Using complexity theory in kinship practice

Warren-Adamson, Christopher; Stroud, Julia

doi:10.1111/cfs.12089

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Complexity theory has been applied to child welfare research by defining a variety of systems within the child welfare field, including the system of intakes and exits for congregate care (Wulczyn & Halloran, 2017;Wulczyn & Yao, 1993), the organisational networks in child welfare (Colvin & Miller, 2020), the kinship care system (Warren-Adamson & Stroud, 2015) and housing vouchers in child welfare (Fowler et al, 2020).…”

Section: Implications For Social Work Research and Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, social work scholars have applied complexity theory to a range of discrete topics, including several areas within child welfare(Colvin & Miller, 2020;Stevens & Hassett, 2007;Warren-Adamson & Stroud, 2015;Wulczyn & Halloran, 2017).Examples of complexity theory insocial work research include the development of conceptual frameworks. For example, Fish and Hardy (2015) mapped social work judgements and decisions along their proposed complexity continuum, differentiating between high and low levels of procedurally based decisions and high and low judgement-based decisions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generating inclusive services for children, youth and families: A shift to using complex systems theory

Lee

Wolf-Branigin

2023

Child & Family Social Work

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Service systems for children and families have been shaped by standard approaches to knowledge‐building, which reflect a reductionist approach and assume linearity and/or that individuals and experiences are normally distributed. Yet, these approaches may be inadequate for clients most at‐risk, especially those who would be analytic ‘outliers’. A complexity lens focuses on the whole system and seeks to identify patterns, including the dynamic interactions between components of the system. Social work scholars have begun to apply complexity theory to social work research efforts, demonstrating the conceptual potential of incorporating this theoretical approach into social work theories and models such as the person‐in‐environment framework and the ecosystems perspective. Yet, frameworks informed by complexity theory may require ontological and epistemological shifts in thinking and new methodological approaches in order to fully embody a complexity approach. Complexity theory offers the opportunity to consider social work clients who are most at‐risk, as it is better suited for power law distributions. We can, therefore, reconceptualize the most ‘at‐risk’ clients as being in a state of transition, which is also the space of most creativity and possibility.

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Section: Implications For Social Work Research and Scholarshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Generating inclusive services for children, youth and families: A shift to using complex systems theory

Lee

Wolf-Branigin

2023

Child & Family Social Work

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“…Complexity theory can offer a more nuanced and deeper understanding of human systems and change and may be especially useful in social work research when assessing and analysing risks (Stevens and Hassett, 2007;Stevens and Cox, 2008;Warren-Adamson and Stroud, 2015). Managing complexity in social work is caught between organisational attempts to control complexity through disassembling, sorting and measuring its various aspects (e.g.…”

Section: Complexity As Starting Point To Understanding Practice Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Needs to Relationships to Organisations: Transactional Complexity in Social Work in the Swedish Social Services

Khoo

Nygren

Gümüscü

2019

The British Journal of Social Work

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This article explores how Swedish social workers in different sectors of the social services understand complexity in relation to the needs found in 'family' and in social work practice. This study is based on interviews with sixty social workers in five service sectors: child welfare, elderly care, disability care, substance abuse and social assistance. The social workers' reports of understanding and dealing with families with complex needs reveal distinctions between deeply rooted and broadly based needs. Complex family needs are transformed into complex cases based on family composition, relationships between clients and social workers and organisational context. Complexity theory, and in particular the term transactional complexity, is applied to describe the interactive relationship in and between complex needs, relational complexity and organisational complexity. The boundaries between these three domains are not distinct, and the interconnectivity and complexities occurring in and between them contribute to the production of much of the 'wickedness' that exists in social work practice. Social workers may gain from this knowledge in order to unravel the often intangible complexity that commonly appears in social work with families.

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“…Kinship care refers to the placement of children with relatives (kin); persons without a blood relation, but who have a relationship with the child or family; or persons from the child/family's community (kith). Kinship care is also referred to as 'relative care', 'kith and kin care', and 'family and friends as carers' (Warren-Adamson & Stroud, 2015). In the context of kinship care, the term 'related child' is used to define a child who has a prior relationship with a carer, although this may not necessarily be a blood relation (Richardson, Bromfield, & Higgins, 2005, p. 44).…”

Section: Kinship Carementioning

confidence: 99%