Policy Press
Six Change and co-construction
Abstract
This chapter describes the restorative actions of child welfare, mainly at the level of interaction between children, welfare professionals and families. A discussion about the potential of dialogical help and the effort to help children and their parents tackle their problems through the work of narrative reconstruction is provided. The stories child welfare clients tell reveal the difficulties they experience in their lives. The professional must give the client some idea of what to expect: what the child welfare worker can or cannot do, the limitations on her time, and so on. By combining a positive and supportive attitude toward the parents with an unrelenting emphasis on the familial character of Marco’s problems, the family supervisor has succeeded in getting the parents to reflect on their own position in relation to their son and their share in the problems of his life.
Abstract
This chapter describes the restorative actions of child welfare, mainly at the level of interaction between children, welfare professionals and families. A discussion about the potential of dialogical help and the effort to help children and their parents tackle their problems through the work of narrative reconstruction is provided. The stories child welfare clients tell reveal the difficulties they experience in their lives. The professional must give the client some idea of what to expect: what the child welfare worker can or cannot do, the limitations on her time, and so on. By combining a positive and supportive attitude toward the parents with an unrelenting emphasis on the familial character of Marco’s problems, the family supervisor has succeeded in getting the parents to reflect on their own position in relation to their son and their share in the problems of his life.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- About the author vi
- Introduction 1
- Child, welfare, agency 5
- The development of individual agency 17
- Social interaction and interactive agency 33
- Social agency and social context 51
- Diagnosis and dialogue 71
- Change and co-construction 89
- Dialogical management 113
- Dialogical child welfare: conclusion 131
- References 137
- Appendix: Transcript conventions and abbreviations 153
- Index 155
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- About the author vi
- Introduction 1
- Child, welfare, agency 5
- The development of individual agency 17
- Social interaction and interactive agency 33
- Social agency and social context 51
- Diagnosis and dialogue 71
- Change and co-construction 89
- Dialogical management 113
- Dialogical child welfare: conclusion 131
- References 137
- Appendix: Transcript conventions and abbreviations 153
- Index 155
