Conceptualising childhood in social work: an action research study in Iceland

1. First consultation meeting with young people Initial group meeting with practitioners First interviews with practitioners Newsletter to young people Second consultation meeting with young people Reflective workshop with practitioners Newsletter to practitioners Working on action plans with practitioners Newsletter to practitioners Planning meeting and newsletters to young people Second interviews with practitioners Newsletter to practitioners Third consultation meeting with young people Evaluation workshop Conceptualising childhood in social work: an action research study in Iceland Elizabeth Fern liz@unak.is Findings from first interviews Introduction Linking empowerment and participation Researchers have highlighted ways in which adult perceptions of childhood influence the nature of relationships between adults and children, and raised concerns about how power and knowledge employed by experts constrain children’s ability to be self-directing (Mayall, 1994; James and Prout, 1997). This study examined how practitioners conceptualised childhood and the significance of this for developing child-directed practice. The action research approach was informed by young people as consultants and involved social workers and psychologists as research participants. Evaluation of the research suggested significant movement towards child-directed practice. The changes indicate the potential of this approach for achieving an agenda for practice development involving practitioners and informed by young people in contact with welfare services. Most models of participation use ladders or steps to show levels of decision-making powers that children have relative to adults. Lardner’s model helps to identify howpractitioners can break down the process of decision-making into different elements. The left and right columns indicate the extremes of participation and non-participation. Different levels of participation along the continuum between these extremes may be appriopriate to different situations. The practitioner is directed by children’s experience and communication in determining support for maximising children’s control over decisions. • Conceptualisations of childhood • Informed by discourses of welfare and control • Children as irrational, disordered and difficult • Children as ‘the problem’ • Children subsumed by family • Children in passive and subordinate roles • Practice implications • Adult-directed • Service-led • Children excluded from decision-making • Informed by discourses of rights and agency • Children as rational and able to evaluate their own situations and effects of practitioner’s intervention • Children as active in defining problems • Children influencing the direction of the work • Practice implications • More child-directed • Practitioners were active in forming participatory relationships with children and through these relationships included children in the work Methodology: action research outline Child-centred practice A grid model for determining levels of participation (adapted from: Lardner, 2001) Findings from second interviews • Factors limiting child-directed practice • Maintaining service-led approach • Dominance of professional interpretations of problems • Reliance on age related guidelines • Emphasis on vulnerability and protection • Lack of organisational ‘champion’ and obligation to work in participation established in systems • Significant shifts towards child-directed practice • Active engagement of young people in action plans: practitioners asking for feedback directly from young people • Increasing honesty, trust and involvement through sharing records • Supporting children’s participation in meetings through preparation • Provision of services informed by children’s views • Reciprocal sharing of knowledge, skill and resources • Small numbers; but significant sharing of power and control; relationships more equal, reciprocal and interdependent Child-directed practice Action research involves those who are most affected by the research issue (Hart and Bond, 1995). Ten young people with experience of social work intervention were engaged to act as counsultants to the research. Ten social workers and two psychologists were actively involved as research participants Questions young people would want to ask social workers Future work Practice-based action research Development within organisational strategic agendas Consider implications for social work education and training References Christensen, P. and Prout, A. (2002) Working with Ethical Symmetry in Social Research with Children. Childhood9, 477-497. Hart, E. and Bond, M. (1995) Action research for health and social care: A guide to practice, Buckingham: Open University Press. James, A. and Prout, A. (1997) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood Second Edition London: Falmer Press. Lardner, C. ( 2001) Youth Participation – A new model [online] www.lardner.demon.co.uk Accessed August, 2005 Mayall, B. (1994) Children's Childhoods Observed and Experienced, London: Falmer Press. Thomas, N. and O'Kane, C. (1998) The Ethics of Participatory Research with Children Children & Society 12: 336-348 Work with the child and family can have an appearance of being child-centred, but fails to provide avenues for children to have their say and contribute to decision-making. In the model of child-directed practice the child has moved to a more equal position alongside adults. From here there are more opportunities for children to contribute to a process of defining their situations and negotiating what happens. This work was performed as part of doctoral research registered at the University of Warwick, supervised by Dr Christine Harrison with assistance from Dr Eileen McLeod at Warwick. Professor Guðrún Kristinsdóttir at the Iceland University of Education, acted as academic consultant and co-facilitated the consultation with young people. The research was supported by KEA/University of Akureyri research funds and RANNIS, the national research fund of Iceland. The research was carried out with the cooperation of Reykjavik Social Services Department. I would like to thank the young people and the practitioners for their contribution to the research.