The social must be stabilised: How are the social needs of young people with social work involvement characterized in their mental health case notes?

Abstract

In Donzelot's landmark The Policing of Families, he traced the rise of the “social” sector in the 18th century, where institutions like social work, education, and healthcare regulated families, shaping norms of deviance to justify intervention. Social scientists continue to debate the impact of post-2008 austerity measures on the relationship between the social sector and family life in contemporary society. This study aims to contribute to these discussions through a critical discourse analysis of how the social needs of 70 young people with social work involvement have been characterised in their Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service case notes. This analysis was co-produced alongside three experts-by-experience with lived experience of both mental health and social care. Results of this analysis indicate that the social needs of our sample were a) rejected from mental health services for being too social, too chaotic and lacking a stable base; b) accepted but secondary to psychological concerns c) outsourced to other services or to families or young people themselves. Where young people's social needs were sufficiently high risk in the community they were d) contained in mental health facilities or under deprivation of liberty orders by social services. We contend that in the contemporary context, rather than the social comprising an ever-expanding entity designed to govern the conduct of family life, we identified ways in which the social sector was also governing through neglect and containment. This analysis offers important insights into inequalities faced by young people with social care involvement who seek mental health support.