Abstract
SUMMARY This article reports the findings of a questionnaire survey of 118 local authority socialworkers' attitudes towards parental participation in child protection case conferences.Arguments from the professional literature both in favour of and against parentalparticipation were presented. Overall social workers were found to be largely support-ive of parental participation although aware of the potential problems. Other profes-sional groups involved in case conferences were perceived as being less enthusiasticabout parental participation. The implications of these findings are discussed and sometraining needs identified. INTRODUCTIONThe ethos of child protection case conferences has changed somewhatwith the recommendation that parents should have the right to partici-pate in the proceedings. This recommendation appeared in the OfficialGuideline Document from the Cleveland Enquiry and was reiteratedin the 1989 Children Act and the 1991 Working Together document.This has opened up a new area of debate within social work.Proponents of increased civil liberties have focused on the parentalright to attend case conferences where decisions are being made abouttheir child. Opponents on the other hand have been concerned aboutthe inhibitory effect on the frank exchange of information betweenprofessionals that parental presence may engender. The guiding prin-
Published Version
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