Abstract
ABSTRACT Promoting social cohesion through early childhood services has become a priority on the political agenda. Despite joint academic and political attention, a consensus on what social cohesion is, is lacking. While child and family social work is framed as ideal to foster social cohesion, there is little knowledge on what this may mean. The aim of the current study is to analyse the meaning making of child and family social work practitioners regarding social cohesion in Flanders (Belgium). An explorative multiple case study was performed in child and family social work in three neighbourhoods in Flanders. The Critical Incident Technique was used with practitioners (N = 28) to understand how they conceptualise social cohesion and viewed their role in promoting this community-oriented outcome of early childhood services. The results suggest that practitioners focus on the inter-individual and relational components of social cohesion rather than on the socio-political components, which contrasts with the politicising function that child and family social work is supposed to fulfil.
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