The visibility of a socio-economic dimension in day-to-day child and family social work practice in Wales

Elliott, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-6913, Smith, Philip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3491-4519 and Scourfield, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-8158 2024. The visibility of a socio-economic dimension in day-to-day child and family social work practice in Wales. The British Journal of Social Work 54 (7) , pp. 3391-3409. 10.1093/bjsw/bcae098

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Abstract

This study explored how day-to-day social work practice with children and families in Wales responds to poverty, building on case studies already published in the other three UK nations. A case study design was used. The sites were locality teams in two local authorities, differing in their children looked after rates and trajectories of these over time. Qualitative research methods included practice observations; interviews with staff; focus groups; mapping of decision-making processes; and a sample of family case narratives. In one local authority, the range of data was similar to the other UK nation case studies. However, in the second, data collection was adapted to the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) lockdown context. Some evidence was found of narratives that emphasised the cultural, rather than material, aspect of poverty, and blamed parents for making inappropriate spending choices. Poverty alleviation was generally seen as outside of social workers’ control and requiring earlier help before social services involvement. In one of the local authorities, there was some awareness shown of the impact of poverty on parenting. In the other, that took part in the study during 2020, the exacerbating effects of families in lockdown were described, including the lack of family support due to pandemic restrictions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0045-3102
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 June 2024
Date of Acceptance:	21 May 2024
Last Modified:	05 Nov 2024 15:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/170056

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