Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Safeguarding children in the UK generates few reports of success. Poor or tragic outcomes\ncontinue to be associated with collaborative failures despite recurring attempts by\nGovernment to improve joint working. These initiatives are often justified on the basis of\nimproving outcomes but the basis for such claims remains unclear. Better knowledge is\nneeded of what success means in safeguarding children and the part played by collaborative\npractice.\nThis study contributes to this knowledge by exploring the perspectives of different\nparticipants on success and collaboration and their inter-relationship. It adopts an interpretive\nstance and uses a multiple embedded case study design to gain an in-depth portrait of success\nand collaboration in one children’s trust area. This portrait is built from an analysis of\ninterview, observation and documentary data drawn from three different collaborative\ndomains within the children’s trust: the Local Safeguarding Children Board; the workplace of\ntwo safeguarding teams; and accounts of safeguarding work with individual children and\nparents.\nIn a context where there is an overriding concern to avoid failure, success can be found,\nbut in multiple, coexisting forms that vary for different participants. These successes relate to\norganisational improvements, personal gains and resiliencies, symbolic achievements, as well\nas perceived benefits for children and parents. For organisations and to some extent for\npractitioners, the imperatives of organisational improvement and regulatory compliance\nencourage collaborative practices that are self-serving and focused on surveillance and risk\nmanagement. For parents, austerity and marginalization limit opportunities to engage\nservices. Despite these unpromising circumstances, this study finds evidence of collaborative\npractice by parents and by practitioners that contributes to participant satisfaction and\nmeaningful change in children’s and parents’ lives. Such forms of success are likely to be\nfurther cultivated by respectful services that family members can engage with, relational\npractices between practitioners and family members, and acknowledging and learning from\ntheir successes. These developments require multi-organisational arrangements that have the\npower and capacity to develop safeguarding systemically, workplaces that contain the open\nclimate necessary for sharing achievements as well as uncertainties, and leaders with the\nability to inspire confidence in practitioners and courage to bring about change.
Author: Andrew James Quin
Language: English
Topic: Child Welfare and Adoption
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2580280330