{"title":"Parental Substance Use as a Child Protection Problem: A Poststructural Interview Analysis","authors":"Simon Flacks","doi":"10.1177/00914509231208092","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) by parents is a significant public policy concern, both in the UK and other jurisdictions such as Australia. Concern about the potential risks posed to children is also paramount in family court decisions, where AOD consumption is framed as a child protection issue in itself. There is a need, however, for more critical inquiry into the ways in which parental use is understood and conceptualised in family court practice. Based on interviews with social workers, lawyers and judges who have worked in Family Courts in England and Wales, the aim of this paper is to pay closer attention to the constitution of parental substance use as a child protection problem. Using methodological tools devised by Bonham and Bacchi (2016), and adopting their poststructural approach to interview analysis, the aim was to pay close attention to the ways in which “reality” was made in and through participant accounts. The focus on the granularity of what, precisely, was said in the interviews unveiled some valuable insights into the ways in which parental subject positions were produced and maintained. For example, the ‘traumatised’ parental substance user was a recurring motif which, while rooted in a more empathetic understanding of the challenges faced by parents, could – I suggest – have unintended consequences.","PeriodicalId":35813,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Drug Problems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Contemporary Drug Problems","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00914509231208092","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"SUBSTANCE ABUSE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) by parents is a significant public policy concern, both in the UK and other jurisdictions such as Australia. Concern about the potential risks posed to children is also paramount in family court decisions, where AOD consumption is framed as a child protection issue in itself. There is a need, however, for more critical inquiry into the ways in which parental use is understood and conceptualised in family court practice. Based on interviews with social workers, lawyers and judges who have worked in Family Courts in England and Wales, the aim of this paper is to pay closer attention to the constitution of parental substance use as a child protection problem. Using methodological tools devised by Bonham and Bacchi (2016), and adopting their poststructural approach to interview analysis, the aim was to pay close attention to the ways in which “reality” was made in and through participant accounts. The focus on the granularity of what, precisely, was said in the interviews unveiled some valuable insights into the ways in which parental subject positions were produced and maintained. For example, the ‘traumatised’ parental substance user was a recurring motif which, while rooted in a more empathetic understanding of the challenges faced by parents, could – I suggest – have unintended consequences.
期刊介绍:
Contemporary Drug Problems is a scholarly journal that publishes peer-reviewed social science research on alcohol and other psychoactive drugs, licit and illicit. The journal’s orientation is multidisciplinary and international; it is open to any research paper that contributes to social, cultural, historical or epidemiological knowledge and theory concerning drug use and related problems. While Contemporary Drug Problems publishes all types of social science research on alcohol and other drugs, it recognizes that innovative or challenging research can sometimes struggle to find a suitable outlet. The journal therefore particularly welcomes original studies for which publication options are limited, including historical research, qualitative studies, and policy and legal analyses. In terms of readership, Contemporary Drug Problems serves a burgeoning constituency of social researchers as well as policy makers and practitioners working in health, welfare, social services, public policy, criminal justice and law enforcement.