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Whither Practice-Near Research in the Modernization Programme? Policy Blunders in Children's Services

White, S.; Broadhurst, K.; Wastell, D.; Peckover, S.; Hall, C.; Pithouse, A.

Authors

S. White

K. Broadhurst

D. Wastell

S. Peckover

C. Hall

A. Pithouse



Abstract

In this article, we lament the effects of practice-distant research and associated policy initiatives on contemporary children's services in England. In the last decade, as a result of high profile inquiries into non-accidental child deaths, statutory children's social care services in the UK have been subject to a wide-reaching 'modernization' programme. We studied decision-making in the high blame environment of local authority children's services. Our research sought to examine the relationship between performance management and the impact of anticipated blame within the decision-making practices of those providing, supervising and managing these services. We show that systems and technologies can be developed which both assist the users in their daily work and achieve desired organizational goals, but without an ethnographically informed, practice-near approach, unsafe work regimes and practices can ensue.

Citation

White, S., Broadhurst, K., Wastell, D., Peckover, S., Hall, C., & Pithouse, A. (2009). Whither Practice-Near Research in the Modernization Programme? Policy Blunders in Children's Services. Journal of Social Work Practice, 23(4), 401-411. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650530903374945

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2009
Deposit Date Feb 17, 2011
Journal Journal of Social Work Practice
Print ISSN 0265-0533
Electronic ISSN 1465-3885
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 23
Issue 4
Pages 401-411
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/02650530903374945
Keywords Ethnography, Technologies, Performance management, Blame environment, Integrated Children's System (ICS), Statutory children's social care services.