2. Since the 1980’s Ulrich Beck has argued that postmodern society has
become increasingly preoccupied with RISK. In his book ‘The Risk
Society’ (1992), Beck outlines the features of this obsession with risk:
Risks to health; risks to safety; risks to the environment.
Hence, we seek to establish circumstances of ZERO risk, and with it
predictabilities of OUTCOMES.
Frank Furedi adds to this risk discourse proposing that society is now
engulfed in a ‘Culture of Fear’ (1997), and this fear serves hegemonic
and control purposes.
3. “What are we going
to ‘do’ with all this
Uncertainty?”
Rationalize it?
4. One response to the problem (of risk) has
been the development of a range of risk-assessment
tools, some of which aim to
incorporate a predictive element (Browne
and Saqui, 2002).
But, given that human beings are poor at
gauging probabilities, Munro (2007) suggests
that we should not expect child protection
workers to be ‘fortune tellers’.
(Daniel, 2010:234)
5. “When we talk about a 'risk factor',
we mean something that makes an
experience likely to damage the
individual, or something which is
statistically predictive of a poor
outcome”. (Meadows :2009:232)
6. A classic study of
London boys by
West (1982)
identified five 'key'
risk factors:
(Meadows 2009:278)
Having below
average intelligence.
Coming from
a low-income
family
Having parents whom
social workers considered
to be inadequate parents;
Coming from a
large-sized family
Having a parent
with a criminal
record.
Subsequent research has
identified other features of
children’s lives deemed to
constitute ‘Risk Factors’
E.g.. Beinart et al 2002
7. • Intervention into the privacy of family life is
legitimated by legislation that is based upon
the premise that children are vulnerable,
• That we cannot take it for granted
that parents will always offer the appropriate
protection
• That they may, on occasion, actively
harm their children.
(Daniel 2010:231)
8. Child Factors
Browne & Herbert 1997
Fail to meet
Parental
expectations
Born at ‘wrong time’
i.e. in middle of drug
habit
Due to parental
Break up
Child is a result of
forced or commercial
sex
Source: RCPCH.org 2007
Child is considered to
be ‘wrong gender’
Child is premature or
illness affects
attachment/bonding
Child has physical or
learning disabilities
Child has physical or
learning disabilities Child has behavioural
problems or ‘difficult’
temperament
11. The current ‘child protection’ system in the UK,,
developed through the 1980s and 1990s. It
shifted from one shaped by a
‘sociomedical’
discourse in which abuse was ‘diagnosed’ and
therapeutic support was offered, towards a
‘socio-legal’ discourse with an emphasis
upon the need for a statutory basis for
intervention in family life and a forensic
approach to the ‘investigation’ of allegations of
abuse and neglect (Parton, 2008 cited in Daniel 2010:232).
12. The appeal of this risk factor
perspective is, according to John
Pitts, fairly clear:
“In a time when politicians are
unwilling to countenance robust social
and economic intervention to counter
social problems, and eager to
demonstrate that they are ‘tough on
crime’, an analysis which identifies
poor child-rearing practices and weak
parental control as the fundamental
problem, and a strategy which targets
families and classroom regimes and
their capacity to inculcate self-control
in unruly and disruptive children … is a
political Godsend”. (Cited in Armstrong 2006:273)
13. UK government policy on young people and problem
behaviour is heavily focused around notions of risk,
early intervention and prevention. Some policies are
aimed at the reduction of problem
behaviour and future crime… Others, such as
Sure Start, are aimed more generally at providing
children and families with support that will enhance
future opportunities.
(Armstrong 2006:266)
14. Parton’s (2007, 2008) analysis of
New Labour’s children’s policies
includes a shift in language from
‘child protection’ to ‘safeguarding’
shifting focus to unmet need,
which is an increasingly wide
range of adversities it is
considered that the state should be
concerned about. (Daniel 2010:233)
A more recent
phenomenon is the
re-defining and
broadening of the
‘child protection’
system to become
generalised under the
umbrella of ‘unmet
needs’ (DoH, 2000;
DFES, 2004).
15. The search for risk factors which can
be identified as precursors of future
problem behaviour is a well
established, if problematic, tradition
in epidemiology (Susser,1998) and
criminology (Farrington, 1994, 1995;
Farrington et al., 1996)”. (Armstrong 2006:267
16. The expansion of research and child welfare
policy is inextricably linked to the view that
children are inherently
vulnerable:
‘Normal’ human development requires a
considerable investment of time and effort by
older humans.
17. Conclusion
• Children are generally considered to be more ‘at risk’ than adults
based on notions of their inherent vulnerability.
• Advocates of the ‘social constructionist’ approach to childhood
contest that this ‘vulnerability’ perspective minimises children’s
agency.
• Policy and practice development has been influenced over the past
20 years by an actuarial and rationalistic approach in attempting to
control and minimalize ‘risk’.
• It is proposed that the identification of multiple and compounding
risk factors can predict future enduring problems in later life.
• Although research regarding ‘risk factors’ and ‘outcomes’ might
inform accurate assessment and interventions into families with
‘unmet needs’ or that pose risks to children, on the other hand this
approach may be considered political; placing blame and
responsibility upon parents rather than assisting and paradoxically
‘interfering unnecessarily into the lives of children.
• Question: what is the relationship between ‘risk’, ‘prevention’,
‘resilience’?
18. References
• Armstrong, 2006, Becoming criminal: the cultural politics of
risk.
• Beck, 1992, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity.
• Daniel, 2010, Concepts of Adversity, Risk, Vulnerability and
Resilience: A Discussion in the Context of the ‘Child Protection
System’.
• Furedi, 1997, Culture of Fear.
• Meadows,2009, The Child as Social Person.
