Session Information
14 SES 01 A, Child-Rearing and Parenting: Past and Present.
Paper Session
Contribution
In recognition of the growing complexity of society and of the pressures arising from evolving family structures, governments across Europe, through the Council of Europe, adopted a recommendation to support positive parenting (Council of Europe, 2006).In England, support for parents has been a key strand of Labour government policy particularly in its second and third terms in power (for example, HM Government, 2004; HM Treasury & DfES, 2005; Respect Task Force, 2006; DfES, 2007). These policies have emphasised the rights of parents to support in carrying out the complex task of parenting but also the responsibilities of parents to do so in pro-social ways that foster children’s cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural development.
Three research projects (Davis and others, forthcoming; Lindsay and others, 2009; Lindsay and others, 2008) evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of forms of government-funded parenting support are drawn on in this presentation and paper. All were commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and undertaken by research teams that included the authors. One focused on evaluating a parenting support and education intervention in five local authority areas with high rates of teenage pregnancies, a second evaluated the effectiveness of three specific evidence-based parenting programmes in 18 local authorities across England, and the third evaluated a new professional role, Parent Support Adviser, introduced in schools in 20 local authorities.
Each of the evaluations had specific research questions but the analysis reported here is guided by those cutting across all three:
- What concepts of parenting underpinned the support and courses offered?
- To what extent were parents successfully engaged?
- What did parents think of the support and courses offered?
Similarly, each project had a specific objective but one overarching objective unifying the three was to evaluate the effectiveness of government-funded parenting support in providing parents with support that addressed key family risk factors compromising children’s development.
The paper uses McCurdy and Daro’s (2001) integrated theory of parent involvement in family support, particularly their concept of provider cultural competence, to illuminate and explain the varying success of these three initiatives in engaging and retaining parents. This integrated theory is also used to illustrate how the Labour government family policy agenda has been implemented in ways that support the critique (Gillies, 2005) of this policy as ‘top down’ and ‘interventionist’ but also in ways that undercut that critique. As policy and practice around supporting parenting varies across Europe, we invite discussion of how far this analysis fits with research findings in other European countries.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Council of Europe (2006). Recommendation Rec (2006) 19 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on policy to support positive parenting. Strasbourg. The Council of Europe. Davis, L., Cullen, M.A., Hilton, D., Lindsay, G. Forthcoming. Evaluation of Time to Talk Community Programme. (Submitted to DCSF, London) Department for Education and Skills, 2007. Every Parent Matters. Nottingham: DfES Publications. Great Britain. Parliament. Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2007. The Children’s Plan. Building brighter futures. (Cm 7280) Norwich: TSO (The Stationery Office) HM Government, 2004. Every Child Matters: Change for Children. Nottingham: DfES Publications. HM Treasury and Department for Education and Skills, 2005. Support for Parents: the best start for children. London: HM Treasury Lindsay, G., Davis, H., Strand, S., Cullen, M. A., Band, S., Cullen, S., Davis, L., Hasluck, C., Evans, R., Stewart-Brown, S. 2009. Parent Support Adviser Pilot Evaluation. Final Report. Research report DCSF-RR151. London: DCSF. www.dcsf.gov.uk/research Lindsay, G., Davis, H., Band, S, Cullen, M.A., Cullen, S., Strand, S., Hasluck, C., Evans, R. and Stewart-Brown, S. (2008). Parenting Early Intervention Pathfinder Evaluation. Research Report DCSF – RW054. London: DCSF. McCurdy, K., Daro. D. 2001. Parent involvement in family support programs: an integrated theory. Family Relations 50: 113-121. Respect Task Force, 2006. Respect Action Plan. London: Home Office.
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