INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVES

International Social Work Perspectives



International Social Work Perspectives

Executive Summary

Children's lives are put at risk when those who have responsibility for protecting the most vulnerable are not adequately prepared for the task or supported in performing it. The quality of entrants to the social work profession, the knowledge and skills imparted to them in their training, and the supervision and further development they have access to once in employment are all vital to keeping children safe. Defining practice is a precarious matter. What is child welfare, child protection, abuse, neglect - and what is not? The concepts are so imbedded in the legal, political and professional discourse, in everyday language, in cultural and time-related contexts etc., that attempts to define them in a more rigorous way frequently fail. This is so regardless whether one tries to define child abuse in a medical or sociological model. The concepts reflect norms of parental responsibility for adverse child experiences and for providing "good enough" standards of upbringing. Child welfare and child protection etc. are institutional organisations for state interventions when parents are not "good enough" (Levin, 1998 Pp. 14) in combination with the political/professional discourse define the threshold of state interventions in families lives. In other words, the social worker is also a moral worker. Not surprising, many studies have found wide cultural disagreement about what constitutes "abuse" and when/what interventions are acceptable. Vignette-studies in different countries also suggest that there are considerable differences within cultures, even among child welfare professionals. Likewise, perceptions of "children's needs" and what is "in the best interest of the child" varies between cultures and maybe most strikingly within western societies over relatively short periods of time. Philanthropic societies in Britain sent children considered at risk for asocial development to residential and foster care (Dept of Health, 1995; Christopherson, 1998 Pp. 56).

International Social Work Perspectives

Kinship care: definition and policy issues

In this study the working definition of a child living in a kinship care placement in New Zealand is as follows: A child living away from the parental home with a relative or friend with the knowledge of the social services department, who would otherwise be with stranger foster carers, in residential care, independent living, or adopted. The kinship care placement is either initiated by the social services department or via a relative or friend, and involves some sort of assistance or arrangement, including making decisions about legal orders, financial and social work support. There is a lack of evidence about kinship care placements in terms of their numbers, their durability and the views of children and young people of living in such placements. There are also ongoing concerns about the disproportionate numbers of black and minority ethnic young people in the looked after system, among young people leaving care, and in the criminal justice system. The issue of achieving high quality appropriate services for black children and families, including 'cultural competence', is of especial relevance in kinship care. The policy relevance for kinship care also derives ...