Applying social work law with children and families

This course will introduce you to the law as it applies to social work with children and families in the United Kingdom. You will learn about varying definitions of childhood and family and then explore underpinning principles of the law relating to child rights and parental responsibilities. You will look at the key legislation relating to children and families across the UK, which all share a number of core principles, including the non-intervention, no order and welfare principles.The course will show how it is not always straightforward to determine whether the exercise of parental responsibility benefits the child, and that there may be competing views, based on different values and beliefs, about how a child’s best interests should be met in relation to the decisions that are made about their lives and futures.This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K271 Social work law.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Defining childhood
• 1 Defining childhood
• 2 Society’s influence
• 2 Society’s influence
• 2.1 Perceptions of children
• 2.2 From parental authority to rights of the child
• 3 UNCRC and legal definitions of ‘a child’
• 3 UNCRC and legal definitions of ‘a child’
• 3.1 Working with children and families
• 3.2 Consent
• 4 Key legislation in the UK
• 4 Key legislation in the UK
• 5 Family
• 5 Family
• 5.1 Why does understanding ‘family’ matter?
• 5.2 Parental responsibility
• 6 Key principles and concepts
• 6 Key principles and concepts
• 6.1 The principle of non-intervention
• 6.2 The welfare principle
• 6.3 The views and wishes of the child
• 6.4 Parenthood
• 7 Policy, implementation and practice
• 7 Policy, implementation and practice
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements