Recognizing and Addressing Child Neglect in Affluent Families

This paper explores how social workers intervene with affluent parents when there are child protection concerns about neglect. Based on data gathered from a small-scale exploratory qualitative study with 30 practitioners from 12 local authorities across England, this study examined three overarching questions: (1) How do social workers identify risk factors for vulnerable children in affluent circumstances? (2) Which factors inhibit or enable social workers’ engagement with resistant affluent parents when there are child protection concerns? (3) What kind of skills, knowledge and experience is necessary for social workers to effectively assert their professional authority with affluent parents when there are concerns about abuse and neglect? The findings revealed that indicators of neglect can be difficult to identify and challenging to respond to when parents are affluent. Results indicate that social workers have to navigate complex power relationships with parents who are able to use their class privileges to resist their interventions. The paper concludes with a discussion of social workers’ skills and capacities for engaging highly-resistant affluent parents in the child protection system

Using an Intersectional Lens to Examine the Child Sexual Exploitation of Black Adolescents

In this chapter I employ intersectionality as a critical lens to interrogate the ways that race, gender, class and sexuality impact black adolescents’ experiences of child sexual exploitation. In particular, the exploration will be anchored in an intersectional analysis to extend understandings of the nuanced ways in which race-constructed otherness is experienced by young black people affected by sexual exploitation. ‘Black’ is defined here as referring to individuals of African and AfricanCaribbean origin as well as persons of mixed ethnicity (African or African-Caribbean and another parentage, usually white British). A key reason for focusing on this subgroup of children is that they are disproportionately represented in the care system and the data on child sexual exploitation suggests children in the care system are disproportionately impacted. The central argument is that positional and situational inequalities intersect in complex ways to negatively impact the everyday realities of black youth, thus rendering them vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Specifically, the chapter discusses the contribution that an intersectional frame of analysis can make to intervening with sexually-exploited black youth. The chapter is organised into three parts: The first section briefly sketches the key messages from the literature on child sexual exploitation and black children. The second provides an overview of the intersectionality theoretical framework of the paper. In the final section, using a case study, from the Serious Case Review (SCR) of child R, a 15-year-old black girl in the looked-after system as an exemplar, I will present ways that an intersectional lens can offer some analytical tools to gain a deeper insight into the challenges for black youths at risk of abusive and exploitative relationships. The paper concludes with some discussion of the implications for a child-focused approach are also discussed

The use of the ACC deaminase producing bacterium Pseudomonas putida UW4 as a biocontrol agent for pine wilt disease

Pine wilt disease, caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is responsible for the devastation of worldwide pine forestlands. Until today, the only effective solution to this serious threat resides on the destruction of infected trees, which is both economic and ecologically unacceptable. The use of ACC deaminase-producing plant growth promoting bacteria has been shown to be a useful strategy in order to reduce biotic and abiotic constraints that affect plant health and development. In this sense, we report the use of the ACC deaminase-producing bacterium Pseudomonas putida UW4 as a potential biological control agent for pine wilt disease. An inoculation assay was performed in 3-4 months Pinus pinaster (maritime pine) seedlings obtained from a nursery in Portugal. The bacteria P. putida UW4 wild-type and ACC deaminase mutant strains were inoculated in the roots of pine seedlings followed by stem inoculation of B. xylophilus. The inoculation of the P. putida UW4 wild-type strain lead to a significant reduction of B. xylophilus induced symptoms. Moreover, regardless the inoculation with B. xylophilus, seedlings inoculated with P. putida UW4 also demonstrated an increased root and shoot development. In addition, P. putida UW4 ACC deaminase knockout mutant was unable to promote pine seedling growth or to decrease B. xylophilus induced symptoms. The results obtained indicate that the inoculation of ACC deaminase-producing bacteria in pine seedlings growing in a nursery system might constitute a novel strategy to obtain B. xylophilus resistant pine trees. This is the first report on the use of ACC deaminase-producing bacteria as potential biological control agents for tree diseases

Challenges and Strategies of Translation in a Qualitative and Sensitive Research

Key strategies and challenges of translating the interview data should be considered to do justice to the meanings and voices of the participants and remove misrepresentation. This article aims to investigate the key issues around translation in qualitative and sensitive research of the examination of the men’s engagement in domestic violence interventions in the UK. While many studies report on the importance of providing credibility to the meanings of the participants’ stories, there are limited studies that explore how researchers deal with difficulties and the techniques for translating the data. This research focuses on the key issues around the translation of interview data from Turkish to English. It highlights how the researcher’s position as a translator and a researcher impacted on collecting the data from the participants in a native language and presenting them in English. This addresses methodological and ethical questions that many migrant researchers might encounter during the translation of data

‘We’re giving you the sack’—Social Workers’ Perspectives of Intervening in Affluent Families When There Are Concerns about Child Neglect

Few studies have examined social workers’ perspectives of child protection interventions in cases of child neglect in affluent families in the UK. Using the findings from a qualitative study, this paper explores social workers’ experiences of intervening in affluent families when there are child protection concerns. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used to gather data from 30 child protection professionals from 12 local authorities across England. Findings from the study are used to explore the complex relational dynamics and power relationships that practitioners have to traverse when intervening with affluent parents that have the material resources to resist social work intervention. The paper concludes with a discussion of the skills and knowledge that are necessary for authoritative practice

Negotiating with Gatekeepers: Reflexivity in Exploring Turkish Men’s Engagement in Domestic Violence Perpetrator Interventions in the UK

This article explores methodological and ethical challenges and complexities in negotiating access with gatekeepers in research that examines Turkish perpetrators’ engagement in domestic violence interventions in the UK. This research presents the examples and conceptual information about the process of working with gatekeepers based on the sensitive research topic. This paper draws on the first author’s own experiences and the emotional impact of undertaking such sensitive research where community leaders held patriarchal beliefs. It also argues that there are challenges in building trust and rapport with gatekeepers which are related to gender power relations; stigmatisation in the community; ideologies around masculinity and patriarchy. Based on the experience of accessing hard-to-reach participants while undertaking a doctoral study, this paper discusses issues that arise when negotiating with gatekeepers to access study participants. The paper contributes to debates about gatekeepers by discussing the benefits of ethical considerations and of implementing reflexivity and field notes in the gatekeeping process

Negotiating with Gatekeepers: Reflexivity in Exploring Turkish Men's Engagement in Domestic Violence Perpetrators Interventions in the UK

This article explores methodological and ethical challenges and complexities in negotiating access with gatekeepers in research that examines Turkish perpetrators’ engagement in domestic violence interventions in the UK. This research presents the examples and conceptual information about the process of working with gatekeepers based on the sensitive research topic. This paper draws on the first author’s own experiences and the emotional impact of undertaking such sensitive research where community leaders held patriarchal beliefs. It also argues that there are challenges in building trust and rapport with gatekeepers which are related to gender power relations; stigmatisation in the community; ideologies around masculinity and patriarchy. Based on the experience of accessing hard-to-reach participants while undertaking a doctoral study, this paper discusses issues that arise when negotiating with gatekeepers to access study participants. The paper contributes to debates about gatekeepers by discussing the benefits of ethical considerations and of implementing reflexivity and field notes in the gatekeeping process

Facteurs associés à l'inconfort face aux situations sociosexuels non déviantes des délinquants sexuels juvéniles

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal