Abstract
AbstractThe Munro Review of Child Protection asserted that the English child protection system had become overly ‘defensive’, ‘bureaucratised’ and ‘standardised’, meaning that social workers were not employing their discretion in the interests of the individual child. This paper reports on the results of an ethnographic case study of one of England’s statutory child protection teams. The research sought to explore the extent of social worker discretion relative to Munro’s call for ‘radical reform’ and a move towards a more ‘child-centred’ system. Employing an iterative mixed methods design – encompassing documentary analysis, observation, focus group, questionnaire, interview and ‘Critical Realist Grounded Theory’ – the study positioned the UK Government’s prolonged policy of ‘austerity’ as a barrier to social worker discretion. This was because the policy was seen to be contributing to an increased demand for child protection services; and a related sense amongst practitioners that they were afforded insufficient time with the child to garner the requisite knowledge, necessary for discretionary behaviour. Ultimately, despite evidence of progress relative to assertions that social worker discretion had been eroded, the paper concludes that there may still be ‘more to do’ if we are to achieve the ‘child-centred’ and ‘effective’ system that Munro advocated.
Highlights
Austerity as a concept Whilst ‘austerity’ remains a ‘slippery’ concept that is ‘hard to define’ (Mort, : ), The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) considered it:[an] economic and social policy : : : result[ing] in reduced public and welfare spending, lower taxes, a smaller state : : : (Mort, : ).Similar definitions position ‘austerity’ as an economic theory leading to the notion that economic difficulties justify a reduction in the citizen’s standard of living (Blyth, )
It is noteworthy that despite the call for ‘regular reviews of progress’ (Munro, b: ) relative to realising Munro’s image of a ‘child-centred’ system, there has been a notable absence of any subsequent enquiry seeking to explore the extent of social worker discretion within contemporary English child protection – including in the context of current social policy initiatives. It is in this context that this paper reports on the findings of an ethnographic case study of one of England’s statutory child protection teams, which
The second, which is the focus of this paper, was that, over a period of time, an increasing demand had been placed on the Child Protection Team (CPT), meaning that individual social workers were working with increasingly higher numbers of children
Summary
Austerity as a concept Whilst ‘austerity’ remains a ‘slippery’ concept that is ‘hard to define’ (Mort, : ), The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) considered it:[an] economic and social policy : : : result[ing] in reduced public and welfare spending, lower taxes, a smaller state : : : (Mort, : ).Similar definitions position ‘austerity’ as an economic theory (or a ‘flawed economic theory’ according to the International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW], : ) leading to the notion that economic difficulties justify a reduction in the citizen’s standard of living (Blyth, ). Austerity as a concept Whilst ‘austerity’ remains a ‘slippery’ concept that is ‘hard to define’ (Mort, : ), The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) considered it:. [an] economic and social policy : : : result[ing] in reduced public and welfare spending, lower taxes, a smaller state : : : (Mort, : ). IP address: 3.89.23.8, on 31 Jan 2022 at 15:53:49, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. UK, Jones ( a; b) argued that austerity is better conceived as a politically chosen strategy fostered by the Conservative Party, and underpinned by their desire to create a smaller welfare state. This point is supported by the UN Special Rapporteur (UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, ), who, following an eleven-day investigatory visit to the UK, observed: The bottom line is that : : : [despite] a booming economy, high employment and a budget surplus [the UK Government] have not reversed austerity, a policy pursued more as an ideological than an economic agenda (p. )
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
