Social workers are responsible for rendering services to children and families who have experienced sexual abuse. These services are to a large degree guided by legislation and organisational policy, but the question arises whether all social workers perceive child sexual abuse in the same way. This is significant since the possibility that a social worker perceives child sexual abuse differently from legislation and existing policies, could lead to having an adverse effect on the rendering of services to children and families exposed to sexual abuse. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions of social work students regarding child sexual abuse by way of a descriptive qualitative research design. For the purposes of this study the non-probability sampling technique of purposive sampling was used to obtain participants. Fourth-year social work students at a specific higher learning institution were allowed to volunteer for this study and ten students agreed to participate. Unstructured in-depth individual interviews were conducted in order to explore their perceptions of CSA (Child Sexual Abuse). The data was coded into six main perceptions with their categories and subcategories. These perceptions were the following: (1) Child sexual abuse is caused by factors within the child’s ecological environment; (2) Description of the sexually abused child; (3) Description of the perpetrator of child sexual abuse; (4) Child sexual abuse is pervasive and can be characterised by the presence of specific aspects; (5) Child sexual abuse affects the child in specific ways; and (6) Children do not disclose sexual abuse. These results were presented in the format of an article with conclusions, recommendations as well as the limitations of the study. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The overall purpose of this research was to develop an inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system in the Free State. The aim was to integrate current legislation and policy into this inter-agency reporting protocol to create standardised reporting procedures to ensure effective access to and response from the child protection system for the child in need of care and protection. The thesis comprises six sections: SECTION A: This section comprises the problem statement, the research purpose statement and objectives, the central theoretical statement, the approach to the research, the research methodology, as well as the limitations and restrictions of the research. Furthermore, key words are defined and an explanation of the research report is provided. The problem statement shows that problems have been experienced for quite some time regarding the way reports are being handled within the child protection system. The result is that children in need of care and protection do not have effective access to the child protection system and they don’t get effective response when their cases are reported. Although the rights, interests and wants of the child in need of care and protection are addressed in existing legislation and policy, there is still a problem with the implementation and enforcement of said legislation and policy. SECTION B: This section comprises four consecutive articles: Article 1: Legislation and policy for reporting within the child protection system of South Africa In this article, Phase 1 (problem analysis and project planning) of the intervention model was used. An analysis was made of the existing legislation and policy regulations currently in use in South Africa during reporting at the child protection system. This was done by means of literature analysis. Article 2: Agents, cases, persons and response during reporting at the child protection system In this article, Phase 2 (information gathering) of the intervention model was used. An analysis was made of the stipulations of current legislation and policy in South Africa regarding agents, cases, persons and response that should be kept in mind when developing an interagency reporting protocol for the child protection system. It was done by means of literature analysis. Article 3: Reporting procedures and protocols from abroad applicable to an inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system In this article, Phase 2 (information gathering) of the intervention model was used. The contents of foreign reporting procedures and protocols were analised in an effort to determine what contribution such procedures and protocols can make to the development of an inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system. It was done by means of literature analysis. Article 4: An inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system in the Free State In this article, Phases 3 (design), 5 (evaluation and advanced development) and 6 (dissemination) of the intervention model were used. The researcher used the information that came to the fore during the literature analysis in Phases 1 and 2 of the intervention model, to design an inter-agency reporting protocol and flow charts for the child protection system in the Free State. The suitability of this protocol was tested by means of semi-structured interviews with the agents responsible for handling reports within the child protection system. The qualitative data obtained from this was used for the further development of an inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system in the Free State. SECTION C: This section comprises a summary of the collective findings and conclusions that came to the fore during the research, whereafter recommendations were being made. SECTION D: This section comprises the various appendices used during the research. SECTION E: This section comprises a complete list of references. SECTION F: This section comprises the final inter-agency reporting protocol for the child protection system in the Free State. / PhD (Social Work), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Studien tar utgangspunkt i et metodeutviklingsprosjekt ved et barnevernkontor i Oslo, kalt ”DuKanJo” – et forsøk på å anvende eksternaliserende samtaler som en form for empowermentstrategi allerede i undersøkelsesfasen i en barnevernsak. I alt fire familier ble invitert til å delta i såkalte ettersamtaler – en form for evaluering av et empowermentprosjekt – samtaler som også utgjorde de primære forskningsdata i studien. Studien bruker en narrativ tilnærming både som forskningsmetode og som metodisk tilnærming i ettersamtalene og kan derfor betraktes som både en evaluering av en empowermentsrategi og som et forskningsprosjekt. Hensikten med studien er å belyse om hvorvidt en narrativ metodikk i undersøkelsessaker kan bidra til å flytte fokuset i barnevernssaker fra problemorientering til ressursorientering. Studien søker også å svare på om det er mulig for barnevernet - med et så klart definert kontrollmandat -, å gjøre bruk av en ressursorientert tilnærming for å fremme familienes salutogene krefter og mestringsstrategier. Studien bekrefter at en slik tilnærming er mulig, men at det fortsatt finnes faglige og etiske dilemmaer knyttet til en slik tilnærming. / The study is a result of, and an ambition of, using a narrative approach as an empowerment strategy at a child protection office in Oslo. Externalising conversations is the main method in the strategy, in order to implement this kind of narrative orientation, at an early stage in the co-operation between the family and the social workers. Four families were invited to an interview, which also was designed as an evaluation dialog of the empowerment process, which they have been attending to during the project. The data from the interviews was then examined by a narrative research method. The main purpose of the study is to confirm that a salutogenic approach is a useful orientation for social workers in their attempt to invite families into a more formal partnership at an early stage in the investigation process. The study confirms the advantages of the orientation, but also that there still is some methodological and ethical dilemmas related to this orientation. / <p>ISBN 91-7997-142-3</p>

The balance between family support and child protection services is continuously challenged by high-profile cases. These highlight shortcomings both of the UK system and of research on the effectiveness of child maltreatment interventions (Munro, 2011). One such intervention is the Resolutions Approach to ‘denied’ child abuse (Turnell and Essex, 2006) – a systemic approach which creates a support network including extended family, friends, community members and professionals. There is, however, only limited research analysing the supporters’ experience of this intervention. In the present study five semi-structured group interviews were conducted in order to investigate how the family support network members made sense of their participation in Resolutions. Through a thematic analysis three related themes: returning hope; building safety and trusting a professional were identified. Additionally, special attention was paid to processes linked to the creation of family resilience (Walsh, 2003). Based on two contrasting case studies the potential creation of family resilience through Resolutions was discussed and clinical recommendations for creating family resilience within support networks were outlined.

During the second half of 2015, Sweden experienced the largest inflow of asylum-seekers in its history. Almost 163,000 people sought asylum in 2015, whereof approximately 70,000 children. The influx challenged the reception system and severe child protection concerns such as disappearances and sexual exploitation of unaccompanied minors were identified. Half of the children that arrived in 2015 came with families but this group have received less attention so far. The aim of this study was to explore the child protection systems around asylum-seeking and returning children in families by identifying child protection concerns and existing gaps in the services provided to this target group. Fourteen semi-structured interviews with twenty individuals belonging to various stakeholder groups such as staff at asylum accommodations, social workers, parents and, volunteer and staff from civil society organisations were conducted in two municipalities in Skåne, Sweden. The data was analysed using thematic analysis and the results are discussed in regards to the Protective Environment Framework. The results suggest that children in migration, with families, face multiple protection concerns in Sweden. Significant gaps exist in the services provided to these children and there are large disparities between accommodation centres. Many accommodations fail to provide a child-friendly environment and gender separated sanitation facilities. Furthermore, the results point out the importance of increasing competence of child protection among actors, and to increase preventive measure directed towards the parents in order to ensure a protective and safe environment for children.

This case study of the use of hospital accident and emergency records to safeguard children was triggered by Lord Laming’s inquiry into the care of Victoria Climbié, his follow up report, and government legislation since 1948. Research on the use of documentation for safeguarding children is limited, although serious case reviews consistently indicate, that across agencies, record keeping, and the sharing of pertinent information to identify patterns of maltreatment is poor. The social constructed meaning people place on hospital documentation relating to children’s safety and the perceived intentions of conveying that information within and between social environments are the focus of this research. A hermeneutic framework was used to identify how staff in A&E and other agencies perceive the use of A&E child records (birth -16 years). The investigation was in three stages (a) analysis of a purposive sample of 378 A&E children’s records, (b) a focus group with twelve A&E staff on the case study site and (c) another group with twelve members of the Local Operational Child Protection group. Colaizzi’s approach and the hermeneutic circle were the methods utilised to provide a rich description of the essential structure of the phenomenon. The results reveal that although written records are good tools for communication, records are not sufficiently child focused and risks factors are not always recognised. Consequently, the ability of the professional to provide information to safeguard children is limited. The data also highlights professional communication as the central theme, because this seemed to describe and unify the participants’ practices in a way that made sense. The findings of this study indicate that the behaviour of staff plays a crucial role in recording information. They are influenced by factors that are multi-faceted with the complexities of meanings that include social, economic, emotional, cultural, political and technical elements. A new theoretical framework to understand the complex interaction of professional perspectives within the varied situations that occur in clinical practice is proposed. This is underpinned by a constructivist epistemology. This provides an efficient method for evaluating the overall behaviour of the major components that affect documentation and communication, and highlights the recurring problems that arise from these areas when safeguarding children. Hence, this study provides an original contribution to knowledge concerning information sharing in the field of child protection. As a result of the findings of this study A&E records have been redesigned locally.

Title 1) A grounded theory exploration of social workers’ permanency planning for looked after children in Scotland 2) Experience of childhood maltreatment and reflective function of parents: A systematic review of observational research findings Aims 1) Permanency planning refers to meeting the needs of a ‘looked after’ child by legally securing a permanent family. Delays in securing permanency are associated with adverse outcomes for children. Social workers are integral to this process and yet there is a paucity of research considering how workers make sense of this professional role. The current study aimed to develop an explanatory theory of social workers’ sense making in planning for permanency to identify issues and facilitate a discussion around the experiences and needs of this group. 2) The paper considers childhood experiences of maltreatment in relation to adult reflective function in parenting, a variable implicated in infant attachment security. A systematic review aimed to explore the current research literature examining the association between the experience of maltreatment in childhood and later reflective function in parenting. Methods 1) A qualitative grounded theory methodology (GTM) was used to analyse interviews with eight social workers who had a current permanency role (six female). 2) Following the development of a grounded theory via integration of the data with the theory of mentalization, a relevant systematic review was conducted. The current research literature was explored in relation to adults’ experiences of maltreatment in childhood and reflective function in parenting. 2 Results 1) Although participants described delays in relation to systemic pressures, as analysis of interviews unfolded theoretical sampling explored their experiences of losing and maintaining ‘focus’ on the child in permanency planning. The findings generated a theory positing that workers seek to keep a child’s ‘mentalized’ experience at the fore (to hold his ‘mind in mind’) and plan responsively to make permanency recommendations while negotiating the challenges of person-centred working within a multi-agency system. Workers were found to describe holding ‘mentalized’ interpretations of a child’s past, current, and future experiences during the processes integral to planning for permanency (assessment, early decisions, information gathering, interpretation, integration, and interaction with the wider system). Holding the child’s mind in mind also contributed to the ‘strength of evidence’ for permanency planning, and was, at the same time, vulnerable to the destabilizing effects of the emotional demands and system stressors perceived within the permanency role. Permanency planning and integration of evidence to make recommendations for permanency was responsive to the complexities of interpersonal working, hypothetical futures for the child, and to the potential impact of planning actions for future decision makers. 2) A systematic search of the literature identified seven datasets (of which nine papers) presenting analyses relating to measurement of childhood maltreatment and parents’ reflective function. Conclusions 1) The study theorised a psychological process related to holding ‘focus’ on the child in permanency and concluded with recommendations for permanency practice based on this preliminary model. These included prioritising a culture of professional empathy, training in and availability of protected reflective clinical supervision, post-adoption support for birth parents, and training in working with complex interpersonal behaviour to better facilitate effective permanency planning and improve outcomes for looked after children. 2) Although the identified studies indicated a lack of significant association between the factors, critical evaluation of conceptual, methodological and population issues indicated that the small number of reviewed studies were limited in their capacity to address the review question. After further data reduction according to study quality and separation of analyses according to conceptualisation of mentalization there remained two datasets reporting on CM and adult RF, and three reporting analyses of CM and parenting RF. Conceptual differences regarding mentalization and RF are considered in relation to emerging areas of research in this field.

La Bulgarie avait en 1990 l’un des nombre d’enfants, ayant des parents vivants, abandonnés dans des institutions parmi le plus élevé au sein des de l’Union Européenne. En portant notre attentions sur la manière dont la candidature à l’Union Européenne a affecté l’héritage post-communiste en Bulgarie, notre thèse cible le développement de la réforme des orphelinats et donc des institutions en approfondissant le concept de « désintitutionnalisation ». Dans un second temps, nous comparons cette réfome à la réforme britannique. Notre objectif est d’éclairer le rôle de l’Union européenne dans la transformation des politiques sociales de protection de l’enfance. Notre terrain de recherche est celui de la Bulgarie et du Royaume-Uni et leurs systèmes de protection infantile de 1989 à 2015. / In the 1990’s Bulgaria had one of the highest numbers of abandoned children with living parents among European member states. Our question of departure was how the European Union membership has changed the post-communist heritage of institutional care and we focus on the transformation of orphanages through the deinstitutionalization reform. Furthermore, this doctoral research compares the development of the Bulgarian deinstitutionalization reform to the British one, and offers an insight into the role of the European Union in the transformation of social policies of child protection. The terrain of the research is Bulgaria and the United Kingdom, and their systems of child protection from 1989 to 2015.

A systematic narrative literature review explored views of young child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors whose abuse was unknown to authorities, about confidentiality. Due to paucity of research, the review included literature about sexual health service users. Seventeen databases and eleven journals were searched and thirty-three papers were identified. Analysis involved exploratory interpretist approach focusing on emergent themes and methodologies. Findings indicated limited participation and that young people want; (i) confidentiality (ii) control of their lives and (iii) they fear child protection agencies. Empirical research then explored views about confidentiality with young CSA survivors whose abuse was unknown to child protection agencies. Eight survivors engaged as co-researchers in participatory action research utilising a mixed methods approach; using surveys, focus groups, online chats, graffiti walls and interviews. One hundred and forty survivors participated. Age range was 11- 30, with 25 males, 114 females and 1 gender neutral. Researchers designed tools, gathered and analysed qualitative and quantitative data using a social construction thematic approach. Results found (i) all participants wanted higher confidentiality, with males and under 16's demanding highest confidentiality (ii) males were reluctant to disclose CSA compared to females (iii) abuse retractions were related to loss of confidentiality (iv) involvement as co-researchers was positive and empowering. With limited confidentiality the identified themes for young people were: fear of consequences, lost control, abuse retractions and protecting abusers. With high confidentiality themes were: talking openly, control, empowerment, exploring options, respect and being believed. Young researchers reported improvement in self-esteem and positive life changes. Conclusions: Young CSA survivors whose abuse was unknown to child protection services want higher confidentiality to build trust and be able to talk about abuse; and involvement of young people in participatory research is positive and empowering. Recommendations: There appears to be a need for increased confidentiality if young people whose abuse is unknown to child protection services are to disclose their abuse. Further participatory research is needed to explore whether other groups of young people unknown to services report similar and/or different needs.

Social workers in child protective services often handle hundreds of cases regarding children traumatized by abuse and/or neglect. In time, social workers' experiences can become emotionally and psychologically challenging. A problem for supervising child protection social workers (SCPSWs) is that they might experience the same challenges; however, there was no research that described the lived experiences of SCPSWs. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of SCPSWs. Conceptually, constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) provided the framework for understanding how SCPSWs managed their lived experiences and the issues related to them. Ten SCPSWs volunteered their time for face-to-face interviews and provided data for this study. Saldana's coding manual was used to guide the identification and coding of key words and phrases. SCPSWs experienced occupational trauma in the form of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and/or burnout similar to that experienced by front line workers. SCPSWs' experiences required them to set boundaries, stop taking work home and support each other in the workplace. Enhanced resources for training on self-care plus increased administrative and peer support could potentially improve the lives of these SCPSWs and increase their longevity and effectiveness in the workplace. Retaining experienced supervisors also has the potential to promote positive social change by improving the support supervisors can provide to front line staff, thus indirectly helping children, families, and communities they serve.