004: From Theory to Practice: Reflecting on Contextual Safeguarding
How do we need to change what we are doing?
Hello and welcome to another edition of Practice Reflections. The weekly newsletter for the Safeguarding CPD Community. I hope you are having a wonderful week as November is passing us by.
Each week, I share a research article I have come across. I offer my reflections as a Safeguarding professional on how the article will influence my practice. The research is Open Access meaning that it won’t cost anything to download and read. Now, I feel I need to highlight that I am not an academic nor am I a researcher. I am just a Social Worker who is offering my personal/professional reflections on the papers I read.
I want to demystify CPD for safeguarding practitioners. I want to show that it is possible to take an active interest in research and explore how it might impact my practice. That is why I am developing the Safeguarding CPD Community.
Research Spotlight
This week I have chosen to read a research paper on Contextual Safeguarding. First published in 2023, From Behaviour Based to Ecological: Multi-agency Responses to extra-familial Harm was written by Rachel Owens and Jenny Lloyd in the Journal of Social Work.
The article begins by outlining the importance of agencies working together to keep children safe from harm. There is also an overview of previous serious practice reviews learning about failings in multi-agency working. It was a pertinent reminder that virtually every serious case review identifies that agencies could do more to work together to respond to harm experienced by children.
At the core of the research, Rachel Owens and Jenny Lloyd assert that to effectively protect children and young people from extra-familial harm (that is, harm which occurs outside of the family ), we need to move away from behaviourist approaches to a wider understanding of the reasons why someone may be at risk of such harm (the ecological approach).
The research has a strong evidence base using several pilot sites across the UK, with researchers being embedded within the multi-agency teams. What was really interesting was the review of assessments and case notes. The authors used extracts of documents to evidence behaviourist approaches in the recordings and documents. They also offer a narrative about the challenges faced by practitioners within the pilot studies.
Responding to Contextual Safeguarding requires a whole different approach to Safeguarding. Practitioners need to shift from traditional safeguarding viewpoints, which consider risk as a result of the social conditions around young people. This research outlines the need for professionals across agencies to be willing to engage in critical self-reflection to develop shared aims in relation to responding to risks in the community.
While reading the paper, I found myself reflecting on how, over my career, Social Work and safeguarding has been case-based. Often, children identified through risk assessment as being at “risk” of harm result in caseloads for social workers, police officers, housing officers and the safeguarding lead in schools. However, due to the nature of extra-familial harm, new approaches are needed to respond to and understand contextual risk. Therefore, I do believe that all agencies need to develop approaches outside of the traditional casework model of intervention.
Collaboration is key to effective responses for contextual safeguarding. However, this isn’t easy, given the operational pressures upon all services. But this reminds me of the excellent book “Radical Help” by Hilary Cottam. In this book, Hilary writes about her work to transform the welfare state from a top-down corporate structure, which tells people that the service knows what’s best, to a bottom-up approach guided and co-produced with the community. It is an excellent book, and I would recommend it to everyone as essential reading.
Finally, the authors write about how when practitioners operate from an ecological perspective, they talk about feeling empowered and radically creative, which is refreshing. I am left reflecting on some of the families I have worked with over my career. When I have approached safeguarding in a creative way to understand the real root of the issue at hand, I have felt a similar galvanisation of hope. This makes me wonder whether if everyone had moments of these feelings, would we be able to create safer environments for vulnerable people.
You can access the research paper by clicking this link
Peer Reflection Journal Club Session
If you are looking to engage in peer reflection, and want to consider how research might influence your practice with other like-minded professionals, the Peer Reflection Journal Club Session is an event you will want to attend.
This event is designed for safeguarding professionals committed to continuous learning and reflective practice. In this interactive session, attendees will receive a selected journal article in advance, carefully chosen for its relevance to current safeguarding challenges. Together, we will reflect on the research, discuss insights, and explore how it can shape and enhance our practice.
It will take place on Wednesday 4th December at 6pm
I am limiting space to 25 (there are now more subscribers to this newsletter) attendees because I want everyone to have an opportunity to offer their thoughts and to ensure the session is interactive.
As a subscriber to this newsletter, I am offering a special discount to you. If you sign up and use the code “PracticeReflections”, you will receive a £10 discount on the cost of a ticket. Just click on the link below to sign up.
Register your interest
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Safeguarding CPD Community, please click the button below. It will take you to a short questionnaire. As soon as the community is ready for members, you will be notified by me.
That’s all for this week. I hope you have enjoyed the newsletter. Please do share this with your colleagues or on Social Media. You can either send them to this by copying the link in the address bar or click the link below and send it to them directly. Everyone is welcome to subscribe.
Until next week,
Take care.
Anthony