Respecting Family Strengths

Damian Griffiths

Driving from A to B…• This is one of the lowest ebbs of your life• You are terrified of losing your children…• You get a report which is 20 pages long which you can’t make head nor

tail of and seems to be mostly empty boxes• Attached to the report is a chronology, which is a list of all the worst stuff

that has ever happened to you or you have done• You go to a formal meeting in a room full of people, half of whom you do

not know• They talk in a language you can’t really understand• If you disagree they say you are ‘in denial’• They make a decision which tells you ‘you’re a bad parent – it’s official’

and then, whist you are still crying, they expect you to agree to a load of stuff to do, half of which you don’t know what it is

Partnership With Parents

• An idea in search of practice…

• Someone worth doing business with

• ‘I’m OK, you’re OK”

• A common language

Family Dominated Professionally Dominated

Supporting Family Participation

Stages of Change

Biestek's Principles of Social Casework

• Recognition that every client is unique• Client’s need to freely express feeling• Controlled emotional involvement• Acceptance• Non-judgemental attitude• Client self-determination• Confidentiality

Good Performance - Human Needs

Choice

Respect & Appreciation

Communication &Clear objectives

EmpowermentInitiative

FrustrationResentment

ConfidenceEnthusiasm

AnxietyConfusion

High morale

Low moraleAbsenteism

Motivators

Adapted from Human Needs at Work, University of Nottingham

Comprehensive Risk Assessment

Family KnowledgeNetwork and

Culture

Professional KnowledgeNetwork and Authority

Danger SafetyBalanced

Assessmentof Risk

©2000Andrew Turnell PO Box 56 Burswood WA 6100 Australia, aturnell@iinet.com.au

Partnership in practice – the social discipline window(Wachtel & McCold)

TO WITH

NOT FOR

Punitive Restorative

Neglectful Permissive

Support (encouragement, nurture)Low High

Con

trol

(lim

it-se

tting

, dis

cipl

ine)

High

WHY?

Research on Child Protection Conferences

Key Messages:Professionally dominatedParents passive and ‘tested’ for co-operationInsufficient time spent on planningPlans of poor quality and no feasibility

discussionReviews – little reappraisal of earlier decisions

WHY?

Review of what works in family support interventions: Identifies 4 common factors that influence the effectiveness of all therapeutic interventions

15%

15%

40%

30% TherapeuticTechnique

Client Hopefulness

Client Characteristics& Social Support

Relationship betweenclient and therapist

Kieran McKeowan (Dublin, 2000)

% of Variance in Outcome Explained

Factors Future Significant Harm More Likely Future Significant Harm less likely

Abuse Severe inc burns / scaldsNeglectSevere growth failureMixed abusePrevious maltreatmentLong duration penetrative csaFabricated / induced illnessSadistic abuse

Less severe forms of abuse

If severe, yet compliance and lack of denial, success still possible

Child Dev. delay with special needsMental health problemsVery young requiring rapid parental change

Healthy childAttributions in csaLater age of onsetOne good corrective relationship

Parent Personality – antisocial / sadistic / aggressiveLack of complianceDenial of problemsLD plus mental illnessSubstance abuseParanoid psychosisAbuse in childhood, not recognised

Non – abusive partnerWillingness to engage with servicesRecognition of problemResponsibility takenMental disorder – responsive to treatmentAdaptation to childhood abuse

Parent & Child interaction

Disordered attachmentLack of empathy for the child & own needs firstPoor parenting competency

Normal attachmentEmpathy for the childCompetence in some areas

Family Interparental conflict and violenceFamily stressPower problems: poor negotiation, autonomy and affect expression

Absence of domestic abuseNon abusive partnerCapacity for changeSupportive extended family

Professional Lack of resourcesIneptitude

Therapeutic relationship with the childOutreach to familyPartnership with parents

Social setting Social isolation and lack of social supportViolent, unsupportive neighbourhood

Social supportMore local child care facilitiesVolunteer networks

Motivating for Partnership• Start where the person is• Collaboration (vs. confrontation)• Evocation – drawing out rather than imposing

ideas• Autonomy and skilful use of authority• Express empathy• Support self-efficacy• “Roll” with resistance – dancing not wrestling

WHY?

Research & best practice suggests conferences should …

• Have a greater focus on planning & outcomes• Better enable families to present their views• Ensure professional views, risk assessment and

decisions are grounded in evidence• Place a strong emphasis on relationships• Reduce power inequalities• Identify and build on strengths and family resources• Keep a better focus on reviewing danger• Try to motivate and create some hope

Child Protection Conferences- Towards Partnership & Collaboration

• Incident Based

• Retrospective

• Problem focused

• Paternalistic

• Adversarial

• Ecological

• Prospective

• Needs based, building on strengths

• Partnership

• Collaborative

Building Effective Group Dynamics

safety

openness

trust

challenge

Change

HOW?

Family Tree

Lily Jack Beattie Alf

MargeAlfie Den Muriel

Caz Mark

? Maggie

Danger/Harm

Complicating Factors

Safety

Strengths/Protective Factors

Strengthening Families Framework

ℴ Detail re: incident(s)Bringing the family to the attention of the agency.

ℴ Pattern/history

ℴ Strengths demonstrated as protection over time

ℴ Pattern/history of exceptions

ℴ Condition/behaviors that contribute to greater difficulty for the family

ℴ Presence of research based risk factors

ℴ Assets, resources, capacities within family, individual/community

ℴ Presence of research based protective factors

Child & Family Services/(Lohrbach)

(Grey Area)

22

Risk Statement Safety Goals Safety Measures

What are professionals worried will happen to Harry and Meera if things carry on as they are?

If things don’t change, then Harry and Meera are likely to see or hear their dad threaten, punch and kick their mum at least once a month

• Child specific• Get a picture• Judicious use of risk

loaded language

When all these problems are fixed enough for professionals to stop worrying, what will life be like for Meera and Harry?

Meera and Harry will live in a house where disagreements are resolved peacefully, there are no threats or violence and very little shouting

• Describes the child’s experience

• Get a picture

When the safety goals are being achieved – what will professionals see which shows that?How will we know when it is ‘fixed’?

No neighbour reports to police; parents and professionals’ reports; Harry less aggressive; Meera less withdrawn

• Focus mostly on adults’ behaviours, parenting, lifestyle

• Get a picture• Beware of process

measures

What would Munro say?

• It’s a good idea

• Socio-technical rather than technocratic

• Ripple effects – attention to how the process builds more safety or more danger

• Requisite variety in planning

• Single and double loop learning – did we do what we planned and did it make any difference?

A Questioning Approach…Key Skills

• OARS & EARS• Shit sandwich / herringboning• Digging for facts and detail – evidence• Cutting away extraneous detail – ‘distilling’• Focus on child impact• Respectful and appreciative rather than

interrogative – the questions must be as useful to the questioned as the questioner

What This is Not About…

• Pulling punches• Allowing Family to dominate• Move from rule of pessimism to rule of

optimism• Colluding with abuse • Quietening professional concerns

Questions…