Despite the pivotal role played by parents in the child protection process, little attention has been paid to how social workers perceive them. Exploring representations of parents within Children's Services - at the levels of policy, organisation and frontline practice - the concept of citizenship is used to construct a typology with ten variants of parent-citizenship. The typology reveals the complexities of parental representations and their relationship to the content of policy, organisational environments and dominant societal themes, as it uncovers how social workers represent parents in their day-to-day practice.

The book is a resource that can be used by students, practitioners, researchers and parent advocacy organisations to evaluate policy and practice and to contribute to the search for the best possible outcomes for families. Arguing that parental participation in the child protection process is essential, the book increases the visibility of parents and contributes to a much-needed dialogue about working with parents in Children's Services.

About the Author

Katrin Bain is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at London Metropolitan University.

John Harris is Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick and Assistant Professor at Coventry University.

Reviews
"This text dares to engage readers constructively in practice dilemmas over child protection from a critical policy perspective that facilitates justice-orientated relationships against the impositions of political agendas." Walter Lorenz, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and Charles University Prague
"This timely and thought-provoking book about Children's Services brings parents from the shadows of child-centred practice into the spotlight. Positioning parents as citizens, the authors unpick the assumptions built into childcare legislation, management and practice. By sympathetically reporting the frustrations, contradictions and limitations of contemporary child protection social work, they lay the foundations for practice that treats parents with respect." Paul Bywaters, University of Huddersfield
"In reconstructing the roles and representations of parents in the child protection process at the policy, organisational and practice levels, this nuanced book provides new and thought-provoking insights into the complexities and contradictions of the child protection process." Stefan Schnurr, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland.



Book Information
ISBN 9781447370642
Author Katrin Bain
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Policy Press
Publisher Bristol University Press