partnerships of practice was found to shape how IPA practice occurred. These partnerships are: intra-agency partnerships, particularly those between statutory officers at the branch office level; inter-agency 2 partnerships; and those between practitioners and parents. The findings highlight that each of these partnerships are characterised by hierarchical relationships between the different stakeholders. Within all three of these partnerships, procedural justice emerged as an important factor for facilitating positive and collaborative working partnerships. This demonstrated that procedurally fair treatment is important to both parents and practitioners during IPA practice.All of the p...

show abstract

The Influence of Child Protection Orientation on Child Welfare Practice

Cited by 94 publications

References 21 publications

Using 'Consensual Ideology': A Way to Sift Reports in Child Welfare

Using 'Consensual Ideology': A Way to Sift Reports in Child Welfare

Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review

Collaborative practice in statutory in child protection practice: Parental agreements and procedural justice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About