Policy rationales for electronic information systems : an area of ambiguity

Child welfare and protection (CWP) has engaged in the introduction of Electronic Information Systems (EIS), such as electronic recording, assessment and decision- making tools. It has been argued that EIS have adverse consequences in which gov- ernments are conceived as homogeneous entities that install EIS for self-interested purposes. Consequently, research focuses on how social workers evade/reshape the sometimes pernicious effects of EIS. Insufficient attention has been given to the gov- ernmental perspective and to why governments install EIS. In this article, we contrib- ute to this debate by performing semi-structured interviews with policy actors (directors, policy advisers and staff members) in the field of CWP in Flanders. Asked about their rationales for installing EIS, they spoke of administrative, policy, care and economic reasons. However, while advocating these EIS, they also expressed a critical attitude concerning the usefulness of EIS, hoping that practitioners would move back and forth between governmental demands and day-to-day realities, to establish a more responsive social work. This ambiguous situation in which policy makers seem to be both strong supporters and critics of EIS at the same time is captivating, since it seems no longer necessary to perceive governments as a homogeneous bogeyman and social work as a victim

Parental expectations of maternal and child health services

This article reports on survey research (N=1,418) aimed at examining whether parental expectations of maternal and child health (MCH) services are influenced by group characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES], ethnicity, at risk of poverty) and/or individual parenting context variables (e.g., received social support) in a context where these services are available to all. The findings reveal that parents have different expectations about the technical and relational expertise of MCH nurses. However, the authors found only very weak associations between family characteristics and parental expectations, suggesting that individual differences matter more than SES and other more traditional distinctions. Implications for MCH services are made

In search for the politicizing function of community sport practices in Flanders

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Tipping the balance back towards emancipation : exploring the positions of Flemish community sport practitioners towards social control

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Parents’ role in adolescents’ leisure time use: From goals to parenting practices

Inspired by Ann Swidler’s toolkit theory, this qualitative study aims to achieve a better understanding of social class differences in parenting practices and, in turn, in young people’s leisure time use. To that end, 32 semi-structured face-to-face interviews with parents from middle- and working-class families were conducted in a small city in Belgium. An inductive thematic analysis revealed substantial social class differences with respect to three parenting practices: (1) setting an example, (2) resolving conflicts and (3) facilitating leisure activities. The interviews showed that these differences were mainly linked to social class differences in parents’ resources: working-class parents more often lacked flexible time, financial resources, an extensive social network on which they could rely and the institutionally required attitudes, skills and experience to engage in the above-mentioned parenting practices. We conclude that young people’s (continued) institutional leisure participation puts high requirements on parents and not all (working-class) parents are able to live up to such requirements. In that way, contemporary leisure settings reproduce rather than mitigate inequality in the use of leisure time

Community sport and social cohesion : in search of the practical understandings of community sport practitioners in Flanders

Current literature suggests that community sport contributes to social cohesion. Yet, empirical research is still scant, and existing conceptualizations of social cohesion in the context of community sport are dominated by a social capital approach emphasizing the individual over the structural conditions that need to be addressed if social cohesion is to be achieved. This article aims to provide more insight into how social cohesion is operationalized in community sport practices. Qualitative research on the practical understandings of community sport practitioners was undertaken across three cities in Flanders, Belgium. The findings suggest that practitioners adopt both individual and structural understandings of social cohesion. Moreover, they experience that their efforts to develop a structural approach are pressured by a dominant individualized approach. These findings reveal a disjuncture between academic constructs of social cohesion and the practical understandings of community sport practitioners. The article proposes ways to address the need for the empirical and conceptual development of social cohesion in the context of community sport and the broader community development field