Children, Families and Social Exclusion

Children, Families and Social Exclusion: New approaches to Prevention By Kate, Morris, Marian, Barnes and Paul, Mason Bristol : Policy Press , 2009 ISBN 9781861349651 , 161 pp, £21.99 How well does rhetoric on prevention and social exclusion translate into practice and services which address their complexity and which deal respectfully and meaningfully with the lived experiences of the children and families affected? Do existing conceptualisations of prevention and social exclusion deal adequately with the critical exclusionary/inclusionary processes? Why might policy initiatives aimed at tackling social exclusion have fallen short in terms of impacting significantly and in a lasting way on the lives of children and families, even though they may have been well-received and have brought about some changes in the lives of individuals and families? In this comprehensive and well-structured book, the authors attempt to illuminate the highly contested territories of prevention, social exclusion and child well-being. They analyse the conceptual and practical linkages between them, through examining the evolution of child welfare and prevention policies in the UK. While providing a comprehensive analysis of the development of the social exclusion/inclusion discourse and the related changes in the prevention discourse and focus, they illustrate their analysis with evidence drawn from one Government programme, the Children’s Fund, targeted at preventing or alleviating social exclusion. The authors are able to illustrate in specific and detailed terms the complexities and potential deficiencies of current/recent approaches to prevention, arguing that the ‘the tiered frameworks for prevention no longer meet the conceptual needs of contemporary preventative approaches (p. 131). They make a convincing case for a new, more dynamic, multi-dimensional, responsive, interactive framework for prevention, arguing that new conceptual understandings of prevention are required if the challenge of reducing social exclusion experienced by children and their families is to be realised. The authors’ overview of social exclusion and the controversies attending its development as a central/coordinating philosophy within European, and later, British social policy provides a good foundation from which to explore the national policies/strategies devised to address concerns about child welfare, and in particular notions of those ‘at risk’. They provide a rich and thought-provoking foray into this contentious territory, highlighting the flaws and deficiencies in the thinking and assumptions which beset, and ultimately undermine, the translation of the policy rhetoric into reality. Their primary conclusion is that despite its contested nature, social exclusion is a useful lens through which the experiences of marginalised children and families can be viewed, allowing the dynamic and multifaceted nature of their experiences to be understood. However, they return repeatedly to the observation and central conclusion that despite government rhetoric, in reality the translation of policies concerned with social exclusion into grassroots services and practices has resulted in a narrow focus for change — primarily that of individual capacity and engagement. Illustrating their analysis with research and with data from the national evaluation of the Children’s Fund, they show the discrepancies between the multi-dimensional nature of the social exclusion and the limited solutions/potential solutions offered or pursued, i.e. the overwhelming focus on seeking to change individuals, and the very limited, if any, focus on the processes and barriers to inclusion. Through utilising the recent example of the Children’s Fund they graphically illustrate how such programmes, forged with good intentions, can produce some small-scale benefits for individuals but ultimately fail to deliver systemic change to exclusionary processes. Participating families may thus be equipped to resist exclusionary processes but overall there would be little in the way of lasting long-term change to such processes, with the likely result that children and families similarly disadvantaged in the future would gain little if any benefit. In this regard at least, the authors’ conclusion is resonant with some of the more trenchant critics of the social exclusion discourse, those like Gillies and Levitas who critique the often one-dimensional solutions, such as ‘work’ or ‘parenting support’ which tend to be the service response to complex problems. Several writers have also argued that within the sometimes complex analyses of social exclusion, there has been a tendency to marginalise redistributive discourses and this has resulted in ineffective social policies that do little to address the root causes of inequality, poverty and social exclusion (Davis, 2007). Morris and others, nonetheless, while validating some of the long-standing criticisms, do also see the potential within the social inclusion model for creating new understandings, ‘joined up’ ways of working and thus new ways of challenging social exclusion. Overall, this is an accessible, convincing analysis of the discourses of social exclusion and prevention and how they interact in the context of changing ideas on child and family policy. It adds thought-provoking insights into contemporary social policy developments and raises timely questions about assumptions on the relationship between state and family which underpin such developments. The conceptual framework is appealing, presenting a more rounded, dynamic approach than the more delineated, structured models currently available. However, while this fresh approach is appealing, and despite the use of an example from the Children’s Fund to illustrate the ideas, one is left wondering just how well this model would work in every day practice and what assistance those charged with developing and implementing programmes would require to ensure that its dynamic potential was not lost in translation

Conceptual framework · Criminology · Government (linguistics · Inclusion (mineral · Inclusion–exclusion principle · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Rhetoric · Social exclusion · Social policy · Social science · Sociology · Child and Adolescent Health · Children's Rights and Participation · Law · Research in Social Sciences

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