Interviewing parents of children in care: perspectives, discourse and accountability

Hall, C.; Slembrouck, S.

Abstract

The ‘parental perspective’ in child care work is a matter of concern and is actively solicited by practitioners, managers, policymakers and researchers for differing reasons. This paper argues that the search for such a stable “parental perspective” should be abandoned and suggest that research should embrace a social constructionist turn by concentrating on how parents' views are negotiated conversationally in discourse. Using data drawn from research interviews with parents of children in care and employing conversation and discourse analytic methods, the paper demonstrates how there are critical issues of accountability, blame, and testing at stake in the interview encounter, as interviewer and interviewee jointly produce a moral version of the client, the institution, the case and its attributes. The implications of this argument are delineated.

Citation

Hall, C., & Slembrouck, S. (2011). Interviewing parents of children in care: perspectives, discourse and accountability. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(3), 457-465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.06.016

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Feb 17, 2011
• Journal: Children and Youth Services Review
• Print ISSN: 0190-7409
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 457-465
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.06.016
• Keywords: Parents of children in care, Interviews, Parental perspectives, Accountability.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1512306