Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T19:36:34.646Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Good enough parenting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Sue Tregeagle ,
Amanda Cox  and
Louise Voigt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The concept of Good Enough Parenting, introduced by Winnicott in 1965, has been useful to distinguish between care of children which is not ideal, and care which warrants removal of children from a family. There have been various attempts to turn the concept into practice guidelines, most notably by the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (Adcock & White 1985). However there is a dearth of Australian material and little which is concise.

Barnardos Australia believed that it was necessary to produce a short practice paper to address this critical issue in child protection practice. This paper was developed through a series of workshops with Barnardos workers which focused on their practice needs. It was designed to assist in decisions about parenting standards which are difficult, not the most obvious situations of neglect or abuse. The paper suggests ways of thinking about good enough parenting and practical questions to bear in mind in family assessment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , 1997 , pp. 7 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adcock, M. & White, R., (Eds) 1985, Good Enough Parenting: A Framework for Assessment, British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, London.Google Scholar
Barnardos Australia 1995, The Decision to Notify, Monograph.Google Scholar
Barnardos Australia 1997, History of Barnardos Australia, Monograph.Google Scholar
Callahan, M. 1993, ‘Redefining Child Welfare’ in Feminist Approaches: Women Recreate Child Welfare, ed Wharf, B.; McClelland and Steward, Toronto.Google Scholar
Cashmore, J. & Paxman, M. 1996, Wards leaving care: A longitudinal study, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW.Google Scholar
Clare, M. 1996, The ‘Looking After Children’ Project in Western Australia, unpublished paper presented to the ACWA Biennial Conference, August.Google Scholar
Department of Health (UK) 1995, Child protection: messages from research. Studies in Child Protection Series, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Deverty, C. 1992, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.Google Scholar
Foote, W. 1995, Child sexual assault practice, Monograph 27, Barnardos Australia.Google Scholar
Goddard, C. 1992, ‘The ‘ritual’ and ‘satanic’ abuse of children: Crop circles and the organised abuse of children require a careful and considered approach’, Children Australia, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 27–34.Google Scholar
McPherson, L., Macnamara, N. & Hemsworth, C. 1997, ‘A model for multi-disciplinary collaboration in child protection’, Children Australia, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 21–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mission of St James and St John 1993, papers presented at the ‘Protecting our children: Where do we draw the line?’ forum, held in Melbourne, 18 June.Google Scholar
New South Wales Government 1996, Interagency guidelines, NSW Child Protection Council.Google Scholar
National Child Protection Council 1994, Information kit: Governments and the community co-operating to prevent child abuse and neglect, National Child Protection Council, Canberra.Google Scholar
New South Wales Parliament 1996, Inquiry into Children’s Advocacy, Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues.Google Scholar
Pope, H.G. & Hudson, J. 1995, ‘Can memories of childhood sexual assault be repressed’, Psychiatric Medicine, Vol. 25, No. 1.Google Scholar
Thorpe, D. 1994, Evaluating Child Protection, Open University Press, London.Google Scholar