Paper short abstract:

This paper examines tensions and dilemmas social work professionals encounter between their theories and codes of practice, and their personally-held and experiential values, with a particular focus on the application of ‘expertise’ in their own family environments.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents the dilemma for child and family social workers of defining 'good parenting', exploring ways in which Social Work professionals respond to their 'expert' roles by combining specialisation and their own values and experiences. Although their expertise involves assessing parenting capacity, child risk and legal duties to protect, this may be blurred by their private narratives and personal parenting beliefs, which is often idealised: not only do they share the current penchant for parenting omnipotence, they guard against the threat of being judged incompetent, an anxiety close to their professional realities. There have been several cases of child death in recent UK child welfare; whether social workers hold responsibility for these cases or not, they are judged harshly by the media and public opinion, perhaps even more blatantly than the parents themselves. They may be in the business of judging parents, even sometimes condoning care as 'good enough' (Winnicott, 1965), but is 'good enough' good enough for their children? Both parenting and social work roles are sometimes characterised as callings rather than simply jobs; their judgements and decision-making are emotional, based on personal values. Thus, social workers who are parents may be drawn into an ever greater demand for 'expertise' within their own families. Yet, when social work professionals exercise their legal duties, do their judgements use theoretical knowledge and professional codes, or are they biased by their own values? What are the anxieties within these tensions and how do social workers manage their dilemmas?