Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Taking as its starting point the suggestion that children's everyday lives and social experiences are shaped by cultural constructions of childhood and ideas about what children should be (James and Prout 1990; James, Jenks and Prout 1998), this research sought to compare and contrast how prevailing models of childhood are selectively drawn upon and interpreted by Guardians ad litem (GALs) and Family Court Welfare Officers (FCWOs) in their everyday working lives, in order to explore the differences in their professional practices noted above. It considered the extent to which different models of childhood and family life may be implicitly and/or explicitly informing the everyday working practices of FCWOs and GALs and identifies some of the practical and policy outcomes which these may have for children. The main aims of the research were, therefore: 1) to identify and compare how FCWOs and GALs incorporate the principle of ascertaining the wishes and feelings of children into their everyday working practices with children; 2) to assess the implications of these practices for children. The research had four objectives: to establish whether the differences in professional practices between FCWOs and GALs relate to different concepts of 'childhood' and 'the-child-in-the-family' held by these two groups of welfare professionals; to determine the impact of legal, social and other structural factors upon these conceptions and working practices; to determine any differences between GALs and FCWOs personal and professional conceptualisations of childhood and their relative impact on practice; to assess any implications such different conceptualisations might have for children's experiences of the legal system.

Main Topics:

Childhood;Child welfare;Family life;Legal system;Working practices

Purposive selection/case studies

Face-to-face interview

Response to case studies/vignettes (interview two and three)