Abstract
Reviewed by
These five pamphlets tackle a variety of sensitive topics that foster carers may encounter in the course of their work:
Young people and gangs; Internet safety; Radicalisation; Self-harm; Sexuality.
Despite being aimed at foster carers they will be useful for social work practitioners (and parents) too. They include helpful insights and steer away from simply listing safeguarding protocols in favour of relationship-building, empathy and understanding as the best ways to safeguard the young person. This important message is frequently missed in training when resources are limited and work with young people so often focuses on risks and measurable actions. The pamphlets support foster carers to remain empathetic by giving sensitive contextual explanations about how these risks can emerge, how they can present, what the underlying need could be that said activity is meeting for the young person and why it is difficult to stop the harmful behaviour they are engaged in.
Also helpful is the discussion of ethical dilemmas that a carer may face if the activities contradict their own personal values; all five pamphlets encourage critical thinking and pragmatism and yet keep the focus on safety, especially when it comes to sexuality and internet use. Readers are urged to be curious, motivating some reflection and introspection about their own instinctive responses or views, to consider the reasons behind these and how to not let them influence the support that carers offer.
Overall, the text achieves the right balance of being concise and informative and, with the exception of the internet safety pamphlet, are largely free of jargon. Here I felt the use of ‘computerese’ to explain ‘digits’ and mathematical concepts was not really necessary.
The quiz sections are interesting and throughout the pamphlets cite common questions that a foster carer might ask, helping to dispel any shame she or he might feel about voicing such questions as ‘Is self-harming attention-seeking?’.
There are also helpful legal guidelines although they could have been included more consistently across the different topics. This type of information gives foster carers (and social workers) the confidence to know how to respond; for example, they do not need to report to the police if they find a weapon in their home.
The pamphlets vary in their aims. Some focus more on explaining context, others more on ‘how to identify the signs’ and others on carers’ obligations. For example, in discussing how young people’s involvement in gangs can become normalised and the difficulties of leaving, the author is careful to dispel media myths and outdated understandings of gang criminality. There could be further elaboration on the difficulties in leaving gangs, such as blackmail, fear and tactics to build indebtedness. I felt the section on ‘signs’ could have done with more specific examples that a carer should recognise, such as expensive clothing, terminologies they may overhear a young person use on the phone, carrying large amounts of condoms and Vaseline, and being in the company of older adults, to list a few. There also could have been more elaboration on the reasons why girls stay involved in gangs and relationships with gang members. All these are things that foster carers need to look out for, keep note of and unpick with their young people as part of their day-to-day role.
The internet safety pamphlet also could have benefited from more discussion on how to detect signs that a young person is being exposed to unsafe elements (websites, people or cyberbullying) or what a foster carer should do (such as how to discuss any alarming signs) whereas the radicalisation pamphlet does this well: it gives clear and specific examples of the way a young person might talk about topics, their behaviour, their associations, etc. including context and explanation as well as detailed suggestions about how best to respond. It explains how young people can be attracted/groomed into joining groups with extremist ideologies, with examples of channels, means and messages of grooming content that illustrate the experience of being manipulated so that a young person’s views become more polarised over time.
Sexuality is tackled with care and sensitivity, including a welcome emphasis on the carer’s duty to the young person, destigmatising and the need to separate one’s own values and avoid being too prescriptive. The pamphlet on self-harm manages to be concise and well written while covering a complex topic that tends to throw up more questions than answers. It encourages the reader to remain open minded and to shed preconceptions – to focus on the young person’s feelings and reasons for self-harming and less on the harming itself. The author also writes about creating open, non-judgemental space at home, including the importance of talking to other children in the placement. Great advice.
In terms of presentation, the choice of colours, designs and font makes this a series that is clear and easy to read, although I could have done with more pictures and space between topics as the text tends to move on quickly from one area to another. Some of the resources are excellent and I like the way in which they are separated out from the body of text in coloured bubbles. Applying this treatment to all URLs would make the main text even more accessible.
Reading the pamphlets for this review, I immediately thought about which of my cases they related to and how I wished that I could provide them with a copy. Overall, this is an excellent and valuable set of resources that I would be keen to share with foster carers and care providers for the young people with whom I work.