This document summarizes a presentation on parenting risk, capacity, and change from new perspectives. It discusses viewing risk factors as insufficient but non-redundant parts of conditions, and understanding how rather than just what. It also discusses seeing relationships like parent-child from a systems perspective by focusing and refocusing on different patterns. The document then covers assessing parenting capacity and skills, and using a functional model to formulate intervention plans by considering capacity, skills, mediating processes, and time. The goal is to integrate these factors to encourage change in parenting for the future well-being of the child. Research on validating the functional model and developing intervention guidelines in the Portuguese context is ongoing.

1. Parenting: risk, capacity, and change
under new lenses
Dora Pereira & Madalena Alarcão
Edinburgh, 14.04.2015
BASPCAN Congress 2015
Associação de Amigos da Criança e da Família

2. Risk

3. Thinking systemically….
• Risk factors as an INUS condition (insufficient but non-
redundant part of a condition that is itself unnecessary but sufficient for
the result): not sufficient or necessary conditions for
maltreatment to occur (Munro, Taylor & Bradbury-
Jones, 2014)
• “The whole INUS pie is the ‘sufficient condition’.”
(Munro, Taylor & Bradbury-Jones, 2014, p. 68)
• So, it’s necessary to understand the how, and not just
look for the what

4. Kozlowska & Hanney, 2002
“(…) the dyad can be understood as a distinct pattern which nests within another distinct
pattern, the triad, which in turn nests within the distinct pattern, the family. The connections
between the individual parts occur in the form of a network. One can view each pattern from
the perspective of a "whole" (e.g., the dyad) or from the perspective of a "part" (the dyad as
part of the family). However, the lens can never be focused on the pattern of the dyad and the
pattern of the family at the same time. Looking at both patterns requires the clinician to focus
and refocus the lens, moving backward and forward between patterns. The need for multiple,
coexisting explanations and models is common in the study of complex phenomena and is
fundamental to systems thinking.” (p.294).

5. Is this child safe?
Case
Referal
Risk
assessment
Parenting
capacity
assessment
Case formulation and
intervention plan
How could parenting
behaviour be improved?
Intervention
Outcomes
assessment
Protective
measures
1st order
change
2nd order
change

6. Parenting Assessment on child protection:
what, when, why?
6
Risk assessment
Parenting capacities
assessment
Main aim Child protection Change parenting behaviour
What What influences parenting
behaviour: Risk and
protective factors
How is parenting behaviour
functioning: capacity, skills
and mediating processes
When Immediatly after reporting After child protection is
assured
Time focus Present and future (short
term)
Past, present and future
(short, medium and long
term)

7. Capacity

8. Parenting Behavior Functional Model
(Pereira, 2014)
S
y
n
c
h
r
o
n
i
c
A
x
i
s
D i a c h r o n i c A x i s
Parenting
skills
Mediating
processes
Parental Capacity
Relational
modifiers
Individual Psychological
Structure
Contextual
modifiers

9. CONTEXT
1
FAMILY AND
SOCIAL
CONTEXT
CHILD
2
CHILD’S HEALTH
AND
DEVELOPMENT
PARENTS-
CHILD
RELATION
3
ATTACHMENT
4
PARENTING SKILLS
PARENTS
5
IMPULSE
CONTROL
6
RESPONSIBILITY
RECOGNITION
7
PERONAL FACTORS
THAT AFFECT
PARENTING
CAPACITY
8
SOCIAL SUPPORT
NETWORK
9
ACCESS TO
SERVICES
PARENTING
CAPACITIES
EVALUATION
GUIDE
(0-5)
9

10. Multi
Methods (direct
observation,
home visits,
interviews,
contact with
other
professionals)
Sources (parents,
child, other
family members,
professionals)
Contexts (in and
out residential
care; ex: medical
appointments)
FAMILY AND SOCIAL
CONTEXT
What are the major strenghts and weaknesses on the
different daily life areas, such as household, neighboord,
finances, employment,couple relation, imigration ?
CHILD’S HEALTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
How good is child’s health and development ?
ATTACHMENT How secure is child-mother attachment?
PARENTING SKILLS How good are the parental skills?
IMPULSE CONTROL How good are the impulse control capacity?
RESPONSIBILITY
RECOGNITION
Does the parent recognizes his/her responsibility on the
present situation?
PERSONAL FACTORS
THAT AFFECT
PARENTING CAPACITIES
How does the parent’s personal factors (such as mental
health problems, intellectual disability, substance abuse or
domestic violence) affect the parental capacities?
SOCIAL SUPPORT
NETWORK
How does the parent’ relates with his/her social network?
ACCESS TO SERVICES How is/was the parent’s relation with clinical services ?
10

11. Parenting Capacity Profile
Main Resource
Secondary Resource
Main Difficulty
Secondary DifficultyChange
Prognosis A: Encouraging
change potential
B: High risk of
becoming a chronic
situation
11

12. Main results of the exploratory validation
studies in portuguese context
• Ecological validity: 3 FG of child protection
professionals; law professionals; and
academics
– Changes in content – forces and not just
problems; classification criteria; guide structure
(user guidelines)
• Reliability: inter-rater agreement >90%
• Predictive validity: 100% -6M; 90%-12M

13. Change

14. And after assessment?
Case formulation and intervention planning
(with parents) should integrate:
– Parental capacity
– Mediating processes
– Parenting skills
– Time (past, present and future)

15. Parenting Capacity
Parenting skills
Parenting Capacity
+
+
+
+
-
-
-
-
Mediating
Processes
Mediating
Processes
Mediating
Processes
Mediating
Processes
Parenting skills
Minim. Adequate
Parenting
Social support;
Psychoterapeutic
Intervention
Parental education
New carers
- -
+
+
Psychoterapeutic
Intervention
Psychoterapeutic
Interv. and Parental
education

16. Concluding remarks
• Research about functional model and
intervention guidelines must continue
• Professionals in child protection system must
maintain a complex, flexible and critical
thought to make sound clinical judgements
• If change is a process why don’t you start it
now?

17. Thank you for tour attention!
For more information, feel free to email:
Dora Pereira | disabelp@netvisao.pt;
disabelp@gmail.com