Abstract
Arguably, the population of over 65,000 looked-after children and young people in England who have been rejected, neglected, and abused by their parents or carers, constitutes one of the most vulnerable in our society today. For too many of these children personal, social, and academic outcomes are dismal, and far too many leave the public care system to become homeless, jobless, and friendless or incarcerated. A number of local and central government initiatives have attempted to improve outcomes for this group, but with limited success.
It is against this backdrop that the Emotional Warmth Model of Professional Child Care was developed to empower residential carers and foster parents to understand and meet the often complex needs of children in their care by responding to their parenting needs and supporting them through developmental trauma.
However, the Emotional Warmth model not only seeks to address the problems experienced by these children and young people but also draws on positive psychology to teach their carers to identify their subtle signature (character) strengths and to find creative ways of helping children to utilize these strengths more effectively in their everyday lives.
In this chapter, the main components of the Emotional Warmth model are described and the key role of the psychologist consultant is outlined. This approach therefore represents a more holistic type of applied psychology since it not only enables carers to manage the problems of vulnerable young people but also builds on the potential they have to lead more fulfilling lives.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Department for Education (2011a), Statistical First Release. This information can be accessed at: http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001026/index.shtml.
References
Anglin, J. (2002). Pain, normality and the struggle for congruence: Reinterpreting residential care for children and youth. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.
Blower, A., Addo, A., Hodgson, J., Lamington, L., & Towlson, K. (2004). Mental health of children looked after by local authorities: A needs assessment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 117–129.
Cairns, K. (2002). Attachment, trauma and resilience: Therapeutic caring for children. London: British Association for Adoption and Fostering.
Cameron, R. J., & Maginn, C. (2008). Professional childcare: The authentic warmth dimension. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 1151–1172.
Cameron, R. J., & Maginn, C. (2009). Achieving positive outcomes for children and young people in public care. London: Sage.
Cameron, R. J., & Maginn, C. (2011). Living psychology: The emotional warmth dimension of professional childcare. Educational and Child Psychology, 28(3), 44–62.
Clough, R., Bullock, R., & Ward, A. (2006). What works in residential childcare: A review of the research evidence and practical considerations. London: National Children’s Bureau.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial.
Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2008). 2020 children and young people’s workforce strategy. Nottingham: DfCSF Publication. https://www.education.gov.uk/publicaions/standard/_arc_SOP/Page10/DCSF-01052-2008
Department for Education. (2010). Outcomes for children looked after by local authorities in England as at 31 March 2010 (SFR 38-2010). London: DfE.
Department for Education. (2011a). Outcomes for children looked after by local authorities in England as at 31 March 2011. London: DfE Publication. https://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001026/index.shtml
Department for Education. (2011b). Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations: Vol. 4. Fostering services. London: DfE Publication. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFE-00023-2011
Department for Education. (2011c). Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations: Vol. 5. Children’s homes. London: DfE Publication. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFE-00024-2011
Department for Education and Skills. (2001). Guidance on promotion of mental health within early years and school settings. Nottingham: DfES Publication. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DFES-0619-2001
Dreikurs, R., & Soldz, V. (1964). Children: The challenge. New York: Hawthorn.
Ford, T., Vostanis, P., Meltzer, H., & Goodman, R. (2007). Psychiatric disorder among British children looked after by local authorities: Comparison with children living in private households. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 319–325.
Hicks, L., Gibbs, I., Weatherly, H., & Byeford, S. (2007). Managing children’s homes: Developing effective leadership in small organizations. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Hooper, J. (2012). What children need to be happy, confident and successful: Step by step positive psychology to help children to flourish. London: Jessica Kingsley.
House of Commons. (2009). Children, schools and family committee, 3rd report: Looked after children. London: DCSF Publications.
Houston, S. (2006). Making use of positive psychology in residential childcare. In D. Iwaniec (Ed.), The child’s journey through care placement stability, care planning and achieving permanency (pp. 183–200). Chichester: Wiley.
Joseph, S. (2012). What doesn’t kill us: The new psychology of post-trauma growth. London: Piatkus.
Kennedy, E. K., Cameron, R. J., & Monsen, J. (2009). Effective consultation in educational and child psychology practice: professional training for both competence and capability. Educational and Child Psychology, 30(6), 626–643.
LaFasto, F. M. J., & Larson, C. (2001). When teams work best: 6000 team members and leaders tell us what it takes to succeed. London: Sage.
Leach, P. (2011). The mindful policy group: The pledge for children. http://www.mindfulpolicygroup.com/the-mpg-pledge-for-children/. Accessed 30 Apr 2012.
Lieberman, M. D., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2009). Pains and pleasures of social life. Science, 323, 890–891.
Linley, P. A. (2008). From average to A+: Realising strengths in yourself and others. Coventry: CAPP Press.
Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2002). Post-traumatic growth. Counselling and Psychology, 13(1), 14–17.
Linley, P. A., Willars, J., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). The strengths book: Be confident, be successful, and enjoy better relationships by realising the best of you. Coventry: CAPP Press.
Maslow, A. H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Viking.
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence/Social Care Institute for Excellence (2010). Promoting the quality of life of looked-after children and young people. Public Health Guidance PH28. London: NICE.
Pemberton, C. (2011, November 17). Local authorities fail to keep proper records of children missing from care. Community Care, 9.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realise your potential for deep fulfilment. London: Nicholas Brealey.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.
Westmacott, E. V. S., & Cameron, R. J. (1981). Behaviour can change. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Maginn, C., Cameron, R.J.S. (2013). The Emotional Warmth Approach to Professional Childcare: Positive Psychology and Highly Vulnerable Children in Our Society. In: Proctor, C., Linley, P. (eds) Research, Applications, and Interventions for Children and Adolescents. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6398-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6398-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6397-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6398-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)