A critical history of child protection and welfare services for disabled children in the Republic of Ireland, 1960–2023

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6421076
AutoresSuzanne Flynn (0000-0002-2807-0866, Trinity College Dublin, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen13
Número2
Páginas231-247
Fecha de publicación2024-06-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCritical and Radical Social Work (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2049-8675 • E-ISSN: 2049-8608
EditorialBristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/20498608y2024d000000036
OpenAlexW4399696932
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas11

Existing research demonstrates at least threefold higher rates of maltreatment for disabled children than for their non-disabled peers. The situation is compounded by pervasive impediments to effective safeguarding practice for disabled children. While scholarly attention to this area is growing, one aspect remains thoroughly neglected in the Irish context, namely, historical accounts of disability and child protection are stark by their absence. This article presents key historical changes in child protection and welfare practice for disabled children from 1960 to 2023 in the Republic of Ireland. The account illustrates how discourses of risk aversion, rights and inclusion have collided with increased bureaucratisation and state regulation. Towards achieving a critical theoretical exposition of the history, conceptual conventions of the ‘5-P’ child protection model (prevention, paramountcy, partnership, protection and parental responsibility) are applied. Key lessons for policymakers and practitioners about the sociocultural construction of child protection and disability are then extracted and, with respect to informing future practice, critically explored

Child protection · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · The Republic · Welfare · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Law · Research in Social Sciences · Social Issues and Policies