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Can a Paradigm Shift from Risk Management to Critical Reflection Improve Child-Inclusive Practice?

Author

Listed:
  • Christine Morley

    (School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4059, Australia)

  • Joanne Clarke

    (School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4059, Australia)

  • Chez Leggatt-Cook

    (UnitingCare Community, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Donna Shkalla

    (UnitingCare Community, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia)

Abstract

Child protection systems within Anglophone countries have been increasingly dominated by neoliberal managerial, risk-dominant paradigms over the past three decades. Assumed to deliver a cost-effective strategy to increase the safety of children, there are many ways this paradigmatic combination systematically undermines child welfare, participation, and well-being. This paper specifically focuses on the ways that risk assessment, neoliberal, and managerial discourses have infiltrated practice and operate to silence and exclude children’s voices. It draws on two case studies to showcase key findings of a comprehensive, state-wide research project called Empowering Children’s Voices, which was initiated by UnitingCare, a non-government organisation within Queensland, Australia, and conducted in partnership with researchers from Queensland University of Technology. It will be argued that a paradigm shift towards a critically reflective reinterpretation of risk can be far more effective at promoting child-inclusive practice and establishing children’s empowered voices as a protective factor against harm.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Morley & Joanne Clarke & Chez Leggatt-Cook & Donna Shkalla, 2021. "Can a Paradigm Shift from Risk Management to Critical Reflection Improve Child-Inclusive Practice?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:12:y:2021:i:1:p:1-:d:708244
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toros, Karmen & DiNitto, Diana Maria & Tiko, Anne, 2018. "Family engagement in the child welfare system: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 598-607.
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