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How do parents explain the contribution of the Resolutions programme to their task in the parenting and protection of their children?

Chapter 1: Introduction

"The concept of child protection automatically pits the child against the parent... this thinking leads to the adversarial practice that has dominated the field, but we are finally coming to recognise that 'blood is thicker than child protection services'" Berg (1999)

1.1 Overview
The Resolutions programme works with families where parents are denying responsibility for abuse to their children (or the children of others). The service is designed for families where a very young child experiences serious non-accidental injuries, or where an older child alleges sexual abuse. Most cases are the subject of care proceedings.

The work takes place in situations where reunification is strongly desired by family members, and where it seems probable that the alleged perpetrator will continue to live with or rejoin the family after a period of separation. The Resolutions approach aims to provide a means of planning with parents, for the current and future safety of the children living with them.

In choosing to research this topic, I wanted to explore service users' perspectives of the service they received through the Resolutions programme.

I was first drawn to the topic due to my background as a Social Worker and Team Manager in a local authority Social Services department. I spent a significant amount of time and effort over many years involved with child protection cases, working to provide safety for the children concerned and striving if at all possible to reunite them with their families or to help them remain at home. Frequently during care proceedings, cases were referred for therapeutic assessment – yet the assessment services were often hard to access. The Resolutions programme was at that time based within the NSPCC in Bristol, and was highly sought after due to its uniqueness and reputation.

My practice has extended from working on cases within Social Services to clinical work in a health setting. Following my Family Therapy training, I relished the opportunity to demonstrate that I had moved on from that earlier practitioner who often seemed to act upon intuition rather than with an awareness of practice-based research.

This dissertation provides me with an opportunity to extend my perspective of parents' views and experiences at a time when they face few alternatives to co-operation with Social Services, and furthermore face the threat of losing access to their children.

1.2 Aims of the research
The Resolutions programme appears to offer a systemic model in which 'safe uncertainty' can be tolerated and therapy/change work can be effected, in work with parents who do not accept responsibility following allegations of child abuse.

'Safe uncertainty' implies a systemic model for a safe, multi-disciplinary framework within which uncertainty can be tolerated, and therapy/change work can be tolerated. 'Creating safe uncertainty can be defined as developing a context where the system participants experience clear, agreed boundaries within which they feel respected and able toexplore how they wish to be.'(Robinson and Whitney, 1999).

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate how effective Resolutions has been in engaging with parents, working to form a partnership that enables the family to move forward from a 'stuck' position where parenting their children is constrained by a high level of external supervision, to one where solutions are found regarding the future safety of the children.

The secondary aim of the research was to obtain qualitative information regarding parents' experience of participating in the programme, and on whether the intervention is helpful or unhelpful.

In addition, the study hoped to explore the views of parents on what aspects of the therapeutic process may have helped move their 'stuck' case (deficit model) to one where parents are constructively engaged and involved in solutions sought for their family.

Chapter 2: An Overview of Literature
2.1 Introduction

Large numbers of children are reported to child protection agencies each year. Outcomes for these thousands of children who have become child protection cases had not been looked at or questioned until the mid-1990's (Dartington Social Research Unit, 1995; Thorpe, 1994). There is still no consensus on suitable measurements of outcome for child protection cases; it is not the kind of work where inputs can be standardised, nor where the process is uniform.

In the UK, only a small minority of alleged offenders ever accept even partial responsibility for abuse of children. The Children Act (1989) requires that primacy be given to the wishes and feelings of the child, thereby creating the therapeutic dilemma of how to enable the child to remain with their family yet safe from future abuse.

In this chapter, I am looking at the literature which discusses the therapeutic relationship between therapists and their clients and the implications of their intervention to the outcome. Resolutions, with its emphasis on 'stuck' cases, makes the nature of the relationship between client and professional particularly relevant to a successful intervention.

There is probably no environment that puts the objective of building such a relationship to the test more than that of child protection casework. Failure in this, helps to explain why some children remain safe when others do not.

2.2 Professional-client relationship
The Department of Health's document Messages from Research (1995) identifies the quality of the relationship between a child's family and professionals as the single most important factor in protecting children.

Only in the last 10 years have the views of "abusive" parents been sought, as they were thought to be less "capable, articulate and objective" than other service users, also that gaining their confidence for research was difficult (Magura & Moses, 1984). Gradually, though, the voices of the parents have emerged alongside the professionals (Thoburn, Lewis & Shemmings, 1995) and other recent studies (Farmer, 1993; Farmer & Pollock, 1998) include the voices of the young persons who were the subject of child protection investigations.

2.2.1 Motivation
In examining any relationship, one looks for the motivation of each of the parties. For the parents, they may see their involvement in the Resolutions process including:

In a child protection context, the statutory agency has its own goals. The following may be looked for: - provide evidence of statutory obligations met - make progress towards safety for the children - establish or re-establish a working relationship

Mackinnon and James (1992) examined the resistance of parents to therapeutic interventions, and questioned whether 'coercion into therapy' was necessarily negative or foreign to the therapeutic process. They discuss the construction of 'therapeutic leverage' as a means of eliciting and maintaining parents' motivation, and argue that connotations of 'social control' are overridden by the need to develop fairer and more equitable relationships within families.

If parents readily accept the need for safety as a general goal, joint plans of action can be developed, however getting parents to understand and accept the detail of the agency's response to that goal (among others) can be problematic. Statutory action may be indicated for the agency, which then has the task of explaining the necessity of its action to bemused and possibly hostile parents.

Resolutions intervention concentrates upon the first of Berg's (1994) categories of relationship, the 'customer' relationship. This is characterised by agreement between the worker and the family about the nature of the problem, with the client willing to do something about it – even if the family may be a customer "for getting the child protection worker out of their hair." Turnell & Edwards (1999)

Turnell and Edwards go on to suggest that, on that basis, the family may be willing to do something to prove their child is safe. Social Services may also be keen to assist in the process, and acknowledge the family's goal even if they don't agree with the family about other issues.

2.2.2 Taking a systemic view
Parents and children want to be cared about as individuals and to have their strengths acknowledged as well as their weaknesses understood.

During the 1990's, a shift from seeing child abuse in purely medico-psychological terms toward a more socio-legal perspective placed increased emphasis on risk assessment. To Parton (1996), this orientation effectively became a blaming system, with its primary purpose to establish who is accountable for a given incident.

In the emotive atmosphere of a child abuse investigation, it is possible to base a child protection assessment based on what Berg described as a bleak "laundry list of all the things that are wrong with the client " (Berg, 1994, p17).

Commentators recognise that the family's sense of its own capacities and capabilities can be undermined by a steady stream of professionals focusing on what is wrong. (see Ban, 1992; Imber-black, 1988; Pugh & De Ath, 1985). Among many others, Cleaver and Freeman (1995) suggested that service recipients do not want to be treated as "another job lot". George Thomas (1995) argued that, by this process, professionals overlook "95% of the behaviour that may fall within broad definitions of ordinary competency and social acceptability while concentrating all the attention on the 5% identified to be problematic".

2.2.3 Engagement
Child abuse and neglect investigations, which are essentially crisis work, absorb the bulk of social work resources. Workers find themselves in the position of doing more judging than helping, more investigation that relationship building, more following rules and protocols than creative intervention and risk taking.

Parents who feel unable to trust professionals find it difficult to engage with any formal support system, even though they recognise the need for some help. Weakland & Jordon (1990) and MacKinnon (1992), also Ryburn & Atherton (1996) found that a positive relationship was more likely to develop when parents understood that the worker's focus was to collaborate with, rather than oppose, them in the care of the child.

Studies convey the message that service recipients have a very accurate perception of whether the professional has a genuine interest in their views, as discussed by McCallum (1995). "Conveyance of compassion, commitment and concern, along with respect, are regarded by parents as indicative of whether or not a worker can be trusted. This is facilitated by the skill of listening, careful use of self disclosure, and by workers being non-judgmental in regard to the family and its needs." (McCallum, 1995, p.4).

Parents believed that if they were identified as "abusing" during the initial stages of contact with an agency it was difficult, if not impossible, to get workers to see them as capable parents later on. Thoburn, Lewis & Shemmings (1995) reported parents complaining " they (the professionals) had made up their minds before we came in; they weren't listening" (1995, p.223).

O'Neil and McCashen (1991) using what they call a competency based approach which involves acknowledging family strengths, reported that this holistic focus was appreciated by clients. It also demonstrated to the family that the worker had faith in their abilities to work through and resolve conflict.

2.3 Working in partnership to protect children

2.3.1 Importance of partnership
Messages from Research (1995) takes the optimistic view that a worthwhile partnership between families and professional is usually possible, even in the most serious child protection cases. Within a Family Therapy context, Sells et al.(1996) agreed that there is a close relationship between measurable therapeutic outcomes and a positive relationship between therapist and client.

There seem to be at least two important conceptual dimensions underlying the notion of partnership: that of power (or empowerment) and of role.

Corby (1987) suggests that how professionals intervene may be more important to parents than what they do. Weakland and Jordon (1990), also Fisch, Weakland, & Segal (1982), and de Shazer (1984) follow the brief therapy notion of highlighting the crucial role of building co-operative partnerships with service recipients with whom they deal, and thereby sharing the responsibility to resolve the situation.

2.3.2 Unequal partners
Families consistently describe an overall sense of powerlessness in the face of child protection processes, e.g. Farmer (1993).

A number of writers (e.g. Jones, 1993) remind us that some differences in power will always be present. For example, Turnell and Edwards (1999) report "It is amazing how frequently workers underestimate the amount of stress their intervention creates and also misjudge a service recipient's sense of powerlessness to be lack of motivation."

Turnell & Edwards (1999) follow Mackinnon and James (1992) and Lipchik (1993), in arguing for the adoption of a "both/and position", suggesting that the professional clearly yet sensitively take on the position of power and authority and, at the same time, do everything he or she can to build a co-operative relationship with the family under investigation. However, as Turnell & Edwards point out, the agency will almost always begin the relationship and necessarily defines when it will conclude. (1997, p.180)

2.3.3 Changing Approaches to Child Protection Risk
Berg (1999), writing in the preface to Signs of Safety, considers that the child welfare paradigm has been challenged by innovative thinkers and advocates who insist that a 'strength perspective' as suggested by Saleeby (1992) is adopted in place of a 'deficit' point of view towards clients.

The first impulse of most professionals is to take as much control as possible in the potentially volatile situation they face. However, in taking control, the professionals can only have a partial view of what's wrong in each case and will not have all the answers.

Berg (1994) argues that it is important to relinquish some of this control by listening carefully to the family and parents involved. The new perspective insists that solution-building (DeJong & Berg, 1998) concentrates instead on the discovery of resources, however small, as building blocks for change. (de Shazer, 1991)

2.3.4 Therapeutic Interventions in Child Abuse
Macdonald (2001) bemoans "the paucity of studies" underpinning therapeutic interventions in child abuse (p.167).
Research indicates that the adversarial nature of child protection investigation can make working in partnership difficult for statutory workers (Department of Health, 1995). Berg (1991) sees this as a 'clash of cultures', setting the 'resistive client' against the 'impartial objective social worker' (Berg 1991).

2.3.5 New Perspectives and Change
Authors such as Robinson & Whitney (1999) add their voices to a number of publications which emphasise the importance of a safe multidisciplinary framework within which uncertainty can be tolerated and therapy change work can be supported within a systemic model.

This suggests a framework within which parents can be supported whilst developing skills to meet the needs of their children. This practice is influenced by systemic ideas (Jones, 1993 and the work of the Family Based Services, Wisconsin, USA (Berg,1991), and in this respect is similar to Resolutions.

Jeffereys and Stevenson (1997, pp. 75-6) propose that "even child protection investigations can be therapeutic, and it is worth noting that they can develop a family's understanding of the issues, and offer support and education".

When cases become 'stuck' it is often necessary for professionals to consider the issues from the family members' perspective, look for resources from within the family itself and reconsider their own position regarding the family and the abusing behaviour.

Brian Corby (1999) writes in his book Managing Child Sexual Abuse Cases, also stressed in Messages from Research, that flurries of inter-agency activity at the investigation and case conference stage often fizzle out after the conference. Abused children and their family were left well and truly "conferenced", but were otherwise unaided by the child protection system. In particular, Corby notes that the quality therapeutic services for the abused children and their families were absent.

2.3.6 Change from a Collaborative Language Perspective
David Campbell's (1997) research into clients' experience of therapy revealed that there were four things which clients wanted from therapy:
Anderson and Goolishian (1988, 1992) describe therapeutic change as occurring in and through language systems which they identify as 'problem-organising' and 'problem-dis-solving' systems.

2.4 Child Protection and Family Therapy
The statutory child protection agency has a societal and legal mandate to ensure the protection and the safety of children. It is crucial that workers are committed to an anti-oppressive approach to practice that recognises issues around difference. Risk assessments are often undertaken in a context of emotional tension where the stakes for the family subjects are very high.

It is usually not difficult to conceive of or build co-operation with a voluntary client. In the child protection situation, however, not only are the clients usually involuntarily involved with the professional, but the situation is further complicated by the fact that it is often the professional and their agency that are adding to the problem for the clients.

Deacon and Gocke (1999) note that this dynamic can be "distorted by prejudice (conscious or subconscious) on the part of workers and an understandable lack of trust felt by the subjects, whose experience of oppression in society at large may be considerable." (1999, p. 123)

Family Therapy, viewing the family from a medical/therapeutic standpoint instead of a primarily social/legal one, is able to avoid some of the overtly confrontational aspects inherent in the statutory, 'social control' approach. However, this brings its own difficulties:
2.5 Research connected with Resolutions

2.5.1 Basis of practice
Resolutions practice is influenced by systemic ideas (Jones 1993) and the work of the Family Based services, Wisconsin, USA (Berg, 1991) which focuses upon support to parents and children following abuse.

In the early 1990's, studies emerged that suggested the best way of protecting children was to support the non-abusing parent (Berliner, 1991; Hooper, 1992; DoH,1995), also that children's' best interests are usually served by developing a working partnership, both with the child's parents and with significant others (DoH, 1995) based on the child protection concerns (White, Essex and O'Reilly, 1993).

Children stated that they wanted abuse to stop, yet many seemed to want to remain with their families, or wanted their alleged abuser not to leave the home permanently. In cases where children or alleged abusers had left the home temporarily, families often reunited against the wishes of professionals, who may have insufficient evidence to prevent this. (Essex, Gumbleton and Luger, 1996).

The Resolutions way of working was first used in 1993. Resolutions is described as not changing the individual, but as changing the context. It is aimed at the last two of Finkelhor's (1984) four preconditions for sexual abuse, namely:
- Overcoming external inhibitors ( I'll go to jail; I'll lose my family)
- The child's resistance (for example, telling someone)

Gumbleton (1997) undertook a study to discover whether 38 children in 17 families who had used the Resolutions services subsequently remained protected. The results indicated a low rate of continued abuse in comparison to other available research data regarding re-abuse to children.

Gumbleton's study showed a 3% to 7% re-abuse rate. This compares to statistics for the population, which places general child protection re-abuse rates as at between 23% and 30%, up to 40% in sexual abuse samples (Farmer and Owen, 1995)

Parents' experience of the service indicated that they were able to develop a co-operative relationship with the Resolutions workers in nearly all cases, and considered the relationship with the Resolutions worker to be qualitatively better than with other child protection agencies.

Some parents found some of the techniques used uncomfortable or confusing, but nearly all felt they and their children gained from the work. The perceived gains included improved parenting, greater awareness in keeping their children safe, and more openness in their couple relationship. (Gumbleton, 1997)

2.5.2 Family Group Conferences
In New Zealand, children and families legislation (1989) offered a dimension to family work that was lacking in the British equivalent: a partnership model of practice in Family Group Conferences. Themes of extended family, cultural and community groups within the Resolutions programme are recognisable within the model.

Family Group Conferences are prefaced on the assumption that families are competent to made decisions. The conference is set up so that the extended family and others who the family wishes to attend discuss concerns regarding the child's safety. (Hudson, Morris, Maxwell, and Galaway, 1996, p.3)

The conference looks to promote effective functioning within families by placing the family centre stage, focusing on their unique strengths, and enlisting them through discussion in a problem solving process. Expectations are heavily weighted towards the protective roles of family and community members, with professionals facilitating the process (Social Care North West Community Care Archive, 1998).

2.6 Support for non-abusing parents
Work carried out in Bristol in Messages from Research, found that by the end of the study most of the children who had been sexually abused were living with their 'non-abusing parent' (DoH, 1995).

The authors also found that it was frequently assumed that because the perpetrator was out of the household, the mother could protect the children without further intervention. Help was withdrawn far too quickly and difficulties and the difficulties of the children deepened.

A second Study by Sharpland et al.(1996) undertaken in Oxford, found children who were sexually abused by someone outside the close family were least likely to receive help or to have their needs met. This paper found that the service provision for children living with their non-abusing parents in the aftermath of sexual abuse is being neglected.

Children's needs in the aftermath of sexual abuse are considerably more complex and wide-ranging than simply to have the offender absent from their homes, and responsibility for meeting these needs cannot be left solely to their mother.

2.7 Assessment of risk

2.7.1 Working with denial
Deacon & Gocke (1999) write that denial is a complex phenomenon ranging from deliberate blatant lies to largely subconscious defensiveness.

The traditional and dominating view in child protection (e.g., Dale et al ., 1986; Bentovim, Elton, & Tranter,1987; Jones 1987) asserts that cases in which there is denial of responsibility are essentially unworkable and untreatable. The greatest concern to any child protection worker in this case would probably be that the cause of injuries is still unknown.

Respondents in a study by Lusk (1996) overwhelmingly took the view that denial increases risk, which in turn led to a belief that co-operation and partnership with such families would be less achievable.

Sources find as much potential for harm in the removal of children from their families, with the disadvantages that being looked after in local authority care often brings (DoH 1991, 1994), as in leaving children in the environment where serious abuse has taken place, with little or no therapeutic work being undertaken (Furniss, 1993).

Either approach fails children, especially those who have made clear and believable allegations in the hope of bringing about a process of change and protection. Child protection becomes organised around the issue of denial, and the statutory authority focuses on trying to get the parents to admit responsibility for the maltreatment. Contact becomes focused on deficits and weaknesses, rather than strengths and resources. Families become defensive, which may then be assessed as further evidence of resistance.

While denial may be evidence of a deep-seated unwillingness or inability to face reality, it may also be an understandable response to a system that primarily pursues criminal prosecution rather than therapeutic intervention.

2.8 Evaluation of interventions
Evaluations have been performed on a variety of child abuse prevention programmes. Despite the general acceptance that scientific evaluation should be an essential part of prevention programmes, very few rigorous evaluations have been done internationally (Fink and Mcloskey, 1990; Harrington and Dubowitz, 1993; James, 1994; Melton and Flood, 1994; Tomison, 1995; 1997; 1998; Chalk and King, 1998).

Similarly, little is known about which interventions are most effective with each sub- population of child abuse and neglect, because most studies do not differentiate between types of maltreatment (Whipple and Wilson, 1996). Similarly, Fink and McCloskey (1990) concluded that it was not possible to determine whether specific aspects of family functioning had improved as a result of participation (Fink & McCloskey, 1990). There is a clear requirement for specific evidence-based statements about the types of family-based interventions which are most effective with particular types of problem.

MacDonald and Roberts (1995), in their review of child abuse prevention in the United Kingdom, commented that the vast majority of interventions had not been evaluated prior to introduction, and to all intents and purposes had the status of uncontrolled experiments.

Chapter 3: Elements of the Resolutions Approach

3.1 Introduction
This chapter is a brief explanation only of the practices which are specific to the Resolutions way of working. A fuller account of the methods and bases of practice for the Resolutions approach is contained in an Appendix to this study.

The Resolutions way of working seeks to create sufficient safety to enable families to care for their children and achieves this in a number of ways, as explained in the following sections.

An assessment is usually done in three sessions, the work usually takes 10 sessions and can last four to six months. The sessions usually last between an hour and 90 minutes.

Successful communication in the family system has to be evident by the end of the Resolutions work to open up the family, in both its nuclear and wider form, to future monitoring and help, whether sought or offered.

3.2 Explanations to Children
The carers and the Resolutions worker co-create "words and pictures" for the children that will give them enough of an explanation about the child protection concerns and why their family is different to other families - it is not a detailed forensic account of the allegations. The carers and worker then explain this to the children at an age appropriate level.

3.3 Family Safety Guidelines
The Family Safety Guidelines is a document that lists in words and pictures every situation the family finds itself in, and may find itself in, when there would be a risk to the children. The principle is that the unsafe carer is not left alone with the children and the Guidelines are co-constructed by carers, children and worker. The Guidelines are drafted, then tuned to the actuality of family life, usually over four sessions.

Alleged abusers see the value in following the Family Safety Guidelines because if followed, they reduce the likelihood of new allegations being made.

While the Resolutions work goes on, the intention is for the re-organisation of family life agreed in the Family Safety Guidelines to become integrated into day-to-day lived experience and viewed by family members as dynamic, adapting to changes as the children grow up. During the span of the Resolutions work evidence is looked for of the family's ability not only to adhere to the Guidelines but also of their ability to review and adapt them over time.

3.4 The Similar But Different Family role-play
This part of the Resolutions work involves carers who co-construct with the worker a 'similar but different' family scenario, choosing names for the parents and children that are different to their own family names. Many details about the lifestyle of the 'similar but different' family may be different to those of the real one, the number of children is different, as are the ages, but the abuse will be similar enough.

In role, the carers consider the point of view and feelings of the 'similar but different' family child/victim, siblings, the abuser, the safer carer, the extended family. There is a future orientation which considers life in the 'similar but different' family in five, ten, twenty, thirty years, when the (hypothetical) carers are grandparents. By doing so, the long-term narrative of the 'similar but different' family is offered in a compressed form, providing a model for the future for the real parents.

At the end of the 'similar but different' family sessions the carers are invited (out of role) to consider any connections these four sessions may have for them in their real family and situation. Where carers are reluctant to play a role, they are often happy to talk as if they were their opposite number in the made-up family.

Chapter 4: Research Methodology

4.1 Introduction to Methodology
In my approach to the methodology of this research, I have drawn upon the writings of various authors, in particular May(1997), Ribbens and Edwards(1998), Shipman(1997), Blaxter, Hughes and Tight(1996) and Holliday(2002).

Ribbens & Edwards (1998) emphasise the power of the researcher in selecting, organising and presenting the data, regardless of the approach taken. They consider an open, relatively unstructured, approach to provide a larger 'filter' than with a more closely structured positivist framework.

Qualitative feminist methodology and a grounded theory approach recognise the influence of all participants in the research process, arguing that it is there whether we acknowledge it or not. (Parr, 1998)

It is natural to assume that one's experience of research, something at once so personal and yet (in its outcomes, anyway) so public, is unique. However, I found reassurance in the experiences of others.

I found parallels between my approach to the research and that of Parr (1998) and Mauthier (1998). Like them, my interview structure had to adapt as I became more aware of the questions I wanted to answer. "My interviewing style became looser and I learned to ask fewer questions."(Melanie Mauthier, 1998)

4.2 Ethical Considerations
'Objectivity remains the public image of research' (Shipman, 1997). In my design I have endeavoured to recognise, as Blaxter (1996) puts it, 'the nature of the agreement you have entered into with your research subjects or contacts.' (Blaxter et al, 1996)

I have considered:
- the gender and ethnicity of the Resolutions programme therapists and respondents
- the gender and ethnicity of the researcher
- contexts: the family home; the Resolutions programme venue; the interview venue
- ethical values
- roles and possibilities for personal bias

Respondents were not approached until the Local Authority had agreed. Those with the authority to give access did not have contact with me in relation to child protection practice and therefore could not 'brief' respondents beyond the very general information provided in the request for access.

I then made contact with potential interviewees by both telephone and letter, I explained my status, the nature of the research, what was asked of the respondents, and gave assurances about confidentiality and the destruction of recorded conversations. Interviews only went ahead when the respondents had agreed verbally to my request.

A letter of thanks was sent to all respondents. Some parents requested a copy of the research study once available; a summary of the research findings will be given to all the families who participated in the study, and also to the various Local Authorities concerned.

Throughout this dissertation, I refer to 'parents', instead of the wider 'parents and/or carers'. As it happens, the interviewees during the study considered themselves parents of the subject children, but the term 'parents' is intended to include 'carers'.

4.3 Choosing Participants

4.3.1 Target Population
Participants in the study were selected from families who have been involved with the Resolutions programme provided by the Child Protection Consultancy, an independent agency set up to specifically to operate the Resolutions approach on a national bases.

I did not consider sampling approaches to be appropriate for the kind of population, therefore I utilised a case study approach. There is support (Stenhouse, 1980; Shipman, 1997; Blaxter et al, 1996) for the case study approach in connection with small scale research projects such as this one.

4.3.2 Sample Group
I considered the following factors:
Eight families were approached, and seven agreed to take part in a semi-structured interview. In addition, case note information was obtained through The Child Care Consultancy files. One family refused to be included.

The families had all finished therapy between one and six months prior to being invited to participated in the interviews. All families were white British, from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. The sample subjects were both female and male.

Candidate families considered for the study also depended upon suitable cases being available, and their willingness to partake in the interviews for the study; the composition of the sample group changed in consequence. The initial expectation was that non-abusing parents, partners of alleged abusers, would be the interview subjects. As time went on, it became clear that joint interviews of parents where abuse was denied was more representative of current Resolutions cases.

I therefore altered my original question and broadened it out to include parents' experiences of the Resolutions programme, not just to that of non-abusing parents.

Table of Interviews
Interview # Category of current concern Both carers interviewed Non-abusing carer interviewed
Pilot potential for sexual abuse - yes
2 potential for sexual abuse - yes
3 potential for sexual abuse - yes
4 non-accidental injury yes -
5 non-accidental injury yes -
6 non-accidental injury yes -
7 non-accidental injury yes -


All families in the study had children under 7 years old. The first, and original, group were families in which one parent had been convicted of or had admitted abuse: interview numbers 2 and 3, which involved single interviews with mothers. These are hitherto referred to as the 'non-abusing' group.

The emergent second group of four interviews were families in which allegations of abuse was denied by both parents: interview numbers 4,5,6,7. These are hitherto referred to as the 'denying' group, and interviews were conducted with both parents being present..

I did consider contacting the fathers from the 'non-abusing' group, to see if I could interview them. I would have preferred to do this, but given time constraints and the diversity and distance of locations I decided I didn't have the time.

These changes have allowed me to make comparisons between the two samples' responses, which I will expand on in the Discussion chapter.

4.4 Plan of Investigation

4.4.1 Choice of survey method
Researchers, whatever their perspective, are routinely faced with choices about what is right or wrong in the conduct of their research on a given subject. This is the 'externalist' question of the relationship between researchers and the subjects of their research.

Having decided to use a qualitative method, I then examined the available survey methods. It became evident that the questions would be complex and the nature of the subject highly emotive which would require a rapport with the respondent, also demand the opportunity for elaboration and probing. The interviews would therefore be conducted face to face.

The risk of interviewer's bias, verbal attitude contamination, respondents' possible unrepresentativeness and other matters inherent within a face to face interview were outweighed by greater opportunities for meaning and understanding to arise.

Settings were geographically dispersed, meaning that only single interview sessions could be accommodated.

Finally, the question of a structured or unstructured interview had to be decided. The resulting interview model followed standard questions, in a fixed order, but allowed many entirely open answers which were not pre-coded.

4.4.2 Semi-structured Interview Method
The interviews took place in the parents' own home.
The interview schedule was piloted with a parent (female) from my sample, in a case to which I had previously provided independent supervision in conjunction with the Resolutions programme. This was not therefore included in the research proper, but it did yield essential information concerning receptivity, respondent's use of language, attention span, generally an insight into conducting interviews in people's own homes with all the distractions that might affect the respondent's concentration. The pilot interview led to my altering the question plan to improve clarity and completeness.

I did not interview all members of each family, but concentrated upon the parents. I had initially considered interviewing each separately to counter any effect of parents influencing each other, especially given John Gumbleton's examination of "the power dynamics in many of these families where the alleged abusers can be very dominant` (Gumbleton, 1997, p. 29).

However, all the parents' experience of contact with Social Services had been one of division, imposition of control, separation from the children and each other. This contrasted sharply with the Resolutions approach which dealt with them as a couple and encouraged them to regain control over their lives. It seemed inappropriate therefore, in this research about Resolutions, to interview each adult separately. I decided to proceed with a 'not knowing', non-judgemental approach, and to be receptive to joint as well as individual voices.

I knew I was asking a lot of these parents to revisit what were very painful, and sometimes traumatic experiences by participating in the interviews. However, the parents all responded positively to my requests to discuss their experience of Resolutions and the Child Protection Consultancy.

Data for the for the study was gathered by recording the interviews, each interview lasting from 45 minutes to over 2 hours.

Shipman (1997) cautions that people will sometimes, and particularly in the semi-formal context of an arranged interview, tell you what they think you want to hear, or grab at a suggested answer if it avoids a "don't know" response or avoids revealing their true feelings. The aim of the study is, after all, to elicit spontaneous accounts.

The semi-structured interview plan included a thematic guide, whose purpose was to give a focus to the questions, and in some respects establish the domain for the interview. "The interviewer needs an appreciation of the context and the nature of the questions, as well as the content of the replies "(May 1997, p.111).

The design for qualitative research such as this is of its nature less rigid than for a quantitative study, thus pre-specification of the design is problematic. There is an inevitable trade-off between a 'loose' design which allows for genuine but unexpected aspects of the reality under study to emerge, and the certainty that these same opportunities to modify and change focus will remain an issue during the course of the study (Robson, 1993).

The interview schedule provided some initial, closed classification questions to establish role, age, gender etc. This preamble allowed clear scene setting; to give some explanation of the purpose of the exercise, how it would be recorded and provide a guarantee of anonymity in restatement of assurances given previously by letter. I also explained that the purpose of the visit was to listen to their views and experiences. This helped in the engagement of the subjects' interest and co-operation.

Questions were then grouped around the themes arising from literature and practice. As the sample group changed composition, I had to alter the structured questions, so as to cover the role of both genders and parents who deny . As the interview schedule continued, I was able to reflect upon newly emerging themes in each discourse, feeding this back into future questions. Here, a larger study sample may help to stabilise the thematic enquiries, on the other hand my approach to the small sample group encouraged relatively free-ranging discourses within broad thematic parameters. I would contend that this was ultimately beneficial in the research.

I had considered conducting follow-up interviews with the respondents in the study, in which some of the emerging themes could be explored, but due to time constraints I decided not to pursue this. I would recommend their inclusion into any schedule for further research to allow clarification or reinforcement of previous responses.

4.5 Method of Analysis
I have looked in this study to explore a small number of instances in detail, aiming to achieve 'depth' rather than 'breadth' in my enquiry, thereby to analyse people's perceptions of interactions and events within their cultural context.(Blaxter et al, 1996). I have endeavoured to allow subjects to speak for themselves.

The study uses some grounded theory techniques explored by Strauss and Corbin (1990) in its analysis. Shipman is however, cautious about grounded theory's tendency to direct sampling through concentration upon the 'theoretically interesting' (Shipman, 1997).

Whilst an ethnography with associated content and discourse analysis may provide detailed results, I did not feel that I had the experience or the time available to conduct such a study, given the requirement for repeated interviewing, intermediate theory development, taxonomic and discourse analysis. Commentators (Sells, 1994; Muecke, 1994; Sprenkle & Moon, 1996 ) differ over the usefulness of ethnographies as initiators of theory, particularly in the context of small-scale research projects such as this one.

In choosing an appropriate method of analysis for the study data, I found Holliday's examination of thematic technique in Doing and Writing Qualitative Research both informative and timely.

Themes within my study emerged in two ways: First, in reviewing the collected data, I found that 'overt' themes emerged in the form of headings beneath which passages of conversation could be collected. Second, these themes were supplemented by others – one might say 'covert' ones - which seemed to have been growing in my mind during the interviews, yet were not necessarily referred to directly in the interview transcripts. I feel that I had become familiar with the character of the data. regardless of any formal analysis. Once revealed, however, the supporting evidence for each theme could be seen within the collected data.

Organising and refining the thematic structure of the study occupied much time. The sense of their being somewhere a definitive list of themes, each definition carefully honed, found me in sympathy with Holliday's "The phrasing of the thematic headings.....struggles to be comprehensive yet succinct" (Holliday, 2002, p.104).

Holliday reminded me, quite correctly, that the way in which I categorise data will be influenced by my background, thus unique to me, also that the whole purpose of organising the data is to serve and structure the argument in the written study.

4.6 Anti-discriminatory Practice
Song (1998) and Ribbens and Edwards (1998) acknowledge the central role of the researcher in shaping the research process. This requires recognition of the power relationships between researcher and researched. In particular, the data analysis stage can be viewed as a deeply disempowering one in which we make choices and decisions about our respondents' lives. This raises particular issues for analysis, such as how to interpret their words, and which quotations to select.

In this research, I am deeply conscious of having to tailor the results of six lengthy interviews into a finite word count. In order to allow the rich voices of my respondents to be heard, I have used directly quoted speech as much as possible, but this has imposed considerable editorial constraints upon the language I can choose.

I have tried to avoid couching the everyday language of respondents in the technical and often abstract language of the social sciences. Like Standling (1998) I ask what does this do to the voices of the research subjects, who have already undergone an experience which has left them feeling disempowered?

"The worlds we investigate are often those of the less powerful, for feminists often those of women.....we need to consider the implications of the use of language: does using words as they are, next to academic language, imply reinforced stereotypes and cultural contradiction?" Standling K (1998)

Chapter 5: Results of Semi-structured Interviews

5.1 Introduction
The findings of the research are presented in this section. I identified six main themes:
Some of these themes are further sub-divided, reflecting the range of topics discussed during the conversations with families. Responses from the interviews have been grouped thematically to present similarity and difference.

Direct quotations from the interview transcripts are included wherever possible to illustrate the discursive basis of the analysis - I wish the respondents to speak for themselves. The family are identified only by interview number. I have edited or omitted quotations where the thematic point they contain is a reiteration of another's quotation.

5.2 Presentation of Results
This section, as its title suggests, presents the results of the interviews without extensive commentary – which, I feel, is best dealt with in the Discussion chapter which follows, wherein the results can be placed in a wider context.

Considerations of space have obliged me to restrict the number of verbatim quotes in this section. This is in many ways unfortunate, because I feel that the richness and variety of the original transcripts are a better illustration of the points made than any summary I could provide.

5.2.1 Being listened to and not judged
"For the first time somebody was asking you your opinion."

All families found aspects of this theme helpful. There were no adverse comments. Families of both groups appreciated having their views listened to:
4 ( Mother) "They (Social Services) didn't listen to a bloody thing we had to say, but the Resolution worker did, he listened to you."

Families also emphasised their appreciation of a non-judgemental approach from the Resolutions worker:
5 "I think he understood more. He knew exactly what had gone on, he read the file and all the stuff we had gone through and everything, he didn't judge, he said he was going to do his work with us, and hopefully at the end of it we would be together as a family."
7 "He read the report and said to us, 'I don't know. I'll never know'. He didn't refer to the classic, 'Well, seven doctors have said…….'"

There was no significant difference in the responses given by either gender.

5.2.2 Comparisons between different professional/client relationships
Therapeutic context
The importance of the location of the Resolutions work, in the family's home, was contrasted to other contexts, such as Case Conferences and Court, by three families in the 'denying' group. They found such experiences very intimidating, "sat around this table you didn't know one person."
4 (Mother) "There were lots of different people involved, different authorities in the thing, it was just confusing, it was hard to keep up with what was going on, who was saying what."

The home context also appeared to encourage the families to find their voice:
5 "The meeting here for Resolutions were different, because you knew people. They know you and you know them."

Parents' experience of child protection professionals
The context in which the Resolutions work was started with each family, ensured that pre-existing relationships with Social Services, legal and medical professionals were a significant contextual influence. Parental attitudes to child protection professionals in general were largely hostile. Motives were attributed, such as:
4 "trying to split us up"
7 "they are all in the same system, they are just there to make money out of representing you in court."

Other comments reflected the sense of powerlessness felt by parents:
6 "(Social Services) are like a lower form of policing. They come with an idea on a sheet of paper and say that's how it going to be and that's the end of that. There's no sitting down talking about it."
4 "Nothing offered for nine months, nothing happened, no way forward, nobody helped us."
7 (Mother) "You get them coming in flashing the badge, everybody's attention is then on you, you get the hospital staff talking to the Social Worker not the parents."

Parental expectations in advance of the start of Resolutions work were generally apprehensive, the 'denying' group parents especially fearing that the worker was 'another one of them'. Typical comments were:
7 "You are suspicious of everyone. You're almost afraid to say anything because you're going to be criticised for it."
5 (Mother) "We ..... thought it was just another test, and they would just turn around saying 'You haven't done it, goodbye.'"
4 (Mother) "I thought he was sent around to really just squirm it out of us, to get one of us to make a confession."

All families in the 'denying' group felt coerced into co-operation with the Resolutions programme:
4 "We were pushed into it - we had no choice really. It was like, do this or you don't get your children back."

Engagement
Parents in all families expressed appreciation of the Resolutions worker's willingness to engage with them, even where this involved discussion of personal feelings. One couple commented:
6 (Mother) "I felt as a person that was looking into us as parents. I think he was testing out what we are like with the children. Seeing what we were like as people in his own clever way so you would be honest about it and honest about the way we were."
6 (Father) "He had a chat with me about what I'm about, checking with my partner to get a picture on me. We discussed about strictness in the house, we talked about smacking and my own experience as a child."

All families commented upon the depth of engagement, and mentioned aspects of the Resolutions worker's approach which differed from that of professionals encountered previously:
7 (Father)"...appreciated your feelings. I couldn't put my finger on it, but he just seemed to get it right."
3 (Mother) ".....seemed to boost the relationship up for me and the children" ".....you felt at home with him"
2 (Mother)".....was one person. Quite nice really to see someone on their own , and have your own people around you."
5 (Father) ".....actually spoke to me not at me"
6 "The Resolution workers' approach was 'Forget what's happened - what are we going to do to put things right'."

Independent Advocacy
The position of the Resolutions worker as an independent voice was identified by four families. They appreciated the worker's willingness to act as advocate for their point of view, and contrasted this with their own inability to be heard:
4 (Father) ".....I knew he was independent of Social Services who seemed to back off when he was here. If anything happens now, it feels like it's down to ."
3 (Mother) "I found him very helpful, he was the one who got the contact set up between my husband and the children, the Social Worker was not willing to do that over the two years."
4 (Mother) "I'd phone him up and say did we really need this, he would agree with me as well and brought it up with Social Services."
5 "The Resolutions worker gave us the opportunity that nobody else was going to give us, and because he is a trusted man they respected that, so they listened to him."
7 (Mother) "The Resolutions worker couldn't made the decisions, they'd (Social Services) have the final say, but he was the person who actually had to push them into making that decision, we couldn't do it."

Safety net for Social Services
Two families considered that Resolutions acted as a 'safety net' for Social Services:
4 (Father)"The Resolution worker came along, well he's helping them, and saying all those nice things, well he can take the blame."
7 (Father) "We used the Resolutions worker in a positive way to get our child back. Social Services used the Resolutions worker to not make the decisions but to recommend them. Then if the wheel comes off, they can say 'but you said'.....they used him to soften the blow if it all went wrong."

Gender
None of the respondents felt that the gender of the Resolutions worker (in all cases, male) made a significant difference to the effectiveness of the programme for them:
4 (Father) "I'm rather funny - I would rather talk to a female. I don't trust a lot of men sometime, but he was alright."
4 (Mother) "It didn't make a difference him being a male, we'd been lied to from both men and women."
3 (Mother) "It didn't make a difference him being a male, my first Social Worker was a female. I chucked her out every time, she didn't want me and my husband together."

Observed effects
Two 'denying' group families commented upon the change in their relationships with Social Services (in particular) following completion of the Resolutions programme:
7 "Resolutions has in some ways, helped to change the relationship with Social Services, but I still don't trust them, we are not at stalemate any more, Yes I think it changed it."
5 "I'm more relaxed with Social Services now, we can have decent conversations with them now, where as before we were just raging."

5.2.3 Parents' involvement in an achievable plan of action
The goal of living as a family
All respondents identified their desire to live with their children together as a family, as the primary reason for their agreement to participate in the Resolutions programme:
5 "We were forced to separate.....from the beginning we had always wanted to be back as a family."
3 "When you are involved in the Resolutions work you can see a light in the tunnel, you've got a chance of being back living as a family, whereas before you feel you've got no chance."
4 "The Resolutions worker.....explained the work we needed to do to enable us to get back as a family."
6 "In the beginning, he came and spoke to both of us and the rest of the family and said we can work this out, and said that eventually the children could come back. As soon as this was mentioned we felt as if we could breathe again."

Agreeing the plan
Part of the Resolutions programme involved agreeing an action plan, the end result of which would be the reunification of parents and their children. Two families had worries regarding the outcome of the programme:
5 "He knew what we could achieve 'cause he has done it with other families, but he also said we could fail, he had seen it fail, when Resolutions hasn't worked at all."
6 "He explained it was slow progress and the children would be back gradually. That seemed a bit frustrating at first, it seemed to take so long, because we had so much time apart....."

All families commented upon the importance of their involvement in the creation and agreement of the plans:
5 "When drawing up the family safety guidelines we were asked what we thought. We all had to agree, otherwise it couldn't go on."
7 (Mother) "Social Services sat there and didn't say anything, we came up with the timings along with him and their only input in the end was to say 'ok', and when it came to getting our child home, and getting us to have time to ourselves it was me who drew up the plan with him."

One parent commented specifically upon the importance of achievable goals:
7 "There was no carrot hanging over your nose all the while, it wasn't just 'dangle the carrot and they will keep going'. This was 'dangle the carrot, but when you get to here you can eat the carrot at the end'."

Progress within the plan
Families had specific comments to make on their reactions to the plan, and their progress within it. Their responses suggest that they recognised the level of personal commitment required, and the benefits to their family. From mothers in the 'non-abusing' group:
3 (Mother) "It's just sticking to the guidelines and not letting him (the father) bathe the girls, or be on his own with them at any time....."
2 (Mother) "He's (the father) got nothing to worry about now. We've always gone along with the guidelines, so he can't be accused of anything."

From parents in the 'denying' group, the comments were more general:
5 (Father) "You've got to accept the involved bit. It's easy to get involved but you have to actually prove to them and show them you are serious about it. He (the Resolutions worker)'d be able to tell if you were mucking about."
7 (Father) "It's not just about protecting the child, it's protecting yourself. There's a lot of vulnerability there. As much as we want to protect our child, what we are doing different is protecting ourselves as well."

5.2.4 Relationships within the family
Support from family and friends
Parents in the 'non-abusing' group commented upon the inclusion of family or friends in the Resolutions sessions.:
2 (Mother)"It's a lot easier to talk when family and friends are present, we are quite a close family, it probably brought us closer as a family to have them involved."
3(Mother) "My family wasn't involved in the programme, they don't like my husband. But my friend was, she found the programme very good as well, I have three good friends who help me."

The 'non-abusing' group also relied upon support from family or friends in interpreting and implementing the plan:
2 "If dad is in the room, there is always someone in the room like friends or family."

Families in the 'denying' group found the inclusion of family and friends in the Resolutions sessions to be helpful, and a positive influence.
4 (Father) "Her (the mother's) dad was the one who came, he was helpful, he could explain things to us. We didn't always understand the language used in reports and meetings."
5 ( Father) "The Resolutions worker said it was best to have family involved. I don't have family, but I have friends so we got one involved.....he just wanted those people to come in as our trusted friends so that they are there for us."

One family in the 'denying' group felt uncomfortable and unhappy about friends and neighbours knowing too much of the family's personal information. They also felt that friends were being held up as examples to them as parents.

Parents and children
All families noted the effect of restrictions on association and movement upon the relationship between parents and children, including the period up to the completion of the Resolutions programme. Some parents had undergone enforced separation from their children for extended periods. All accounts of this experience were negative :
4 (Father) "We still talk about it after all this time. Imagine, if they had not stayed at her mum's we wouldn't know our own children. We'd take them out for walks and it would be so sad."
3 (Mother) "Even when I was taken into hospital the kids had to go into care because my family wasn't willing to have them."
7 "We had no control over our children, no say over the quality of care in our child's foster placement."
6 (Father) "I had a quick little go at being a father with the boy, then he was taken away."

Relationship between parents
All parents in the 'denying' group commented on the effect of restrictions and separation upon their relationship. The majority of comments were positive:
4 "As a couple it made us stronger going through what we had been through."
5 (Father) "I can even talk to you now when things are wrong, whereas I never used to. I used to bottle it up, but now I can talk to her."

However, two families noted difficulties in living together:
5 (Mother) "We are still working at our relationship because we were separated for over a year. It's really hard to get back into the routine of family life, and there's restrictions which we didn't have before."
6 (Father) "We are still getting there now, we had a year apart..…It's a lot to take on when we have done so much to fight for the children, we hadn't noticed we had faded apart."

Mothers in the 'non-abusing' group made no direct comments about changes in the relationship with their partners.

5.2.5 Parental responses to feeling blamed
The topic of blame ran through all cases. Not all parents were directly implicated in allegations of abuse, nevertheless all had comments to make about their response to feelings of blame and guilt in themselves or others.

Focus of blame
In two families within the 'denying' group, the sense of blame among fathers was particularly strong. In one of these families, the focus of blame was discussed at some length. Abuse was denied by both parents, but the father felt much more blamed than the mother:
6 (Father) "I was just running through it, thinking did I injure the baby? Did I do it? That's what you think: well if it wasn't them, did I do it?"

Fear of losing the children again
Four parents remembered the fear that their children might again be taken into care after the family was first reunited. This was typical:
6 (Father) "Even though I got them back, I'm still afraid that some guy is going to turn up and say 'this is the law' and take them away."

One parent expressed fears that access to the children would be affected if the parents split up:
5 (Father) "They (Social Services) will make it difficult for me to see her again. It will be supervised visits again."

Still feeling under suspicion
Parents noted their continued sense of being under suspicion, particularly in the cases where abuse was not clearly established. Anxiety that they would be re-accused was evident in responses from three families in the 'denying' group, among them:
4 (Mother) "I know it sounds horrible, I think like in the future if she fell over I would be scared to take her to the local hospital and would prefer to go to another one."
5 (Father) "I felt no matter what said or what I done I was still branded as a child abuser, even now.....even though I've come through Resolutions, that is still going to be the case."

Unfinished business
All families in the 'denying' group indicated that, for them, there was an amount of unfinished business surrounding the attachment of blame. These four families also expressed a desire to establish the facts and thereby, their innocence:
6 (Father) "Even the judge thanked us for being such good parents - which in the end is heartbreaking, because why are we here if we are such good parents?"
4 (Father) "Even though we have moved forward there are things still left over. I was for going back and trying to prove them wrong individually."
5 (Father) "To be given the opportunity to prove everyone wrong."
7 (Father) "Do you know what makes it worse? They say you will forget about it, but I will never forget. They will not do this to any other family.....The anger is still there."

5.2.6 Parental attitudes to aspects of the Resolutions Programme
Confidence as parents and people
After completion of the programme, one 'non-abusing' and three 'denying' group families reported improved relationships with professionals, or at least less intense involvement:
2 (Mother) "(I feel) Less blamed I suppose. Once we started opening up.....Social Services seemed to open up, they sort of not came down to our level, but we started to get on a lot better."

One 'non-abusing' parent and three parents from 'denying' group families felt more confident as parents. Yet one 'denying' group parent felt particularly unconfident after separation from his daughter:
5 (Father) "I'm not when it comes to the parenting, no. 'Cause she was three months (old) when I last looked after her, all this is new. I didn't know my own daughter."

Five parents considered themselves more confident personally. This comment was typical: 2 (Mother) "You've got to be more stronger than what I was, I was far too soft in the beginning. I would let people walk all over me. But now I got to stand on my own two feet, and be strong for the children." Awareness of the need to protect
8/10 parents noted an enhanced awareness of the need to protect their children, and improved understanding of the danger signs:
2 (Mother) "About how offenders work, how slyly they work.....how offenders work, what to look out for, and how to protect the children."

One 'denying' group family felt they learnt little new from the programme.

Responsibility for protecting
Both 'non-abusing' and 'denying' group parents were clear about their responsibility to protect children:
2 (Mother) "That's what I'm here for, to protect her, stopping any harm coming to her."
5 (Mother) " did say it was going to be on my shoulders, and I accepted that......They know we are very strong, and I'm very strong, and want my family together."

Similar but different
The 'Similar but Different' family sessions were found helpful for the 'non-abusing' and two of the 'denying' families. Of the remaining families, one gave it cautious acceptance and one other saw no relevance in it. All found the work challenging, thought-provoking and sometimes difficult. One 'denying' group family said about the exercises:
5 (Mother) "With a different but similar family, which is where we made up a totally different family, a different scenario and they were getting hurt, and trying to work out how they could work that out, but they could be the same as us - that was difficult and funny.....we even had a giggle. I know it was serious, making up names etc."

One 'denying' family found it hard to separate the 'pretend' family from their own, but nevertheless found value in the exercise:
6 (Mother) "I was really anti. I felt then that was the only time they were sort of, not trying to catch you out, but seeing what you would be like if you had abused....."
but:-
6 (Father) "It was hard to sit back and think, right, now I've got to be somebody else - but when I did I then could see how other people would look at me....."

One family could see no value in the exercises:
4 (Father) ".....that role play stuff. What was the point in that?"
This family found more relevance in the parenting classes they attended after Resolutions had finished.

Family Safety Guidelines
'Non-abusing' group mothers felt that the guidelines had benefited both their male partners and themselves by providing a framework in which they could demonstrate child protection awareness to themselves and Social Services.

'Denying' group fathers noted the restrictions bore more heavily on mothers:
5 (Father) ".....because I can just go out and do what I want, I can go out without the same restriction."

5/6 families found the Family Safety Guidelines beneficial:
7 (Father) "It's not just about protecting the child, it's protecting yourself. There's a lot of vulnerability there."

One family were unconvinced. To them, the guidelines were 'silly drawings' which they felt criticised their parenting.

Overall satisfaction with the Resolutions programme
5/6 families expressed confidence in the Resolutions work.
"I have got trust in the work.....it's put us back as a family."

One parent mentioned the Resolutions worker's inclusion of her children in explanations of what was going on, as a positive step towards their protection.

One 'denying' group family felt the Resolutions programme had little relevance to them, and felt they had received little benefit from it. This family would recommend the program, but only 'if you'd done it'.

Two families in the 'denying' group indicated that they were considering the possibility of legal action concerning the removal of their children.

One 'denying' group family expressed the view that, although unhappy, they did not wish to 'stir things up again' and were just happy to be a family again.

Another 'denying' group family wished for longer involvement of Resolutions work, perhaps taking the form of a periodic review: "Someone to help you overcome the barriers between yourselves and Social Services."

Chapter 6: Discussion

6.1 Objectives
The study set out to explore three areas of question:
  • How effective the Resolutions programme had been in engaging with parents and working to form a partnership that enables the family to move forward from a 'stuck' position.
  • What were parents' experiences of participating in the programme.
  • What aspects of the therapeutic process may have moved the cases from being 'stuck' to where parents were constructively engaged and involved in solutions sought for their family.
6.2 Discussion of Results

6.2.1 Effectiveness of Resolutions programme
The respondents included in this study were overwhelmingly of the view that the involvement of the Resolutions programme had been helpful to them being reunited as a family.

From the Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (DoH, 2000, page 38): 'In particular, parents ask for clear explanations, openness and honesty, and to be treated with respect and dignity.'

All parents identified the Resolutions worker as being a key component, despite some initial reservations. The worker's integrity, openness and directness was liked and respected in all cases, even by the one family where the programme itself was not felt to be relevant.

Primary themes running through the study, are:
- Resolutions seems to strengthen and co-ordinate the members of the support network;
- Communication is enabled within families, and between family and professional;
- Parents say they are more informed about the nature of the problems faced and ways of supporting more effectively;
- Parents have described that the burden of care is spread, although not in totality.

In the cases under study, initiation of Resolutions therapy has been by order of the Court, usually following reference by legal representatives, Guardians ad Litem or Social Workers. Abu Baker (1999) found that 'many court-ordered clients assume that the therapist to whom they are referred is employed by the state, and (the therapist) will have a pre-determined agenda regarding the client's problem.'
This assumption was indeed made by many of the parents. Improving the flow of introductory information about the Resolutions programme to parents would go some way to allaying their fears.

Abu Baker considers that when the legal system intervenes, the roles and intentions of helping professionals are poorly understood. He argues that work with court-ordered clients requires a different approach from that with self-referred ones. This approach should be a facilitative one, seeing the therapist as 'bridge-builders between themselves, their clients, and the social agency', as well as collaborating with and 'providing educational information to the referring agency' in the role of a consultant. The incumbent agencies quite reasonably expect any incoming professional to be expert enough to give them confidence to take premeditated risks with the family.

All parents identified the Resolutions worker's ability to mediate as an independent agent between them and Social Services as being very important: someone that other professionals would listen to, and who could represent their views. They identified the Resolutions worker as providing the 'both-and' role of facilitator and consultant.

All parents recognised an obligation to adhere to the Family Safety Guidelines; deviation would not be worth the risk to the children or their efforts to rebuild their family. There was a corresponding sense that the Guidelines provided some protection for parents as well as children.

Court-ordered Family Therapy raises ethical and political questions about social control (Abu Baker, 1999, citing Imber-Black, 1988; O'Hare, 1996; Pinder-hughes, 1986). Parents in the studied families commented upon the extent of authoritative control to which they were subject prior to the start of the Resolutions programme.

The increased amount of control over their lives following the intervention of Resolutions workers was commented upon by all parents. Those who had very strict Family Safety Guidelines may have considered themselves still under considerable control, though with some influence over outcomes. Even those without such restriction recognised the amount of residual suspicion about their actions.

All families completed the programme, and were reunited with their children. This represented a significant step in the relationship between the parents and Social Services. For some, Care Orders remained in force; for others, children were removed from the Child Protection Register and Care Orders reduced to Supervision Orders. The Family Safety Guidelines remained in operation in five out of six families.

The children of one family were taken back into care some time after my interview with the non-abusing mother, due to abuse committed by a person known to the family. Disclosure of this by the children can in part be attributed to the preventative work undertaken with them during the Resolutions programme. I think it is significant to note that the family had had to move a significant distance away from their local support network of family and friends following the original abuse allegations. This situation has a parallel in observations by Gumbleton (1997).

One couple would have preferred further involvement with Resolutions as a way of providing continuing mediation between them and Social Services, and even paid for an additional review from the Child Protection Consultancy after the Resolutions programme itself had finished.

6.2.2 Parents' experience of participation
Most parents spoke about the pain and bewilderment of their experience before Resolutions came along.

The most intense feelings seemed to be expressed by the parents whose children's custody care had been questioned. I had not anticipated that this would come out of the interview, and these accounts were unsolicited.

Maybe these parents had reached a point where they had a need and desire for their voice to be heard in relation to this particular period time in their lives, and were given the opportunity to do this within the format of the interview, in the confines of their home. Clearly these experiences had been very painful, a major impact on their lives as parents, and the effects were continuing.

I was at times surprised at the way these experiences tumbled out with no prompting. I was conscious of the contradiction between the unfamiliar role of researcher and that of family therapist, and wonder how I might have responded differently.

In cases that are bogged down, both family and professionals are usually stuck in a cycle of repeatedly doing something that is not working. Resolutions seeks to recognise that progress can still be made without acknowledgement of responsibility.

From my own experience, it is easy for workers to underestimate the amount of stress their intervention creates, and also misjudge a service recipient's sense of powerlessness to be lack of motivation.

Some parents had been left with the effects of the power of the professional system, and still felt that they were forced to admit some culpability in order to have any chance of their children being returned to them. Being in the Resolutions programme gave them an opportunity to get back as a family and to prove to other professionals that they could be trusted to parents their children responsibly.

These families found the Resolutions programme useful, as a context wherein they felt safe enough to explore difficult issues, without further threat. It was however unhelpful in one sense, because they were still not able to prove their innocence.

For three 'denying' group families in particular, the experience left them continuing to feel angry and still vulnerable. These families discussed levels of emotional trauma left over even after the Resolutions programme had finished. These had not been undiminished by being involved in the programme. I draw parallels here with the findings of Elaine Farmer(1996), who found that, even after reunification with their children, unresolved feelings and issues were likely to re-emerge for children and parents:
"Parents' self-confidence was still at a low ebb as a result of the children's removal. Committal to care had often seemed final and irreversible and had led to profound feelings of loss."

Parents who were separated from their children with restricted access, described some of the difficulties that were attendant on reunion. Three 'denying' group fathers described the difficulties of trying to fit naturally into their child's routine:
"It's like we have to learn to live with each other all over again"

One benefit which was widely acknowledged among the sample group was the sense of movement, as opposed to the stalemate and stagnation experienced in each case before the Resolutions programme commenced. This led some parents to question why the cases had become so 'stuck' in the first place; the more so because the attitude of professionals, Social Services in particular, changed markedly towards them during the course of the programme and after.

There was other evidence of increased parental confidence. Parents reported that they entered into the Resolutions programme with some scepticism, seeing it as 'just another assessment'; one family were told that the Resolution worker was a psychiatrist. Once in, however, they felt 'listened to' for the first time, and some relished the opportunity to participate in the sessions. They found that their opinions were given value, they appreciated the efforts of the Resolutions worker as facilitator, allowing each to have their say and allowing the parents to feel less marginalised in the discussions about themselves and their families.

Some sessions were conducted with the parents alone, others introduced a mix of family and friends present, also other professionals.
"It actually makes you talk about it to each other. It made us talk about difficult things, open up and be more honest."
This did not suit everyone. Two people felt awkward and embarrassed to disclose personal details in front of friends and strangers. One father in particular felt the accusing finger pointed at him.

One family suggested that Resolutions be offered earlier on in the process when stalemate becomes apparent: "When do the assessments stop?" . Others mention being mandated to participate in the programme as the only way to get their children back.

One 'denying' group couple felt compelled to do the programme as the only way of getting back to being a family, but thought the Resolutions approach itself was irrelevant to them. Other parents who denied abuse, considered that things would have been easier if they had simply admitted culpability.

6.2.3 Parents' views on aspects of the therapeutic process
The Resolutions sessions took place in the family home for all but one family. This allowed family and friends in to the discussions, thereby drawing together the support network. Parents found this generally beneficial.

Parents regarded their involvement in the formulation of plans which affected their lives, to be an opportunity which most felt had been previously denied to them. The plans themselves were felt to be finite, structured and achievable. There were no negative comments about the plans themselves, and all families completed them – if only to get their children back. Direct contribution towards setting clear tasks, with identifiable milestones, in a specified timescale and with a desirable goal was appreciated by five of the six families – the one exception being the parents who felt that the programme had no relevance for them.

Relationships in child protection cases can, by their very nature, be intensely personal. The affected parents will inevitably have a view, often a strong one. The Resolutions worker's ability to mediate with Social Services on behalf of parents was widely appreciated, as was the feeling that the family had an advocate when difficulties arose. Two families commented upon the way in which Social Workers accepted the Resolutions worker's recommendations. Others commented, however, that they felt this acceptance could be a convenient get-out for Social Services 'if it all went wrong.'

Four families commented that the two-weekly schedule of sessions was 'about right', as was the number of sessions. This seemed to give them time to reflect, to react, ask questions, and prepare for the next session while maintaining sufficient momentum to retain their interest and engagement.

Reactions to the 'similar but different' family scenarios were generally very positive. Three 'denying' group parents did not like the sessions; two felt they had no relevance to their needs, and one mother felt that it was the first time she had felt blamed. Her partner, however, remarked that the sessions had given him a useful insight into how others might view him.

The experience of practice and of this research confirms that, even after initial difficulties, the prospect of working in partnership with one or more family members may not be lost for ever., and such a partnership will have long-term beneficial outcomes for the child and family. The desirability of working with family members, however, must not override the importance of ensuring that children are safe.

A child protection approach can help to defuse the family versus professional stand-off in cases of denial of responsibility. Families are reluctant to engage in the process of thinking through the implications of rebuilding, if the professionals with whom they have to work are perceived as resistant to the possibility of change.

The Family Safety Guidelines are an attempt to organise family and professionals' thinking around safety, specifically around building sufficient safety for the child to remain in or return to their family home. They acknowledge that admission of culpability is not the only avenue through which progress can be made. Parents also have felt that adherence to the guidelines provided protection for them as well as the children.

It seemed that only two families reached a level of confidence with their Social Worker that was comparable with their relationship to the Resolutions worker. If things had been done differently, could the relationship between Social Services and clients be like Resolutions workers and clients?

Perhaps the independence of Resolutions workers assists this. It appears to me that once the Resolutions work is complete, that the parents' relationship to and sense of partnership with Social Services is changed. However, most parents still expressed mistrust and fear of Social Services, even after the children were returned.

6.2.4 Other Considerations
Resolutions work may place additional burdens and responsibilities on the non-abusing parent, usually the mother. There is substance in this view, but without committing to the expectations and constraints placed by the programme, any hopes of reunification of the family may not be fulfilled.

The converse is that, without the work, parents may separate and the non-abusing parent is left with the full care and responsibility of the children (albeit without the possible worry of the alleged abuser in the home). This is mentioned by Gumbleton (1997) and was echoed by the non-abusing mothers in this study. However, what also emerged here was how essential is the support network of friends and family. When the parent needs support - to go out without the child, or go into hospital - they are having to face difficult choices of 'how can I do this? There no one is there to help me. Who can I go to, who will give their unquestioning assistance?'

Without this support, there are very few options available to the parent , a situation which happened in one sample where the children had to go into foster care for the duration of the parent's stay in hospital.

Parents in the 'denying' group similarly felt responsible for maintaining the protection of their children, although it was the fathers who felt they were the ones under suspicion.

Evidence-based practice indicates an approach to decision-making which is transparent, accountable, and based on a careful consideration of the most compelling evidence we have about the effects of particular interventions. The history of social welfare research testifies to the fact that good intentions are not enough, and helping professions have an immense capacity to do harm as well as good. Therefore, intervention in the lives of children and their families should be informed by evidence of the effects of those interventions available to us.

In a paper entitled Family Reunification with High Risk Children: Lessons From Research (Children & Youth Services Review, 1996), Elaine Farmer states:
'When we take a long-term view of what actually happens to children, we find that 87% per cent of those who are separated do eventually return to their families (Bullock et al., 1993). Separations by Local Authority Social Services Department on the decision of a Court, involved children considered to be at high risk in their families. In spite of this, at any one time, one in six such children who were originally removed on a care order are actually living back with their parents with the care order in place.'

I believe that professionals, be it in health or Social Services, who are in contact with families in these very difficult situations need to consider how they communicate and form a partnership with parents. They need to think of the context, and remember that, however the child and parents are considered in the short term, the likely long-term outcome is that the child will return to live with its parents.

Child protection is complex and it is one of the few areas where the state seeks to intervene directly in the private lives of families. A concern to protect children from serious injury or death has resulted in a primary focus of resources and endeavour on those families where the risks appear serious and immediate. Preventative work has then become a poor relation , particularly when resources are limited.

That said, it is difficult to know how parents in the study would have responded to the Resolutions programme if it had been offered before the use of statutory intervention by a Local Authority. Morrison (1991) has shown that research indicates some families and individuals are more likely to engage in treatment where a Court Order is involved. My earlier experience as a Social Worker seems to bear this out.

Although the Resolutions programme provides solutions to certain aspects of its clients' lives, and does at least provide an opportunity for these parents and children to reunite as families once again, in some cases it does not and cannot reduce the trauma and the disruption caused by the whole care proceedings process.

Another question which this research raises for me is 'Who bridges the gap once Resolutions has finished?' Parents' responses indicated that for some families, once the child was off the CP register and Care/Supervision Orders were near to completion, parents were seeing less and less of their Social Worker. Two families mentioned difficulties in rehousing, one recounting disputes between Social Services and Social Security in who should be providing grants, all this in the context of the family adjusting to reunification.

It appears after the initial flurry of continued social work support that, once the case had moved from a high priority that families were left to get on with their lives. For some that was just what they wanted, while for others facing the kind of problems mentioned above this was not so helpful.

6.2.5 Further research
Possible topics for further research suggested by this study are:
- how professionals perceive their clients' involvement with the Resolutions programme;
- effect of the Resolutions approach upon agency views of risk reduction;
- effects upon professional/client relationships

Chapter 7: Conclusion

This study set out to focus on six families' and ten parents' experience of being involved in the Resolutions programme provided by the Child Protection Consultancy. The relatively small scale of this study does not allow for generalised conclusions to be made about its effectiveness from the findings, but it does concur with earlier research (Gumbleton, 1997). The results from this study support the view that the establishment of co-operative partnerships with families is a major factor in making Resolutions work possible, and that the Resolutions workers were nearly always successful in making meaningful partnerships with parents.

The Resolutions worker has an independent professional status, whom parents realise is there to help facilitate reunification if they can co-operate and engage with the programme. The worker operates as both consultant and facilitator, thereby influencing all contexts in the therapeutic relationship.

Resolutions workers are not involved in the investigation and initiation of care proceedings. This facilitates them in maintaining a working stance independent of a system which is 'stuck'. The programme also provides a theoretical basis and approach that engages with these difficult and high risk situations, and works directly towards the reunification of the family.

The change of prognosis communicated to parents at the beginning of the Resolutions programme does seem to influence the process and the parents' responses, combined with the assurance that this has worked for other families and that the Resolutions worker has experience of working with families in similar situations to theirs.

Bibliography:

A detailed bibliography is available upon request.

Copyright © Margaret Hiles 2002.