A critical understanding of policy practice and service

A critical understanding of policy practice and service

1. Changing concepts of what childhood means

   • The end of childhood
     • Ideas about childhood:-17th century's apprentinceship, 18th c's enlightment fundamental innocence, children seen as people in their own right, 19th c.protection,learner, 20th c.future prosperity and wellbeing of nations
       • photographs reflects changes in social attitudes
   • Social constructionism: knowledge and culture (such as what is the difference between childhood and adulthood) is produced through language and discourse
     • Language and discourse vary across time and space:So ideas about childhood as distinct from adulthood are not fixed
       • the language we use actively constructs and produces the social world in which we live.
         • gender,skin tone, ethnicity,age
           • can attain a taken for granted status, reinforced by that eras legislation and policy, prevailing cultural values and societal expectations of men and women, children and adults
         • transition to adulthood
           • often marked by physiological changes,
     • several dominant constructions of children and young people in which they are seen as apprentices, separate from adults, innocent and in need of protection but as part of 'our future'.
       • The way in which we see and understand children and young people has an impact on how we treat them, care for them and work with them
     • meanings and identities are co-constructed in culturally diverse societies
   • Social ecological theory :Brofennbrenner

2. families have changed and continue to change

   • Ronaldo, nuclear family, extended family, same gender families
     • ideas about mothers’ and fathers’ roles have differed
       • quality of parenting
       • Supporting parenting
       • respond to diversity in parenting within practice and assessment
   • Changes in the economy, and society more generally, have accompanied significant changes in family life through the twentieth and into the twenty-first century
     • working mothers, better education, higher incomes
   • families are seen as fundamental to a society, and families are therefore a focus of public concern and social policy
     • it isn’t necessarily what a family looks like but what happens within
     • biological or genetic ties are often seen to be important have a powerful impact on how children, young people and adults perceive their families
     • give us a sense of belonging to a place and continuity with the past.
       • Understanding the importance of ‘roots’ to identity is important in working with children and young people who feel dislocated from their family and its history
   • Young carers:children and young people [under 18] who provide or intend to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis
     • can be reluctant to disclose their situation
   • family form does not necessarily determine whether a family is a safe or a hazardous space for children
     • working with the whole family, particularly the parents, is a crucial part of caring for children and young people
     • important that practitioners are able to assess families where there are difficulties and respond appropriately
   • The surveillance of children, young people and families
     • not power neutral
     • children and young people are monitored in relation to their general development, their behaviour and activities, their health status and their educational attainment
     • early (possibly even antenatal) intervention
       • when practitioners can intervene in families lives, and the duties that they owe

Images and files in the map