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doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch160pmid: N/A
The importance of ongoing contact for children with members of their birth families is currently a matter of great concern to both practitioners and academics and there is ongoing debate about the merits or otherwise of the different forms of post adoption contact. Research evidence remains largely inconclusive and the Prime Minister in his review of adoption highlighted the urgent need for more research evidence to assist professionals in making decisions about adoption and contact. To date, much of the research does not adequately differentiate between types and frequency of contact, the conditions under which contact is arranged and members of birth families who are involved. Whilst the needs of the child should be at the forefront of any decision about contact, it is also important to consider the repercussions for others involved in contact arrangements. This paper reports the findings from a sample of eleven adoptive kinship networks. Adoptive parents, children and birth relatives from the same kinship networks who were sharing direct, face-to-face contact were interviewed. We were able to explore the development of relationships between adults and the ways in which their interaction affected the experience of contact as reported to us by the children. By focusing on issues associated with the convergence or divergence of attitudes, feelings and perceptions we identify factors that facilitate or impede beneficial contact and contribute to its maintenance. Understanding similarities and differences between participants in the adoption triangle provides important information for adults and children involved in face-to-face contact and for those professionals attempting to facilitate the openness process.
Gregory, Marilyn; Holloway, Margaret
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch161pmid: N/A
This article is concerned with the power of language to shape and confirm social work’s identity and to control its essential direction and task. Social work has perennially concerned itself with communication but paid surprisingly little attention to the more abstract concept of language. The authors trace the changing language used throughout social work’s UK history, placing this into socio-political and socio-economic context and analysing the discourses thus created and promoted. We identify three broad periods in the development of social work, characterized as the moral enterprise, the therapeutic enterprise and the managerial enterprise. We conclude by connecting this discussion with some key challenges, issues and dilemmas currently facing social work in the criminal justice and community care arenas, highlighting the language and discourse of punishment, risk management, consumerism and the market economy. The article concludes by arguing that social work must reclaim the language of its activity as it engages with the challenges to its identity.
McCrae, Niall; Murray, Joanna; Huxley, Peter; Evans, Sherrill
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch162pmid: N/A
Social workers have undoubtedly played a significant role in mental-health care in Britain. Yet their contribution to the mental-health knowledge base is decidedly meagre compared to the prolific research activity of psychiatry and allied health professions. A qualitative study was conducted on the research potential of mental-health social work, based on the views of senior service managers in London boroughs. Social-work research was found to suffer from a combination of structural, economic and academic constraints. The impact of social work on mental-health policy and practice developments, particularly in the light of a growing emphasis on evidence-based practice, is likely to remain weak until this issue is addressed.
Axford, Nick; Little, Michael; Morpeth, Louise; Weyts, Arabella
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch163pmid: N/A
This article considers recent innovations and challenges with respect to the evaluation of children’s services interventions. It sets out a method for designing and evaluating services that is based on research evidence gathered on individual cases and that permits revision of those services in the light of emerging results. It starts by describing briefly different ways of identifying a discrete group of children with similar needs. It then outlines approaches to ensuring that an intervention for those children is underpinned by theory and research evidence–including the idea of ‘logic modelling’–before discussing the importance of capturing accurately how well the intervention is implemented. Experimental and non-experimental methods of assessing an intervention’s effectiveness are considered, with particular emphasis on techniques for enhancing the causal inference that can be drawn from studies and the importance of matching method and purpose. The article also demonstrates how the principles and methods used in relation to evaluating services for groups can be applied in clinical work with individual cases, and identifies the benefits of this general approach to evaluation over and above the information that it provides on what works.
Moffatt, Ken; George, Usha; Lee, Bill; McGrath, Susan
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch164pmid: N/A
The article outlines a process for community practice research as a reflective process. Through the interplay of key concepts associated with subjective research–personal engagement, experiential affinity and parallel struggles–and transcribed interviews with community practitioners, the authors elaborate the subjective community researcher posture. Subjectivity contributes to the researchers’ position as learners within the research process. The research team plays a key role in reflecting on the effects of the research on participants.
Stewart, David; Thomson, Kirsten
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch165pmid: N/A
This paper outlines therapeutic group work with young children in response to acute community trauma in Northern Ireland. The children in question were the focus of a highly publicized dispute concerning access to their school. The work was carried out by NOVA, a Barnardo’s (Northern Ireland) trauma support service. Part one outlines the theoretical framework. It highlights the relevance of ‘continuous traumatic stress syndrome’ (Straker, 1987) in this context and its challenge to individualistic trauma accounts. Developmental considerations in trauma are also outlined and the role of protective factors is discussed. Consideration is also given to the socio-political context. Part two summarizes group preparation, process and perceived benefits. Process observations are made with reference to three key outcome themes: (i) reducing fear; (ii) increasing control; (iii) restoring connections. Perceptions of group benefit from pre- and post-questionnaires are then outlined with reference to implications for achieving these outcomes. Questionnaire responses highlighted four tasks and processes for effective practice in this context: (i) communication; (ii) emotional support; (iii) management strategies and (iv) meaningmaking. Further, active partnerships with the whole support matrix–parents, teachers and community–are highlighted throughout as central to good outcome.
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch166pmid: N/A
Sweden is widely believed to have an exceptionally low incidence of child maltreatment deaths. Since Sweden is also the first country to have outlawed all forms of corporal punishment, proponents of a total ban on corporal punishment, in the UK and elsewhere,have argued that this demonstrates that such a ban prevents fatal child abuse. While not taking sides on the corporal punishment issue, this paper demonstrates that the argument is misleading on several counts. The available evidence suggests that Sweden has a low, though not uniquely low, incidence of child maltreatment deaths. Widely cited statistics suggesting that Sweden is in an entirely different league from other countries are, however, seriously misleading. Nor does the evidence really allow us to conclude that Sweden’s relative success in this area is attributable to the ban on corporal punishment. Other countries without a corporal punishment ban also have low or lower child maltreatment death rates; the figures that are commonly cited in any case pre-date Sweden’s corporal punishment ban and there are a number of other important variables, other than a ban on corporal punishment, that could account for international variations. The article concludes with some thoughts about the selective use of evidence in debates of this kind.
Bowey, Laura; McGlaughlin, Alex
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bch167pmid: N/A
It has been reported that the capability of adults with a learning disability to choose their housing is too often impeded by the views and actions of their family carers and involved professionals (McGlaughlin and Gorfin, with Saul, in press). This study further explores these apparent barriers to providing genuine housing choice for adults with learning disabilities. It discusses findings from a series of focus groups which explored family and professional views about housing and choice. The views expressed indicate that risk is a fundamental concern for both professionals and families when considering more independent housing for this group. Although opportunities for choice were generally supported, many argued for the need to assess the ability to make informed decisions. There were also examples of problematic relationships between professionals and carers, creating a barrier to choice. Carers need involvement, information and support during the development of housing plans if the needs of the primary serviceusers are to be met. The barriers identified have to be removed if service-users are to truly become the focus of decisions and be enabled to make genuine informed choices.
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