Creative Art-Based Technologies for Interagency Working Together for Safeguarding Children and Young People Sarah Carlick Dip SW BA, MA Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Applied Social Science (Sociology) Lancaster University 31st July 2018 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work and that it has not been submitted in any form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. Sarah Carlick July 2018 Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my late mother Rosalyn Helen Carlick and the last promise I made to her was that I would complete my PhD. My mum was my best friend and was the kindest, most supportive women I had the privilege of knowing and it’s been with the memory of her unconditional love, support and belief in me that I arrive here today. I also dedicate this thesis to my beautiful daughter, Ella Rose Goodall. Abstract Children themselves rarely engage directly with the child protection system unless they are already referred into the system by a third party adult. New technologies have enabled children to communicate in different ways than previously. A guiding question for this thesis is whether one type of technology access, that of an application or ‘app’, could also facilitate children’s direct access for advice, help and response from the child protection system in the UK. The current UK policy emphasis on child-focused systems and outcomes (Munro, 2011) forms a background to this thesis, which aims to identify the work required to co-produce new ways of working at the front door of child protection to extend the current socio- technical framework to improve outcomes for children. Past and present social and political developments in UK child protection and early help, a data review of smart phone apps relating to managing risk and safeguarding, and a comparison of the use of technology in related settings provide an overview of the context within which socio-technical change can occur. The underpinning methodology recognises a crucial factor in the successful design and implementation of socio-technical change: that any proposed alteration to existing ways of working must also be adopted by a range of gatekeepers to the system, including practitioners in social work, the police, health and education, who may identify barriers and present challenges to implementation. Two separate weeks of ethnographic observation were focused on the use of technology in information management in a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Data on the child’s perspective on technology and app design for safeguarding was collected through school-based workshops. A co-produced design of an application is proposed as a way of sharing information and communication pathways for multi-agency professionals and children/young people. The project offers new ideas for promoting a child-centred approach to safeguarding. In doing so, it proposes the design principles of a digital platform consisting of a smart phone application. The proposed application is an extension of the traditional early intervention child protection discourse that will capture children’s social media conversations and stories connected to keeping themselves safe. It will also include educational ‘stay safe’ age- appropriate games and twenty-four/seven access to multi-agency advice and guidance. Challenges for app adoption are changes to the police communication departments and the creation of a localised children’s MASH to provide digital responses for self-referrals. Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................ .........................................i List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ii List of Figures ...........................................................................................................................iv List of Tables.............................................................................................................................v Glossary.....................................................................................................................................vi Introduction................................................................................................................................1 Chapter One. Background and Context.....................................................................................7 Chapter Two. Enabling Children and Young People as Equal Partners in Child Protection...30 Chapter Three. Why Focus on Development of an Application?............................................44 Chapter Four. A Review of Existing Applications..................................................................55 Chapter Five. Methodology.....................................................................................................83 Chapter Six. Findings on Child-Friendly Design Principles..................................................120 Chapter Seven. Findings from MASH – A Window on the Child Protection System..........148 Chapter Eight. Findings from the Focus Groups – Technological Possibilities....................182 Chapter Nine. Analysis – Flattening the Network.................................................................192 Chapter Ten. Design Specifications for a Safeguarding App...............................................211 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................229 Appendix One........................................................................................................................240 Appendix Two.......................................................................................................................241 Appendix Three.....................................................................................................................242 Appendix Four.......................................................................................................................243 Appendix Five.......................................................................................................................247 Appendix Six.........................................................................................................................248 Appendix Seven.....................................................................................................................268 Appendix Eight......................................................................................................................283 Appendix Nine.......................................................................................................................296 Bibliography..........................................................................................................................303 Acknowledgments There are many people I would like to thank for their support and constant words of encouragement over the last four years. Firstly, I would like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for the funding that has enabled me to undertake this research. In particular, I would like to thank my first supervisor, Professor Corinne May- Chahal for her patience, support, feedback and her belief and respect, as well as my second supervisor, Professor Awais Rashid for his words of wisdom. Both have shared the same passion, inspiration and yet have critically challenged my thinking along the way. This has undoubtedly encouraged me to continue during the difficult times and increased my knowledge and academic skills. Thank you both so very much. I especially want to thank my family, starting with my young daughter, Ella, for her understanding every time I said ‘mummy has to study’ and for tidying her bedroom and generally helping around the house when I spent hours at my desk! Thanks also goes to my sister for supporting me both emotionally and practically. I will always be grateful to my parents for teaching me to be dedicated to learning, growing and achieving. To my support worker, Jane Brownlow who has painstakingly read and reread all the chapters. I am grateful for your proofreading and amazing grammar. I am indebted to The Athena Programme Team, especially Lisa Pilkington who works so hard for safeguarding others and managing my business. The team have all undertaken tasks without question, giving me extra space and time to study, whilst always offering words of encouragement. I would also specially like to thank Christine Moody for listening to me recite theoretical concepts and discuss the structure of chapters into the late hours. My sincere thanks, gratitude and appreciation go to all the team, including Donna Sheldon and Glenys Hurst-Robson. A special thank you goes to Cath Hill, my dearest friend that has shared my journey and offered many hours of conversation and support. As the list is too long, a big general thank you goes to all my friends. Your love and support at times has been overwhelming and you all have been there in the background, championing me on. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank all the research participants, particularly all the children and young people that volunteered. This project would have not been truly possible without their committed and honest contributions. List of Abbreviations A&C Advice and Consultation ANT Actor Network Theory CAF Common Assessment Framework CCI Child Computer Interaction CCG Clinical Commissioning