Recognizing and Addressing Child Neglect in Affluent Families

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Bernard, Claudia A.. 2019. Recognizing and Addressing Child Neglect in Affluent Families. Child and Family Social Work, 24(2), pp. 340-347. ISSN 1356-7500 [Article]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12619

Abstract or Description

This paper explores how social workers intervene with affluent parents when there are child protection concerns about neglect. Based on data gathered from a small-scale exploratory qualitative study with 30 practitioners from 12 local authorities across England, this study examined three overarching questions: (1) How do social workers identify risk factors for vulnerable children in affluent circumstances? (2) Which factors inhibit or enable social workers’ engagement with resistant affluent parents when there are child protection concerns? (3) What kind of skills, knowledge and experience is necessary for social workers to effectively assert their professional authority with affluent parents when there are concerns about abuse and neglect? The findings revealed that indicators of neglect can be difficult to identify and challenging to respond to when parents are affluent. Results indicate that social workers have to navigate complex power relationships with parents who are able to use their class privileges to resist their interventions. The paper concludes with a discussion of social workers’ skills and capacities for engaging highly-resistant affluent parents in the child protection system.

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Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12619