Abstract
AbstractIn a contemporary context dominated by reports of the historical institutional abuse of children and young people in residential children's homes, and where the voice of workers is largely absent, this study explores the views and experiences of 26 workers in the Republic of Ireland regarding relationship‐based practice. Using an exploratory, qualitative approach and informed by ‘appreciative inquiry’; semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with 26 residential care workers. The findings highlight that relationship‐based practice has not been fully understood and/or embraced in practice because of a culture of fear that has permeated the Irish residential childcare system. Using theoretical concepts associated with the sociology of fear, the paper explores their effects on practice and argues that these are amplified given the current low status of residential care workers, the impact of media reports and the influence of current discourses around professional practice in which ‘objective’ and ‘emotionally detached’ practice is viewed as synonymous with efficiency and effectiveness. The paper ends by considering implications for professional practice in residential childcare settings.
Highlights
The previously, rarely explored, workings of residential child care became the subject of increasing scrutiny from the 1980’s onwards where, in the Republic of Ireland, the sector has come under sustained criticism following revelations of systemic abuse experienced by former residents whilst in the care of institutions run by religious orders
Micro level Social subjects and barriers to agentic capacity Bearing in mind, Tudor’s conception of agentic capacity (Tudor, 2003, p. 251) as outlined earlier in the article, the findings reported below illustrate that the mode of practice adopted by practitioners was to challenge prevailing structural discourses to engage in relationship based practice but in a context where challenges existed
Discussion, implications and concluding thoughts Reflecting on the findings, it appears that the experiences and views of residential child care workers regarding relationship‐based practice have been compromised and constrained because of a prevailing ‘culture of fear’ that pervades the sector
Summary
Residential child care in Ireland Reflecting developments in ‘out of home care’ nationally and internationally (Whittaker et al, 2015), the residential child care sector in the Republic of Ireland has been (and remains) a contested space in terms of its purpose, role and function with changes both reflecting and being shaped by the broader social, cultural and political context (Gilligan, 2009; Fenton, 2015). This paper moves on to apply Tudor’s ideas to qualitative findings gained from interviews with 26 residential child care workers in the Republic of Ireland regarding their experiences and views of relationship based practice within the residential child care sector.
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