John Canavan

Participatory research and the voice‐centred relational method of data analysis: is it worth it?

Much has been written about participatory approaches in planning and implementing research. The process and practice of participatory data interpretation and analysis is, however, less discussed. This article explores the value of the Voice‐Centred Relational (VCR) method of data analysis and interpretation in the context of participatory research with socially excluded teenagers. Focussing on participatory data analysis, the implementation of the method with teenagers in a West of Ireland town who have left school early is described. Written from the perspectives of academic researchers, members of a research team that included teenagers and a Community Arts artist, this article introduces the VCR method and describes the participatory processes, practices and pitfalls. The challenges of doing participatory interpretation with VCR method are considered.

Resilience: Cautiously Welcoming a Contested Concept

This overview article serves to introduce the content of a special issue of Child Care in Practice devoted to the topic of resilience and its relevance for policy and practice. In order to contextualise the contributions to the journal, the article introduces the concept of resilience, provides some definitions, raises some issues in definition and outlines some critiques and debates within the literature. It then describes the content of the subsequent contributions, before concluding briefly on the value of the concept.

Family and Family Change in Ireland An Overview

In Ireland, historically and in the current era, family has been a central concern for society and the State. This article provides a descriptive overview of family life in Ireland and of major family-related changes over the past 40 years. It presents a general framework of analysis within which these changes can be understood, considers the general nature of change and continuity in family in Ireland, and proposes some implications for research and policy in the early part of this century.

The association between academic self‐beliefs and reading achievement among children at risk of reading failure

This paper investigates whether children’s academic self-beliefs are associated withreadingachievementandwhethertherelationshipismodifiedbygenderand/orage.Datawerecollectedfromchildrenatrisk ofreadingfailure,thatis, emergentreaders(6-to8-year-olds)insocioeconomicallydisadvantagedareasreadingatalevelbelowthepop-ulationmean.Theauthors’ownmeasureofattitudetoreadingandperceivedcompetencewas used. The study found a significant positive association between attitude to readingin class and vocabulary and phonemic awareness and a significant negative associationbetween perceivedcompetence at readinginclass andsingle-word readingandspelling.Girls’attitudetoreadingandperceivedcompetenceweremorepositivelyassociatedwithreadingachievement,andthiswasmostevidentinthefirstgrade.Perceivedcompetencewas inflated among those with the poorest reading and also among boys, in associationwith reading-related skills found most challenging by children in this sample.Children’s academicself-beliefscan besignificantly associated withreading achievement,asvarious studies have shown (Chapman, Tunmer,& Prochnow, 2000;Coddington & Guthrie,2009;Guthrie,Wigfield,Metsala,CHansfordHLoganJMarsh, 2002;Marsh & Craven, 2006; Marsh & O’Mara, 2008; Mata, 2011;Mucherah& Yoder, 2008; Pullmann & Allik, 2008; Valentine, DuBois, & Cooper, 2004). Understand-ably, there is growing interest in both the factors that might in fluence changes in children’sacademic self-beliefs and the components shaping its interaction with reading achievement(Petscher, 2010). However, conceptualising and measuring self-belief create their ownchallenges. First, children’s self-belief is increasingly seen as multidimensional (Valentineet al., 2004). Therefore, as the ‘specificity matching principle’ states (Marsh & O’Mara,2008), it is important that specific self-belief variables should be used when analysing the

Recruiting and Retaining Older Adult Volunteers: Implications for Practice

There is an increased interest in the promotion of volunteering within nonprofit organizations. In this paper organizational supports for recruiting and managing volunteering among older adults are explored. The paper describes an intervention comprising an intergenerational reading program delivered by volunteers in eight schools in the Republic of Ireland. The research draws on qualitative data from a mixed-methods research project (2009–2011) that evaluated outcome and process aspects of the reading program. The qualitative data was collected from a group of older volunteers aged 55 years and older. This present study frames the empirical findings within a volunteering framework that involved deductively analyzing the data using attributes associated with “volunteerability” and “recruitability.” Through this analytical framework a number of features were identified as contributing to greater knowledge of marketing strategies to recruit and retain volunteers within nonprofit organizations. The paper concludes with a set of core practice messages for organizations that rely on volunteers in the delivery of their service.

The Ethics of Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Settings: Can Social Trials Be Scientifically Promising and Must There Be Equipoise?.

In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), treatments are assigned randomly and treatments are withheld from participants. Is it ethically permissible to conduct an RCT in a social setting? This paper addresses two conditions for justifying RCTs: that there should be a state of equipoise and that the trial should be scientifically promising. Illustrated with a discussion of the RCT evaluation of the Wizards of Words reading programme, this paper argues that, first, the two conditions can give rise to genuine moral conflicts, and second, efforts can be made to ensure RCTs in social settings are scientifically promising. The argument of this paper therefore is a departure from the current debate on RCTs, where it is assumed these two justifying conditions should not come into conflict, either because research ethics is derived from the professionals duty of care, or because there is a strong distinction between the ethics of research and the duty of care. This paper also addresses critics who argue that in social settings RCTs cannot be scientifically promising and for that reason they are ethically impermissible.

Evaluation Study Design--A Pluralist Approach to Evidence.

ABSTRACT There is significant controversy over what counts as evidence in the evaluation of social interventions. It is increasingly common to use methodological criteria to rank evidence types in a hierarchy, with Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) at or near the highest level. Because of numerous challenges to a hierarchical approach, this article offers a Matrix (or typology) of evaluation evidence, which is justified by the following two lines of argument. First, a pluralist approach to evidence is defended. Starting from the principle of methodological aptness, it is argued that different types of research question are best answered by different types of study. This article will address some of the key issues in the debate on RCTs (the ethical principles of duty of care and social utility, the role of random allocation, and threats to internal validity) in respect of which two opposing paradigms provide irreconcilable arguments, namely the position that RCTs are the ‘gold standard’ and the opposing position that RCTs are often if not always inappropriate in social settings. The second line of argument is that evaluations often require both experimental and non-experimental research in tandem. In a pluralist approach, non-causal evidence is seen as a vital component in order to evaluate interventions in mixed methods studies (as part of evidence-based practice [EBP]) and also is important for good practice itself (as part of practice-based evidence [PBE]). The article concludes by providing a detailed description of what an Evaluation Evidence Matrix can and cannot do.

What added value does peer support bring? Insights from principals and teachers on the utility and challenges of a school-based mentoring programme

Over the past decade, there has been greater attention placed on the potential value of peer support models, particularly in school contexts. This paper uses the case study of an Irish school-based peer mentoring programme to identify the added value that peer led models of social support for children and young people offer in a school setting. The Irish national youth organisation, Foróige, runs the Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring programme in over 60 Irish secondary schools, with the aim of improving young people’s transition to secondary school. Qualitative research was undertaken with 36 principals and teachers in secondary schools operating the programme. Five specific ways in which the peer mentoring model adds value to existing support in schools are identified and discussed, while challenges associated with the model are also highlighted.

Strengths-based Practice in Child Welfare

The call for papers for a special issue on Strengths-based Practice in Child Welfare resulted in a strong positive response. Sixteen abstracts were received initially and of the papers submitted, eight were finally accepted after undergoing a rigorous peerreview process. In this issue we are proud to present all eight papers alongside a new innovation for Child Care in Practice: a piece based on a Question & Answer interview with the three founding members of BRIEF: Evan George, Chris Iveson and Harvey Ratner. BRIEF, the leading brief therapy training and consultation provider in Europe has been in existence in London since 1989. The overview provided by Evan, Chris and Harvey gives us a historical perspective on how one branch of strengthsbased approaches (those of solution-focused brief therapies) has evolved over the last twenty-five years. This begs the question: what is a strengths-based approach? In our call for papers, we deliberately presented the concept as broadly as possible, calling for papers on hybrid or differential response assessment models as well as solution-focused interventions and therapeutic and supportive work with looked-after children and vulnerable groups. During our discussions as editors, it became clear that the broad term encompasses concepts such as resilience, hope and positivity. It spans related movements in medicine around health and the development of public health approaches; in psychology around the concept of different pathways and outcomes following adversity and the interconnected dynamics connecting vulnerability, risk and damage, with hardiness, protective factors and the steeling effects of adversity; in community development and neighbourhood work around social capital and assetbased approaches; and in family, individual and group therapy around narrative, solution-focused and social constructionist approaches. It is also worth emphasising that while strengths-based practice might resonate with notions of competence, wellbeing and positive psychology, they are not quite the same.

Current Practice in Meeting Child Health Needs in Family Support Services: Variation by Service Type and Perspectives on Future Developments.

The needs of all service users include those related to physical, emotional, sexual and mental health. This article documents where child health needs are recognised and being met within family support services in the west of Ireland, investigates whether there is variation across different types of family support services and presents the views of service providers as to how health needs could be more fully addressed. Four randomly selected service managers were interviewed; followed by a census survey of managers within the region. Thirty-three managers returned questionnaires (80% response) on their formal briefs in relation to health, perceived health needs being met and unmet, approaches to meeting health needs and resources required to adequately meet client health needs. Emotional and mental health needs were most frequently being met within current services, while group work, one-to-one work and referring on were all popular approaches. Systematic differences emerged by service size and client group. Access to expertise and staff training were perceived as the most popular approaches to improving service provision. These data illustrate that there is a need to develop guidelines for practice, foster links between services and provide for specialised staff training in relation to child health issues.