Professional Judgments and Decisions on Placement in Foster Care and Reunification in Portugal
Artigo Científico
This study aims to analyse professional judgments and decisions made in the
Portuguese child care system in face of a case vignette of child maltreatment. Using the
approach proposed by Benbenishty et al. (2015), we assessed the decisions of
professionals, such as to place the child in foster care or reunify her with her family, on
the basis of a series of judgments (e.g. substantiation of alleged abuse and neglect, risk
assessments), that are influenced by the characteristics of the case, the decision making
context, and mother’s and child’s wishes. We conclude that there are different
approaches to the case based on different professionals’ attitudes that can be classified
in two groups: one more pro-removal and other anti-removal. These groups presented
different risk assessments and intervention recommendations, and their decisions where
significantly influenced by the mother’s and child’s wishes. Furthermore, we have done
comparisons with studies made in other countries, concluding that the country context
can be an important factor that leads to different outcomes. Implications for both
practice and research are presented.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
João M S Carvalho
Rami Benbenishty
Bilha Davidson-Arad
Vânia S Pinto
Publicação
Ano da publicação: 2017