Parents, Children and Social Workers

The Children Act 1989 came into force in October 1991. This study elicits the opinions of "service users" - the parents and children who are the least likely to have heard about the Act but are nevertheless those people for whose benefit it was intended. It explores the concept of partnership from the perspective of these service users, and aims to determine whether parents and children see themselves as working in partnership with local services departments and, if so, to what degree and in what ways. Also considered are the factors that tend to promote or impede partnership from the point of view of the people being served.