Since 2010, the United Kingdom has witnessed a number of initiatives that shift away from reliance on performance management to improve social work with children and families, towards a renewed interest in practice models. This study reports on the evaluation of a local government programme in England to introduce and embed systemic family practice through the roll out of intensive training to social workers and frontline managers. It was anticipated through the programme that child protection social workers would undertake more direct work with families and build more positive relationships, resulting in a fall in the number of child protection plans and children experiencing repeat periods of care. The evaluation adopted a mixed-method approach encompassing an online survey of social workers, interviews with team managers and family members, a case audit and statistical analysis of local level metrics. It found limited employment of systemic family practice or improvement due to the programme. Adopting the 7 S framework, this study examines the barriers to and facilitators of successful change and identifies generic considerations for change programmes in child protection social work.

This paper reports some of the findings of an exploratory study which sought to better understand the demographics of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities and the contexts in which such marriages may occur. It was found that forced marriages of people with and without learning disabilities showed broad similarities in relation to ethnicity, some differences in terms of age and substantial differences in terms of gender. Men and women with learning disabilities are equally likely to be victims of forced marriage. The reasons for people with learning disabilities being forced to marry are most often associated with a desire on the part of families to secure permanent care, but can also be associated with cultural (mis)understandings of the nature of disability. These findings are contextualised by considering the relationship between forced marriage, human rights and learning disability.

SummaryThere has been growing media and political awareness of forced marriage in recent years, and individuals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now protected by the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007. Victims of forced marriage can experience significant abuse, which may lead to mental health problems. People with severe mental illness or intellectual disability may be at increased risk of forced marriage and more vulnerable to its negative consequences. We review the current literature on forced marriage, focusing on the way it might affect these two groups, touch on its potential mental health consequences and give practical examples of how to manage situations in clinical practice.

Practice theories to support child protection social work in the United Kingdom, as in the United States and Australia, are being squeezed out by a focus on performance targets and procedural timescales. This study examines an innovative programme designed to reverse this trend initiated by an English local government authority. The programme aimed to embed systemic family practice in situations where children are deemed to be at risk of harm. The findings, derived from an analysis of a case file sample, indicate that the social worker interaction with family members is predicated on who is living with the child in conjunction with the risk status of the case file. Conversely, practitioner interactions with family members are divorced from family structure and the lived experiences of kin relationships. This study concludes by examining why, despite training in systemic family practice, it was problematic for social workers to integrate it into their encounters with families.

Purpose The issue of forced marriage is typically located within debates on violence against women, immigration control and cultural difference and is rarely considered in relation to adults with learning disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to argue that this is an issue which needs to be addressed by Safeguarding Adult Boards. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws upon original research undertaken by the author in conjunction with the Ann Craft Trust, a voluntary sector organisation which supports statutory, independent and voluntary sector organisations across the UK to protect adults at risk. The project sought to establish the extent to which the issue of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities is recognised, understood and acted upon by Boards. Findings Although many Boards are aware of national policy guidelines, very few had incorporated these guidelines into their local practice. There were two key consequences of this. First, Boards were failing to monitor cases of forced marriage and were unable to plan preventative services. Second, frontline workers were not given necessary training and so were unable to develop effective skills of knowledge. The need for both better recognition of and improved responses to the problem of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities is highlighted, as is the need for the safeguarding workforce to be supported by more effective strategic planning and better training. Originality/value This paper draws upon original research which examined how Safeguarding Adult Boards are responding to the issue of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities – a problem currently very much under-represented in existing research and practice literature.