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Negotiation as a style in child protection work
Author(s) -
Magnuson Doug,
Patten Nathan,
Looysen Kevin
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00780.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , style (visual arts) , identity (music) , work (physics) , reflexivity , public relations , child protection , politics , service (business) , point (geometry) , state (computer science) , psychology , sociology , social psychology , political science , business , law , engineering , computer science , aesthetics , social science , marketing , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , algorithm , history , mechanical engineering
How child protection professionals orient to the work can be described as a style, and in the two teams reported on here, a style is emerging that is characterized by reaching for and inviting ongoing negotiation with families, with allied professionals and colleagues, and a reflexivity that is the result of the attention focused on the professional and the need to continually defend the work and explain to others one's point of view. Negotiation is a political concept that blends the reality of State authority with the practice of taking seriously the goals and interests of clients as well as the goals and interests of allied professionals. For these teams, this practice is rooted in an identity of service to the client, the importance of the protection of children and long‐standing motivations common to the helping professions.