Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:34:51.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Re-visioning Child Protection Management Embedded in Family Empowerment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2018

Abul K. Khan ,
Debra Miles  and
Abraham Francis
Abul K. Khan*
Affiliation:
Child and Family Interventions & Research Centre, Officer, Australia
Debra Miles
Affiliation:
Social Work and Human Services, College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Douglas, Townsville, Australia
Abraham Francis
Affiliation:
Social Work and Human Services, College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Douglas, Townsville, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Abul K. Khan, PhD, Child and Family Interventions & Research Centre, 8 Onyx Crescent, Officer, Victoria 3809, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper reports on recently completed research which explores the key question of whether public child protection practice requires a vision embedded in family empowerment. The principle objective of the study was to promote our understanding of the experiences families have with child protection services. The project progressed in two different phases. In phase one, a qualitative in-depth interviewing method was applied to explore the experiences and views of the families. The findings were then thematically analysed through a critical theoretical process. For the second phase, we developed an empowerment framework to analyse and map the key themes from the findings, which outlines the families’ difficulties to engage with, and their alienation from, the services in all stages of interventions. The mapping outcomes indicate a link between the process of empowering the families and the process of improving the child protection service.

Keywords

child protectionpracticeempowermentfamilysystem
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 208 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, F., & Hansen, P. (2006). Five tumultuous years in Australian child protection: Little progress. Child and Family Social Work, 11 (1), 33–34.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2015). Child protection Australia 2013–14 (Child Welfare Series No. 61, Cat. no. CWS 52). Canberra, ACT: AIHW. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/50220a9f-c5e1-415f-a88c-d01218b79037/18756.pdf.aspx?inline=trueGoogle Scholar
APA (n.d.). Compatibility. In APA dictionary of psychology. APA. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/compatibilityGoogle Scholar
Brightman, J. (2003, May). Mapping methods for qualitative data structuring (QDS). Paper presented at Strategies in Qualitative Research Conference, Institute of Education, London. Retrieved from http://www.banxia.com/pdf/de/Map_for_qual_data_struct.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bromfield, L., Arney, F., & Higgins, D. (2014). Contemporary issues in child protection intake, referral and family support. In Hayes, A., & Higgins, D. (Eds.), Families, policy and the law: Selected essays on contemporary issues for Australia (pp. 121–129). Melbourne, VIC: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/publications/families-policy-and-law/13-contemporary-issues-child-protection-intake-referralGoogle Scholar
Bunting, L., Webb, M. A., & Shannon, R. (2015). Looking again at troubled families: Parents’ perspectives on multiple adversities. Child and Family Social Work, 22 (Suppl. 3), S31–S40. doi:10.1111/cfs.12232.Google Scholar
Cameron, G., & Freymond, N. (2014). Accessible service delivery of child welfare services and differential response models. Child Abuse and Neglect, 39, 32–40.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2009). Protecting children is everyone's business: National framework for protecting Australia's children 2009–2020. Canberra, ACT: COAG. Retrieved from https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/pac_annual_rpt_0.pdf.Google Scholar
Daley, B. (2004). Using concept map in qualitative research. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping, Pamplona, Spain. Retrieved from http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-060.pdfGoogle Scholar
D'Cruz, H., & Gillingham, P. (2014). Improving child protection services: Australian parents’ and grandparents’ perspectives on what needs to change. Practice: Social Work in Action, 26 (4), 239–257.Google Scholar
Dias, L. P. (2015). Human relation, v. 1.0. Boston, MA: Flatworld. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160922230402/http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/6531?e=portolesediashumrel_1.0-ch01_s02Google Scholar
Dumbrill, G. C. (2006). Parental experience of child protection intervention: A qualitative study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 30 (1), 27–37.Google Scholar
Erwin, E. J., Brotherson, M. J., & Summers, J. A. (2011). Understanding qualitative metasynthesis: Issues and opportunities in early childhood intervention research. Journal of Early Intervention, 33 (3), 186–200.Google Scholar
Farmer, E., & Owen, M. (1998). Gender and the child protection process. British Journal of Social Work, 28 (4), 545–564.Google Scholar
Ferguson, H. (2004). Protecting children in time: Child abuse, child protection and the consequences of modernity. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Ghaffar, W., Manby, M., & Race, T. (2012). Exploring the experiences of parents and carers whose children have been subject to child protection plans. British Journal of Social Work, 42 (5), 887–905.Google Scholar
Gloucestershire County Council (2012). Social care governance framework. Retrieved from https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/2805/governanceframework-web-51985.pdfGoogle Scholar
Gray, M. (2010). Moral sources and emergent ethical theories in social work. British Journal of Social Work, 40 (6), 1794–1811.Google Scholar
Habermas, J. (1986). Critical theory and Frankfurt University. In Dews, P. (Ed.), Autonomy and solidarity. London, UK: Verso.Google Scholar
Harris, N. (2012). Assessment: When does it help and when does it hinder? Parents’ experiences of the assessment process. Child and Family Social Work, 17 (2), 180–191.Google Scholar
Herrenkohl, T. I., Leeb, R. T., & Higgins, D. J. (2016). The public health model of child maltreatment prevention. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 17 (4), 363–365. doi:10.1177/1524838016661034.Google Scholar
Higgins, D. J. (2011). Protecting children: Evolving systems. Family Matters, 89, 5–10. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/fm89a.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ivec, M., Braithwaite, V., & Harris, N. (2012). Resetting the relationship in indigenous child protection: Public hope and private reality. Law & Policy, 34 (1), 80–103.Google Scholar
Khan, A. (2015). Child protection: Need for family focused approach. Social Work Journal, 3 (2), 136–147.Google Scholar
Lonne, B., Brown, G., Wagner, I., & Gillespie, K. (2015). Victoria's Child FIRST and IFS differential response system: Progress and issues. Child Abuse and Neglect, 39, 41–49. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.08.003.Google Scholar
Lonne, B., Harries, M., Featherstone, B., & Gray, M. (2016). Working ethically in child protection. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lonne, B., Parton, N., Thomson, J., & Harries, M. (2009). Reforming child protection. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Morrison, T. (2007). Emotional intelligence, emotion and social work: Context, characteristics, complications and contribution. British Journal of Social Work, 37 (2), 245–263.Google Scholar
Munro, E. (2011). The Munro review of child protection: Final report. London, UK: Her Majesty Stationery Office. Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175391/Munro-Review.pdfGoogle Scholar
Myers, J. E. B. (2008). A short history of child protection in America. Retrieved from https://au.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/35363_Chapter1.pdfGoogle Scholar
Ngwenyama, O. K. (2002). The critical social theory approach to information systems: Problems and challenges. In Myers, M. D. & Avison, D. E. (Eds.), Qualitative research in information systems: A reader. London, UK: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Noblit, G. W., & Hare, R. D. (1988). Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies (Qualitative research methods). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Office of the Children's Commissioner (2010). Family perspectives on safeguarding and relationships with children's services. Retrieved from http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/506/1/force_download.php%3Ffp%3D%252Fclient_assets%252Fcp%252Fpublication%252F405%252FFamily_perspectives_on_safeguarding.pdfGoogle Scholar
OHCHR (2007). Convention on the rights of the child. Geneva: UN High Commission for Human Rights. Retrieved from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htmGoogle Scholar
Page, N., & Chzuba, C. E. (1999). Empowerment : What is it? Journal of Extension, 37 (5). Retrieved from http://www.joe.org/joe/1999october/comm1.phpGoogle Scholar
Parton, N. (2010). Child protection and safeguarding in England: Changing and competing conceptions of risk and their implications for social work. British Journal of Social Work, 41 (5), 854–875. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcq119.Google Scholar
Platt, D. (2007). Congruence and co-operation in social workers' assessment of children in need. Child & Family Social work, 12 (4), 326–335.Google Scholar
Platt, D. (2008). Care or control? The effects of investigations and initial assessments on the social worker-parent relationship. Journal of Social Work Practice, 22 (3), 301–315.Google Scholar
Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry (2013). Taking responsibility: A road map for Queensland child protection. Brisbane, QLD: Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry. Retrieved from https://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/documents/2013/dec/response%20cpcoi/Attachments/report%202.pdfGoogle Scholar
Rivest, M.-P., & Moreau, N. (2014). Between emancipatory practice and disciplinary interventions: Empowerment and contemporary social normativity. British Journal of Social Work, 45 (6), 1855–1870. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu017.Google Scholar
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2008). Research methodology for social work. Belmont, CA: Thomson.Google Scholar
Ryan, G. W., & Bernard, H. R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15 (1), 85–109.Google Scholar
Sandelowski, M. (2004). Keynote address: Tenth annual QHR conference: Using qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 14 (10), 1366–1386. Retrieved from http://www.stes-apes.med.ulg.ac.be/Documents_electroniques/MET/MET-DON/ELE%20MET-DON%207113.pdfGoogle Scholar
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sen, A. (2005). Human rights and capabilities. Journal of Human Development, 6 (2), 151–166.Google Scholar
Solomon, B. B. (1976). Black empowerment: Social work in oppressed communities. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
US Department of Health and Human Services (2016). Philosophy and key elements of family-centered practice. Child Welfare Information Gateway. Retrieved from https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/famcentered/philosophyGoogle Scholar
Waldfogel, J. (2009). Prevention and the child protection system. Future of Children, 19 (2), 195–210. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/361499/pdfGoogle Scholar