two - Policy communities and provider networks in child protection

Summary

Introduction

As identified in Chapter One, ‘policy networks’ are seen to play a key role in the policy-making process. The idea of networks, we have argued, may be particularly appropriate in a multiagency, interprofessional area such as child protection. The limitations of network theory for the analysis of child protection policy, however, have also been outlined. In particular, we suggested that the operation of networks in their wider contexts, their interaction with other networks and the relationship between policymaking and policy-delivery networks have been relatively neglected within the relevant literature. These limitations may be especially problematic in the field of child protection where, as we shall indicate below, the networks are highly susceptible to external pressures and are cross-sectoral and multilevel in nature. Moreover, although the possibility of internal conflict is theorised in certain types of network (those closer to the ‘issue network’ than to the ‘policy community’ end of the continuum), little attention has been paid to this dimension and its impact on policy outcomes. Again, we would suggest, the analysis of internal tension or conflict rather than cohesion and consensus may be particularly relevant to the politically sensitive area of child protection.

A complementary framework for understanding the operation of policy networks, we argue, is that developed by Benson (1975, 1983). This sees the policy arena as an interorganisational ‘political economy’ comprising many different networks. Collaboration (within or between networks) is characterised by tensions deriving from the unequal resources and authority of network members, underpinned by the operation of wider social relations/structures of power. Such an approach allows us to examine the internal and external power dynamics of policy networks, which may be particularly relevant where these networks are multiagency or interorganisational in nature. Unlike network analysis, which focuses on policy formation, moreover, Benson's approach may be particularly useful for understanding the operation of policy delivery or implementation networks and, indeed, for understanding the relationship between the two. This chapter sets out to apply the insights of both approaches to the child protection context. After describing the characteristics or ‘architecture’ of this complex policy area, the chapter will identify some of the key tensions that may be seen to characterise its operation.