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An exploratory study of “treatment” as political process: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of “involuntary clients” in public child welfare

Diorio, William Dennis
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055277442

Abstract Details

1991, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Social Welfare.
A study was designed to explore parents’ reactions to the authority of public child welfare caseworkers. Thirteen “involuntary clients” involved with a large public child welfare agency in Ohio served as subjects. Semi-structured interviews with each of the subjects focussed on parental perceptions of “interventions” by caseworkers and the “meaning” of the experience for each subject as he or she became involved with, or had children in the custody of, a public agency. Interviews were audio tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through phenomenological hermeneutics. Formal reports to the agency and the circumstances of each of the subjects, as contained in the case record, were also documented and interpreted. The findings indicated (a) that parents did not know and understand the nature and extent of the legal authority that was vested in the agency, nor their own legal rights. Parents perceived (b) that the agency had the “power” to intervene in their families at any time and to “take” their children away, (c) that the nature and scope of the exercise of that “power” varied, depending on the assigned caseworker, and (d) that some caseworkers “violated” their “rights.” Parents perceived that being involved with, or having children in the custody of, the agency resulted in some kind of “loss” for them and their family. Parents perceived that they were constrained by the “power” of the agency, but believed they were “free” to make choices and to take responsibility for “getting their children back” or for “getting the agency out of their lives.” Most significantly, parents perceived that the only way they could regain custody of their children or “free” themselves from involvement with the agency was to “cooperate”: an adaptive response that served to conceal a parent’s anguish, and dissent, but intended to influence, sway, or persuade the caseworker to act in accord with the parent’s wishes and interests, i.e. getting the agency to “return” children to parental custody to “close its case.” The implications for further research, social work practice, and child welfare policy are considered.
Howard Goldstein (Advisor)
444 p.
Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
qualitative analysis public child welfare

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Diorio, W. D. (1991). An exploratory study of “treatment” as political process: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of “involuntary clients” in public child welfare [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055277442

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Diorio, William. An exploratory study of “treatment” as political process: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of “involuntary clients” in public child welfare. 1991. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055277442.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Diorio, William. "An exploratory study of “treatment” as political process: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of “involuntary clients” in public child welfare." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1991. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1055277442

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1055277442
513
© 1991, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12