The Productive Uses of Conflict in Child Protection

Doug Magnuson
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Doug Magnuson: School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada

Social Sciences, 2014, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Some child protection cases exemplify a certain kind of cooperative interdependence, a consequence of the ways in which practitioners and clients are entangled. Client and practitioner are “stuck” with each other and need each other to succeed. There is also an intrinsic power imbalance that technique, ideology, and skill cannot hide and that has risks for the well-being and success of the practitioner-client relationship. There is also a risk to the practitioner of biases caused by successful influence. “Productive conflict,” defined as conflict under conditions of cooperative interdependence, may compensate for these challenges and lead to “integrative solutions.” In these cases the conflict itself is a kind of collaboration.

Keywords: child protection; social interdependence; productive conflict; metamorphic effects of power; child welfare practice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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