NCJ Number
239453
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: May-June 2012 Pages: 173-189
Date Published
June 2012
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study explored the experiences of community mental health team workers in Northern Ireland on the decisionmaking processes they used to balance the needs of their clients and the welfare of their clients' children.
Abstract
Adult mental health problems can impact on parents, and research highlights that their children are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. In extreme cases, mental health problems are associated with a risk of fatal child abuse. Despite this, there are few studies exploring clinical decisionmaking by adult mental health professionals. This study used qualitative methods to explore Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) workers' experiences of decisionmaking in the interface between mental health and child welfare. Workers were interviewed about their experiences of clinical decision-making regarding child welfare. Interviews and accounts were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Influences on decisionmaking were explored and triangulated with the accounts of Named Nurses for Child Protection. The findings revealed that CMHT participants were aware of their responsibilities towards children, but a complex synthesis of factors impacted on their sense-making about risk and welfare. Three superordinate themes emerged: the tensions of working across systems; trying to balance the perceptions and feelings involved in sense-making; and the role that interpersonal dynamics play in the understanding and management of risk. This paper focuses in particular on perceptions and feelings. (Published Abstract)