Does social work care? Practising care in social work with vulnerable children and their families

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how care is practised and made possible in social work with vulnerable children and their families in Danish child welfare and protection services. It seeks to contribute to our knowledge of forms of professional care in social work by examining two case-examples of, how social work practice is performed in interaction with families who are subjects of a child examination or a family network-based intervention. By examining caring practices in situations marked by potentially conflicting values, interests and needs in this particular social and political context, the article contributes to illuminating how changes in the relations between the state, family and child on a macro level, are reflected in the way care is practised on a micro level.

ABSTRAKT

Denne artikel undersøger, hvordan omsorg praktiseres og gøres mulig i socialt arbejde med udsatte børn og deres familier. Målet med artiklen er at bidrage med viden om former for omsorg i professionelt socialt arbejde. Dette gøres ved at undersøge to case-eksempler, der viser, hvordan det sociale arbejde udføres i forhold til familier, som er involveret i en børnefaglig undersøgelse eller en netværksbaseret indsats. Ved at undersøge, hvordan omsorg praktiseres i situationer præget af potentielt konfliktende værdier, interesser og behov i en specifik social og politisk kontekst, bidrager artiklen til at belyse, hvordan forandringer i relationerne mellem stat, familie og barn på makro-niveau, viser sig i den måde, som omsorg praktiseres på i interaktion mellem socialarbejdere og familier på mikro-niveau.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional care
• vulnerable children and families
• holistic social work
• child protection
• child welfare

NØGLEORD:

• Professionel omsorg
• udsatte børn og familier
• helhedsorienteret socialt arbejde
• børnefaglig undersøgelse
• velfærd

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 According to Parton (2006, p. 170) this description of different welfare state models is ideal typical, and the two are not mutually exclusive. However, the ideal types illustrate that the approaches ‘have different philosophies and underlying assumptions about the nature of the family and, most crucially, the most appropriate relationship between parents, children and the state’ (Parton 2006, p. 170).

2 The study is published in its full length in the Ph.D. dissertation [title].

3 The research project [Title] is presently still underway (2014–2018) [Institutional affiliation].

4 The examination must be completed within four months after the municipal council has become aware that a child or young person may be in need of special support (Social Services Act § 50).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mie Engen

Mie Engen (b.1975) is Ph.D. in Social Work and post.doc. at Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University. Her research focuses on care in professional social work, social work practices with vulnerable children and families and their connections with broader societal developments.

Stina Krogh Petersen

Stina Krogh Petersen (b. 1986) is Ph.D. in Social Work and Part-Time Lecturer at Aalborg University. Her Ph.D. thesis explores how professional practice is being unfolded by social workers and experienced by families in professional child protection practice.

Line Søberg Bjerre

Line Søberg Bjerre (b. 1975) is Ph.D. in Social Work and Assistant Professor in Psychology and Social Work. Her research focuses on social work practice, the psychological understandings of children and emotionality in social work practice.

Maria Appel Nissen

Maria Appel Nissen (b. 1971) is Ph.D. in Sociology and Associate Professor in theories about social change in social work. Her research focuses on changes in social work, social problems and in society as well as the possibility for developing social work knowledge and professional practice. She is currently leading the research project Does Social Work Care? Exploring relational, emotional and embodied practices in social services for vulnerable children and their families (CARE) (2018–2021). She is head of Bachelor of Social Work, Aalborg University, Denmark, and the research group Shaping concepts, practice and advances in social work (SCOPAS).