Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review

Emily Keddell
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Emily Keddell: Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Social Sciences, 2014, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-25

Abstract: This article considers selected drivers of decision variability in child welfare decision-making and explores current debates in relation to these drivers. Covering the related influences of national orientation, risk and responsibility, inequality and poverty, evidence-based practice, constructions of abuse and its causes, domestic violence and cognitive processes, it discusses the literature in regards to how each of these influences decision variability. It situates these debates in relation to the ethical issue of variability and the equity issues that variability raises. I propose that despite the ecological complexity that drives decision variability, that improving internal (within-country) decision consistency is still a valid goal. It may be that the use of annotated case examples, kind learning systems, and continued commitments to the social justice issues of inequality and individualisation can contribute to this goal.

Keywords: child welfare; decision-making; risk; practice; orientations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:3:y:2014:i:4:p:916-940:d:42546

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