From Aristotle to Arendt : a phenomenological exploration of forms of knowledge and practice in the context of child protection social work in the UK

This paper attempts to explore the relationship between different forms of knowledge and the kinds of activity that arise from them within child protection social work practice. The argument that social work is more than either ‘science’ or ‘art’ but distinctly ‘practice’ is put through a historical description of the development of Aristotle’s views of the forms of knowledge and Hannah Arendt’s later conceptualisations as detailed in The Human Condition (1958). The paper supports Arendt’s privileging of Praxis over Theoria within social work and further draws upon Arendt’s distinctions between Labour, Work and Action to delineate between different forms of social work activity. The author highlights dangers in social work relying too heavily on technical knowledge and the use of theory as a tool in seeking to understand and engage with the people it serves and stresses the importance of a phenomenological approach to research and practice as a valid, embodied form of knowledge. The argument further explores the constructions of service users that potentially arise from different forms of social work activity and cautions against over-prescriptive use of ‘outcomes’ based practice that may reduce the people who use services to products or consumables. The author concludes that social work action inevitably involves trying to understand humans in a complex and dynamic way that requires engagement and to seek new meanings for individual humans

Psychosocial Needs of Children in Foster Care and the Impact of Sexual Abuse

Children in family foster care, especially those who have experienced sexual abuse, require a safe and nurturing environment in which their psychosocial needs are met. However, there is limited knowledge on how youth prioritize various needs and what impact previous experiences have on these needs. In this study, we asked youth (formerly) in family foster care to indicate their psychosocial needs, and analyzed if youth with a history of sexual abuse have different needs. A Q methodological study was conducted with 44 youth (age 16–28). Fifteen of them reported sexual abuse during their childhood. Using by-person factor analyses, respondents who share similar subjective views were grouped together. Qualitative interpretations of the factors show differences and similarities between and within the two groups, related to help from others, being independent, processing the past, and working toward the future. Although the needs of youth with and without experiences of sexual abuse seem mostly similar, one group of sexually abused youth specifically indicated not wanting an emotional connection to foster parents, but instead a strictly instrumental, professional relationship. This study captured the diverse perspectives of youth themselves, revealing that children in foster care differ with regard to what they consider as (most) important safety, belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization needs

Q methodology and rural research

Traditionally, rural scholarship has been limited in its methodological approach. This has begun to change in recent years as rural researchers have embraced a range of different methodological tools. The aim of this article is to contribute to greater methodological pluralism in rural sociology by introducing readers to a method of research that is rarely engaged in the field, that is, Q methodology. The article describes the defining features of the approach as well as providing examples of its application to argue that it is a method that offers particular opportunities and synergies for rural social science research

Family group conferences in youth justice

This paper discusses part of an evaluation of the ‘Family Group Conference (FGC) Project for Young People Who Offend’ within a large social services department (‘Exshire’). The evaluation covers all 30 family group conferences during a 15-month period from September 2000 to December 2001. This article presents the findings relating to young people along with changes in their psychosocial profile using a modified version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman 1997). The views of all participants were positive, with the majority saying they would recommend FGCs to others. FGC was felt by most participants to have brought about changes in the way young people view the world, partly by helping them to accept the reality of offending in a way that had not previously been possible. It provided victims with a unique opportunity to become involved in the youth justice system, recognising them as key stakeholders as a result of a crime. This process left most victims with a sense of satisfaction and resolution. Average SDQ scores were lower following FGC for the 12 young people who responded to follow-up interviews. Although there are a number of restorative justice projects using FGC in youth justice, we believe this project is among the first in the UK to establish the use of the New Zealand model with its emphasis on ‘private family time’ as an ongoing established service. Although the data were collected before 2002, the project contains unique features which we believe should be brought to the attention of the wider academic and practice community given that FGC is still a fairly new, unexplored and under-evaluated phenomenon in youth justice. There is currently a need for more research looking at the use of FGC in relation to young offenders

Paternalism or Partnership? Family Involvement in the Child Protection Process

SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

In on the act A training programme for relevant professionals

Sponsored by the Department of HealthSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:fm00/1127 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Involving children in child protection conferences Research findings from two child protection authorities

SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Motivation, morale and performance

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:q96/09603 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The quality of terminal care in residential and nursing homes

This article presents some of the findings from a large national multi-method study on the management of death and dying in residential and nursing homes for older people. The study included all types of registered homes and interviews were conducted with staff, residents and visitors to the homes. Stage 1 used a survey questionnaire to provide background demographic data. Stages 2 and 3 included 100 interviews with the heads of homes and 12 case studies. Particular consideration was given to internal and external influences on care provision in the interviews and observations were made in the case study homes. Clearly, home staff are committed to the provision of good quality terminal care for residents. This article focuses on some of the reasons why that commitment is difficult to translate into practice