Empowering Practice: A Critical Appraisal of the Family Group Conference Approach

EMPOWERING PRACTICE?......Page 2
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 7
Acknowledgements......Page 8
Introduction......Page 10
Introduction......Page 16
The nature of empowerment......Page 17
The political history of empowerment......Page 19
Power and the professionals......Page 24
Empowerment as professional practice......Page 28
Conclusion......Page 38
Introduction......Page 40
Partnership, participation and empowerment......Page 42
Partnership – the early years......Page 44
A crisis of confidence......Page 48
The optimism of the 1989 Children Act......Page 50
The aftermath of the Children Act......Page 53
Reconfiguring professional control......Page 55
Conclusion......Page 58
Introduction......Page 62
The origin of family group conferences......Page 63
Origins of the Children, Young People and their Families Act......Page 64
The 1989 Children, Young Persons and their Families Act......Page 69
The FGC approach......Page 71
FGCs – dilemmas in practice......Page 73
Conclusion......Page 77
The evolution of FGCs in the UK......Page 80
Beginnings......Page 81
Decision making......Page 82
Flexibility or prescription......Page 87
Information and assessment......Page 91
Enabling families, enabling professionals......Page 96
Conclusion......Page 99
The international development of the FGC approach......Page 102
Positive messages......Page 106
Areas of concern......Page 110
Conclusion......Page 121
Introduction......Page 124
The evidence base......Page 126
Before the FGC......Page 128
Empowerment for all?......Page 140
Conclusion......Page 145
Introduction......Page 148
Why study outcomes?......Page 149
The idea of outcome......Page 150
The experimental approach......Page 151
Outcomes and causality......Page 152
Accounting for agency......Page 155
Subjectivist approaches......Page 156
A pragmatic resolution?......Page 158
Assessing empowerment......Page 160
Conclusion......Page 161
Introduction......Page 164
Evaluating outcomes......Page 165
Immediate results/outputs......Page 169
Immediate results/outcome......Page 173
Intermediate results/outcomes......Page 176
Ultimate results/outcomes......Page 181
Conclusion......Page 184
9. Conclusion......Page 188
Bibliography......Page 196
Index......Page 222