Deconstructing Discourses in Assessments of Child Neglect
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10898309 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Beth Casey (0009-0005-6707-4535, University of York, corresponding author), Simon Hackett (0000-0002-3275-9324, Durham University) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 2097-2115 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-02 |
| 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/bcab044 |
| OpenAlex | W3138422703 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 30 |
This article presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring how child neglect is ‘performed’ in social work practice. Informed by Foucauldian and feminist theoretical positions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten local authority social workers, eight Children’s Centre professionals in England and eight parents who had received professional intervention due to concerns about child neglect. In addition, ten case files were analysed where child neglect was a substantive concern. This article explores the discourses that were produced in social workers’ assessments of child neglect. In a neo-liberal context in which cuts are being made to childcare services, professionals were preoccupied with the identification and management of neglectful families by risk. Professional debates surrounding contested thresholds into services and categorisation of neglectful families are explored. Judgements of ‘good enough’ mothering as well as bureaucratic and managerial constraints to holistic, analytical and quality assessments are identified. The article also explores the bureaucratic performance of children’s assessed identities through which children become the objects of the assessment rather than active subjects. The article concludes with recommendations for practice and future research
Bureaucracy · Child abuse · Child neglect · Child protection · Context (archaeology) · Criminology · Developmental psychology · Intervention (counseling) · Neglect · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Public relations · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work
Social Workers’ Perceptions of the Nature of Child Neglect
Family support workforce skills
Which Factors in a Child Welfare Worker’s Environment Influence Their Decision-Making About Neglect? A Systematic Narrative Literature Review
Co‐Design With Mothers and Professionals to Enhance Care for Mothers Experiencing Adversity
Listening to children, holding parents accountable
Willing but Unable
Gender and Child Protection
Risk factors for child neglect
Gender Trouble
Neglect as Child Protection
The feminizing of neglect
From policy to practice
Constituting the Feminist Subject in Poststructuralist Discourse
Feminist Poststructuralism and Discourse Analysis
Gender and child neglect
Connecting father absence and mother blame in child welfare policies and practice
The Judgment in Re W (A child)
Performing 'Initial Assessment
Child Visibility in Cases of Chronic Neglect
Accountable and Countable
Everything Must Go? The Privatization of State Social Work
Child Protection and Safeguarding in England
Labelling Clients 'Risky
Supervision and the Dynamics of Collusion
Government and Control
Etiology of child maltreatment
Interpretive Interactionism
Engaging With Fathers
Qualitative Research, Appropriation of the 'Other' and Empowerment
Government, authority and expertise in advanced liberalism
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |