Child Protection in Europe: Development of an International Cross-Comparison Model to Inform National Policies and Practices

Spratt, Trevor; Nett, Jachen C.; Bromfield, Leah; Hietamäki, Johanna; Kindler, Heinz; Ponnert, Lina

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu109

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…Very large differences have been found across diverse systems in the incidence of reported and substantiated concerns, the proportion of children receiving interventions, decision making, service provision and outcomes (Council of Europe, 2015;Fang et al, 2014;Gilbert, N., 2012;Gilbert, R. et al, 2012;Pösö, Skivenes, & Hestbaek, 2013;Spratt et al, 2014;Tilbury & Thoburn, 2012). These variations are usually reported as differences for children but, of course, they are differences for families too.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: Explaining the ‘inverse intervention law’

Bywaters

Brady

Sparks

et al. 2015

Children and Youth Services Review

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Attempts to record, understand and respond to variations in child welfare and protection reporting, service patterns and outcomes are international, numerous and longstanding.Reframing such variations as an issue of inequity between children and between families opens the way to a new approach to explaining the profound difference in intervention rates between and within countries and administrative districts. Recent accounts of variation have frequently been based on the idea that there is a binary divide between bias and risk (or need).Here we propose seeing supply (bias) and demand (risk) factors as two aspects of a single system, both framed, in part, by social structures. A recent finding from a study of intervention rates in England, the 'inverse intervention law', is used to illustrate the complex ways in which a range of factors interact to produce intervention rates. In turn, this analysis raises profound moral, policy, practice and research questions about current child welfare and child protection services.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: Explaining the ‘inverse intervention law’

Bywaters

Brady

Sparks

et al. 2015

Children and Youth Services Review

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“…The call for social workers to develop a "relational heart" in service provision has grown in strength in recent years (Spratt et al, 2014(Spratt et al, , p. 1508. In part this has focused on asserting the value of therapeutic social worker-client relationships (Ruch, Turney & Ward, 2010;Trevithick, 2014).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An adventurous journey: Social workers guiding customer service workers on the welfare frontline

Hall

Boddy

Chenoweth

2016

ANZSWJ

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INTRODUCTION: This paper explores a reform to worker relationships at the frontline of the Australian income support and government service provider (Centrelink). Reform involved social workers providing guidance to customer service workers and working closely with them in order to improve interactions with people seeking assistance.METHODS: A case study traced reform in two Centrelink offices over one year, and included semi-structured interviews and observations with social workers and customer service workers. A thematic analysis highlighted the nature of changes to worker relationships over time, and how new relationships supported new organizational practices.FINDINGS: Customer service workers initially reported both anxiety and excitement, expressing admiration of social workers’ skills and knowledge. Over time, they emphasised the inspiration and interpersonal support social workers provided them, how this helped them deal with difficult situations and was missed when not available. Social workers’ initial scepticism around demands on their time and challenges to their professionalism gave way (in part) to a sense of influencing and guiding workers towards more humanising interactions, although some concerns and organizational tensions remained.CONCLUSION: Guidance to other workers is a form of leadership which fits well with social work’s relational, supportive potential. Tensions in the welfare context mean that providing guidance is both rewarding and challenging, taking social workers on an adventurous journey involving adversity and (self) discovery.

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“…Our reading is that the child is the principal welfare user in the first orientation, whereas the parents are the principal users in the second. Later, a convergence between the two systems has been found (Gilbert et al, ; see also Spratt et al, ), which implies that it no longer is possible to uphold a clear distinction because a reorientation from child‐protection towards family support and prevention is taking place (Devaney & McGregor, ). In this reorientation, partnership with parents is aimed for across systems (Healy, Harrison, Venables, & Bosly, ; Morris, White, Doherty, & Warwich, ; Parton, ).…”

Section: Children's Participatory Rights and Social Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerable children's rights to participation, protection, and provision: The process of defining the problem in Swedish child and family welfare

Heimer

Näsman

Palme

2017

Child & Family Social Work

113

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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.

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Child Protection in Europe: Development of an International Cross-Comparison Model to Inform National Policies and Practices

Cited by 34 publications

References 29 publications

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: Explaining the ‘inverse intervention law’

Exploring inequities in child welfare and child protection services: Explaining the ‘inverse intervention law’

An adventurous journey: Social workers guiding customer service workers on the welfare frontline

Vulnerable children's rights to participation, protection, and provision: The process of defining the problem in Swedish child and family welfare

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