Conceptualising 'the relationship' in intensive key worker support as a therapeutic medium

Across various welfare and justice systems, intensive key worker support is a model of working considered effective for individuals and families identified as having multiple and complex needs. The high profile 'troubled families' programme in England is the most recent prominent example of such a model. The key worker role is to assess an individual’s needs, carry out support planning, provide and/or co-ordinate the delivery of supportive interventions and complete care plan reviews. This requires the key worker to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals which, in turn, demands the ability to form effective relationships. In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change. I also explore the notion that the key worker-service user relationship is itself a ‘therapeutic’ medium and is therefore a productive practice in its own right. The paper suggests that while key workers might not be trained therapists or counsellors, they might be equipped to address some emotional challenges that individuals with complex needs face and build therapeutic relationships with them

The English City Riots of 2011, "Broken Britain" and the retreat into the present

The responses to the English city riots of 2011 bear a remarkable resemblance to those of historical urban disorders in terms of the way in which they are framed by concerns over "moral decline", "social malaise" and a "lack of self-restraint" among certain sections of the population. In this paper we draw on the work of Norbert Elias and take a long-term perspective in exploring historical precedents and parallels relating to urban disorder and anti-social behaviour. We reject the notion of "Broken Britain" and argue that a more "detached" perspective is necessary in order to appreciate that perceived crises of civilisation are ubiquitous to the urban condition. Through this historical analysis, framed by Elias' theory of involvement and detachment, we present three key arguments. Firstly, that a 'retreat into the present' is evident among both policy discourse and social science in responding to contemporary urban disorder, giving rise to ahistorical accounts and the romanticisation of previous eras; secondly, that particular moral panics have always arisen, specifically focused upon young and working class populations and urban disorder; and, thirdly, that previous techniques of governance to control these populations were often far more similar to contemporary mechanisms than many commentaries suggest. We conclude by advocating a long-term, detached perspective in discerning historical precedents and their direct linkages to the present; and in identifying what is particular about today's concerns and responses relating to urban disorder

The 'problem' with youth : young people, citizenship and the community

Fears that we are experiencing a crisis in citizenship have been increasingly directed towards youth. Popular political and government rhetoric has frequently positioned young people as a threat to the healthy functioning of citizenship and democracy. Policies have been implemented to educate them and control their behaviour, particularly in their local communities, in an attempt to foster them as citizens deemed appropriate to join adult society. This article provides evidence to the contrary, of young people who wish to be part of their local communities and incorporated in the development of relationships of mutual trust and respect. In this context it is argued that the New Labour government's approach to renewing citizenship for the modem age is contributing to the alienation of young people from any sense of inclusive citizenship. It is put forward that if we are truly concerned with the engagement and empowerment of young people, what is needed is a broader definition of citizenship that enables them to participate as young citizens and respects their voices as an important part of a fair society. This, it is argued, would entail a departure from currently dominant conceptions of citizenship towards, instead, a cultural citizenship approach

Intensive family casework with 'problem families': past and present

In the United Kingdom during the Second World War, poor, working-class mothers and children evacuated as a result of the Blitz were subject to an intensive form of family casework delivered by Pacifist Service Units (later renamed Family Service Units). Some 60 years later, the New Labour Government championed the establishment of Family Intervention Projects to deal with a small number of families deemed to be the cause of anti-social behaviour. Each of these services emerged from very different social and economic contexts, yet this article seeks to demonstrate the continuities between the two forms of intervention that both have as their primary target the ‘problem family’. In so doing, this article raises new questions and ideas that are relevant to current debates about the role of intensive casework in the governance of the family