Parent-worker relationships in child & family social work: a Belgian case study

The involvement of parents within child and family social work has become an important research topic during the past few decades. Within this research, a lot of attention is paid to partnership, which is recognised as a dominant concept in current thinking about the parent-worker relationship in present-day practice. The debate on parent-worker relationships, however, seems to be mainly focussed on the individual relationship between the parent and the social worker. Based on a historical analysis of policy documents on a Belgian child and family welfare service, this article offers a historical and sociopolitical contextualisation of the current debate on the parent-worker relationship. The analysis reveals that sociopolitical ideas about the responsibilities of the state, the community and the private family have induced a continuous reflection on which children and parents should be seen as the most appropriate clients for a particular service, as well as an ongoing development of diagnostic instruments to legitimise inclusion and exclusion of families within child and family social work. Consequences for parent-worker relationships in child and family social work are discussed, as well as some implications for future research on child and family social work practices

Professionals understanding of partnerships with parents in the context of family support programmes

Partnership has become a dominant concept in current thinking about the parent–professional relationship within a variety of interventions aimed at child welfare, including family support practice. However, despite the burgeoning policy and research attention, the meaning of partnership in practice remains unclear. Based on interviews with professionals in a family support intervention in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), this paper offers an insight into professionals' daily interactions with parents. The analysis reveals a tension between professionals' commitment towards parents on the one hand, and the way professionals take up this commitment in an expert role on the other. Consequences for professionals' relationships in child and family welfare interventions are discussed, as well as some implications for the realization of proper partnerships that acknowledge the power imbalances that exist in such partnerships

From parental engagement to the engagement of social work services: discussing reductionist and democratic forms of partnership with families

Social work has moved from a child protection discourse towards a child welfare discourse that views the relationship between social workers and families as a partnership. Partnership with families in the field of child protection and child welfare, however, mirrors diverse ideological motives of social policy, civil society and practice. We engage in a theoretical discussion of different interpretations of partnership. We draw a primary distinction between reductionist and democratic forms of partnership with families. In a reductionist approach, social workers activate parents in order to realize the goals set by social work. A democratic approach to partnership refers to a shared responsibility between social workers, parents and children. In this approach, effective partnership is not something to be realized as an outcome, but a point of departure that implies a joint search for meaning and an experiment with which social workers engage. This engagement presents non-participation' not as problematic but as an essential element of participation. The focus then shifts from a methodical approach to partnership - how to activate people to participate in the care process - to the question of how the engagement of social workers can be constructed together with families

Dictionnaire historique de la comparaison

Qu’est-ce que la comparaison ? En quoi est-elle utile au raisonnement historique, et plus généralement aux sciences humaines et sociales ? De l’histoire comparée proposée par Marc Bloch aux débats les plus récents sur l’histoire transnationale et connectée, ce dictionnaire offre un large panorama des références, des concepts, des débats, des méthodes et des outils essentiels à la mise en œuvre de la démarche comparatiste, à la fois dans l’espace et dans le temps. Ses courtes notices seront utiles à celles et ceux qu’intéresse cette approche, qu’il s’agisse de la pratiquer, de la penser ou de la critiquer, notamment en histoire moderne et contemporaine. Le classement des quatre-vingt-quatre entrées en plusieurs rubriques — » Épistémologies », « Boîte à outils », « Groupes sociaux », « Pratiques politiques », « Cultures européennes », « Lieux », « Croisements », « Temporalités » et « Collectifs » — éclaire les axes et les enjeux explorés par les auteurs ici rassemblés. Principalement historiens et historiennes, sociologues ou spécialistes de littérature, ils ont pour point commun de dialoguer avec la pensée de l’historien Christophe Charle, dont toute l’œuvre s’est efforcée de proposer une histoire sociale et culturelle comparée à l’échelle de l’Europe