Children's Services at the Crossroads: A Critical Evaluation of Contemporary Policy for Practice - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905541643 ISBN 13: 9781905541645

Verlag: Russell House Publishing Ltd, 2010

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Críticas:

"This is not the work of academics removed from the reality of practice... this collection offers a timely analysis of the issues facing children's services and the threats and challenges to the practice of social workers. It is clearly set out and includes some practical suggestions to improve support for social workers, make changes to organisational cultures and lead to improvements in the relationships with the individuals and groups who rely on these services." --Youth and Policy

"A challenging and thought-provoking read... The message is that practitioners should be released from current bureaucratic constraints and allowed to work creatively with children... Several contributors describe these aspects as an oppressive environment with procedures taking centre stage rather than the child and family. Information technology systems come under fire and serious deficiencies are identified in England... Ayre and Clader set out the stark dilemmas faced by practitioners and propose actions which could 'reverse the descent'... Maybe policy makers at all levels will take note of the strong message that if managerialsim, performance measures and procedures continue to be given priority, it will diminish the valuing of the direct skilled and sensitive social work required by vulnerable children and families." --Rostrum

"Both a sustained academic critique... and a cri de coeur on behalf of social work. It covers the period in which evidence-based practice has developed in the UK and presents an indictment of how the evidence base has sometimes been selectively used or ignored. Many of the messages are not new - the assault on managerialism, the preoccupation with measuring process rather than quality, the distorting effect of targets, the sad unintended consequences of implementing the Integrated Children's System, the repeated pattern of using child abuse inquiries to denigrate social workers in general, the turbulent organisational contexts in which public child care has to operate, and a fundamental failure to learn from history. What is different here is the attempt to bring those criticisms into a more coordinated form... the arguments that Ayre, Preston-Shoot and their contributors present need addressing. We need less rhetoric, fewer initiatives, more listening, more focus on doing the job well, more respect and support for those on the child-care front line." --Research in Practice

"This is not the work of academics removed from the reality of practice... this collection offers a timely analysis of the issues facing children's services and the threats and challenges to the practice of social workers. It is clearly set out and includes some practical suggestions to improve support for social workers, make changes to organisational cultures and lead to improvements in the relationships with the individuals and groups who rely on these services." --Youth and Policy

"Both a sustained academic critique... and a cri de coeur on behalf of social work. It covers the period in which evidence-based practice has developed in the UK and presents an indictment of how the evidence base has sometimes been selectively used or ignored. Many of the messages are not new - the assault on managerialism, the preoccupation with measuring process rather than quality, the distorting effect of targets, the sad unintended consequences of implementing the Integrated Children's System, the repeated pattern of using child abuse inquiries to denigrate social workers in general, the turbulent organisational contexts in which public child care has to operate, and a fundamental failure to learn from history. What is different here is the attempt to bring those criticisms into a more coordinated form... the arguments that Ayre, Preston-Shoot and their contributors present need addressing. We need less rhetoric, fewer initiatives, more listening, more focus on doing the job well, more respect and support for those on the child-care front line." --Research in Practice

Reseña del editor:

In response to widespread and persistent concern over the ability of social services to safeguard and promote the well-being of the most vulnerable children, UK governments have in recent years introduced some of the most far reaching changes ever encountered in this field. However, this book argues that - in England especially - despite the best intentions of those driving these changes forward, the approaches to reform have substantially diminished the capability of children's social services to respond effectively to the complex challenges which they face. In Children's Services at the Crossroads, leading authors in the field of social work explore the impact of the reform agenda on key areas of children's services practice, including child safeguarding, youth offending, children in care, family support, ethical practice, and child welfare law. The book describes an oppressive, managerialist environment within which: process and procedures are prioritized over outcomes and objectives; targets and indicators are prioritized over values and professional standards; compliance and completion are prioritized over analysis and reflection. Key themes include: failures of analysis; lack of effective engagement with research; and the proceduralization, technicalization, and deprofessionalization of the social work task. It argues that effective practice requires management systems to promote, rather than undermine, practitioners' effectiveness. Leaning on more positive developments elsewhere in the UK, it challenges ministers and senior managers to commit to the significant change of direction - both practical and conceptual - which is required if children's services are to escape from the vicious spiral of declining performance into which they are currently in danger of descending.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Russell House Publishing Ltd
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1905541643
• ISBN 13: 9781905541645
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 144
• Herausgeber: Ayre Patrick, Preston-Shoot Michael