Containment: Exploring The Concept Of Agency In Children’s Statutory Encounters With Social Workers

Citation

Morrison F, Cree V, Ruch G, Winter KM, Hadfield M & Hallett S (2019) Containment: Exploring The Concept Of Agency In Children’s Statutory Encounters With Social Workers. Childhood, 26 (1), pp. 98-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568218810101

Abstract
This article examines children's agency in their interactions with social workers during statutory encounters in a child protection context. It draws from a UK wide ethnographic study. It finds that much of social workers' responses to children's agency in this context are best understood as a form of 'containment'. In doing so, it offers an original and significant contribution to the theoretical understanding of children's agency, as well as its application in social work practice.

Keywords
agency; sociology of childhood; child protection; ethnography; vulnerability; containment;

Journal
Childhood: Volume 26, Issue 1

• Containment - Exploring The Concept Of Agency In Children’s Statutory Encounters With Social Workers