Self-care in primary school age children (the ‘latchkeyphenomenon’) is often regarded as problematic, threatening children’s psychological and physical well-being, although suggestions that it is beneficial are also sometimes made. It is likely that more Australian children are being expected to look after themselves with reducing formal out-of-school hours care facilities. This paper reviews the available evidence on the effects of self-care. It concludes that it is not possible to state categorically that self-care has either negative or positive effects on children’s psychological well-being, as a range of factors influences outcome, for example, the children’s age, family relationships and whether sibling care is involved. Although under-researched, the physical safety of children without adult supervision remains a concern. It is concluded that, while many children will emerge well from the self-care experience, others will not, and that it is therefore important that affordable out-of-school hours care facilities continue to be made available to families.

This paper describes the process and outcome of a self-help group involving six parents, and then proceeds to analyse the self-help group as a polity.

This analysis of the self-help group incorporates the notion of the parents as citizens who act and make decisions as a group or social polity. Concepts of generalised exchange and justice which have integral roles in social action within a polity are applied within the analysis.

These concepts are used to explain the personal growth of parents as citizens demonstrated through their participation in the self-help group as a social polity and in their social functioning within the community.

The paper argues that by promoting the clients’ citizenship development, the process facilitates their participation within the community and contributes to improved social functioning and self-determination.

Family Group Conferencing (FGC) in child protection is a method of involving families in planning. This paper reports on a study undertaken in the Victorian child protection system, which examined (1) the extent to which the Victorian FGC program actually involves families in the planning process, (2) the extent to which FGC develops case plans which are appropriate, and (3) the extent to which FGC develops case plans which are sustained over time. Researchers observed 28 conferences and phone interviews were conducted with more than 100 participants including family members, staff members and representatives of non-government agencies providing placement and support services. The results suggest that FGC is more successful in involving family members in case planning than more traditional planning processes. Family members believe that FGC leads to more appropriate case plans which are more likely to be sustained. Child protection workers on the other hand believe that more appropriate case plans are developed in traditional planning meetings, rather than FGCs, and that case plans developed in traditional meetings are more likely to be sustained over time. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, in particular that FGCs may be used for more difficult cases.