Permanency Decisions in Child Welfare
A Qualitative Study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10896754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul McCafferty (0000-0003-4324-995X, Department of Social Work, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, BT48 7JL, UK, corresponding author), Joe Duffy (0000-0002-7460-7775, Queen's University Belfast), David Hayes (0000-0003-0484-4182, Queen's University Belfast), Davy Hayes (0000-0001-7053-9069, Queen's University Belfast) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 2134-2154 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjsw/bcab095 |
| OpenAlex | W3161924203 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 51 |
This article presents findings from an exploratory in-depth qualitative research project with seventeen child welfare professionals exploring their permanency decisions with regards to Looked after Children. Thinking aloud-protocols and semi-structured interviews, in conjunction with a specifically constructed vignette were used to explore the permanency decisions of child welfare workers. Findings from this innovative research suggest that different decisions were taken by participants based on viewing the same vignette. However, even though the decisions differed, they clustered around the more interventionist options with most favouring adoption and foster care despite viable alternatives offered. There was broad consistency related to the rationale for the decisions taken, but this did not translate into a consistent permanency option being chosen. Possible reasons to account for this are that the decisions were heuristically constructed, idiosyncratic to individual inclinations and influenced by factors other than the individual needs of the service user. The implications of this are that children and families do not get a consistent and reliable response to their permanency needs. We therefore recommend the greater use of structured decision-making tools in permanency decisions to increase their objectivity and consistency
Consistency (knowledge bases) · Exploratory research · Objectivity (philosophy) · Political science · Qualitative research · Sociology · Vignette · Welfare · Applied Psychology · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Computer Science · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice
Using vignettes to compare the views of social workers and service-users
Using text-based vignettes in qualitative social work research
Immersive virtual environments as a tool to improve confidence and role expectancy in prospective social work students
What do childcare professionals agree on when they propose non-kin foster care
If You Thought It Was Going to Make a Difference, You'd Do It Straight Away’
Social worker decision‐making in court
Making Sense of Risk
Diminishing their voice through choice? How ‘self-placing’ in out-of-home care affects children and young people’s participation in decision-making
Children’s Participation in Child Welfare
The heuristic divergence between community reporters and child protection agencies
Engaging, empowering, and connecting youth with foster care histories
Associations between child protective services workers’ attitudes toward kinship foster care placement, sociodemographic characteristics, and job characteristics
Applied Thematic Analysis
Reasoning the fast and frugal way
Decision making in child protection
Professionals’ decision-making about out-of-home placements following instances of child abuse
Child Protection and Child Outcomes
Barriers to knowledge acquisition and utilisation in child welfare decisions
Participation and health - a research review of child participation in planning and decision-making
Factors that determine decision making in child protection investigations
Organisations and Management in Social work
Sense‐making in a social work office
Confidence and Professional Judgment in Assessing Children’s Risk of Abuse
Re-visioning risk assessment for human service decision making
Decision making in child welfare
The next step
Children at risk
Observing Front Line Decision Making in Child Protection
Decision Making in Children and Families Social Work
Care for Sale
Heuristics in Professional Judgement
Reasoning and Bias
What to Measure in Child Protection
Judgements or Assumptions? The Role of Analysis in Assessing Children and Young People's Needs
Decision Making in Dutch Child Welfare
Speaking Back' to Fear
Effects of Professional Experience on Child Maltreatment Risk Assessments
How Do Child-Protection Practitioners Make Decisions in Real-Life Situations? Lessons from the Psychology of Decision Making
Defensive Practice as ‘Fear-Based’ Practice
Child Welfare Attitudes, Risk Assessments and Intervention Recommendations
Child Welfare as Child Protection Then and Now
Making Threshold Decisions in Child Protection
Child Protection Decision Making
Child Welfare Practice in Organizational and Institutional Context
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |