Vulnerable Children, Young People, and Families: Policy, Practice, and Social Justice in England and Scotland

This chapter begins by highlighting the rise of vulnerability as a term in social policy, and the three-level approach that is used to examine it. The first level is definitional, examining the possibility of defining vulnerability and vulnerabilities through a consideration of relevant literature and a number of recent policy documents. The second looks at how policy developments in Scotland and England have diverged, particularly since 2010, and how vulnerability has become more central to education policy in England. The third level focuses on practice, presenting research undertaken by the authors into a programme developed to support vulnerable children, young people, and families in Northern England as a case study exemplifying some of the factors affecting the effectiveness of programmes in which schools played an important but not central part. This practice perspective is still too often overlooked in discussions of policy and definition, and it is suggested that its inclusion will contribute to the ongoing debate about both how best to support vulnerable families and the implications for education and social justice

40 degrees above or 40 degrees below zero: Rural social work and context in Australia and Canada

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Understanding trauma and child maltreatment experienced in Indigenous communities

This chapter critiques historical and contemporary child protection approaches that are viewed as replicating the colonialist practices of child removal and destruction of families/parenting and communities. Using Australia and Canada as examples, it focuses upon three different sources of the disadvantage and distress that Indigenous communities typically experience: the impacts of Colonisation; intergenerational trauma; and the ongoing social, economic, legal and political inequalities that stem from deep-seated inequity. Public health approaches that are culturally safe and non-stigmatising, community controlled and which embrace early intervention and prevention are needed. Principles are provided for system reforms and innovations in policy and practice. The chapter promotes understanding of the complexity that exists, and why the solutions must be multi-level, and multi-facetted in order to turn around the over-representation of Western viewpoints that drives child protection and the resultant gross over-representation of Indigenous children in these systems. This chapter highlights that despite the scope and scale of issues being faced, Indigenous communities nonetheless have well-developed and resilient informal helping and relational networks that can facilitate healing approaches. Examples are given of community initiatives, strategies, programs and services that herald positive processes and outcomes for Indigenous children, families and communities