“Children’s Services: One Big Happy Family?”

Abstract

Values play a key role in shaping the culture of an organisation. However, while the culture of an organisation is often formed internally via exclusive membership and in the image of its leadership - the context of statutory children’s services is complex with high levels of external scrutiny and forces of power that exert influence over the organisational culture from the outside. This study was concerned with organisational culture in statutory children’s services in England, in particular how the workforce perceived their organisational culture and the impacts of that culture on multidisciplinary working and attitudes to risk. Accordingly, this thesis sought to provide greater comprehension of the nature, role, and influence of organisational culture in this statutory context.
Building upon and extending previous research, this thesis reveals a persistent organisational culture characterised by blame and fear, accompanied by high levels of bureaucracy extending throughout the department, not confined to social work teams. This study explored the views and experiences of a multidisciplinary workforce within one Children’s Services department in the North East of England. It employed a convergent, parallel mixed-methods design underpinned by a pragmatic philosophical stance and involved analyses of 77 survey responses, 88 hours of non-participant observations and 17 semi-structured interviews. The research highlights the impact of external influences on local authority Children’s Services, such as political, social, and media pressures shaping organisational culture and influencing multidisciplinary working and attitudes to risk in child welfare practice. It determined that the cyclical social policy response in reaction to tragic circumstances has supported and sustained long-term issues in multidisciplinary working, the reification of risk and embedded the impact of a neoliberal agenda and resultant managerialism. The study highlighted a lack of shared language and understanding in child welfare practice, creating, and sustaining barriers to effective collaboration. Importantly, it takes a holistic view of the entire department, going beyond focusing on individual teams or disciplines. The weight of these findings lies not only in their depth but also in the fact that these issues have been longstanding, seemingly overlooked in favour of structural and strategic responses that do not acknowledge or address root causes.
Overall, this study sought to represent the day-to-day experience of child welfare workers on the frontline of statutory service provision emphasising the impact of organisational culture on individuals and their roles in safeguarding children. It draws attention to key differences between management and leadership, illustrating how managerialism and neoliberalism are undermining the collaborative culture and autonomy of child welfare workers. Exploring the widespread implications of organisational culture and the resultant influence on practice sought understanding of individual meaning making. The findings offered a fresh perspective in considering some of the most longstanding and problematic aspects of professional practice within the child welfare field.

Date of Award	28 Nov 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Eileen Oak (Supervisor) & Michael Hill (Supervisor)