Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Parenting capacity and reading with children: enhancing the assessment framework for children in need and their families. Thesis How to cite: Seden, Pauline Janet (2006). Parenting capacity and reading with children: enhancing the assessment framework for children in need and their families. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2006 Pauline Janet https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000fb2e Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Parenting Capacity and Reading with Children: Enhancing the Assessment Framework for Children in Need and their Families Ms Pauline Janet Seden B.A. English and European Literature Diploma in Social Administration and Social Work Submission for the degree of PhD August 2006 Faculty of Health and Social Care The Open University Child and Family Social Work ProQuest Number: 13917236 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13917236 Published by ProQuest LLC(2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Contents List of Appendices and Tables i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Introduction 1 Chapters 1. Parenting capacity, children's literature and the Assessment Framework 4 2. Parenting capacity: dimensions and enhancement 19 3. Children's literature and parenting capacity: stories, doors and windows to another dimension 52 4. Methodology 89 5. Characteristics of the samples: data from the baseline survey 112 6. Basic care, ensuring safety, emotional warmth: parents'views 129 7. Stimulation, guidance and boundaries and stability: parents' views 164 8. Children and parents reading books together: parents' views 198 9. Shirley Hughes illustrations: parents' views 232 10. Parenting capacity, reading with children, social work with vulnerable children and their families: some connections 262 Conclusion and recommendations 290 Appendices, including Part C illustrations 294 Tables 318 References 327 Postscript List of Appendices and Tables Appendix 1 The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families: diagram and summary of dimensions Appendix 2 Research instruments: Parts A, B, C, D including three illustrations from books by Shirley Hughes. Appendix 3 Information from the Public Lending Right 1999 and 2005. Appendix 4 Data analysis of research instrument Part D: demographic data Appendix 5 Consent form Appendix 6 Data analysis of research instrument part A Table 1 Responses of all parents to the question, 'What things should a parent try never to do?' Table 2 Books read with children by their parents. Table 3 Sources of books read to children by the parents. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Jane Aldgate and Dr Ian Buchanan for their valuable support and advice. Additionally I wish to record my appreciation of the 33 parents who were prepared to offer their time and views and the family support project managers who helped to recruit participants and provided hospitality while interviews were undertaken. Special thanks to Roy Seden, chief supporter, and to our children and their partners, with thanks for all their love: not forgetting Helena Clarke (1918 -2004) a 'good enough' mother. Abstract This thesis draws together two strands of thinking to consider their usefulness, when combined, to vulnerable children, their parents and practitioners who work in children's services. One strand conceptualises the abilities and qualities required by a parent to respond to children's developmental needs, as summarised by the term 'parenting capacity', in the psychological and social work literature which underpins assessment and intervention frameworks for practitioners. The second strand is the psychological and educational literature which considers the contribution of reading children's books to child development and the benefits to child-parent relationships of reading together. Both literatures draw from common knowledge, informed from research into the developmental needs of children and the abilities parents need to raise them. There is also contemporary research and scholarship which interprets the relevance of this heritage in contemporary cultural contexts. To add to and link these understandings, this study explores and discusses the views of 33 contemporary parents. Their views on both what makes for a good parent and the benefits of reading with children were gathered. The parents' views were analysed within the paradigm of the parenting capacity dimensions of The Framework for the Assessment o f Children in Need and their Families, published as government guidance to practitioners in 2000 (Department of Health et al. 2000), which remains relevant to children's services in 2006. The use of this framework which draws mainly from one of the strands of literature that is explored (psychological and social work) means that the second strand of thinking (psychological and education) can be brought into the framework and relevant connections and comparisons made, in order to enhance the understanding of parenting capacity contained there. The study concludes by considering how the findings from this analysis have relevance to child welfare practice in contemporary contexts. Introduction The thesis seeks first to establish the extent to which a sample of parents can identify with the parenting capacity domains of The Framework fo r the Assessment o f Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health et al. 2000, hereafter referred to as the Assessment Framework). Second, the same parents' views on reading with their children are ascertained in order to assess to what extent the activity of reading with children can bring fresh understandings of the Assessment Framework dimensions. Third, the same parents were asked to respond to some illustrations drawn by Shirley Hughes, to test the extent to which this pictorial method of communication might help parents to further express their understanding of parenting. All the data thus gathered is analysed in relation to the Assessment Framework to assess the extent to which bringing together the assessment of parenting capacity and reading with children can enhance parents' and practitioners' understandings of parenting capacity/and yield useful insights for policy and practice. Thus the thesis explores the extent to which combining these knowledge bases might add to the understanding that parents and practitioners have of parenting capacity dimensions. While each person's data is analysed thematically in relation to the Assessment Framework, the data is also considered in the context of the interviewee's personal or biographical circumstances as given in the interviews. This is to identify the main trends, and opinions about good parenting and reading with children, while not losing sight of individual circumstances that might be contributing to or impacting on the person's perspective. l Chapter 1 introduces the background to the research, the policy contexts and drivers which led to the development ofThe Framework fo r the Assessment o f Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health et al., 2000). It outlines current policy contexts and the possible contribution of the study to some aspects of the government'sEvery Child Matters: change for children agenda (Department for Education and Skills, 2003a, 2003b, 2004b). Chapter 2 considers definitions of parenting and parenting capacity. In particular it explores the areas of parenting capacity discussed in professional social work and social care literature. It examines the extent to which parenting capacity may or may not be enhanced through child welfare practitioner intervention. Chapter 3 reviews the developmental literature from psychology and education which examines the role of children's books in children's lives and their growth to maturity. It considers the benefits to children of reading with a parent or other adult, and the theoretical connections to theories of human growth and development as understood by social workers. Chapter 4 presents the methodology for the research, outlining how the study was designed and carried out. It gives the rationale for the way the parents were recruited to take part in the study, the design of the research instruments, the methods of data collection and analysis. Chapter 5 presents the outcome from the baseline survey and discusses some characteristics of the samples. 2 Chapter 6 presents the analysis of the parents' views of three aspects of the parenting capacity dimensions in The Framework fo r the Assessment o f Children in Need and their Families - basic care, ensuring safety and emotional warmth.