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Parental resistance and social worker skills: towards a theory of motivational social work

  • Donald Forrester
    ,
  • David Westlake
    ,
  • Georgia Glynn
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Abstract

Parental resistance is a ubiquitous feature of child and family social work, yet there has been limited research or theoretical work directed at the issue. This paper identifies social and individual reasons why parents may be resistant. Five principle causes of parental resistance are discussed, namely social structure and disadvantage, the context of child protection work, parental resistance to change, denial or minimization of abuse or neglect and the behaviour of the social worker. It is argued that motivational interviewing (MI) provides particularly useful skills and concepts for firstly reducing the social worker contribution to resistance and secondly minimizing the resistance related to other reasons for resistance. Key adaptations required in the strategic aims of MI if it is to be used in child protection work are identified and discussed, the most important of which is maintaining a focus on the child's welfare and safety. It is concluded that MI offers an opportunity to improve practice by increasing parental engagement and to make a contribution to social work theory by combining an attention to both broader social structure and the micro-skills required in social work interviews.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 118

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Child and Family Social Work (Volume 17, Issue 2)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 01/05/2012

Publication status

Published - 01/05/2012

ISSN

1356-7500

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/594494
  • Scopus: 84859503810

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