bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Maintaining links: Resource demands and social work attitudes in respect to parent–child access in a statutory child welfare agency
Authors: Drury-Hudson Julie
Published: March 2016

This paper investigates the demands on social work resources in the north east region of the Department For Family and Community Services in South Australia, and examines the attitudes of workers to the question of access. Twenty three social workers, working predominantly in Child and Family Teams, were interviewed. A two part questionnaire was devised. The initial data covered information relating to the frequency, duration and supervision of access visits. The second part of the questionnaire used a semi-structured, open-ended format in order to explore social workers' knowledge and values in respect to access. The results of these interviews are presented and the implications for policy and practice in relation to statutory social work are discussed.
Making foster care possible: A study of 307 foster families in Victoria
Authors: Evans Stuart W.B. , Tierney Leonard J.
Published: March 2016

Why in times of economic hardship do some families continue to offer to help others in the form of foster care? Can an understanding of foster families improve the targeting of foster programs? This paper presents findings from a study of more than 300 foster families from seven foster care agencies throughout urban and rural victoria. The families who currently choose or are chosen to foster are most likely to be dual parent, stable and settled Australians with an active connection and commitment to their local community and to family life and children. They do not appear to be motivated principally by rational monetary incentives but rather by a mixture of a belief in the benefits of family experiences, a strong desire to have and nurture children, a willingness to share tasks as a family unit, to both give and receive support and a conviction to be of service to others. It is concluded that foster families are not only child and family centred, they are part of active and reciprocal family and community networks that focus upon the needs of children and non-material family values.
Child care needs of parents in paid work: An interpretation of findings from Australia's Welfare 1993: Services and Assistance
Authors: Vaughan Graeme
Published: March 2016

The extent to which the child care needs of parents in paid employment are adequately met is an important matter. This paper examines the issue using data published in the recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia's Welfare 1993: Services and Assistance. Data from recent surveys by the Australian Bureau of Statistics are used to supplement the report's findings.

While families with both parents or the sole parent in paid employment are the major users of formal child care services many of them continue to experience difficulties in obtaining child care that meets their needs. Many of these families need to arrange their domestic and working lives to care for children within the family or rely on informal support by other family members, friends and neighbours. Many adopt a mix of strategies-formal services, informal support and flexible work arrangements-to meet their child care needs. These families show a high level of unmet demand for formal services; mothers in these families experience difficulties in balancing the competing demands of caring for children and paid employment.
Early childhood experiences of men sexually abused as children
Authors: Hawkins Russell M.F. , Briggs Freda
Published: March 2016

A study which reported information obtained from male child molesters and from the male victims of child abuse has recently been completed. When the results of this study were released, they attracted considerable media attention. Unfortunately the media reports were often inaccurate. The page 1 headline on the South Australian edition of the Australian (Powell, 6/1/95), for example said ‘One in two molesters cites abuse by Catholics’. This is incorrect. Furthermore, the media reports tended to unduly focus on issues to do with abuse by religious authorities and they failed to provide detail about other aspects of the study. In order to correct misinformation spread by the media, we present a short description of the study.
Dangerous Families and beyond: An interview with Peter Dale.
Authors: Tucci Joe
Published: March 2016

Peter Dale is the principal author of Dangerous Families, which was first published in 1986. In it, he described an assessment and therapeutic approach to working with child abuse developed by the Rochdale Special Unit of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Britain. In 1986, Peter became the Manager of the NSPCC Child Protection Team in East Sussex. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow in Social Policy and Social Work at Sussex University. He is currently completing a PhD study at the University of Brighton entitled: Clients' and therapists' perceptions of the psychotherapeutic process: A study of adults abused as children.

This interview was conducted whilst I worked as part of the East Sussex NSPCC Team for three months in 1993. This experience was made possible with the support of a Creswick Foundation Fellowship in Family Relations and Child Development and the Department of Social Work, Monash University.

In the interview, Peter discusses the changes in his thinking and practice since the publication of Dangerous Families.
Working with sexually abused children: Insights from adult survivors
Authors: Darlington Yvonne
Published: March 2016

In a qualitative study of adult women's experiences of having been sexually abused as children, research participants reported their recollections of their responses, as children, to sexual abuse and of their relationships with mothers and peers.

Childhood responses to sexual abuse included attempts to escape, fear, guilt and shame. Attempts to escape encompassed physical resistance as well as mental processes, such as daydreaming and dissociation. Despite numerous such attempts to escape, in the context of immobilising fear, many still blamed themselves for the sexual abuse. Many also experienced shame, a profound sense of exposure and humiliation. Relationships with mothers were dominated by feelings of loss and betrayal which, in several cases, had persisted into adulthood. Relationships with peers were characterised by isolation, with underlying fear of rejection and humiliation. Physical and verbal abuse, by a wider range of perpetrators, was common.

Several conclusions for therapy with sexually abused children are drawn: Attention to the full range of attempts to escape sexual abuse, in the context of immobilising fear, could help dispel children's sense of guilt about sexual abuse. The experiences of guilt and shame should both be addressed. In not blaming mothers for sexual abuse, any negative aspects of the child's experience of his or her relationship with mother should not be inadvertently minimised. The fear of exposure or rejection underlying poor peer relationships should be addressed as part of attempts at improving peer relationships. Isolation accruing from other forms of child abuse by a wider range of perpetrators needs to be addressed.
Physical punishment in child rearing: A background paper to the campaign for EPOCH (End Physical Punishment of Children) in Australia.
Authors: Boss Peter
Published: March 2016

With attention focussed on child abuse and measures for child protection in many countries around the world, efforts have been made to understand something of the nature and dimensions that lie behind abuse. Now the time has come to look at domestic violence in its other manifestations - not only parent to child as in child abuse, but also husband to wife or cohabiter to cohabiter. What, however, has been missing from this widening of concerns has been a focus on parental behaviour toward their children which involves the use of physical punishment in child rearing but which may fall short of the legal definition of abuse. This gap is about to be considered with the emergence in Australia of the EPOCH campaign in which Oz Child is to be a leading participant.
Privatisation and substitute care: recent policy developments in New South Wales and their significance
Authors: Mason Jan
Published: March 2016

During recent years a significant change has occurred in child welfare policy in New South Wales as a large component of the government's substitute care program has been, or is in the process of being, shifted away from direct government provision to non-government agencies. Analysis of some aspects of the policy process by which this change has occurred illustrates the complexity of social policy development. In particular this analysis highlights the importance of the ideological and political context of child welfare policy development and the way in which this contributes to contradictions between official policy statements and policy as experienced by the recipients of the implementation of these policies.
Surviving and thriving: in a contracting environment
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

How do children's service organisations survive and thrive in a contracting environment? This article lists some issues that have to be addressed and strategies that organisations employ to ensure that this takes place. The information in this article was acquired whilst undertaking research into contracting arrangements in children's services in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts in 1992. The research was the subject of an earlier article.
Read all about it!: Read all about it!: Unless it's the trial of Rosemary West.…
Authors: Goddard Chris
Published: March 2016

Self-censorship is not a quality usually associated with the British tabloid press. The trial of Rosemary West, it is reported, led to a change of perspective, with sanitisation of the court-reporting being decided upon for commercial reasons. A recent book, on another widely-reported British case of child abuse and domestic violence, is reviewed to suggest that an understanding of the effects of violence on victims will be achieved only if we allow the whole stories to be told.
Together or separate? Sibling placements: A review of the literature
Authors: O'Neill Cas
Published: March 2016

This paper draws on a substantial body of anecdotal, therapeutic and research-based literature on sibling relationships and sibling placements. It draws attention to the nature and significance of sibling relationships which are usually of lifelong importance in terms of both identity and support. Placement of sibling groups in out-of-home care, especially when the children have high emotional and physical needs, are complex whether they are placed together or are separated. Consideration is given to the long-term psychological consequences of separation of siblings, as well as the resource issues involved in keeping siblings together or separating them. It is suggested that, even when children appear very disturbed, separation is not necessarily appropriate.
Infancy and domestic violence
Authors: Jordan Brigid
Published: March 2016

The case that was presented to the symposium highlighted the impact of witnessing domestic violence on the health and development of an infant. For privacy reasons the full paper cannot be published. An outline of the presentation is summarised and some of the literature relevant to the particular case presented.
This is nothing new: Child protection concerns and poverty
Authors: Thomson Jane
Published: March 2016

The title encapsulates the argument advanced in this paper. The author argues that the associative link between child protection concerns and poverty, although well accepted, is not incorporated into practice with families. The paper presents the results of a small scale qualitative study undertaken in the two North Queensland regional cities of Townsville and Mackay. The author undertook interviews with ten (10) Family Services Officers (FSOs) in the Department of Families (DoF).

Interviews revealed that FSOs agreed that family poverty is a stressor for child maltreatment. Participants differed in the extent to which they ascribed personal or societal responsibility for these family circumstances. The paper concludes with four recommendations to deal with family poverty in a child protection practice and policy context. The paper argues that more can and should be done to help children and families in this regard.
UsingLooking After Childrento create an Australian out-of-home care database
Authors: Wise Sarah
Published: March 2016

There is a paucity of publicly available information on Australian children in out-of-home care. Data on the characteristics of children in care, their experiences during placement, and the services provided for them are badly needed to monitor service effectiveness, to identify where service improvements can be made and to ascertain how to improve the allocation of resources. This paper provides a rationale for using information collected on the ‘Looking After Children’ (LAC) schedules to generate an Australia-wide database on children in out-of-home care, as well as identifying some of the problems to be overcome if the LAC schedules are to be used to collect aggregate data.
Repeated reports to child protection: Interpreting the data
Authors: Tilbury Clare
Published: March 2016

This article examines data regarding three performance indicators that cast light on child protection intake and assessment processes, when children are reported to child protection agencies because of concerns about abuse or neglect. Rates of renotification, substantiation, and resubstantiation are examined. What do the data reveal about whether intervention is effective in keeping children safe from further harm and whether investigative resources are targeted to priority cases? The policy implications are discussed.
Challenges posed by kinship care: A study focussing on New South Wales
Authors: Gibbons Leonie , Mason Jan
Published: March 2016

Kinship care as a formal placement option has been steadily increasing over recent years, particularly in New South Wales. This paper draws on a report of research on kinship care in New South Wales, in which the two authors participated (Mason et al, 2002). In conducting the research, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore both ‘top down’ perspectives (from policy documents and statistics) and ‘bottom up’ perspectives (from child protection practitioners and those who experience policy as service recipients – kinship carers, young people in kinship care and parents of children in kinship care).

In this paper we briefly outline the research and discuss findings relating to definitions of kinship care, the extent of kinship care in NSW, decision making around the placement of children in kinship care, reasons given by participants for kinship care, and support for carers.
Disrupted adolescents in foster care: Their perspectives on placement breakdown
Authors: Gilbertson Robyn , Barber Jim
Published: March 2016

Placement breakdown has long been recognised as a serious problem in foster care, particularly for young people whose behaviour is seen as disruptive. This qualitative study conducted in South Australia examined recent unplanned placement changes (n=14) from the perspective of the young people involved Participants were eligible for the study if their social worker attributed their most recent placement move to carer request on the grounds of problem behaviour. There was a high level of agreement between participants and social workers on the problem behaviours, but a divergence of views on the reasons for the move. Participants' contextualising of their behaviour highlighted the complexity of the processes underlying placement disruption. The dominant theme to emerge from this study was the unhappiness of participants. Other problem areas noted were apparent lack of placement options, and exclusion of young people from placement decisions.
Looking for and replicating model programs for ‘at risk’ children and families
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

At the present time there is a need for a new generation of programs to address the needs of ‘at risk’ children and families. This is an issue that is exercising the minds of service planners in both government and non-government community service organisations. This need arises from the fact that many existing programs have yet to be rigorously evaluated and are of questionable effectiveness. This lack of evidence of effectiveness does not sit well in the current climate of accountability. It also runs contrary to the increasingly strident calls for evidence based practice.

Many new programs arrive in Australia from the US as this country is often the source of program innovation as illustrated by the importation in the 1980s and 1990s of family preservation and family reunification programs. In the US, promotion of ‘model programs' has taken another step and a systematic effort at program replication is now in evidence. The question is, how might model programs from overseas be successfully replicated in Australia? And what is required, if anything, to replicate these models effectively taking account of our different cultural traditions?
Developing a residential programme for children in response to trauma-related behaviours
Authors: Jenkins Suzanne
Published: March 2016

This paper describes the development by Parkerville Children's Home, WA, of a therapeutic residential programme, based on current research and clinical experience, relating to the impact of traumatic experience. It describes the theoretical framework, its incorporation into an intervention plan and the process of implementation. A case study is used to illustrate the process of assessment and implementation.
Where the action is …: … in this edition, St Luke's Anglicare, Bendigo, Victoria: Sexual offending adolescents: A challenge for out-of-home care services
Authors: March Liz
Published: March 2016

An issue of some concern that has emerged in the field of youth welfare in recent years is that of treatment services for young people who are sexually abusive and unable to reside with their families, or other family settings. This issue has been of such concern to staff at St Luke's Anglicare in Central Victoria that a project of review, both of the need for therapeutic intervention and of contemporary practices, was undertaken in the last twelve months. This short paper summarises the specific findings of staff who worked on this practice oriented project and makes recommendations for future practice with the client group.
Intensive Family Services in Australia: A ‘snapshot’
Authors: Campbell Lynda
Published: March 2016

This paper reports a survey of 21 Intensive Family Services programs, members of the Intensive Family Services National Practice Symposium. The survey was designed to elicit a ‘snapshot’ of program models, operational issues and policy matters within these services, in order to consolidate some understanding of the evolution of Intensive Family Preservation Services since the developments of the early 1990s.
Non-residential fathers and their support needs
Authors: Killeen Damian , Lehmann Jennifer
Published: March 2016

This study, undertaken for the qualification of BSW(Hons), explored the nature of supports used by non-residential fathers after separating from their children. It was designed to address the perspectives of men who were separated from their children and to explore the supports they used to cope with this separation experience. It acknowledges the complexity and changing nature of the fathering role in Australia today.

Data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with men who were encouraged to share experiences in relation to their roles as non-residential fathers. An interpretive perspective and descriptive method used in the design allowed for a deeper understanding of what men experience when separated from their children.

The findings demonstrated that the nature and use of supports employed by fathers related to how they experienced separation and managed relationships and contacts with their children. Men used a range of informal and formal supports to manage the often difficult post-separation period and maintain relationships with their children. These findings have implications for social work practice, particularly for understanding the support needs of men when separating from their children. It points also to the need for an increased emphasis on the importance of supports for non-residential fathers.
Introducing Family Preservation in Australia: Issues in Transplanting Programs from the United States
Authors: Scott Dorothy
Published: March 2016

This paper is based on a keynote address given at the first Australian Family Preservation Conference in Ballarat in November 1992 and addresses questions which need to be considered when transplanting programs from one service system context to another. A number of Australian States are in the process of introducing Intensive Family Preservation Services following the widespread adoption of such programs in the United States. These short term, intensive, home based therapeutic programs serve families whose children are at imminent risk of removal or who are being reunited with their family after being in out of home care. This paper argues that while such programs have the potential to provide more effective interventions with such families, placement avoidance on its own is an inappropriate outcome measure. Moreover, if the introduction of such programs is done by redirecting resources from other services, counterproductive effects may occur.
Family Preservation Services: A cautionary note
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

The present interest in US style family preservation services is the focus of this article. The article sounds a cautionary note in relation to the development of these services in Australia. It does this by drawing attention to a recent influential evaluation of these services and to the differences between social work and child welfare practices in America and Australia.
In the shadows: The silent and silenced family in juvenile justice research
Authors: Hil Richard , McMahon Anthony
Published: March 2016

The construction of silence Concerns about juvenile crime and juvenile justice have attracted the most intense public interest in Australia over recent years. This has come about largely as a result of a deep sense of public concern over a ‘law and order crisis’ generated by ‘rising juvenile crime’, ‘crime waves’, ‘youth gangs’ and so forth, as well as from more general worries associated with the social problems of homelessness, teenage suicide and youth unemployment (Polk 1993, Presdee 1990, Cunneen & White 1995).
The need to strengthen the educative role of parents: Some implications drawn from educational productivity research
Authors: Dorman Jeff
Published: March 2016

This article considers the empirical results of educational productivity research conducted by a team of researchers from Australia and the United States in the mid 1980s. Based on nine factors identified by this research, three issues that highlight the important educative role of parents, namely, the quality of the home learning environment, homework support and monitoring television viewing are discussed.
Homebased child care: A profession not just a job
Authors: Juchnowski Maryla
Published: March 2016

In order for family day caregivers to increase the status of their profession, they require knowledge of early childhood and confidence in themselves in the work they do. The Certificate in Childcare (Homebased) was developed to be relevant to childcare in the home rather than centre based child care, to be offered in flexible mode with flexible entry and exit points.

It is proposed that a professional attitude influences the level of skill of caregivers. The study aimed to monitor whether the course can impact on caregivers' skills, and on how they view their profession. The study was based on an assessment of the child care skills of 58 caregivers which is part of the course requirements. Students were supervised and rated on their performance using the Harms and Clifford Rating Scale for Family Day Care. 70% of students were considered to have demonstrated the required level of competence.

Caregivers were also interviewed regarding their attitudes towards the course. Caregivers felt that the course gave them more status and most had plans for further study. Such positive changes can only benefit children and families using Family Day Care
An uncomfortable lack of balance?: Writing for the media about child abuse
Authors: Goddard Chris
Published: March 2016

Working with the media is not without risk. Using a piece submitted to the print media, and what happened to it, as a case study, this article suggests that we have to continue to use the media to set the public policy agenda whilst accepting that sometimes our work will be modified.
Giving children an even break: Removing the barriers to literacy: Children and parents working together
Authors: Toomey Derek M. , Grabsch Brenda E.
Published: March 2016

This paper is about intergenerational family literacy (IGFL) programs which are designed to benefit the children of parents in need of literacy education as well as the parents themselves. The paper reports results from a Department of Employment, Education and Training national study of these programs. Of particular importance is the issue of parents' self-esteem and the use of a student-centred approach in adult literacy classes. The issues of recruitment, control, networking and resources are also addressed. Studies are reported which indicate the considerable potential of these programs to benefit children and parents.
Not the last word: point and counterpoint: The historical, political, geographical and personal parameters of child abuse
Authors: Goddard Chris
Published: March 2016

Stories about children, and particularly about violence towards children, are common in our newspapers. Increased recognition of child abuse has contributed to this increased media coverage. While it is possible to ascribe this interest to a greater concern for the welfare of children, there are limits to the forms of child abuse that receive media coverage.
Social worlds in collision: When policy meets policy on parental substance abuse
Authors: Hodge Margaret
Published: March 2016

The risk of child abuse and neglect is higher in families where the parent(s) abuse substances, with the highest incidence in families where both parents abuse alcohol. The interplay between parental substance misuse and child maltreatment has become a crucial issue in statutory child protection work and consequently for those who work intensively with clients in their homes. Not all children of substance-abusing parents are ‘at risk’ of harm, however, and abstention from drug usage is not always a helpful treatment goal, nor indeed does it necessarily reduce the harm to a child under protective scrutiny.
Children and Young People in Out-of-Home Care: Treating and preventing individual, programmatic and systems abuse.
Authors: Cavanagh Jo
Published: March 2016

It is well recognised that the maltreatment of children results from a range of factors; some residing within the person, their family history and background, and others, clearly attributable to social stress and difficulties originating external to the family. In the last few decades, child welfare efforts have centred on the improvement of Child Protection Services and raising the prevention of child abuse as a community concern. More recently, attention has been focussed on strengthening the capacity of families to nurture and protect their own as the best means of meeting the developmental needs of children. However, our best efforts to assist families may still necessitate removal to protect the child.

Research has identified that children removed for their own protection may be at even greater risk in out-of-home care. (Ryan 1987, Dawson 1984) Whether the incidence of abuse of children in out-of-home care is currently equivalent or higher than for the general population, is at this point a secondary concern. Out-of-home care is an essential and complex service. It is imperative to acknowledge that abuse can occur within the very system entrusted with the responsibility of protecting and caring for vulnerable children and young people.
The Institutional Abuse of Children: I have done nothing wrong and I have nothing to say
Authors: Goddard Chris
Published: March 2016

Rocked by broken romance, shaken by separation, engulfed in rumour, once again the role of the Royal Family and its ability to carry out its duties comes under unwelcome scrutiny.

As the Queen’s disquiet spreads through the Palace, the tensions within have never been greater. Where once doors mere kept open, they now remain firmly closed. Staff have started talking in whispers. Paranoia now pervades the most famous house in Britain.

(Benson, 1992)

It is extremely hard to escape from news of the Royal Family. Even apparently liberal (with a lower-case ‘l’) British newspapers like The Guardian subject readers to articles that suggest that Charles and Diana enjoy different breakfasts. I cannot remember who liked what, but I can remember being irritated with myself for reading the piece. It has been especially difficult to avoid the
Royals in recent months.
The UK ‘Looking After Children’ Project: Fit for ‘out-of-home care’ practice in Australia?
Authors: Clare Michael
Published: March 2016

This paper, based on material previously presented at the ACWA Biennial Conference in Sydney, describes the design, development and implementation of the ‘Looking After Children’ practice and management materials in the UK. The paper traces the research and practice background to the trialing of these out-of-home care assessment and planning materials in the UK, where they are expected to be adopted and implemented by all statutory agencies by the end of 1998. The international interest in the Assessment and Action Record is supported by an exploration of the arguments for child-focussed assessment and planning for ‘placement as a process – not an event’. Finally there is coverage of the three recently completed pilot projects in Western Australia. An argument is made for the adoption and adaptation of these materials as potential practice standards for the ‘State as parent’.
Family induction into foster care
Authors: Dyer Elizabeth M. , Evans Stuart W.B.
Published: March 2016

This paper presents the findings of a study into current induction practices in foster care agencies throughout Victoria. Eighty per cent of registered agencies responded to a mailed questionnaire exploring: the means of initial contact for prospective foster families, information and pre-service education sessions, assessment of families and the ongoing relationship between new foster families and the foster care agency.

Educational strategies are explored and the issue of worker continuity is discussed in relation to foster family retention and maintaining commitment through early placement difficulties.
Service to parents who abuse substances: Literature to inform a practice-research initiative
Authors: Campbell Lynda
Published: March 2016

Children of parents who abuse substances have become a concern of child protection agencies, family support services, family preservation services and increasingly of drug and alcohol treatment agencies. In the context of a formative evaluation of a specialised intensive family support service designed to address the needs of families at this interface, a literature review has been undertaken. From that review, themes relating to women as substance abusers, the children of substance abusers, and services to enhance parenting in these situations are reported. Implications for intensive home-based practice are identified.
Linguistically challenged
Authors: Goddard Chris
Published: March 2016

Every day, health and welfare workers translate the needs of the disadvantaged into words that communicate those troubles to others. Such translations (or interpretations) run the risk of reducing or changing the experiences to allow them to fit with the expectations and demands of organisations and bureaucracies. This column draws upon the author’s reflections on a complex and important, but rarely studied, aspect of social welfare practice.
Getting away to get it together: Temporary community empowering families to change
Authors: Hannah Digby
Published: March 2016

Camping as an effective tool for change in the lives of individuals and families is well established. However, models which provide a theoretical base for camping with families are rare. This paper provides one such model. Drawing upon many years of experience of camping with disadvantaged groups, the author develops three broad principles which underlie this family camping model. First is the importance of diversity in defining community, enhancing mutuality and encouraging volunteerism. Second is the unique opportunity which temporary community affords for empowerment – releasing the insidious grip of relational power, structural authority and learned helplessness which can stifle personal change, especially for disadvantaged families. The final key element is the natural world and its therapeutic potential to spawn images and experiences which provide the basis for individual and family change.
Tracing the connections between family poverty and problem behaviour in early childhood and adolescence: Some research evidence
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

This article reviews some recent US research into the impact of family poverty on child development. These studies report on the link between family poverty and children's early cognitive development. They also report on the impact of family and neighbourhood poverty on family structure, family process and problem behaviour in adolescence. This is important research as it goes some way toward unraveling the connection between individual behaviour and social conditions. Knowledge of this research is important for those advocating for measures to combat family poverty in Australia as it quantifies the issue and offers new ways to caste the argument for intervention.
Shaping our children’s future: Current and past trends
Authors: Lynch Michael
Published: March 2016

The work environment that students leaving school will enter in the latter part of the nineties and the next decade is radically different to that in previous times. The skills that employers require of their staff imply certain teaching and facilitation approaches that are currently not seen as core in some Australian States. This article examines the needs of the ‘virtual workplace’, and the current pressures and job requirements that are imposed on young people, and highlights the values acquisition areas for youth and how the clarification of values sets is an important role for educational institutions.
Give them a break: A study of families’ perceptions of the supports available in the community for families with a child with a life-threatening illness
Authors: Szwarc Barbara
Published: March 2016

The effectiveness of current support services for families who have a child with a progressive life-threatening illness seems to be a frequently overlooked issue. This paper, which is based on the findings of a recently conducted study, attempts to elucidate the critical issues in supporting this unique group of families. The study examined the perceptions of families regarding the value and effectiveness of the social supports available in the community for families caring for a child with a life-threatening illness in Victoria. Attention has been drawn to perceived gaps in support for these families. Also considered is the effectiveness of supports available for bereaved families who have lost children with life-threatening illnesses. The study was based on information provided by families who had been involved with a family support agency known as Very Special Kids.
When a child needs protection: What does it matter why?
Authors: Elliott Anne
Published: March 2016

Despite the claims of statutory child protection authorities to be ‘child-centred’, the language used to record responses to child abuse and neglect allegations still focuses heavily upon parental actions. In most Australian states, child protection records perpetuate an emphasis on how harm was caused and by whom. This paper illustrates that parental blame – theoretically a concept of the past – is alive and well within child protection recording systems, and raises the implications of this for the development of policy frameworks and service delivery. It is argued that recent moves by some states towards differential responses actually perpetuate a focus on the parent to the detriment of a focus on the child’s needs. A better way of conceptualising the outcomes of child protection assessments – focusing on a child’s protective needs – is suggested.
More than just child’s play: A study on sibling incest
Authors: Owen Nicole
Published: March 2016

This article outlines some of the findings of a study of ten women who experienced sibling incest as children. Using qualitative research methods, this study explores the nature of the sibling incest relationship, how the incest occurred, the family environment, the effects suffered and the participants’ experience of intervention. For the majority of women, the effects of unwanted sibling incest were similar to the effects of parent-child incest. The participants provided important perspectives on both intervention and prevention strategies that would assist with the problem of sibling incest.

This study aims to link the perspective of those who have experienced sibling incest with some implications for professional practice.
Creating social capital: The distinctive role of the non-government agency
Authors: Scott Dorothy
Published: March 2016

This paper is based on an address given at the Oz Child Annual General Meeting on 7 December 1998 in Dandenong, Victoria.
Social injustice for ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families
Authors: Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

For the last twenty-five years, in Australia and in most western type countries, the planning of services for children and families has been strongly influenced by a series of ideological concepts. These concepts are: deinstitutionalization, normalization, least restrictive environment, mainstreaming, minimal intervention, and diversion. Together they are the central tenets of a paradigm (CTP) currently used by policy makers and human service planners. This paper argues that the use of the CTP has had an unintended negative impact. It has lead to the neglect of the most difficult ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families. What we have is a situation where services of sufficient power, intensity and duration (PID) needed by this group are not favoured since they do not conform to the CTP. For ‘at risk’ adolescents and their families this is socially unjust.
Negotiating change: Refounding and MacKillop Family Services
Authors: Honner John
Published: March 2016

MacKillop Family Services was established in July 1997 as a refounding of seven well-established child, youth and family agencies in Melbourne and Geelong. The pressures for change came from the desires of the directors of these agencies and the leaders of their auspicing religious congregations to continue and to improve their services and, at the same time, from the demands of government tendering and funding polices. Several elements contributed to the success of the process of negotiating change: all parties were treated equally; the directors of the agencies were unwavering in their commitment to change; there was a shared sense of urgent social needs and of the opportunity to improve and stabilise responses to those needs; the traditions of each agency were accorded understanding and respect; time and money were made available for much discussion and careful planning; and, finally, a realistic time-frame for transition was provided.
Procedurally fair? Fairly procedural?: … ethics, fairness and welfare practice
Authors: Swain Phillip A.
Published: March 2016

This paper examines the principles of procedural fairness and their application to welfare practice. The paper considers whether social workers ought to measure the adequacy of their practice, not just against those requirements ususally set out in the professional Codes of Ethics, but also against the procedural fairness expectations of decision-making more usually the province of courts and like bodies. The paper concludes that these expectations are not only in keeping with the Code of Ethics, but that competent practice demands no less of practitioners.
Toward a global perspective of family continuity: The effects of international exchange on child welfare practice programs and policy
Authors: McFadden Emily Jean , Worrall Jill
Published: March 2016

The International Foster Care Organisation (IFCO) has been a significant vehicle of change within the steadily evolving field of foster care. In two decades of international transfer of knowledge, the organization has examined critical and controversial issues such as the colonization of indigenous people, the insensitivity of ‘Westernized’ systems of care to the kinship networks of children of color, and the needs of families stricken by poverty, dysfunction or oppression. Concurrently, the exchange of knowledge and skill on case planning, dynamics of change, legal issues, foster parent training; and systems of administration led to greater understanding between people working in foster care systems of different countries. IFCO became a moving and reconstituting global village of committed individuals, families, groups and organizations that transcended national boundaries.
Placement disruption and dislocation in South Australian substitute care
Authors: Delfabbro Paul H. , Barber James G. , Cooper Lesley
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of disruption experienced by 235 children aged 4–17 years placed into substitute care in South Australia during 1998–1999. Key measures of disruption included: the frequency of placement changes, the number of children forced to change school, the geographical distance from birth families, and the amount of planned contact between children and families during the placement. Parental contact was reduced when children were victims of abuse, but more likely when children were placed because of parental incapacity. Changes in school were more likely when children were older or were placed a long way from their families. Geographical dislocation was, as expected, more likely to be a feature of rural placements, although there were no rural-metropolitan differences in the nature and frequency of family contact. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.
The perpetrators of child sexual abuse in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Goldman Juliette D.G. , Padayachi Usha K.
Published: March 2016

A retrospective study of 427 university students in Queensland, Australia, revealed that the majority of perpetrators of child sexual abuse were known to their victim. The rate of incestuous abuse before the age of 17 years was twice as high for females as for males. It was also much more likely that the respondent reported being abused by a male than a female, with stepfathers being one of the most frequently reported offenders. In contrast, strangers were found to perpetrate a minority of abuse. Consequently, recommendations are made for education programs in an effort to prevent children being abused by people whom they know and trust.
Working with fathers: The non-deficit perspective
Authors: King Andrew
Published: March 2016

One of the highlights of the 1990s has been the greater recognition of the role of fatherhood by government departments, media organisations and community services. However this apparent embrace of fathering also reveals an underlying tension. This paper reflects on Burnside’s extensive experience in developing father-valuing programs that support children and families within disadvantaged communities. As practitioners, the need for quick decision making may result in the resources which fathers (within separated or intact families) can offer being overlooked. Drawing on current USA research into non-deficit approaches to fathering, the paper recognises a variety of assumptions, which reduce the resources that fathers provide. Due to socialisation, Australian males often display a healthy dose of suspicion and mistrust of authority figures. Because of this, it is important for professionals to maximise the initial period of engagement when they have contact with a family. A variety of case studies are used to examine the challenge of engaging fathers in the process of strengthening family systems.
Journalists as agents and language as an instrument of social control: A child protection case study
Authors: Goddard Chris , Saunders Bernadette
Published: March 2016

In recent years there has been considerable analysis of how the media create images of crime. The relationship between child abuse and the media has also been subject to greater scrutiny. This article examines the role of one newspaper in a child protection case. The part played by the newspaper in the court case led to an examination of the language used by the media in their representations of children. The researchers found that a child may be objectified in language even when the child’s gender is previously identified. The ‘gender slippage’ may in extreme cases lead to the ‘textual abuse’ of children, where child abuse is rewritten to lessen the impact on the reader. The authors conclude that the actions of journalists and the language they use require more critical analysis.
Derivative and indigenous in the history and historiography of child welfare in Australia: Part One
Authors: Swain Shurlee
Published: March 2016

This article traces the history of child welfare in Australia, showing the ways in which policies and practices, deriving primarily from Britain, were adopted and adapted in a nation in which jurisdiction was split between colonies/states and further divided, within states, on the basis of race. It argues that child welfare has always been part of the nation-building project, central to national objectives when children could be constructed as future citizens, marginal, and more punitive, when they were more easily understood as threats to social stability. In this first part it examines the history of welfare provision for non-indigenous children in Australia from 1788 to 1939. The second part, to be published in a subsequent issue, will discuss post-war developments in services for non-indigenous children, indigenous child welfare services and the historiography of child welfare in Australia.
Developing a model for participation by children in research on decision making
Authors: Mason Jan , Urquhart Robert
Published: March 2016

This paper outlines a three-year collaborative research project which aims to involve children and young people, as well as other stakeholders, in exploring strategies to meet the needs of children in care. In this paper we identify some research findings which indicate the importance of children participating in the defining of their needs in care, if these needs are to be responded to more effectively than has been the case in the past. We describe the aims of our three-year project and identify some of the methodological issues of implementing stage one of the project in terms of children’s participation. A conceptual framework is developed to clarify issues related to children’s participation in research and decision making and as a basis for deciding on appropriate research methods to employ in the first stage. Rather than merely outlining the work we have so far undertaken, we have insteadfocussed on reflecting on and analysing the theoretical and methodological challenges to researchers in implementing collaborative and participatory research in decision making with children.