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Constructing Parental Problems: The Function of Mental Illness Discourses in a Child Welfare Context.
- Source :
- British Journal of Social Work; Oct2016, Vol. 46 Issue 7, p2088-2103, 16p
- Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Understanding how social workers and parental service users construct the meanings of parental problems in the child protection context is important, as ultimately this affects decision making. Using qualitative methods, this study elicited social workers' and parental service users' perceptions of decision reasoning and analysed them from a discursive constructionist perspective. By completing secondary analysis of social worker-parental service user pairs, this article describes patterns in how the causes of family problems were constructed by social workers and parental service users. It was found that explanations of poor mental health and lack of supports for initial family problems were used to emphasise a lack of parental culpability by both parties, particularly through a narrative of separating one's 'authentic self' from the impacts of mental illness on parenting. This convergence of explanations helped to maintain fragile parental identities, assisted with relationship maintenance, and allowed both social workers and parents to acknowledge harm to children. However, an individualised view of problems promoted by mental illness discourses was unable to account for the impact of domestic violence and poverty on parental life experiences, and thus sometimes over-emphasised parental responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- MENTAL illness
CHILD welfare
CHILDREN of people with mental illness
CRITICAL incident technique
DECISION making
DISCOURSE analysis
DOMESTIC violence
FOSTER home care
INTERVIEWING
PARENTING
PSYCHOLOGY of parents
RESEARCH funding
SOCIAL case work
QUALITATIVE research
SAMPLE size (Statistics)
SOCIAL constructionism
SECONDARY analysis
SOCIAL support
NARRATIVES
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00453102
- Volume :
- 46
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- British Journal of Social Work
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 120561536
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcv096