Welcome to the online resources for the book ‘Doing Real Life Change in Children’s Social Care: Embedded Research in Practice’. If you don't yet have the book you can buy it here.
All resources referenced in the book are listed below according to where they feature in the book.
What is the book about?
All too often human systems are criticised for failing the people they are there to serve. Our work in Contextual Safeguarding has highlighted the overlooked needs of adolescents who face harm in their communities. Child protection and safeguarding systems have been shaped to respond to harm when it happens within familial contexts, meaning that the needs of children and families experiencing extra-familial harm have been overlooked. Not only that, these very systems, which should protect young people have themselves caused further harm.
The Contextual Safeguarding framework creates a vision for a new type of safeguarding system – but how can this vision be brought to life? Responding to this question, the Scale-Up research project (2019-2023) worked intensively with five local authority children’s services to co-create new child protection referral, assessment, intervention and planning processes. Using embedded research methods we collaborated with practitioners and young people to re-design systems that were ethical, effective and grounded in supportive relationships.
This book is the story of what we learnt, the methods we developed and an invitation to those who want to learn about how embedded research methods can be used to shape welfare and human systems.
Appealing to those interested in Contextual Safeguarding and beyond, this book shares ‘real-life’ lessons from research, covering:
- Practical guidance and tools for changing systems using embedded methods.
- Navigating complex relationships and emotions in organisational change; and
- Using theory and concepts to support change.