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Protecting an unborn baby from abuse and neglect presents particular challenges for professionals due to the uncertainties about appraising future harm and functioning of family relationships. This systematic narrative review synthesises studies of professional decision making by health and social care professionals regarding child protection of an unborn baby. Five bibliographic databases (ASSIA, CINAHL Plus, Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Social Care Online) were searched using an explicit and robust search; papers identified as relevant were appraised for quality and combined using a narrative synthesis based on the main themes in the papers. Ten papers met the inclusion criteria, including qualitative studies, surveys and randomised trials of the effectiveness of decision support tools. The papers identified the following case risk factors relating to risks to an unborn baby: alcohol abuse; ante-natal care; previous children in care; domestic violence; drug abuse; lack of education; employment issues; unrealistic expectations of the baby; housing issues; learning disability; feelings about pregnancy; low socio-economic status; mental illness; mother's childhood experiences; lack of parenting capacity; physical disability. There were several papers on developing risk assessment tools. A few papers focused on risk assessment and decision processes including engagement with pregnant women. There was some discussion of psychosocial supports for risks in pregnancy. There is useful published material on the range of risk factors, and more limited material on the development of assessment tools and on decision processes. The psychosocial supports that might be provided to the pregnant woman as decision options is an area for future research.

Adoption can provide a lifetime of benefits for children. Some adoptions however, experience severe challenges resulting in disruption, with children leaving home prematurely. This qualitative study in Northern Ireland used interviews with parents from thirteen families whose adoptions had disrupted, to explore their perspective on the experience. Key findings focused on issues relating to firstly, the adopted child; secondly, adoption services; and finally, the parents and other family members. The impact of early adverse experiences on the children (developmental trauma) played out through behaviours, often violent, that their parents found extremely challenging. These increased as the children aged and had serious effects on family life. The adoptive parents thought they could have been better prepared through the adoption process to face challenging behaviours and more appropriately supported to prevent disruption. When their adopted child was admitted to state care, the parents typically felt initial relief but also guilt and loss. After the child had left home, they generally wished for more involvement with him or her despite the difficulties experienced. This study confirmed previous findings about the extent of trauma experienced by some adoptive children, and the challenges that this may present to the adoptive parents. It highlighted how the manifestation of the trauma experienced by the child may lead to adoptive parents themselves experiencing primary or secondary trauma or compassion fatigue (defined in the Discussion section below) or a combination of all three. The preparation of adoptive parents should include greater awareness of possible challenges, and how to cope with these. The development of trauma-informed approaches to practice and service delivery is required to support families with adopted children more effectively. Co-production models for service development may assist in addressing the types of issues identified in post-adoption support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the social work profession matures, the need for robust knowledge becomes more pressing. Greater coordination is required to develop the research community and an infrastructure to support this nationally and internationally. This article discusses the foundation, in 2014, of the European Social Work Research Association and its roots in the annual European Conference for Social Work Research series since 2011. Discussion focuses on the Association's context and aims, its principles, developments, and future plans. The initial development of the Association has been very encouraging; it has attracted over 250 members in its initial months, including individuals from 19 of 28 European Union countries, and 3 of 23 European non-EU countries, as well as six countries outside Europe. Continuing efforts are required to encompass the diversity of practice, organization and research, and for the Association to be truly inclusive of social work research and researchers across the whole of Europe.

Self-harming and suicide amongst adolescents are reported to be increasing in Europe and internationally. For young people in state care, this aspect of mental well-being is of particular concern. The aim of this study was to establish the incidence of suicidal ideation and behaviour amongst young people (age 16-21 years) leaving state care in one health and social care trust in Northern Ireland, and to explore the correlation between this and client risk factors that might inform professional practice. Data were gathered from 164 case files of the total 215 (response rate 76%) in relation to all open cases as of 30 April 2012 extracted by the relevant social workers through the use of a standard data collection tool. Twenty-seven per cent of young people known to the 16+ Teams engaged in self-harm or suicidal behaviour. There was a strong correlation between the number of self-harm incidents and the number of suicide attempts. The risk factors identified were consistent with the research base: "male", "unemployed", "alcohol and drug misuse", "adverse childhood experiences", "higher number of placement moves" "placement type" and "older age when entering care". Young people in more isolated placements seemed particularly at risk. The results of this study are of particular relevance to social workers and other professionals working with young people leaving state care.

The potential human and financial costs of foster placement disruption for the children, families, professionals and agencies involved are widely accepted. This service evaluation identified and described perspectives of foster parents and social workers regarding placement disruptions in order to identify the main issues of concern and to derive lessons to inform practice. Postal questionnaires containing both quantitative and qualitative questions were sent to supervising social workers, field social workers and foster parents involved in the 36 non-kinship foster placement disruptions that occurred from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 in one Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland. In total, 107 questionnaires were sent out and the overall response rate was 62%. Multiple factors were involved in the disruptions, with the child's behaviour and contact with birth family being the greatest concerns, followed by attachment issues. Disruptions were more prevalent for adolescent placements, placements of less than one year duration and "new" foster parents. Views on communication between professionals and foster parents were generally encouraging. In the majority of cases the disruption was thought likely to have occurred even if any additional supports that could be envisaged could have been provided. Recommendations for practice include enhanced supervision and support for new foster parents, activity to value foster parents, the recording of disruption data, and development of a behaviour management training plan.

Contemporary "knowledge" relies increasingly on probabilistic data. A key example is the "evidence" for the effectiveness of health and social welfare interventions. Such claims to "knowing" require an epistemological underpinning. This paper explores the concept of probabilistic knowledge, evidence and "proof" which underpin claims for the effectiveness of social welfare interventions from the perspective of scholastic epistemology. It provides a framework based on contingent events, establishing different levels of certitude and ways of increasing it, thanks to intellectual virtues such as prudence and art. Knowing the value of the data that form the basis for making decisions in social processes, we can construct directions for social policies. Greater methodological precision (that philosophy in its various traditions might offer) may be of service to attempts in social work to conceptualize questions of effectiveness and measurement of outcomes, given their probabilistic nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trend in adoption since the 1960s has been away from secrecy and towards greater openness; contact through an intermediary, and direct contact by letter, is now widely accepted. More controversial is the challenge of face-to-face contact with birth parents, and social workers involved in the decision-making process find themselves having to make recommendations to the Court that balance the rights, needs and aspirations of the various parties regarding appropriate contact. The views of four prospective adoptive couples in Northern Ireland toward post-adoption face-to-face contact with birth parents were studied using semi-structured interviews. Prospective adoptive parents saw advantages and disadvantages in face-to-face contact with a birth parent for the child and themselves. One advantage highlighted was that contact could assist the child's development of identity. However, there was an underlying discomfort about facilitating this kind of contact because of its potentially negative effects such as the confusion it could cause a child and the resultant behavioural issues that could emerge. Prospective adopters wanted professionals to give them the opportunity to express and explore their apprehensions about face-to-face contact, and to provide them with fuller information to address their concerns.

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'Risk' has become a central concept for social work practice in countries with more developed social welfare systems. As argued by Hazel Kemshall and colleagues, 'risk' has often replaced 'need' as the main driver for social work interventions as societies seek to avoid harm to citizens. This shift of focus raises a tension between care (support for the individual or family in their own right) and control (seeking to prevent harm to themselves, each other or other citizens). This article considers some of the key developments in the 25 years since the above article, including the development of risk communication; the growing familiarity with both likelihood and severity concepts of risk; the assessment of risk as part of organisational arrangements to manage risk; and theoretical developments linking social work assessment, 'working with risk' and decision-making. In the first part of the article, we explore the care versus control boundary through focussing, in turn, on child and family social work, adult care services, mental health social work and criminal justice social work, and their respective developments. We then further extend two key foci regarding assessment and care planning as well as the use of professional knowledge at the care and control boundary. Our analysis of these developments points towards more nuanced approaches to managing risk and making decisions at these sometimes contentious boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this systematic narrative literature review is to explore empirical evidence as to how a multiprofessional approach to child protection decision making is implemented in hospitals settings. Child protection cases where there is a suspicious serious injury suspected sexual abuse or serious neglect are often investigated in hospital, involving a number of relevant professions. Five electronic bibliographic databases were used for the search. To be included in the review studies had to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, report on empirical research, be available full text in English, and have used an identifiable research design. The search was restricted to 10 years, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, and retrieved 6,934 studies. The review includes 26 studies undertaken in 10 countries. In all the hospital-based settings studied, child protection decision-making tasks were assigned to a designated multiprofessional team. However, there was remarkable diversity in models of team structure, regulation of workflow, structured procedures, and standardized tools through which practice was carried out. Research focused on evaluating the teams' effectiveness in fulfilling their duties which were, first and foremost, the identification of possible child maltreatment. The analysis identifies various systemic approaches and quality improvement methods to promote effective team-based decision-making processes in hospitals. The interactional aspect of collaborative team-based practice was generally missing from the published research. This article discusses next steps for the development of practice, policy, and research to enhance useful multiprofessional child protection team working in hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work case files hold rich detail about the lives and needs of vulnerable groups. Traditional case-reading studies to gain generalisable knowledge are resource-intensive, however, and sample sizes thereby limited. The advent of 'big data' technology, and vast repositories of centrally stored electronic records offer social work researchers novel alternatives, including data linkage and predictive risk modelling using administrative data. Free-text documents, however – including assessments, reports, and case chronologies – remain a largely untapped resource. This paper describes how 5000 social work court statements held by the Child and Family Court Advisory Support Service in England (Cafcass) were analysed using natural language processing (NLP) based on simple rules and mathematical principles. Thirteen factors relating to harm and risk to children involved in care proceedings in England were identified by automated computer techniques, and almost 90% agreement with professional readers achieved when the factors were clear-cut. The study represents an innovative approach for social work research on complex social problems. In conclusion, the paper discusses learning points; practical implications; future research avenues; and the technical and ethical challenges of NLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian faith-based youth work is a valuable complement to school-based religious formation. This paper provides a review of research on Christian faith-based youth work. Five bibliographic databases were searched using terms to express the concepts (youth work) AND (Christian faith). The eight studies meeting the inclusion criteria were synthesised by four major themes in the papers. (1) The purpose of Christian faith-based youth work could be viewed as existing on a continuum between social purpose (supporting reflecting on issues of identity and life purpose) and evangelism. (2) In terms of processes and practices, holding spaces of meaning for young people was important, including giving young people roles of responsibility. (3) Amidst declining engagement with formal religion, the focus was more on involvement of young people in recognising need and addressing contemporary concerns. (4) Purpose, agenda, bias and professionalisation were highlighted as issues in relation to faith-based youth work. Creating places of meaning where young people feel valued and listened to in relation to spiritual issues was regarded as valuable within the social pedagogy of youth work. This synthesis of research provides a reference point for those engaged in practice, teaching or scholarship in Christian faith-based youth work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work and health care professionals internationally are recognizing the need to understand and respond to the abuse of older people. Policy and guidance have identified processes but definitions of key concepts remain problematic, and the literature suggests that practitioners and agencies have little insight or guidance for decision making. Nine bibliographic databases were searched for studies on professional decision making regarding abuse of older people. Relevant studies retrieved were appraised for quality using explicit criteria. The findings of the 19 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were synthesised using a structured narrative approach. Common themes identified were abuse factors, situational factors, and broader contextual factors. Abuse factors relating to risk levels and client vulnerability were central; age, gender, and health status were considered as key indicators of vulnerability. The opinion of adult protection workers about the potential effectiveness of their intervention was a factor in deciding about responding to alleged or suspected abuse. Professionals struggled with complex ethical dilemmas created by elder abuse, particularly when the victim did not want an investigation. Making objective judgements was difficult when faced with complex family and contextual factors. A structured approach to narrative synthesis of a diverse range of studies retrieved through an explicit search and inclusion process provided a useful summary of key issues for practice and identified gaps in the research literature. KEYWORDS decision making, elder abuse, judgment, review [publication type], social work

Summary: Permanency decisions in child welfare are recognised as being challenging. Nevertheless, society and the profession expect that professional judgements should be of the highest quality, consistent, reliable, fully justified and informed by evidence of what works, particularly where decisions are potentially life-changing. However, barriers to knowledge acquisition and utilisation exist, preventing practitioners from gaining the full range of knowledge they require, leading to permanency decisions being interventionist and protectionist in orientation (author, 2020). Think-aloud protocols and semi-structured interviews, in conjunction with a vignette, were used with social workers (N = 17) in statutory services to explore barriers to knowledge acquisition and utilisation in permanency decisions for children in state care. Findings: The main barriers to knowledge use were (1) misunderstanding or misuse of theory, (2) limitations in training and learning and (3) organisational issues. Applications: By developing a real-world understanding of the barriers and listening to the views of the professionals themselves, we can begin to realistically inform policy and practice, with the aim of decreasing the barriers to knowledge acquisition and utilisation in permanency decision-making. If we appreciate the barriers to knowledge acquisition and utilisation in permanency decision-making more fully, then perhaps we can reduce them, thereby facilitating more fully informed decisions that best serve the individual needs of children and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skills of the 'information age' need to be applied to social work. Conceptual and practical aspects of using online bibliographic databases to identify research were explored using multi-professional decision-making in child protection as a case study. Five databases (Social Science Citation Index, Scopus, Medline, Social Work Abstracts and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched for relevant studies, retrieving 6,934 records of which fifty-eight studies were identified as relevant. The usefulness of specific search terms and the process of learning from the terminology of previous searches are illustrated, as well as the value of software to manage retrieved studies. Scopus had the highest sensitivity (retrieving the highest number of relevant articles) and retrieved the most articles not retrieved by any other database (exclusiveness). All databases had low precision on this topic, despite extensive efforts in selecting search terms. Cumulative knowledge about search strategies and empirical comparison of database utility helps to increase the efficiency of systematic literature searching. Such endeavours encourage and support professionals to use the best available evidence to inform practice and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers are frequently involved in making decisions and in managing risks, although there has been limited conceptualisation to connect these tasks with each other or with assessment processes. This lack of connection reflects the general separateness of the wider academic discourses on risk and uncertainty (often sociological and organisational, relating frequently to business or economic contexts) and those on decision-making (often focusing on psychology of individual judgement, and typically relating to medical or military contexts). This article presents and explores the potential of a 'risk-managing decision model', as an example of a model linking risk management with decision science. This is a psycho-social rationality model for choosing between options, such as possible care, support or intervention plans for a client or family. Rather than treating the options as 'given' (i.e. unchangeable), as in most decision theories, this model proposes that the decision maker(s) look for ways to manage or reduce the risks inherent in the preferred option as part of the decision process. Like other psycho-social rationality models, this model incorporates both individual cognitive dimensions and framing aspects of the decision environment. Relevance to social work is discussed with examples and reference to various settings and decision processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]