Parent–professional interviews in child protection: Comparing viewpoints

• Published in: Child & family social work Vol. 25; no. S1; pp. 107 - 115
• Main Authors: Boutanquoi, Michel, Ansel, Dominique, Bournel‐Bosson, Maryse
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2020; Wiley
• Subjects: Child Abuse; child protection; Child Safety; Child welfare; Children; Families & family life; Humanities and Social Sciences; Imbalance; interview; Interviews; Openness; parent; Parents; Parents & parenting; professional; Professional relationships; Professionals; Protection; Psychology; relationship; Social Work; Social workers; Welfare state; parent; relationship; child protection; interview; professional
• ISSN: 1356-7500; 1365-2206
• DOI: 10.1111/cfs.12722

Several studies have analysed the parent–professional relationship in the field of child protection. Although social workers tend to privilege interviews when working with families and view them as a means through which to build ties, few studies have focused on these interviews. To analyse how professionals and parents position themselves, we chose to focus on the content of these interviews and on the associated interactions. To this end, we recorded 13 parent–professional interviews after receiving the consent of the concerned parties. After analysing the interviews, we asked volunteer social workers and parents to analyse their own recorded interviews. Our results confirm the asymmetric nature of the parent–professional relationship. They show that professionals' viewpoints carry more weight than those of parents. They also underscore professionals' lack of openness and the strategies parents implement to cope with this power imbalance. Lastly, our results open new avenues for reflection on the evolution of practices that may enable professionals to better take into account families' viewpoints.