Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:39:24.676Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Silenced stakeholders: Responding to mothers' experiences of the child protection system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Abstract

While there has been a plethora of international and Australian research and inquiries into child protection and, to a lesser extent, foster care, there is a paucity of Australian research undertaken with the parents of children in care. While these parents are stakeholders in a system that has had a profound effect on their lives, their views are not generally canvassed. This paper discusses key findings of a community welfare Honours study which explored the experiences of six women whose children had been removed into foster care. The paper focuses on two core themes: firstly, the mothers' sense of betrayal when their pleas for help ultimately led to them losing their children, and, secondly, despite the resultant loss, grief and anger, their compulsion to do whatever it takes to have contact with, and to be reunited with, their children. The paper concludes with key messages and recommendations for practice.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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

REFERENCES

Adcock, M. (1980) ‘Dilemmas in planning long-term care’, in Triseliotis, J. (ed.), New Developments in Foster Care & Adoption, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, F. & Cashmore, J. (2004) Audit of Australian out-of-home care research, Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia, <www.cafwaa.org.au/researchaudit.html>.Google Scholar
Aldgate, J. (1980) ‘Identification of factors influencing children's length of stay in care’, in Triseliotis, J. (ed.), New Developments in Foster Care & Adoption, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.Google Scholar
Alpert, L. (2005) ‘Research Review: Parents' service experience: A missing element in research on foster care case outcomes’. Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 10, No. 4, November, 361366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2008) Child Protection Australia 2006-07, Child Welfare Series no. 43, Canberra.Google Scholar
Baker, J., Miles, D. & Thorpe, R. (2006) Parents with complicated lives: Do child protection services help or hinder?, paper presented at CROCCS Conference, Working together for families, Mackay, 4-6 August.Google Scholar
Beek, M. & Schofield, G. (2004) ‘Promoting security and managing risk: Contact in long-term foster care’, in Neil, E. & Howe, D. (eds.), Contact in adoption and permanent foster care, Research, theory and practice, London: British Association for Adoption & Fostering.Google Scholar
Berridge, D. & Cleaver, H. (1987) Foster home breakdown, Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Breckenridge, J. (1994) ‘Intervention in child welfare: An inflicted evil or solicited response?’ in Wearing, M. & Berreen, R.. (eds.), Welfare & social policy in Australia: The distribution of advantage, Sydney: Harcourt Brace.Google Scholar
Budde, S. (2004) Responsive ethical practice with parents in child protective services, keynote address presented at CROCCS Conference, Building Stronger Families, Mackay 6-8 August, <http://www.croccs.org.au/downloads/2004_conf_papers/EthicsinChildWelfareSteveBudde.ppt>.Google Scholar
Burgheim, T. (2005) ‘The grief of families whose children have been removed: implications for workers in out of home care’, Developing Practice, Vol. 13, 5761.Google Scholar
Butcher, A. (2005) Enhancing foster carers' training and professionalism, unpublished PhD thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.Google Scholar
Cleaver, H. (1999) ‘Contact: The social workers' experience’, in Hill, M. (ed.), Signposts in fostering policy, practice and research issues, London: British Agencies for Adoption & Fostering.Google Scholar
Cleaver, H. (2000) ‘Fostering family contact: A study of children, parents and foster carers’, in Aldgate, J. & Statham, J. (eds.), (2001) The Children Act Now: Messages from Research, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Cleaver, H. & Freeman, P. (1995) Parental perspectives in cases of suspected child abuse, Studies in Child Protection, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Community Services Commission (1999) Keeping connected: Contact between children in care and their families, Surry Hills, Sydney.Google Scholar
Crime and Misconduct Commission (2004) Protecting children: An inquiry into abuse of children in foster care, Brisbane: Crime and Misconduct Commission.Google Scholar
Dale, P. (2004) ‘Like a fish in a bowl: Parents' perceptions of child protection services’, Child Abuse Review, Vol 13, 137157.Google Scholar
Daly, W., McPherson, C. & Reck, L. (2004) SPLAT: A model of participation that moves beyond the rhetoric, paper presented at CROCCS Conference, Building Stronger Families, Mackay, 6-8 August, <http://www.croccs.org.au/downloads/2004_conf_papers/040720PaperColinMcPhersonPUBLISH.pdf>.Google Scholar
Department of Community Services (2006) Spotlight on safety: Community attitudes to child protection, foster care and parenting, NSW Government Sydney, accessed 09/09/06, <http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/documents/social_research/social_research.pdf>..>Google Scholar
Department of Human Services (2004) Protecting children: Ten priorities for children's wellbeing and safety in Victoria, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Diorio, W.D. (1992) ‘Parental perceptions of the authority of public child welfare caseworkers’, Journal of Contemporary Human Services, April, 222235.Google Scholar
Doka, K.J. (1989) Disenfranchised grief: Recognising hidden sorrow, Lexington: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Dumbrill, G. (2003) ‘Child welfare: AOP's nemesis?’, in Shera, W. (ed.), Emerging perspectives on anti-oppressive practice, Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press Inc.Google Scholar
Family Inclusion Network (2007) Family inclusion in child protection practice: Creating hope, re-creating families: Working with parents to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people in the Queensland child protection system, Brisbane: Family Inclusion Network.Google Scholar
Fanshel, D. & Shinn, E. (1978) Children in foster care: A longitudinal investigation, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Farmer, E. & Owen, M. (1998) ‘Gender and the child protection process’, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 11, 545564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernandez, E. (1996) Significant harm: Unravelling child protection decisions and substitute care careers of children, Aldershot UK: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Fernandez, E. (2002) Child Maltreatment and Child Protection, in Alston, M. and McKinnon, J. (eds.) Social Work: Fields of Practice. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gordon, L. (1988) Heroes of their own lives: The politics and history of family violence, New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Haight, W.L., Mangelsdorf, S., Black, J., Szewczyk, M., Schoppe, S., Giorgio, G., Madrigal, K. & Tata, L. (2005) ‘Enhancing parent-child interaction during foster care visits: Experimental assessment of an intervention’, Child Welfare, Vol. 84, No. 4, 459482.Google Scholar
Holland, S. & Scourfield, J. (2004) ‘Liberty and respect in child protection’, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 34, No.1, 2136.Google Scholar
Holman, R. (1980) ‘Exclusive and inclusive concepts of fostering’, in Triseliotis, J. (ed.), New developments in foster care & adoption, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.Google Scholar
Jenkins, S. & Norman, E. (1972) Filial deprivation and foster care, New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kapp, S.A. & Vela, R.H. (2004) ‘The unheard client: Assessing the satisfaction of parents of children in foster care’, Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 9, 197206.Google Scholar
Klease, C. (2006) Help not upheaval: Mothers with children in foster care evaluate the foster care system and foster carers, unpublished Bachelor of Community Welfare Honours thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.Google Scholar
Layton, R. (2003) Our best investment: A state plan to protect and advance the interests of children, Adelaide: Government of South Australia.Google Scholar
Lee, R.M. (1993) Doing research on sensitive topics, London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Macaskill, C. (2002) Safe contact? Children in permanent placement and contact with their birth relatives, Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing.Google Scholar
McCashen, W. (2005) The strengths approach, Bendigo: St. Luke's Innovative Resources.Google Scholar
Mackinnon, L. (1998) Trust and betrayal in the treatment of child abuse, New York: The Guildford Press Google Scholar
McMahon, A. (1998) Damned if you do, damned if you don't: Working in child welfare, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Mason, J. & Gibson, C. (2004) The needs of children in care - A report on a research project: Developing a model of out-of-home care to meet the needs of individual children, through participatory research which includes children and young people, Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, University of Western Sydney; Social Justice and Research Program, UnitingCare Buraside.Google Scholar
Mather, L. & Barber, L. (2004) ‘Climbing the mountain: The experience of parents whose children are in care’, International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, No. 4, 1322.Google Scholar
Millham, S., Bullock, R., Hosie, K. & Haak, M. (1986) Lost in care: The problems of maintaining links between children in care and their families, Aldershot UK: Gower.Google Scholar
O'Neill, C. (2005) ‘Christmas without the kids: Losing children through the child protection system’, Children Australia, Vol. 30, No. 4, 1118.Google Scholar
Palmer, S.E. (1995) Maintaining family ties: Inclusive practice in foster care, Washington: Child Welfare League of America.Google Scholar
Reich, J.A. (2005) Fixing families: Parents, power, and the child welfare system, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rutman, D., Strega, S., Callahan, M. & Dominelli, L. (2002) ‘Undeserving mothers? Practitioners' experiences working with young mothers in/from care’, Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 7, 149159.Google Scholar
Schofield, G., Beek, M., Sargent, K. & Thoburn, J. (2000) Crowing up in foster care, London: British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering.Google Scholar
Scott, D. & O'Neil, D. (1996) Beyond child rescue: Developing family-centred practice at St. Luke's, St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Scourfield, J.B. (2001) ‘Constructing women in child protection work’, Child and Family Social Work, Vol. 6, 7787.Google Scholar
Sinclair, I., Gibbs, I. & Wilson, K. (2004) Foster carers: Why they stay and why they leave, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Spratt, T. & Callan, J. (2004) ‘Parents' views on social work: Interventions in child welfare cases’, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 34, 199224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, J. (2003) ‘This is nothing new: Child protection concerns and poverty’, Children Australia, Vol. 28, No. 1, 410.Google Scholar
Thomson, J. & Thorpe, R. (2003) ‘The importance of parents in the lives of children in the care system’, Children Australia, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2531.Google Scholar
Thomson, J. & Thorpe, R. (2004) ‘Powerful partnerships in social work: Group work with parents of children in care’, Australian Social Work, Vol. 57, No. 1, 4656.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R. (1974) The social and psychological situation of the long-term foster child with regard to his natural parents, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R. (1980) ‘The experiences of children and parents living apart: Implications and guidelines for practice’, in Triseliotis, J. (ed.), New developments in foster care & adoption, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R. (2007) Family inclusion in child protection practice: building bridges in working with (not against) families, keynote address presented at the Second National ACCFPP Professional Development Conference, Borders & Bridges, Melbourne, 20-22 May.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R., Klease, C. & Solomon Westerhuis, D. (2005) Challenging practice in foster care: Foster carers ‘ reflections on working with a child's natural family: Implications for education, training and support, paper presented at CROCCS Conference, Challenging Practices, Mackay, 5-7 August, <http://www.croccs.org.au/downloads/2005_conf_papers/RosThorpeandChrisKlease.pdf>.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R. & Solomon Westerhuis, D. (2006) ‘You need to walk in their shoes’: Foster carers' views on what makes a good foster carer, paper presented at CROCCS Conference, Working together for families, Mackay, 4-6 August, <http://www.croccs.org.au/publicns.htm>.Google Scholar
Triseliotis, J., Borland, M. & Hill, M. (2000) Delivering foster care, London: British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering Google Scholar
Wilkinson, M. (1986) ‘Good mothers - bad mothers: State substitute care of children in the 1960s’, in Marchant, H. & Wearing, B. (eds.), Gender reclaimed women in social work, Sydney: Hale & Iremonger.Google Scholar