2.2 - Key themes

In this section the three key themes of the course are discussed. By defining the perspectives that inform the issues and dilemmas included in the course we hope to convey the need to make transparent values and ethics that impact on child welfare practice. Child welfare across national boundaries and history has been based on many ideologies regarding children, perceptions of their needs and appropriate responses to these needs. There is no one model ideological lens. To be able to use critical perspectives on child welfare it is vital to be able to identify and see the ways in which values permeate systems and practices.

We want our principles to be transparent and for you to use them as tools with which to enhance the questioning and challenging edge in your practice. We understand that as practitioners and students you need to feel empowered with skills and knowledge to address and seek to change the inequalities, injustices and specific needs facing children and young people in your society.

With comparative practice perspectives from different countries it is hoped these will help you to build more strategies and responses to manage the range of needs and circumstances with which you have to work.

The course takes a child-centred approach in which we seek to start at all times from the child and work outwards to the social and political systems around them. This is represented in the diagram below.

The ideas represented in this diagram are drawn out in the three themes discussed below.

One world and celebrating diversity

This course looks at child welfare in four countries. We have chosen to be very specific about the limited scope of the course because, although it has an international dimension, we wanted to be very clear about not universalising the lives, identities and experiences of children. This is balanced, however, with a view that children shared fundamental similarities in childhood

So within this theme of one world and diversity we assert that:

	Children and young people share similarities as well as important differences.
	Children and young people have a fundamental right to social justice; therefore critiquing and understanding a human rights perspective is key.
	Understanding child welfare in other countries can provide new ways of knowing and acting to improve social work practice in one's own country.

Connecting the personal and the political

Through the course the intention is to take a child-centred approach and to work outward from the personal dimensions of children's lives to their social, political and Political influences. There are three perspectives that we believe can help to make the connections between the personal and the political.

	Dealing with local and individual situations requires a critical perspective on the social, political and economic contexts that frame children's lives.
	Critiquing the dominant western, north European approach to child welfare alerts us to the realities of patriarchal and ethnocentric systems and practices.
	Promoting alliances, effective and appropriate communication and partnerships is fundamental to good child welfare practices.

Power in relationships

It would be remiss to provide a course on child welfare and to not explore the way power in relationships impacts on children's lives in a myriad of ways. Rather than taking only a problem-based perspective we want to emphasis a capacity-building focus. So the course will seek to:

	Promote the importance of building upon the strengths of children, young people, their families and communities in child welfare.
	Unpack the multi-faceted ways in which power operates in relationships in child welfare.
	Show the individual child in a system of power relationships and societal structures.

Now that you have been introduced to the key themes please move on to the reading in Exercise 2.1.