About the Book
"How Nurture Protects Children" is a series of reflections about important and contemporary issues in the public care and education of children, young people and their families. The book is not intended to be an academic text or a summary of research projects as its main strength is in using practice based experiences and observations from work with children, young people and their families. These experiences are encapsulated in two case studies which illustrate in narrative form the key ideas and main themes of the book. However, the book does make reference to research material and other relevant texts in an attempt to balance personal reflections and experiences with evidence from published and current research. In social care, education, youth justice and health services, professional activity has been dominated by policy directives that require copious forms to be completed and filed, boxes to be ticked, targets to be achieved and reports to be written, the latter usually in a formulaic style that prescribes their conclusions.
Short term outcomes are the order of the day and the demand is for 'focused' pieces of work that can be 'written off' and added to the list of jobs done and performance measures achieved. In practice this has brought about a series of 'unintended consequences' most dramatically in a number of high profile human tragedies, which are routinely followed by enquiries, reports and knee jerk policy reactions resulting in 'more of the same'. Social workers, who, after these enquiries and reports, are supposedly more aware of risk and the factors that indicate a family is having problems or a child is being abused, appear to have less understanding of the significance of what they are seeing or being told and are ill equipped to ask the right questions and think about the answers. The book is partly a critique of this culture where control prevails over welfare, regulation over professional judgement and protocol over process. The argument is that rather than making children safer the dominating principles of current policy have serious implications for organisations, direct practice and training and have actually served to make children more at risk.
However, the book is also an attempt to describe an alternative way of thinking about the nature of work with children, young people and their families. In this model, the development of positive relationships is at the forefront of policy and practice and the education and training of professional workers is shaped by an emphasis on child development and the profound significance of attachment and nurture. A key aim is to show that if practice in both social care and education settings is based on ideas from attachment theory and the principles of nurture then it is more likely to be effective in protecting vulnerable children, young people and their families. All changes in practice have to be supported by systems (policy) and organisations that understand the nature of the work and are configured in such a way as to sustain and support the task, which is why organisational and training questions, as well as issues from direct practice, are addressed in the book. One of the consequences of this prevailing professional culture is the devaluing of the use of professional judgement and imposed limitations on the capacity to think.
As a result there is a generation of professionals in social work, teaching and other related areas of practice who, although they may know about ideas such as attachment and of the critical significance of relationships, do not work within systems and for organisations that provide the essential sustaining support required for these approaches. How we speak about the work that we do with children, young people and families reflects the framework of thinking that informs practice. The book attempts to connect ideas from attachment theory and narrative forms in order to show how in practice it is important to listen to a whole story and to permit that story to be told in a way that allows different voices to emerge; everyone's story is relevant and different points of view enrich the overall understanding of what are usually complex and rapidly changing circumstances. This is particularly relevant for work with children who may be at risk of harm and for ensuring proper and clear communication between all professionals involved in their care.
Table of Contents:
Introduction Is it me?; This chapter summarises the main themes of the book with examples a range of professional settings. The current professional culture is critically examined and an outline of alternative approaches and ways of thinking are set out.; Chapter 1 Knowledge, experience and thinking; This chapter examines what is meant by 'evidence based' approaches to practice and offers a different model for evaluation based on the use of narrative. It critically examines the way in which the current design of programmes for training teachers, social workers and other workers with children, young people and families restricts the development of professional judgement and an in-depth understanding of the dynamics involved in working with troubled and delinquent people.; Chapter 2 Mind the gap; The gap explored in this chapter is the one that emerges all too often as professionals attempt to engage with the daily life experiences of ordinary people. The declared priorities of those who create the policy framework for practitioners are set out in terms of targets and performance indicators or measures. The straitjackets that this thinking imposes on service delivery creates a professional persona of competence and authority that emphasises control and compliance leading to risk aversive decision making and sterility in interpersonal relationships. Relational models of human services are most successful in building the necessary bridges across the identified gaps. These models prioritise trust, understanding and the common elements of human experience, whilst not being collusive or avoiding difficult issues. They have to be supported by robust management and highly skilled supervision; Chapter 3 Teaching self-esteem?; Paradoxically, alongside the strong policy lines for regulation and imposed standards emanating from central government there is another policy line to do with emotional awareness and well-being. This arises from a growing recognition of serious problems in child and adolescent mental health, with large numbers of children having reported mental health issues; In practice this creates a conflict of agendas that managers in all services have to balance; that of prioritising performance and achievement over the creation of a more nurturing environment; Chapter 4 'Growth Not Pathology'; Nurture Groups provide the outstanding model for offering children and young people a set of experiences to improve their self-esteem and build up resilience. With a sound theoretical base drawn from ideas about attachment and the new findings of neuro-science, research shows how nurture groups are an effective and inclusive intervention for engaging the most vulnerable and troubled children and young people; Chapter 5 What do you do when there Is nothing you can do?; Crucial elements of the work done by social care staff and foster carers take them into personal space of vulnerable children and young people. The key daily routines which provide the stability and containment for traumatised children in a residential or fostering setting involve adults entering bedrooms to wake children or to settle them at night as well as helping with intimate personal tasks such as washing and bathing. There is a widespread culture of risk aversion; foster carers are advised to tell bedtime stories via a baby alarm intercom or to keep a pillow between them and a child who is seeking a cuddle whilst teachers are instructed not to have physical contact with a child who is in distress. Such thinking is potentially dangerous for adults and fails the children who so desperately need the security of adult contact. Risk and Fear, what is their origin and how can they be managed so that both children and adults feel safe and secure? What do they mean for foster carers who have to provide public care in the private space of their own home?; Chapter 6 Why tell stories?; The capacity to tell stories is one of the distinguishing features of human beings. People recall their lives in narrative forms and remember significant events as a story to tell. Using narrative allows different voices to emerge; everyone's story is relevant and different points of view enrich the overall understanding of what are usually complex and rapidly changing circumstances; The two 'case studies' which follow attempt to bridge the gap between professional writing, using knowledge and experience arising from practice and the narrative discourse of people telling their story.
About the Author :
How Nurture Protects Children is written from Jim Rose's unique perspective of professional experience that has come from over 30 years of involvement as a practitioner, senior manager and professional advisor in community youth and family work; residential care and secure units; young offender prisons; schools and alternative education; fostering services and mental health provision. From 1998 - 2001 Jim Rose was Professional Adviser to HM Prison Service on the placement and management of young people sentenced to long-term custody for serious offences and also advised on the development of facilities for juveniles in the prison estate. From January 2004 - December 2008 Jim was employed as Executive Director by The Nurture Group Network, leading the organisation through a period of considerable change and growth, pursuing its aims of promoting and supporting nurture groups in schools across the UK and overseas. Jim currently chairs three Fostering Panels for an independent fostering agency and has an interest in the training and support of foster carers.
Review :
"How Nurture Protects Children is an impassioned plea for a return to the core values of social work with children. Rose makes a persuasive case for the central importance of practitioner discretion, the need for sustained and trusting relationships with children and the value of having a clear sense of the child's narrative. He also raises fundamental questions about the value of regulation and quality assurance. Based on the author's work with the impressive Nurture Group Network, the book advocates a better understanding of the principles of attachment theory to inform our planning for children. It's certainly refreshing to read an analysis that places the nurture of each individual child above performance indicators. His message chimes well with the recent focus on the role of the practitioner, as well as the moves to boost the confidence and competence of social workers by setting up a national college. This is an important and timely contribution to a debate that the profession needs to have." * Reviewed by Nick Dunster, central England director, British Association for Adoption & Fostering Children & Young People Now 11 May 2010 "I would strongly commend reading this insightful book to harassed but reflective practitioners, influential policy makers, concerned foster carers and all who would wish to see our fractured society more human for the hurt and healer. The central tenet of this excellent challenging book is that we are not isolated, automated individuals but can be discerning, reflective, creative, trusting people who are dependent on one another and whose fulfilment and effectiveness lies in the quality of our nurturing relationships with each other but particularly those who are most fragile within our communities. Jim is to be applauded for the clarity of his thinking and his passionate desire to influence policy and practice by driving forward the nurturing principle." * Reviewed by John Healey, Head Teacher, Our Lady and St. Michael's School, Abergavenny Nurture Group News Summer 2010 "Jim Rose explains by use of case studies and personal experiences how nurture leans towards a child rather than away. He makes a stand for continuity in care and expresses the opinion that during school years in particular, children need to feel nourished, both physically and emotionally. It is a known fact that children who are in the care system for any length of time are liable to re-homing and in some instances this can happen in excess of twenty times. Jim Rose underscores the impact that foster carers can have on individual children. He acknowledges that the majority do excellent work and part of that is to encourage the child to make a positive relationship with the foster family so that the next move either to an adoptive family or to another foster home will become easier. This is a salutary book and one which I would recommend to all potential foster carers." * Reviewed by Valerie Jackson ChildrenWebMag Thursday, July 1st, 2010"
