Christine Cocker

What is the Impact of Public Care on Children's Welfare? A Review of Research Findings from England and Wales and their Policy Implications

The outcomes for children in public care are generally considered to be poor. This has contributed to a focus on reducing the number of children in care: a goal that is made explicit in the provisions of the current Children and Young Persons Bill. Yet while children in care do less well than most children on a range of measures, such comparisons do not disentangle the extent to which these difficulties pre-dated care and the specific impact of care on child welfare. This article explores the specific impact of care through a review of British research since 1991 that provides data on changes in child welfare over time for children in care. Only 12 studies were identified, indicating a lack of research in this important area. The studies consistently found that children entering care tended to have serious problems but that in general their welfare improved over time. This finding is consistent with the international literature. It has important policy implications. Most significantly it suggests that attempts to reduce the use of public care are misguided, and may place more children at risk of serious harm. Instead, it is argued that England and Wales should move toward a Scandinavian system of public care, in which care is seen as a form of family support and is provided for more rather than fewer children and families.

Legal, Social and Attitudinal Changes: An Exploration of Lesbian and Gay Issues in a Training Programme for Social Workers in Fostering and Adoption

Within a widely evolving political, social and legal climate, significant changes have taken place in the last 10 years in relation to lesbians and gay men. This has presented social workers and social work teams with new challenges in ensuring their practice adheres to recent legislation, government policy and guidance. In order to address these issues a local authority approached the authors to commission a training programme to increase awareness of lesbian and gay issues in a fostering and adoption context for social work practitioners and managers. This paper presents an outline of this one‐day training programme and considers how effective one‐day training courses can be in bringing about changes in attitudes and skills in relation to this complex area of practice.

Improving the mental and emotional well-being of looked after children: connecting research, policy and practice.

The relationships between research, policy and practice in improving the mental and emotional well-being of looked after children are complex. There is a growing body of research that demonstrates that children in state care (or ‘looked after children’) are particularly vulnerable in terms of poor health and mental health outcomes. The current health and social care policy context is in the midst of tremendous change. Within this ‘modernisation agenda’ the mental health of looked after children has received welcome attention, and this in turn has stimulated a major expansion in specialist mental health services for looked after children across the UK. However, despite what we know about some of the problems looked after children face, we know very little about what is effective. Although the available evidence from research now gives a stronger indication about prevalence and identifiable risk factors for morbidity (or co-morbidity), it does little to assist in identifying what interventions are effective in improving mental health with this client group. Efforts now need to be made by practitioners, policy-makers and researchers to collectively concentrate on filling some of the gaps in our knowledge. This includes making better use of the evaluations of current services to inform the development of these services.

Rethinking anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive theories for social work practice

The concepts of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice have long been embedded in social work, but whereas once these may have offered an alternative critique of individual and societal relations, they have long since become part of mainstream thinking and have lost their political edge. This book kick-starts an overdue debate by rethinking how social work understands the complexity of human interactions and experiences. In so doing, it provides an opportunity for readers to engage with fundamental concepts such as diversity, equality and social justice. It uses the ideas of Foucault in which to examine a range of concepts associated with these. The book begins by evaluating the contribution which anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive theories have made before going on to examine how social work can build on its historical commitment to working with marginalised groups and move forward in its thinking. Chapters cover a wide range of practice contexts, including disability, families, and asylum seekers, and are supplemented by an engaging ‘key ideas for practice’ feature to highlight the connections between theory and practice. This book provides fresh new perspectives for students, drawn from critical social theory and on the work of practitioners and researchers who want to proactively engage with issues of justice and equality in social work.

Lesbian and gay fostering and adoption: out of the closet into the mainstream?

Recent public debates have discussed lesbians and gay men caring for children as a novel phenomenon, but such arrangements are not new. Helen Cosis Brown and Christine Cocker track debates concerning lesbian and gay families and examine the relationship between policy and practice that is evidence based and ideologically driven. They outline the complexities of adoption and fostering practice within its political and social context and argue that the paramountcy of the childs welfare is the lynchpin to understanding the issues involved with the placement of children with lesbian and gay carers. The emphasis, in examining the detail of practice, is on recruitment, assessment, matching and support.

Inclusive leadership in social work and social care

Social work and social care continue to face an unprecedented period of challenge and uncertainty, requiring the development of leadership capabilities at every level of the workforce as well as in the community. This critical and reflexive book looks closely at the pivotal but demanding role that leadership and management play in promoting social work and social care. It focuses particularly on the value that is potentially created when the human relationships between people delivering and people using public services are effective, and the conditions are present to nourish confidence, inspire self-esteem, unlock potential and erode inequality. Aimed at new, aspiring and experienced managers, and senior practitioners, it draws on a range of disciplines not typically found in social work and social care and encourages readers to broaden their examination of leadership in areas such as the design of organisations, the role of service users in leadership practice and the phenomena of dignity within the context of organisational culture and dignity.

Social work with looked after children

Written for social work degree students, this practical book looks at the experience of children in need who live in state care and the social worker’s role in working with these children. Topics include relevant studies and legislation; residential care; foster care; adoption; and leaving care. The book also looks at the needs of children and young people living away from home and discusses both the Looked After Children (LAC) system and consultation with looked after children. Throughout, practical examples and case studies encourage readers to apply their new knowledge to practice.

Positioning discourse on homophobia in schools: What have lesbian and gay families got to say?

This paper reports findings from a study in England, which investigated the experiences of lesbian and gay parents in relation to homophobia in primary and secondary schools. The study was part of a larger European Union project investigating the impact of family and school alliances against homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools across six nation states. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with seven lesbian and gay parents from five families were conducted to explore their unique experience and perspectives on these issues. Discourse analysis was used to facilitate understanding of how lesbian and gay families negotiated the outsider/insider and public/private spheres of the school and communities of which they were a part. Parents identified a number of strategies to address their experiences of homophobia within schools. The findings have implications for how social work recognises and promotes diversity and equality when working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, as social workers have a powerful role in supporting families. This involves recognising the strengths of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in their assessments.