Introduction

This chapter explores the views and perceptions of the seven SMs interviewed as part of this study, all of whom came from Local Authority Two. Three of the SMs were at director level in the LA and four were Heads of Service. I was interested to ascertain the extent of their awareness and understanding of frontline practice and the challenges that SWs and IROs faced, and to discover whether they shared the same broad understanding as the other participants in relation to children's participation in their review meetings. In the previous two chapters, I outlined some of the challenges and barriers that SWs and IROs reported in terms of children and young people participating meaningfully in review meetings.

Issues were raised in relation to social work's bureaucratic processes (Munro, 2012), its relationship with information technology and the organisational culture which exists in this particular LA (which is potentially representative of the child protection system nationally). Through interviews, I sought to discover whether the SMs had a clear vision in terms of children's participation in their reviews, and in decision making and social work practice more widely. SWs, and to a lesser extent IROs, appeared not to have a clear understanding of what participation means and it was noted that very few of them had attended participation training.

An analysis of the data from the interviews with the SMs was conducted, from which a number of key themes and sub-themes emerged:

1. In relation to organisational culture and the apparent disconnect between the perspectives of SMs and other participants:

• a) understanding of the impact of high caseloads and the importance of relationships between SWs, IROs and children and young people;

• b) knowledge and understanding of the review process;

• c) understanding of participation.

2. The concept of good social work practice and the evidence base for this.

The views expressed by the SMs will be reviewed in the wider context of those of the children and young people, SWs and IROs in this study. While some convergence in views is observable, there are also some striking disparities. What follows is an exploration of each of the themes and sub-themes.