Skip Navigation


BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 10, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(2):267-281; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch255
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
36/2/267    most recent
bch255v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Platt, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Investigation or Initial Assessment of Child Concerns? The Impact of the Refocusing Initiative on Social Work Practice

Dendy Platt

Dendy Platt is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Bristol University, and Programme Director of the Post-qualifying Child Care Award course for social workers. Until 2004, he was at Northumbria University, where his teaching included child protection and social work with children and young people. In the past, he has held practice and management posts in both the voluntary and statutory sectors, including front line child-care social work, family centre work and community work. He has undertaken research into child protection and family support.

Correspondence to Dr Dendy Platt, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK. E-mail: Dendy.Platt{at}bristol.ac.uk

This paper is based on a qualitative research study of social workers’ and parents’ experiences of attempts to ‘refocus’ child protection practice in England since the late 1990s. A review of the research base for the refocusing initiative is presented, leading to an exploration of one of the key changes arising from the initiative: the move away from investigations in ‘borderline’ cases towards less intrusive initial assessments. Methods involved qualitative interviews with parents and social workers in twenty-three cases drawn from two local authorities. The main conclusions are that initial assessments, as developed through the refocusing initiative and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health, 2000), provide a form of practice that offers benefits in terms of balancing child protection and child welfare approaches, and in terms of relationships with parents.

Keywords: initial assessment, children in need, refocusing initiative, child protection


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br J Soc WorkHome page
G. Mantle, I. Williams, J. Leslie, S. Parsons, and R. Shaffer
Beyond Assessment: Social Work Intervention in Family Court Enquiries
Br. J. Soc. Work, April 1, 2008; 38(3): 431 - 443.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Critical Social PolicyHome page
K. Broadhurst, C. Mason, and C. Grover
Sure Start and the `re-authorization' of Section 47 child protection practices
Critical Social Policy, November 1, 2007; 27(4): 443 - 461.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.