Why observe children?

Abstract

CCETSW have made strenuous efforts to reintroduce child observation as a core area for teaching in DipSW Programmes. The supportive evidence for this trend comes almost exclusively from psychodynamic and child care influences on social work practice (CCETSW, 1991). The individualistic and ‘client’-specific approaches of these theoretical standpoints means that some of the most pressing reasons for making observation a central activity in the development of good social work practice go largely unremarked. This paper redresses that balance by developing the arguments for using observation as a tool for assessing not only individual difference but also the collective experience of all current and prospective service users. Observation is thus argued as a core skill for anti-oppressive practice.