Conceptions, Norms, and Values in the Work of Child Protective Services with Families at Risk: An Analysis of Social Wor
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Conceptions, Norms, and Values in the Work of Child Protective Services with Families at Risk: An Analysis of Social Workers’ Diaries Annelie Björkhagen Turesson1
© The Author(s) 2019
Abstract Since the conceptions, norms, and values that govern the work of child protection are elusive, they are rarely discussed in the research. This study is based on diaries maintained by three social workers in relation to 15 families that were the subject of interventions by the child protective services in Sweden. All of the mothers in the 15 families had been diagnosed with mental health problems. The diaries include both significant events within the families and the social workers’ own feelings and perceptions about their work. This article discusses four themes: the Janus face of child protective services, clienthood and its conditions, child protective services and good or bad parenting, and the fathers. The results show that the families were subjected to extensive discipline. The diaries also expressed strong value judgements regarding how children should be raised. The parents’ desires and wishes were redefined by the social workers, making the parents powerless. The fathers were marginalized, which meant that an important resource within the families was lost. The parents reacted to this exercise of power in part by trying to escape it and in part by adapting to it. In summary, the desire to help was in some cases transformed into an abusive exercise of power. Keywords Family at risk · Child protective services · Norms and values · Clienthood · Parenting
Introduction The Swedish child protective services comprise society’s organized efforts regarding children at risk. They constitute one of the largest areas within the social services in Sweden, and their work touches upon the central aspects of family life. Historically, there is a long tradition in the child protective services of the exercise of power and control over both individuals and the family (Höjer 2012). The meeting between social workers and parents constitutes a central part of this work. Since the field is circumscribed by powerful confidentiality regulations, there are few opportunities to obtain an insight into the practical work. While a number of studies have focused on describing the social worker’s voice (Pincus and Minahan 1973; Shulman 2012), it was not until the end of the 1970s that interest increased in presenting the voice of clients. Following the pioneering work The Client Speaks by Mayer and Timms (1970), several studies have * Annelie Björkhagen Turesson [email protected] 1
interviewed clients about their experiences of contact with the social services (Cree and Davis 2007; Smith 2004; Spratt and Callan 2004). The aim of this article is to go a step further by attempting to identify the conceptions, norms, and values that underlie the spoken and written words that govern the work of the child protective services. The data have been collected from diaries in which social workers have written about
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