Space For Practitioners Research Articles

Data-centric public services as potential source of policy knowledge. Can “design for policy” help?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is three-fold. Firstly, through selected case studies, to provide an overview of how non-traditional data from digital public services were used as a source of knowledge for policymaking. Secondly, to argue for a design for policy approach to support the successful integration of non-traditional data into policymaking practice, thus supporting data-driven innovation for policymaking. Thirdly, to encourage a vision of the relation between data-driven innovation and public policy that considers policymaking outside the authoritative instrumental logic perspective.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative small-N case study analysis based on desk research data was developed to provide an overview of how data-centric public services could become a source of knowledge for policymaking. The analysis was based on an original theoretical-conceptual framework that merges the policy cycle model and the policy capacity framework.FindingsThis paper identifies three potential areas of contribution of a design for policy approach in a scenario of data-driven innovation for policymaking practice: the development of sensemaking and prefiguring activities to shape a shared rationale behind intra-/inter-organisational data sharing and data collaboratives; the realisation of collaborative experimentations for enhancing the systemic policy analytical capacity of a governing body, e.g. by integrating non-traditional data into new and trusted indicators for policy evaluation; and service design as approach for data-centric public services that connects policy decisions to the socio-technical context in which data are collected.Research limitations/implicationsThe small-N sample (four cases) selected is not representative of a broader population but isolates exemplary initiatives. Moreover, the analysis was based on secondary sources, limiting the assessment quality of the real use of non-traditional data for policymaking. This level of empirical understanding is considered sufficient for an explorative analysis that supports the original perspective proposed here. Future research will need to collect primary data about the potential and dynamics of how data from data-centric public services can inform policymaking and substantiate the proposed areas of a design for policy contribution with practical experimentations and cases.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a convergence, yet largely underexplored, between the two emerging perspectives on innovation in policymaking: data for policy and design for policy. This convergence helps to address the designing of data-driven innovations for policymaking, while considering pragmatic indications of socially acceptable practices in this space for practitioners.

Reflective Supervision for Child Protection Practice – Reaching Beneath the Surface

This paper describes a model of reflective supervision for child protection practice that is informed by psychoanalytic theory. Eileen Munro promotes the idea of depth in practice, referring to the skills and knowledge required to undertake the work. Her reports highlight the importance of supervision to provide a thinking space for practitioners where reflection can take place. This paper will explore the importance of supervision in more depth and describe how psychoanalytic ideas can help us understand the complexities of our work with families, anchoring us to a solid theoretical base and helping to make sense of the maelstrom of feelings that are stirred in us as well as in our colleagues and clients.

Multiagency working in the early years: confidence, competence and context

Research and development with regard to interprofessional practice have extended over recent decades to early years services in children’s centres (CCs). However, most children in England attend private and voluntary settings, rather than CCs. where early years practitioners have varying amounts of opportunity, training and experience to work interprofessionally. Developing our Social Practice analysis of case studies, we propose a theoretical framework for interpreting early years interprofessional practice that takes account of specific contexts, noting conditions which promote boundary-crossing competence. This paper presents selected findings from a survey of 52 early years practitioners from England about their experiences of interprofessional working, woven together with case study exemplars. Their extensive responses to open-ended survey questions showed great variation in work with other professions and in reported levels of confidence and competence. However, there were also differences depending on the setting type. Findings suggest the need to tailor training to individual contexts, and argue for securing space for practitioners to gain experience of interprofessional working through mentored opportunities.

Social work, family welfare, and Muslim personal law in South Africa

Muslim Personal Law is a branch of Islamic Law (sharīʿah) that regulates family life in Islam including marriage, divorce, custody and maintenance arrangements. In South Africa, the recently published draft Muslim Marriages Bill proposes the implementation of this code through the country's secular courts. If enacted, the statutory practice of Muslim Personal Law will intersect with social work and welfare services, in particular family welfare because of a shared focus on the family and family well-being. This will bring new challenges to practitioners in providing multicultural services to Muslim clients in the context of the religious code that regulates their family life. This article explores the proposed practice of Muslim Personal Law and challenges for family welfare service delivery in this environment. It reflects on the history and communal practice of Muslim Personal Law in South Africa and examines its intersection with the secular welfare sector as a space for practitioners to facilitate culturally sensitive and equitable services to Muslim clients, especially women, within the framework of the proposed legislation.