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The context of this paper is family situations where young people are experiencing significant behavioural and emotional problems. Based on a qualitative study, it offers an empirical and theoretical contribution to the understanding of family‐related factors that promote or hinder behaviour change. Data were collected through face‐to‐face, semi‐structured group interviews with nine families (28 participants), all of them mandatory recipients of child welfare services in Croatia. Thematic analysis comprised primary coding designed to elicit information about individual family members' capacity for change and secondary coding of family‐level phenomena. The results indicated 10 phenomena that were judged to represent factors that helped or hindered change. The discussion section suggests three broad categories of capacity to change at family level (Goals and Priorities; Problem solving dynamics; and Development of role relationship). This analysis is offered as the basis for an examination of the concept of family capacity for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sexual exploitation of children and youth remains a critical issue within the child welfare system, despite the limited availability of models of care to support these vulnerable individuals. The START with the YOUTH (STAR‐Y) program adopts a preventative approach, offering personalized care and wraparound support to youth exhibiting at‐risk behaviours. This paper employs a case study methodology using both thematic and content analyses to longitudinally assess the effectiveness of this exploratory program. This evaluation encompasses a comprehensive assessment of various factors associated with the risk of sexual exploitation among program participants. Throughout the program's extended duration (originally planned for one year), predefined risk factors, including concerning Internet behaviours, were monitored and analysed. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews and observations, focusing on the experiences of both the youth and their foster parents. The results highlight the program's successful implementation, with youth enrollment (N = 3) demonstrating a reduction in sexual exploitation risk factors over time, including a decrease in behaviours such as concerning Internet usage. The importance of wraparound support and the foster parent‐youth relationship in mitigating risk and nurturing resilience became evident. This exploratory evaluation serves as the initial phase of a comprehensive assessment aimed at understanding how to effectively support youth within this population, including those at higher risk, such as those possibly involved in sex trafficking. The study's findings provide valuable insights into strategies for mitigating the risk of sexual exploitation among vulnerable youth, informing future endeavours to develop and implement similar programs within the child welfare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how social workers intervene with affluent parents when there are child protection concerns about neglect. Based on data gathered from a small‐scale exploratory qualitative study with 30 practitioners from 12 local authorities across England, this study examined three overarching questions: (a) How do social workers identify risk factors for vulnerable children in affluent circumstances? (b) Which factors inhibit or enable social workers' engagement with resistant affluent parents when there are child protection concerns? (c) What kind of skills, knowledge, and experience is necessary for social workers to effectively assert their professional authority with affluent parents when there are concerns about abuse and neglect? The findings revealed that indicators of neglect can be difficult to identify and challenging to respond to when parents are affluent. Results indicate that social workers have to navigate complex power relationships with parents who are able to use their class privileges to resist their interventions. The paper concludes with a discussion of social workers' skills and capacities for engaging highly‐resistant affluent parents in the child protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siblings are key actors in the social network of young people in care. This paper explores young people's perceptions of changes in the quality of sibling relationships and the pathways relationships follow during the transition from the biological family into care. A thematic analysis of interviews with young Norwegian people (n = 25) in care showed that, in the biological family, sibling relationships are characterized by alliances, parentification, conflicts or nonexistence. After admission to child welfare services care, sibling relationships developed along multiple pathways. Their sibling relationships reshaped into either close and supportive, conflictual or completely broken relationships. Sibling relationships were dynamic, complex, with the pathway, and its impact on well‐being, being unique to each young person. Sibling relationship quality in the biological home did not predict relationship quality after admission to child welfare services. The implications for social worker practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from qualitative interviews with 24 young people (11-17 years) who have been referred to Children's Social Care Services in England. The paper explores young people's experiences of help seeking and their experiences of receiving help for maltreatment through statutory agencies. A central finding is the importance of relationships for young people when seeking and receiving help. It is through trusting relationships with professionals that young people are most likely to disclose maltreatment and/or engage with services. The paper concludes that young people's expectations and needs are not always met by the current safeguarding system and that the system needs to become more child-centred if it is to address the concerns maltreated young people have consistently voiced through research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This paper provides a brief overview of the research evidence from 1996 to 2005 and proposes future directions for both practice and research. The purpose of the review is to help move the discussion of FGDM from a promising practice to an evidence-based practice. The research review considers what is known about the child welfare outcomes of FGDM. The paper then turns to research concerning which families are offered FGDM and which FGDM processes appear to be important. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for developing FGDM programmes that can improve child protection practice and then testing these specific programmes in rigorous trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a model for assessing potential parents, based on our research and practice in which we examined current methods of assessment in the light of anti-oppressive principles and methods. We participated in and observed the work of two differing fostering and adoption agencies, and have drawn from our experiences and analysis to produce a pattern for assessment which critically draws on best practices. The paper also draws on previously published papers which discuss theories of research and assessment (Clifford 1992–93; Clifford 1994; Clifford 1995; Clifford & Cropper 1994), and draws a parallel between the processes of research and those of assessment. Our view is that research methods provide a foundation for assessment methods in various ways, mutually illuminating oppressive and anti-oppressive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study on parenting in the midst of suspicion of child sexual abuse (CSA). Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with 19 parents. Five of these had been accused of CSA. Study methods followed guidelines of grounded theory approaches. Specific parenting conditions during CSA suspicion were identified. Six analytic categories were developed: uncertainty concerning abuse, dilemmas on protection, changes in parent-child relationships, changes in the natural support network, dependency upon professional competence and severe emotional strain. The results are suggested as a tool for identifying themes in order to support and strengthen parenting in ensuring the safety and well-being of children in these kinds of situations. The current paper contributes to the field by exploring the perspectives of both suspected and non-suspected parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the subject of physical touch occurring between social workers and children in the Republic of Ireland. Here, it was maintained that touch practices occupy an ambiguous area for social work practitioners. The empirical component was based on interviews that were conducted with a small group of practitioners in one particular Irish county. The study provided insight into the social workers' personal experiences of, and opinions on, touch with children in the context of their practice. Despite a lack of prescriptive 'do's and don'ts' regarding physical touch and social work, the findings suggested that social workers do not consciously engage in physical touch with children. Rather, touch occurs as a result of practicality and safety concerns for a child. Recognized as beneficial in terms of communication, reassurance and conveying empathy, touch practices are also guided by a fear of misinterpretation, allegations and concern for causing harm to the child. The place of physical touch with children is regarded as being outside the remit of the social work role. Despite this, a majority of those interviewed spoke of a desire to have more discussion and guidance on the subject of physical touch with children within their work locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings from a qualitative study into the experiences of parents who were involved in the English child protection system in 2013. Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted involving 19 parents and/or partners, and a framework approach was used to analyse the data. There were positive experiences of individual social workers and some positive experiences of the child protection system. However, the overwhelming theme of the parents' experiences was that the system was uncaring, inflexible and for some harmful to both themselves and their children. Despite being included in the child protection process, parents felt they were not afforded the same rights as a participant, as a decision-maker or as a partner in seeking to improve the situation. The threat of consequences silenced parents who felt unable to speak out or challenge the things they disagreed with or coerced others into signing agreements they did not agree to. Such experiences related to a sense that they were being treated as 'less than human'. These findings are considered within the context of recent reforms within the English child protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical review of current trends within social work research methodology. The paper identifies three influential contemporary perspectives in social work research: empirical practice, pragmatism and participatory/critical research. It identifies the different approaches taken by each perspective to what should be researched, how it should be researched, and how truth claims should be evaluated. By exploring the linkages between methodology, social work and wider social and political changes, the paper argues that research is an intensely political rather than a neutral activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a study comparing the impacts on helping relationships of locating front-line child protection service providers in central locations or in accessible school and neighbourhood service delivery sites. Creating easier access to front-line child protection service providers, fostering more positive community perceptions of child welfare services, improving client and service provider satisfaction with helping relationships and services, and increasing families' willingness to ask for help were core objectives at the accessible sites. Using a quasi-experimental outcome design, file reviews and qualitative interviews with service providers and parents, this study presents evidence that accessible sites had substantial success in achieving these objectives when compared with central service delivery locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption policy in the UK emphasizes its role in providing secure, permanent relationships to children in care who are unable to live with their birth families. Adoptive parents are crucial in providing this life-long, stable experience of family for these vulnerable children. This paper explores the experience of adoptive parenthood in the context of changes to adoptive kinship relationships brought about by new, unplanned contact with birth family during their child's middle adolescence. This contact was initiated via informal social networks and/or social media, with older birth siblings instrumental in negotiating renewed relationships. The contact precipitated a transition in adoptive family life resulting in emotional challenges and changes in parent/child relationships, which were experienced as additional to the normative transitions expected during adolescence. Parental concern as a dominant theme was founded in the child and birth sibling's stage of adolescence, coupled with constraints on adoptive parenthood imposed by the use of social media, by perceived professional attitudes and by parental social cognitions about the importance of birth ties. Adoptive parents' accounts are interpreted with reference to family life-cycle theory and implications are suggested for professional support of adoptive kinship relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1985 the Department of Health has been providing child care research overviews as a means of bringing together the findings of its funded research programmes. With each successive publication a pattern of design and dissemination has emerged. This is illustrated by Child Protection: Messages from Research (Department of Health 1995), an overview of 20 studies of child protection. It included an introductory essay, summaries of each project and a set of ‘True for Us’ exercises. Publication was followed by national seminars and widespread distribution of free copies. Given the substantial investment, it seems timely to assess the impact of the dissemination process in terms of reaching and affecting practice. The survey sought to assess awareness, use and opinions of the report from social services, education and health professionals. It consisted of questionnaires administered by post and telephone calls to a representative sample of 600 professionals working in child protection, 292 of whom replied. The results demonstrate that the book is very well known among most professionals working in child welfare, particularly in social services, and is perceived to have affected the practice of over half of the respondents. The study supports the structure adopted for the report but suggests further benefits in employing a variety of dissemination strategies for different professional groups. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between overviews and evidence-based services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several motives underlying the process of deciding to become an adoptive family. However, research exploring this issue is scarce and essentially focused on infertility as the main motivation. The present mixed‐method study aims to fill in this gap by exploring, retrospectively, the motives to adopt of 126 Portuguese adoptive parents. The Parents' Interview on the Adoption Process was used to identify the motives to adopt and describe the adoption decision‐making process. Seven main motives (biological issues, filling in a void/loneliness, adoption as a life project, expanding the family, philanthropy, contact with the child protection system and parenthood) were identified. These motives can be centred on the self, the child or both simultaneously and are characterized by dynamism, permeability and interconnection. Findings allowed for establishing conceptual considerations on motivations to adopt and recommendations for adoption practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate which has followed publication of the recent Department of Health research in child protection. From the viewpoint of one of the researchers, it surveys the criticisms presented by Nigel Parton (Parton 1996). It suggests that the problems he identifies are not irresolvable, and that improvements in social work policy and practice are feasible, as long as the stance taken by the researchers is correctly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children placed in residential care are significantly over‐represented in youth justice systems. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with service providers, this exploratory study examines practice factors that impact on the criminalization of this group of children across multiple services and systems, including in the residential care environment, police, lawyers, courts and youth justice systems, as well as multi‐systems practice with this group in one Australian state. Positive outcomes were observed for children in residential care where well‐functioning care teams existed, as well as for children in therapeutic residential care settings. However, clear limitations were identified across all phases of children's youth justice system involvement, including placement with offending peers, the criminalization of behaviours of concern, greater use of remand and detention, limited support to navigate legal and youth justice processes, challenges to service collaboration, and limited applicability of sentencing considerations. The findings indicate a pervasive level of systemic disadvantage for this group of children, and imply that a holistic strategy underpinned by affirmative action across several systems will be necessary to address the ongoing criminalization of children in residential care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vague programme descriptions are known to impede implementation and evaluation. Yet social work change programmes often fail to describe in detail how they aim to provide better outcomes for children and families. This study focused on the Systemic Practice Model (SPM), which is a Finnish adaptation of Reclaiming Social Work, a practice model developed in England. The SPM aims to deliver systemic practice in children's social care and has recently been widely disseminated across Finland. However, research has found both considerable variation in its delivery and a lack of clarity about what it is. This study, applying realist evaluation, aimed to formulate a programme theory based on the perceptions of key informants (n = 12) involved in the national development and dissemination of the SPM during the period 2017–2019. The analysis yielded three core components (a systemic team, systemic weekly meetings, and systemic practice) and two context‐mechanism‐outcome (CMO) configurations, which represent causal chains of the SPM. The findings should enable its quality implementation and meaningful outcome and process evaluation. The findings will also aid organizations and practitioners both to identify changes required in their service provision and prevent adverse effects. This programme theory should be tested and refined with empirical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child‐welfare practices transformed drastically in 2020 after governments instituted quarantining and social‐distancing measures. Child visitation, mental health evaluations and treatment, and court hearings either ceased or only accessible via information communication technologies (ICTs). Peer‐reviewed published scholarship about technology use in child welfare is limited to voluntary, supplemental contexts and insufficient to understand the nuanced effects of this transition on vulnerable populations. We used a critical case study ethnography to name this phenomenon, 'pandemic practice', and describe how case‐management challenges were compounded and/or masked by pandemic practice. Mandatory ICT use in case management contributed to injustices for some families in the child‐welfare system, including children spending extended time in foster care, families receiving superficial treatment services and irreparable harm to timely case progression. We used technology adoption theory and technological capital framework to identify and understand the complexities of pandemic practice beyond a simple digital divide perspective. We present a hierarchy of technological capital necessary to participate in pandemic practice, suggestions to create sufficient capital and implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth in foster care overwhelmingly display heightened risks for both internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Few studies document how and under what conditions foster parents effectively respond to child behaviours. The overarching purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between foster parents' parental monitoring, youth behaviours and foster parent–youth relationship. This study utilized secondary data from National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐being (NSCAW II) to examine the experiences of 298 youth and their caregivers. Results indicated that parental monitoring was positively associated with lower rates of internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Interestingly, higher parental monitoring was also associated with a more positive relationship between the child and caregiver, as perceived by the youth. Demographic characteristics of youth or foster parents were not significantly associated with parental monitoring. The youth–foster parent relationship mediated associations between parental monitoring and both (a) self‐reported internalizing and externalizing behaviours and (b) caregiver reports of adolescents' externalizing but not internalizing behaviours. These findings suggest that the youth–foster parent relationship is a key mechanism to focus on and underscores the need for specialized foster parent training that emphasizes a relational approach to dealing with behavioural concerns. Future research should continue to explore these associations longitudinally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the benefits of monthly family team meetings for parents involved with child welfare. Findings are shared from semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted with 17 parents whose children had been placed in substitute care. While much of the scholarship on family meetings focuses on opportunities for family voice, this study found that parents received multiple benefits from meetings including, but not limited to, the opportunity for input into decision-making. Specifically, parents appreciated receiving information and feedback, encouragement, and a range of other supports from members of the team. Meetings also facilitated communication and improved the coordination of services and other efforts by team members. Notably, parents reported that regular meetings helped to hold caseworkers and other providers accountable regarding their activities and duties related to the case, often resulting in better follow through. Parents and their advocates were also able to use meetings to push child welfare to respond in a timely way to parents' progress. These findings should be viewed as preliminary evidence of how a particular model of family meetings might work and thereby expand our understanding of what family team decision meetings can do to improve parents' experiences and child welfare outcomes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this journal, Liz Trinder (1996) helpfully describes three types of social work research. Using examples from studies undertaken by the Dartington Social Research Unit over a 30-year period, this reply explores the overlap and complimentarity between types of research and suggests ways in which several sources of evidence will lead to a common conceptual framework in UK children’s services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We seek to explain the development of the educational gap between children in "out‐of‐home care" (CLA), children deemed in social need (CIN), and other pupils. A cohort of 642,805 pupils aged 16 in 2013 was used to chart the educational progress of the full cohort, the CLA (n = 6,236), the CIN in 2012 or 2013 but not CLA (n = 20,384), and a sample individually matched with the CLA (n = 11,084). At age 7, attainment of the CLA and CIN was approximately 1 standard deviation lower than the cohort average and predicted attainment at 16. At this point, the persistent "CIN" (those with earlier and persistent needs) had the lowest attainment relative to others, and this declined further during secondary school. Those entering care before or during primary school had very low attainment at age 7, but their relative attainment did not decline. Attainment of CLA and CIN at age 16 likely reflects early environment, special educational needs, and poor relationships with secondary school. Policy, research, and intervention should focus on CIN as well as CLA, do so before entry to care, and take account of the onset of, and probable reasons for, educational difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is relatively little research on the communication skills that social workers use in direct practice with families. This study explores patterns of practice skill found in child and family social work home visits. The study analysed 127 practice interactions in family homes, coding for seven dimensions of worker skill using a coding framework drawn from motivational interviewing. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to establish patterns of skill within the data and to group key dimensions of skill. The findings make two contributions. First, three fundamental dimensions of good practice emerged, which we characterize as care and engagement, good authority, and support for behaviour change. Second, in exploring the relationship between "care" and "control" elements of social work, skilled social workers were able to combine good authority and empathic engagement, whereas those who were less skilled in use of authority were also less good at engagement. This contributes to debates about care and control in social work. The usefulness of these dimensions for conceptualizing practice in child and family social work is discussed and directions for further research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous children have a long history of overrepresentation in child protection systems. This exploratory, mixed methods study examined practitioner perceptions of risk in response to client ethnic group (n = 67). A staged online survey elicited responses to a blinded vignette. Half the sample received the vignette as a Pākehā (White) family and the other half as Māori (Indigenous). Apart from this, family descriptions were identical. Respondents rated their perceptions of the children's risk and related constructs and stated what decisions they would make. Qualitative perceptions of risk, safety, problem causes, and plan goals were elicited. The quantitative findings showed family ethnicity had a moderate effect on perceptions of risk, safety, and decisions. The Māori family was perceived as higher risk than the Pākehā family and had more decisions made about them. Stage 2 of the survey showed the most marked effects (d = 0.484 risk, 0.487 safety; p = 0.06). Qualitative responses showed similar constructions of risk, safety, problems, and plan goals regardless of ethnicity. Structural factors associated with ethnicity were not considered to contribute to the family's social problems. Results suggest a combination of unconscious bias and a "colour blind" approach to practice may contribute to ethnic inequalities. Implications for education, research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a practical response to the critical appraisal provided by Nigel Parton of the Department of Health research studies in child protection. Parton argues that the research is flawed because, whilst acknowledging that abuse is socially defined, it also claims that certain types of abuse are undoubtedly serious. This is refuted. The central focus of the research is upon the child protection process. The research does not simply suggest a re-labelling of child protection work, but a more considered approach to the assessment of family circumstances. The research does not ignore the centrality of social work itself; indeed its emphasis is upon comprehensive and consistent assessment. The document provides useful practical assistance to social workers and professionals in other organizations and is a helpful framework for strategic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study addresses the relationship between children's participation and the protection and provision offered to them by social services in Sweden. It applies a theoretical framework for analysing child welfare that is anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. How child participation may affect child protection and provision is examined empirically using case documentation from 2 municipalities. The main finding is that when children are not given voice or opportunity to influence the framing of what “the problem” is, the design of protection and care tends to be poorly matched to the actual problems documented in the child investigation and vice versa; when children can influence framing, this is associated with well‐matched protection and care. This suggests that traditional child welfare ethos, to the effect that protection should be of such overriding concern that children even should be protected from participation, is misguided. The study further illustrates the intrinsic problems with the family orientation of Swedish social services and its reliance on partnership with parents, which makes it difficult to live up to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Incorporating child participation into existing service models can transform Swedish social services to an augmented child‐focused system that by ensuring participation also promotes protection and provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The considerable number of families served continues to place systemic challenges on the child welfare system. Jurisdictions are turning to new strategies to increase family engagement in services and to leverage taxed or limited resources. Signs of Safety® is a strengths-based and safety-focused approach to child protection work that is grounded in partnership and collaboration. This exploratory pilot study with a referred participant sample used interviews with 26 parents and 32 safety network members to explore respondents' perceptions and use of a safety plan and safety network, core components of the Signs of Safety framework. Findings from this pilot investigation include insights about how safety plans and safety networks are established, how they function, and opportunities for enhancing their use with families with the goal of providing supports that increase the likelihood of continued safety for children after case closure. Preliminary results also suggest these tools may contribute to reduced re-reports to child protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous children and young people are over-represented at all stages of the Australian child protection system. Policy and legislative initiatives exist in the state of Victoria, Australia aiming to support the connection between Indigenous children and young people in state care and their culture and community. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria. Findings indicated that cultural planning was of value when it could be completed. However, various shortcomings of current systems were identified including limited resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to generate plans and provide direct and secondary consultation services to implement plans, difficulty gathering information for plans and some Indigenous young people expressing disinterest in connecting to their culture and community. Complexities in the relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous agencies that aimed to support Indigenous young people in care were also acknowledged. Participants identified a number of strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating better relationships between agencies, promoting opportunities for ongoing cultural training for staff in mainstream agencies and improving the resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver planning and to support cultural connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies of youth in out-of-home placements have indicated that a successful mentoring relationship in care is associated with better emotional, educational and behavioural outcomes in adulthood. The goal of this exploratory qualitative study is to describe the profile of a staff member who is able to establish a meaningful relationship with youth in care through the perspectives of 20 young adults aged 21-26 who left care in Israel. Findings revealed that the staff member who formed meaningful relationships with youth was the staff member who was available to the youth and familiar with their personal backgrounds, who was able to see them as positive and trustworthy and to provide guidance and support from a non-judgmental approach. One of the study's conclusions is that staff members who were able to transform their connection with the youth into mentoring relationships were those who were able to make the youth feel as if they were the staff member's own children, and as a result feel cared for deeply and loved. The discussion addresses the barriers in forming a mentoring relationship with a formal professional and the ways to utilize these mentoring relationship components more effectively within the care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore knowledge use and learning among social workers in everyday child investigation work. Research was undertaken in two Swedish children's services departments. The study applied an ethnographic approach. Methods for data collection included interviews, participant observations, reflective dialogues and a documentary analysis of case files. The social workers' knowledge sources were classified into research‐based, practice‐based and ordinary knowledge. The findings show that the social workers preferred practice‐based knowledge, which was primarily conveyed from colleagues and previous experience, and rarely consulted knowledge from sources found outside the practice setting. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the integration of knowledge was made possible through the social workers' engagement in both a verbal and a more cognitive (tacit) reasoning activity, processes that fostered learning at work. The social workers' learning was predominantly adaptive as they learned to handle tasks in a fairly routinized way on the basis of rules or procedures. The findings lend support to the notion that the use of different knowledge forms could potentially trigger learning in everyday social work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inquiry into child welfare protective services workers’ perceptions and experiences in the United States was conducted in order to examine their perceptions of crisis and crisis intervention, and the emotional impact of working with children who endured significant maltreatment. As there is presently little research that has explored these issues specifically from the point of view of the workers, a qualitative grounded theory approach was utilized. Four themes emerged from the data: workers perceived crisis as a result of biopsychosocial breakdown; workers routinely triage when faced with crises; workers are subject to vicarious traumatization; and workers’ personal lives are affected by their work. The findings add to an existing body of knowledge about secondary trauma in child welfare by providing information about the investigative workers’ subjective experience of it. This research adds a unique contribution to understanding workers’ subjective experience of crisis on the job, how it manifests, and whether they feel knowledgeable in the area of crisis intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The authors conducted a mixed-method study after a previous study of child welfare employees revealed a subgroup exhibiting surprisingly high levels of both emotional exhaustion (EE) and job satisfaction (JS). This subgroup included direct service workers, supervisors and managers. As these findings appeared to conflict with previous studies, we re-reviewed the literature and undertook the current study to account for the co-existence of EE and JS. We explored and compared this subgroup with two others: workers who found their work satisfying without experiencing high levels of EE and those whose high levels of EE were associated with low JS. Using a survey that included several standardized measures with 226 employees and semi-structured interviews with a criteria-based subsample of 25, we explored the role that personality, career expectations, coping styles, stage of life, education, gender and social networks play in outcomes for individual employees. Analyses of quantitative and qualitative data yielded a profile for each subgroup, offering insights into the subjective experiences of workers within individual, social and organizational contexts. These findings have implications for recruitment, training and support of child welfare workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Ghanaian social workers practise in a poly-ethnic nation comprising a multitude of different indigenous cultural practices and a modern urban sector largely divorced from a rural population adhering to customary law. This qualitative study explores how Ghanaian practitioners negotiate the contradictions between child welfare legislation and customary law. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 36 qualified social workers employed by the Department of Social Welfare and thematically analysed. The study found that legislative provision normalizes nuclear family forms and runs counter to customary law. Social workers are shown to struggle with the ethical dilemmas the law poses without being able to resolve them in a manner consonant with Ghanian workers' code of practice. The study makes recommendations for social changes to policy, practice and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study involved in-depth exploration of good helping relationships in child welfare. A select sample of six child welfare worker–client dyads was interviewed to determine worker attributes and actions that were key to the development of good working relationships. Innovative features of the research design, such as a multiple interview format with two individual and one joint interview for each worker and client (five interviews per dyad) and opportunities for the worker and client in each dyad to reflect on and respond to the other’s interview transcripts, produced rich data and revealed high levels of congruency among workers, clients and researchers about worker relationship competencies. Two categories of themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis are discussed: (1) soft, mindful and judicious use of power; and (2) humanistic attitude and style that stretches traditional professional ways-of-being. Implications for the hiring, education and training, and supervision of child welfare workers are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical child welfare research in England takes insufficient account of wider social theory. Intellectual, professional and political reasons for this are discussed. The implications are considered in relation to one important social problem: the low educational achievement of children looked after by local authorities (‘in care’). It is concluded that the absence of a broader sociological perspective has led to insufficient and simplistic explanations from researchers and policy-makers of low achievement among looked-after pupils. It is unwise to rely on official statistics on educational outcome indicators for looked-after pupils. Previous conceptualization of poor educational performance has been inadequate, and we should refer to low achievement, not ‘underachievement’. The socio-economic risk factors that are linked with family breakdown and admission to care also predict low educational achievement, such as social class and poverty. Social mobility and transition to adulthood are increasingly problematic in England, making it difficult for care leavers to improve their social position. Parental maltreatment is strongly linked with educational failure. Other countries may do no better than England does. Thus, it is by no means obvious that the care system necessarily jeopardizes looked-after children’s education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]