Despite the pivotal role played by parents in the child protection process, little attention has been paid to how social workers perceive them. Exploring representations of parents within Children’s Services – at the levels of policy, organisation and frontline practice – the concept of citizenship is used to construct a typology with ten variants of parent-citizenship. The typology reveals the complexities of parental representations and their relationship to the content of policy, organisational environments and dominant societal themes, as it uncovers how social workers represent parents in their day-to-day practice. The book is a resource that can be used by students, practitioners, researchers and parent advocacy organisations to evaluate policy and practice and to contribute to the search for the best possible outcomes for families. Arguing that parental participation in the child protection process is essential, the book increases the visibility of parents and contributes to a much-needed dialogue about working with parents in Children’s Services.

This timely collection written from a social work perspective includes original chapters by leading experts in specific fields of mediation and conflict resolution. Each chapter examines a field of practice, describes the actual mediation/conflict resolution process, considers current debates and research, and provides alternatives to mediation. Gender, race, class, and cultural diversity issues are integrated throughout the text, with a separate chapter addressing mediation and multicultural reality.

Publisher Description

Child protection is a complex and demanding area of practice which is constantly evolving, with new challenges appearing with every change that occurs. This important book presents a set of readings produced by a range of academics and practitioners, each with a significant contribution to make to our understanding of the challenges and change that characterize contemporary practice. The book is divided into three parts. The first part addresses a number of key issues which are having an important impact on child protection services. The second part is concerned with 'children who hurt' - children who have not only experienced abuse, but who also go on to abuse others. The final part concerns itself with issues of staffing - supporting staff in the difficult changes they face.

Providing an outline of attachment theory, this work covers a range of topics encompassing placement issues and practices including adoption, the problem of assessing and working with parents who have a learning disability, and contact between parents and their separated children, and others.

This book surveys the relevant literature concerned with chairing child protection conferences and describes and analyzes the accounts of 14 chairpersons. It concludes with recommendations for good practice.