Child Protection

Acknowledgements

Chapter One: Introduction

Aggression and social work internationally; Failures in practice and training; Using case studies to explore child protection practice; Child protection and safeguarding; Structure of the book; Tensions in child protection practice; Incidence of conflict in child protection; Incidence of aggression against social workers; Nature of abuse and violence against social workers; Under-reporting of aggression against social workers; Conflict and aggression in the workplace; Health impacts on social workers; Protecting social workers form aggression; Points for practice

Chapter Two: Theories of conflict and aggression

Theory for conflict and aggression; Definition of conflict; Definition of aggression; Passive-aggressive behaviour; Biology and aggression; Social learning theory and aggression; Violation of social norms; Frustration-aggression hypothesis; Displaced and safety-valve aggression; Stress; Environmental stressors and aggression; Stress and the social work role; Gender and aggression; Alcohol and aggression; Drug misuse and aggression; Mental health and aggression; Social interaction theory; Self-control and aggression; Points for practice

Chapter Three: Managing conflict with colleagues

Conflicts in the workplace; Case Study 3.1: Victoria Climbié; The impact of underfunding; Organisational structure and stress; Physical working environment and stress; Managing stress in the workplace; Case Study 3.2: Peter Connelly; Understaffing, staff turnover and workloads; Information and communication technology; Performance management; Agency context and the fostering of conflict; Addressing conflicts stemming from the agency context; Integrative negotiation; Conflict between individual social workers; When negotiation fails; Points for practice

Chapter Four: Conflict with management

Conflict with managers; Case Study 4.1: Victoria Climbié; Excessive caseloads; Negotiating on workloads; Inadequate supervision; Negotiating with front-line managers; Assertive, non-assertive and aggressive behaviours; Socialisation and assertiveness; Belief systems and assertiveness; Non-verbal communication and assertion; Case Study 4.2: Lost in care; Conflict with front-line management; Conflict with senior management; Power relationships in the workplace; When negotiation fails; Points for practice

Chapter Five: Conflict between teams and agencies

Conflict between multidisciplinary colleagues; Case Study 5.1: Victoria Climbié; Conflict between social workers at Brent and medical colleagues; Power in negotiations with multidisciplinary colleagues; Making requests to others; Conflict between social workers at Haringey and medical colleagues; Self-assertion in integrative negotiation; Assertive non-verbal communication in meetings; Conflict between social workers and police colleagues; Case Study 5.2 Child sexual abuse by foster carers; Conflict between social work colleagues in different teams; Addressing conflict between teams and agencies; Latent conflict within and between agencies; Anti-oppressive practice and professional self-assertion; Points for practice

Chapter Six: Conflict and substitute carers

Conflict with substitute carers; Case Study 6.1: Child sexual abuse by foster carers; Non-compliance with a programme of activity; Challenging substitute caregivers, parents and partners; Building hostile alliances; Bystanders and audiences; Personal and professional self-confidence; Self-esteem and social work; The impact of aggression on social workers; Hostage theory; Learned helplessness; Learned helplessness and hostage theory in practice; Case Study 6.2: Ryan Lovell-Hancox; Diversion by caregiver; Resistant and reluctant caregivers; Employing personal and professional rights; Points for practice

Chapter Seven: Managing conflict with mothers

Conflict with parents; Case Study 7.1: Peter Connelly; Parental background and aggression scripts; Lying to professionals; Investigative interviewing; Disguised compliance by a parent; Negotiating in bad faith; Aggression towards professionals; The failure to challenge; Dealing with verbal detours and distractions; Case Study 7.2: Ajit Singh; Non-cooperation with child protection plans; Games people play; Use of complaints to obstruct intervention; Complaints as aggression; Giving constructive feedback; Mental health of the mother; Points for practice

Chapter Eight: Managing conflict with fathers

Conflict with fathers; Case Study 8.1: Richard Fraser; The threat of violence; Aggressive Incident Model; The risk management of aggression; Organisations and risk management; Non-compliance with school attendance requirement; Case Study 8.2: Ainlee Labonete; Verbal aggression and physical violence; Dealing with verbal aggression; Preventing access to children; Intimate child protection practice; Anxiety management; Points for practice

Chapter Nine: Managing conflict with children

Conflict with children; Case Study 9.1: Doncaster brothers; Children’s aggression scripts; Aggression and anti-social behaviour; Dealing with potential physical aggression; Dealing with an imminent assault; Experiencing an assault; Case Study 9.2: The Pindown experience; The anger of social workers; Anger management; The aggression of social workers; The contribution of social workers to aggressive interactions; Points for practice

Chapter Ten: Concluding remarks

Conflict in child protection work

Appendix

References

Index