Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children

Lätsch, David Cyrill; Hasani, Hirmete; Quehenberger, Julia

Publication type:	Conference other
Type of review:	Peer review (abstract)
Title:	Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children
Authors:	Lätsch, David Cyrill Hasani, Hirmete Quehenberger, Julia
et. al:	No
Conference details:	16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (online), 1-3 September 2021
Issue Date:	1-Sep-2021
Language:	English
Subjects:	Kindesschutz; Sozialpädagogik; Familienhilfe
Subject (DDC):	306.8: Family sociology 362.7: Youth services
Abstract:	Introduction: A particular form of intensive family services called “social-pedagogical family support” (in short, SPF) has steadily gained importance in the Swiss child welfare system for more than two decades. The practice is increasingly seen by decision-makers in child welfare as a virtual do-all for all kinds of family problems that are seen as necessitating interventions of the state. The problems addressed range from issues of child protection in the narrower sense (with suspected or substantiated child maltreatment being the reason for intervening) to phenomena such as families struggling with the school absentism of a child or caregivers apparently not meeting a child’s special education needs. Whereas this form of family support has a long history in practice, there is little empirical research on how social workers actually “do SPF” or how these elements of professional action are perceived and interpreted by parents and children. There is a particular lack of attention on the children’s perspective. As part of an ongoing quasi-experimental study on the effectiveness of SPF in comparison with other interventions targeting families in need, we are investigating (i) what kinds of activities (involving children and/or caregivers) professionals, caregivers and children report as common elements of SPF, (ii) where and to what extent the perceptions of children differ from those of the two adult groups, (iii) what characteristics on the individual, case, and agency level predict both the frequencies with which elements are reported and differences in perception between children and adults. Methods: Workers, caregivers and children (age 10 years or over) filled in questionnaires at four points in time, at the start of the intervention (T0) and 2 months (T1), 9 months (T2) and 18 months (T3) after that, with the last measurement usually being a follow-up several months after the intervention had ended. To collect data on perceived elements, we used a taxonomy that modifies earlier approaches in the literature by including several items more attuned to theoretical assumptions about core principles specific to the SPF variety of family support. Results: Analysis is ongoing. Results will be presented with regard to T0 and T1 measurements, preliminary results will include T2. Conclusions: While particular conclusions naturally depend on findings, we expect our study to expand current knowledge on elements of intensive family support by providing the critical perspective of the child. These insights may help to identify areas of improvement in involving children.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/24463
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Childhood, Youth and Family (IKJF)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Wirksamkeit sozialpädagogischer Familienbegleitung im Kontext des Kindesschutzes
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

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Lätsch, D. C., Hasani, H., & Quehenberger, J. (2021, September 1). Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children. 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (Online), 1-3 September 2021.

Lätsch, D.C., Hasani, H. and Quehenberger, J. (2021) ‘Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children’, in 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (online), 1-3 September 2021.

D. C. Lätsch, H. Hasani, and J. Quehenberger, “Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children,” in 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (online), 1-3 September 2021, Sep. 2021.

LÄTSCH, David Cyrill, Hirmete HASANI und Julia QUEHENBERGER, 2021. Elements of professional care in intensive family support : the perceptions of children. In: 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (online), 1-3 September 2021. Conference presentation. 1 September 2021

Lätsch, David Cyrill, Hirmete Hasani, and Julia Quehenberger. 2021. “Elements of Professional Care in Intensive Family Support : The Perceptions of Children.” Conference presentation. In 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (Online), 1-3 September 2021.

Lätsch, David Cyrill, et al. “Elements of Professional Care in Intensive Family Support : The Perceptions of Children.” 16th International Conference of the European Scientific Association on Residential & Family Care for Children and Adolescents (EuSARF), Zurich (Online), 1-3 September 2021, 2021.