Rehabilitating the risk paradigm

During the 1990s and early 2000s, child protection research in the English speaking jurisdictions was heavily critical of the investigative approach that was current at the time. What became known as the ‘risk paradigm’... [ view full abstract ]

During the 1990s and early 2000s, child protection research in the English speaking jurisdictions was heavily critical of the investigative approach that was current at the time. What became known as the ‘risk paradigm’ became very unpopular, particularly with academics. Policy makers, following this theme, commissioned assessment frameworks and practice guidance that encouraged workers to focus on children’s physical, emotional and psychological needs and their parents’ capacity to meet them. Early years services, family support and parenting supports were prioritized as the interventions of choice.
While fully supportive of the aforementioned developments, this presentation will argue that assessment of risk needs to form part of an evaluation of parental behavior when the circumstances of the case suggest it.

Method
This presentation will draw on a sample of case reviews where parents killed or seriously injured their children, it will take a hindsight perspective, acknowledging the convenience of looking back on a case in full knowledge of what later occurred.

Results
The thread linking these cases is that while the focus of attention was on the needs of the children concerned, and the capacity of parents to physically and emotionally nurture their children on a day to day basis, aspects of potentially dangerous parental behavior outside this sphere were not always noted and opportunities to intervene may have been missed.

Conclusion
The clear implication is that while the investigative approach to child protection is applicable to only a limited number of cases, practitioners need to be trained and competent to conduct risk assessment, and to understand the circumstances in which such assessments are required.