Linking family engagement with a rights perspective: macro factors influencing practice

ABSTRACT

While child welfare practitioners in many countries are struggling to develop methods of effective family engagement, they operate within different national and cultural contexts that influence, both positively and negatively, the ability to engage with families. Increasingly, international comparisons are necessary to further understanding of the development of social work practice. This is particularly necessary because most countries utilize international frameworks (such as the United National Convention on the Rights of the Child) to provide guidance in the development of policies, programs, and interventions. Each country (and locality) struggles to advance practice to be more effective and humane. Our paper offers a comparative analysis focused on family-oriented and rights-based frameworks of different countries. Based on a review of current national policies and a review of the literature regarding family-based practices, we examine similarities and differences among four countries: the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States, and South Korea. These countries were selected because they have some similarities (advanced industrialized democracies, professional social work, and formal child protection systems) but have some differences in their social welfare systems (policies, specific practices, and socio-cultural context). These differences can be utilized to advance understanding regarding the promise and potential for family engagement strategies. We then discuss the utility of this comparison for theory-building in the arena of child-care practice and conclude by identifying the challenges and limitations of this work.

KEYWORDS:

• Child-care policy and practice
• family group conferencing
• children’s rights
• comparative child welfare

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Joe Duffy lectures in Social Work at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. His specialist areas of research are in service user involvement in education and public policy, citizenship and social work, human rights and social work and political conflict.

Mary Elizabeth Collins is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor and Department Chair of Social Welfare Policy at Boston University School of Social Work. She conducts research on child welfare, adolescents in care, and youth civic engagement. Most recently she published the book, Macro Perspectives on Youth Leaving Care (NASW Press).

Sook Hyun Kim is an Assistant Professor of Social Work Department at Roberts Wesleyan College. Her main areas of expertise are social work research with immigrant and refugee populations, macro practice (community-based organization), and rights-based practice and policy in an international context. Currently, she is conducting research on a strengths-based assessment for unaccompanied refugee minors.