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Learning from difference? European perspectives on social work in child and family services

Learning from difference? European perspectives on social work in child and family services. Janet Boddy Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth. Three European studies. International perspectives on parent support Denmark, France, Germany, Italy & the Netherlands.

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Learning from difference? European perspectives on social work in child and family services

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  1. Learning from difference? European perspectives on social work in child and family services Janet Boddy Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth

  2. Three European studies International perspectives on parent support Denmark, France, Germany, Italy & the Netherlands Working at the ‘edges’ of care with young people and families: England, Denmark, France and Germany Beyond Contact: Work with families of children placed away from home England, Denmark, France and the Netherlands

  3. Partners include... • EnglandJanet Boddy, University of Sussex • June Statham, Institute of Education • Denmark IngeDanielsen, University College Copenhagen • France Hélène Join-Lambert and SéverineEuillet, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense • Germany Herbert Colla, Michael Tetzer, Simon Garbers, • University of Lüneburg • ItalyCinziaCanali, FondazioneZancan, Padova • NetherlandsEsther Geurts, NetherlandsYouth Institute

  4. Why cross-national research? • To inform policy development • Not simply ‘transplanting’ programmes or services • But generating ideas and understandings • To look ‘with fresh eyes’ – to learn from difference • What’s possible? • What could be adapted or trialled in an English context? • What can we learn from other ways of conceptualising and delivering support?

  5. Being careful not to idealise! ... and not comparing like with like

  6. Population contexts 2012 data: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/themes

  7. Cross-national comparability? 2008 data: http://www.oecd.org/statistics/

  8. Learning from difference ‘It is interesting to hear the common problems across countries, but it is more important to know how you find solutions.’ Senior manager, Dutch NGO

  9. Contexts in national policy • Familiar concerns, including… • social inclusion, maternal working, parental separation • partnership with parents • engaging specific groups of parents • accessibility of support … and of course, austerity • Different understandings of rights (for children and families)

  10. Policy discourses of ‘rights’ to support – for example… • Germany • Rights for young people and parents in relation to ‘Help with Upbringing’ (HilfezurErziehung) • Denmark • All citizens have a social worker • Netherlands and Denmark • Parents of looked after children have the right to a dedicated support worker • Young people’s rights to decision-making in care planning • Italy and Denmark • Care plan must (in law) follow the whole family

  11. The role of the state in family life • France Civil Code (1804) • specifies the ‘absolutisme’ of parental responsibility • family is protected in law as a ‘private domain’ • Germany Basic Law (1949): • marriage and the family enjoy the special protection of the state • parents have a natural right, as well as a duty, to provide care for and bring up their children • Denmark Constitution (1953) • refers to rights of children, not to rights of family • UK • no formal constitution, and arguably no explicit family policy (e.g., Hantrais 2004)

  12. Conceptual continuity between universal and targeted services Denmark: estrenget principle

  13. The workforce • Professionalised, with degree-level qualifications • Professionally-led interventions (individual or group-based), ranging from mainstream support through to dedicated workers for parents of looked after children • Professionally differentiated • Multi-agency working or multi-disciplinary teams • Social services and family support teams commonly include pedagogues, psychologists, social workers, lawyers and family mediators, maternity and public health nurses, and doctors

  14. Professional approaches ‘We have a very high responsibility ... Our decision affects the whole life of the child. So this high responsibility needs people very well educated to know about what they do. … They must not know only one solution, you need a whole range. [You need to be] educated in talking to people, not just in work with children, [but] finding solutions for life, for development. So we need excellently educated people doing this job.’ National Policy Adviser, Germany (from Boddy et al, 2008)

  15. In conclusion • A professionalised and professionally differentiated workforce working across levels of need • Including social workers, psychologists, social pedagogues, and other graduate professionals Do we expect too much of UK social work? ‘given the scope (and risks and pressures) of the social work task, is it reasonable to expect social workers in England to do a job, albeit with support from less qualified workers, that is shared among members of multi-professional graduate teams in other European countries?’ (Boddy and Statham 2009, p14)

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