Working with resistant parents: lessons from research (2018), Community Care Inform Children, https://www.ccinform.co.uk/research/professional-dangerousness-8/

Working with resistant parents in safeguarding children work: lessons from research, a review of research findings

Working with resistant parents in safeguarding children work

Professional dangerousness can take a variety of forms. In terms of safeguarding children work, this may be by way of:
• A social worker’s inability/ lack of confidence in dealing with hostility and/or aggression from service user
• Avoidance by the worker of appropriately challenging ongoing parental abusive behaviour
• Parental disguised compliance
• Deficits in support/supervision for staff
• The effects of the rule of optimism
• Cultural relativism.
The key purpose of this article is to examine the evidence concerning various forms of parental resistance which then means that a worker, operating without appropriate and effective support within their agency, may fail to recognise the risks towards a child in such a situation, or becomes unable to challenge the parent or parents concerning any ongoing abuse of their child.
The term ‘dangerous’ in safeguarding children is used here as an expression covering situations where the rights and best interests of children are not kept at the centre of the work being undertaken, due to a mix of personal and professional issues, and agency culture support problems.
The best ways of protecting children and workers are addressed