Deciding Children’s Futures addresses the thorny task of how to assess parents and children who belong to struggling families where there are issues of neglect or significant harm, and when separating parents are contesting arrangements for the care of their children.

This is a practitioner’s guide: it discusses how to create relationships that are capable of breaching natural parental defences to assessment; the importance of keeping an open mind, how to ask questions that fathom people’s experiences, and how to develop understanding of their histories, narratives, worries, hopes and fears. Joyce Scaife’s approach draws on practice knowledge, theory and research findings with a view to integrating the accounts of parents and children with safeguarding imperatives and government guidance, thereby enabling professionals to make informed decisions designed to impact positively on children’s futures.

This accessible and comprehensive book will be of great interest to ‘expert’ witnesses, practising social workers, children’s guardians, solicitors, barristers, magistrates and mental health professionals.

Joyce Scaife is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience in carrying out assessments for the family court. She is former Director of Clinical Practice for the Doctor of Clinical Psychology training course at the University of Sheffield.
Reviews

If practitioners were to use only one book to help them to carry out complex assessments this should be the one; I cannot recommend it highly enough.’ - Christine Carter, Co Founder and Co Director of Carter Brown Associates Family Expert Witness Service.

Contents

Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Being Assessed. Feelings Associated with Assessment. Confidence and Trust. Relationship, Alliance and Temptation to ‘Rescue’. Confidentiality. A Focus on Strengths. Art or Science, Analytical or Intuitive Judgement, Quantitative or Qualitative? Fairness. Overall Process of Assessment. What can go Wrong and How to Avoid it. Skills. Interviewing. Issues in interviewing. Purpose of Interviews. The Role of Checklists and Formal Structures for Interviewing. Reflecting Purpose in the Start of the Interview. The Continuing Interview. Characteristics of Respondents. Bearing in Mind that we are More Similar than Different and our Lives Could Have Followed a Similar Path. Assessment of Personality, Profile and Relationship Context. Personality Traits and Psychological Profile. Characteristics and Issues that Impact on Parenting Skills. Aspects of Profiles Relevant to Family Proceedings. Assessing Motivation to Change. Assessment of Social Support. Assessment of Couple Relationships. Domestic Violence. Special Issues in the Assessment of Adults. Mental health difficulties. Drug or alcohol misuse. Physical Impairment. Learning Difficulties. Assessment of Parenting. Precautions. What Matters in Parenting? Sources of Evidence. A Framework for the Assessm...