Thesis-1993-Hallett.pdf (20.93 MB)
A case study of interagency coordination in child protection services
thesis
posted on 2010-12-03, 16:17 authored by Christine HallettThis thesis is a case study of coordination policies and practices in child protection services.
The study is an exploratory, descriptive account of the processes and outputs of interagency
coordination rather than a hypothesis-testing study or an evaluation of the outcomes of
coordination.
It is based on empirical research undertaken in two research sites in the north of England.
The principal data sources used in the research were: an analysis of the social services
departmental case records relating to a sample of 48 children on child protection registers
for physical or sexual abuse; interviews with 90 professionals (social workers, teachers,
community nurses, police officers, doctors and others), drawn from a sub-sample of the 48
cases; a questionnaire issued to those interviewed and selected others, completed by 81
respondents; and analysis of central government guidance, local interagency procedures and
other documents.
In Chapter One of the thesis, selected topics in the literature on interagency coordination
and the policy background to the study are reviewed. The research methods used and the
characteristics of the case sample and the interview and questionnaire respondents are
presented in Chapter Two. The principal research findings are presented in Chapters Three
to Eleven covering three main topics: i) interagency coordination in the key phases of a
case career (namely referral, initial investigation, medical assessment, case conferences,
child protection plans and intervention, monitoring and review) ii) an examination of local
interagency procedures and the role of Area Child Protection Committees and iii) the
perceptions and experiences of respondents concerning interagency work.
The thesis concludes that there is a high degree of routinised coordination with a relatively
clear division of labour in child protection services; that coordination involves principally
the exchange of information, arranging for the sequential and separate performance of key
tasks and some limited shared decision-making but that there is little joint hands-on
collaboration; that interagency activity peaks in the early phases of the construction of a
case and diminishes thereafter; that the implementation of policy guidance may be seen as relatively successful and that there is some support for the idea that interagency
coordination strategies tend towards conservatism.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies
Publisher
© Christine HallettPublication date
1993Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.387024Language
- en