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Representing Children in Child Protection Assessments

Cardiff University hollands1{at}cardiff.ac.uk

The article reports on findings from qualitative research into the conduct of in-depth assessments of families by social workers in child protection cases in Britain. It concentrates on two aspects of the portrayal of children in the assessments: the representation of children's views and the reporting of children's developmental progress. It is seen that children are often minor characters in the assessment reports. The weight and value given to children's opinions by social workers is variable. The description of younger children is mainly structured by developmental norms and assumptions. The article concludes that children are only partially represented in the assessments and that much of what we learn about them is mediated by adult perspectives and actions.

Key Words: assessment • child development • child welfare • participation

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