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As they intervene in families to reduce the risk of harm to children, child protection social workers around the world are confronting increasingly high levels of hostility and aggression from some parents. Investigations into the deaths of children known to social services have accused social workers of failing to use their professional authority to challenge parents. This much needed book analyses public inquiries and serious case reviews to reveal the dynamics of hostility and aggression which contribute to the failure to protect children. These can occur within the office environment and between social workers and parents or their partners. The book details applied theories of aggression in conjunction with the skills required for dealing with anger, conflict and aggression. A set of tools and reflective exercises assists the application of theory to day-to-day child protection practice. This indispensable and practical text is ideal for social work students, practitioners, trainers and academics specialising in child protection.

This study critically considers the applicability of conceptions of child neglect that have been theorised by British and American scholars and promulgated in African countries through the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child protection legislation of five sub‐Saharan nations was compared in order to examine the presumptions embedded in their provisions concerning child neglect. These were then appraised in relation to the socio‐economic conditions pertaining in each country. Food insecurity, over‐reliance on staples and high infection rates among children in conjunction with hard to access health care and poor quality services contest the validity and relevance of dominant Anglo‐centric definitions of child neglect and methods for detecting it. The study concluded that greater congruence between national child protection legislation and the socio‐economic challenges faced by families in sub‐Saharan countries would better protect children against neglect.Key Practitioner Message: ● Child neglect is an ethnocentric concept that requires interrogation to test its relevance before applying it to developing country contexts. ● In sub‐Saharan countries, conditions of absolute poverty and grossly inadequate public services profoundly affect the ability of parents or guardians to meet their children's basic needs. ● Laws that frame child protection systems need to recognise the inter‐relationship between public services, poverty and parental care in the neglect of children.

SummaryIn the United States and the United Kingdom supervisory neglect of children is premised on a construction of childhood which characterises children as essentially vulnerable and in need of constant care and protection by parents. This Western conception has been transmitted to the countries of the sub-Sahara via the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the socio-economic and cultural context of African countries differs significantly from those of the United Kingdom and the United States. The incorporation of a Western hegemonic idea of childhood into the national laws of African countries creates fundamental contradictions in the application of criteria for adjudging the adequacy of parental supervision in the sub-Sahara. Drawing on secondary data, this article explores these contradictions and proposes alternative considerations in the conceptualisation and assessment of supervisory neglect.FindingThe combined effects on households in the sub-Sahara of economic conditions, ascribed gender roles and the reciprocal duties held by children to assist their families, contest established indicators and thresholds for supervisory neglect. The concept of societal neglect together with the application of the Haddon Matrix provides a more apposite framework for reducing the risk of significant harm to children.ApplicationAll African countries, excepting Somalia, have introduced the Convention on the Rights of the Child through domestic legislation. The findings of this study are pertinent to policy-makers and social workers in the sub-Sahara. They also invite Western scholars to critically engage with dominant notions of supervisory neglect and re-appraise its applicability in cross-national contexts.

• Summary: Using Ghana as an illustrative case study, this article examines the ideology and intentions which underpin the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper required for approval by the IMF and World Bank to qualify for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative. This article critically examines the functions assigned to governmental and non-governmental agencies within the social sector generally and the Department of Social Welfare specifically. Conditions at the Department of Social Welfare are explored through data gathered from semi-structured interviews with frontline social workers. These document the day-to-day realities of social work practice in Ghana and the relationship of the Department of Social Welfare with the non-governmental sector in the delivery of welfare services.• Findings: Social workers at the Department of Social Welfare report chronic under-funding which undermines even the most rudimentary activities. They also describe difficulties in holding NGOs to account due to the lack of logistical support and the inability to enforce compliance with statutory requirements.• Applications : Across the sub-Saharan region are government departments responsible for the delivery of social services and operating within the social policy frameworks created by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers required for debt relief. Evidence produced by this case study has implications for similar sub-Saharan countries implementing a social policy based on the neoliberal precepts if the New Policy Agenda.

AbstractThe New Policy Agenda of the Reagan and Thatcher years has profoundly influenced aid flows from the industrialized countries of North America and Western Europe to the developing nations of sub‐Saharan Africa. The application of neo‐liberal principles to the disbursement of multilateral and bilateral aid for social development has resulted in the diversion of donor funding away from the public sector towards non‐governmental organizations. The consequences of relegating the role of the public sector in social development is explored through qualitative research conducted in Ghana with state‐employed community development workers. The study exposes how severe financial constraint within the state sector distorts the targeting of beneficiaries and social development activity. This differs from findings revealed by interviews with social development workers employed by international non‐governmental organizations. These indicate that such agencies are able to sustain effectively resourced fieldworkers who are in a position to form positive working relationships with beneficiaries. The circumstances of the Department of Community Development and its relationships with non‐governmental agencies in Ghana are used to explore the effects on state‐building of the New Policy Agenda in the sub‐Saharan region.

There has been exhaustive scrutiny of the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations Population Fund. UNICEF, despite a prominent role in agenda setting for children's welfare in developing countries, has not been subject to comparable scrutiny. This paper argues that the Country Programmes promulgated by UNICEF to improve children's welfare reflect ethnocentric conceptualisations of the family. As a case study, Ghana's Country Programme 2001–2005 is considered in detail. Anthropological studies are adduced to highlight underlying ethnocentric assumptions around social organisation. The ramifications of these assumptions are then considered.

Outcome analysis is a relatively recent innovation within the social work profession. However, the predominant research methodologies being generated by western scholars have limited application for practitioners working in developing countries. The current epistemological debate between positivist and phenomenological approaches to research are considered. The ethnocentric character of many quantitative techniques is explored and consequently qualitative approaches advanced in a developing country setting. This article also depicts the particular socio-economic and cultural context of sub-Saharan Africa and elaborates new concepts for the evaluation of outcome and the gathering of data in that region. Specifically, Amartya Sen's work on capabilities and Robert Chambers' work on Participatory Rural Appraisal are proposed as a foundation for constructing a more relevant and culturally consonant approach to outcome analysis and data collection respectively.

COVER -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF FIGURES -- LIST OF TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- 1 An Introduction to Racial and Ethnic Diversity -- Introduction and structure of the book -- An international perspective on child protection and diversity -- The research method underpinning the book -- Migration and settlement in the United Kingdom -- Defining race -- Defining culture -- Dimensions of culture -- Cultural fluidity -- Dimensions of cultural identity -- Cultural identity development -- Religion and spirituality -- Ethnicity and ethnic identification -- The creation of stereotypes -- Social work practice with racial and ethnic diversity -- Conclusion -- 2 White Privilege and Anglocentric Culture -- Introduction -- White privilege -- White diversity -- Anglocentric values -- Alcohol in ethnic majority British culture -- The social construction of teenagers in White British culture -- Adolescent sexuality in White British culture -- Social work practice and Anglocentric values -- Conclusion -- 3 Race, Ethnicity and Anti-Oppressive Practice -- Introduction -- Anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice -- Critical Race Theory -- African-centred approaches -- Islamophobia and ethnic minorities -- Minority identity development -- Families of mixed heritage -- Children of mixed heritage -- Social work training -- Black and minority ethnic social workers -- Conclusion -- 4 Concepts and Models of Cultural Competence -- Cultural competence -- Dimensions of cultural competence -- Cultural competence attainment model (CCAM) -- Majority identity development -- Developing cultural self-awareness -- Knowledge for cultural competence -- Cultural safety -- Professional culture and norms -- Organisational cultural competence -- Culturagram and Cultural Web -- Social GGRRAAACCEEESSS -- Cultural competence -- Case study for practitioners -- Conclusion.