Family Group Decision Making

Backe-Hansen, E. (2006). Overview of some of the literature about family group conferencing Oslo, Norway: NOVA (Norwegian Social Research). Ministry of Education and Research.

This overview provides a brief summary of 25 family group conference-related articles or speeches from various jurisdictions published between 1997 and 2006. The majority of articles includes primary research, but also includes several theoretical articles, one literature review and several speeches. The articles cover a range of topics, largely focused on process evaluation findings. Different uses and forms of family group conferences or group decision making are discussed, such as restorative conferencing in schools and safety conferencing for domestic violence survivors. Most of the evaluation articles include positive satisfaction of participants or positive outcomes, with the exception of a Swedish study, which found little impact of family group conferences in comparison with traditional child protection intervention.

Keywords: annotated bibliography, literature review, process evaluation, outcomes

Barnsdale, L., & Walker, M. (2007, March). Examining the use and impact of family group conferencing. Edinburgh, Scotland: University of Stirling, Social Work Research Centre.

This review of research and practice in family group conferencing is composed of two distinct but complementary parts: a review of the international literature and a qualitative study of the views and experiences of 28 service providers and academics within the United Kingdom. The review locates current U.K. practice in a historical and international context and places practitioner experience and insight within lessons emerging from research, finding corresponding views from both sources.

The study reviews the evidence of the effectiveness of family group conferencing, concluding that while it is clear that the process promotes family and child participation, there is less evidence of plan implementation and long-term positive outcomes for children. The review ends with a series of recommendations for the development of family group conferencing in Scotland, linking these to current policy drivers for change in children’s services. It supports the development of family group conferencing in Scotland, recommending that attention be paid to the “fit” between family group conferencing and current core service provision. It advocates that a number of small, well-designed projects be funded to undertake both process and long-term outcome evaluation.

Keywords: United Kingdom, U.K., Scotland, child welfare, literature review, qualitative data

Cameron, M. (2006). Alternate dispute resolution: Aboriginal models and practices: Literature review. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Ministry of Children and Family Development.

This paper provides a brief overview of aboriginal alternative dispute models and how they differ from western alternative dispute models. The paper gives a synopsis of 12 examples of aboriginal alternative dispute models used in jurisdictions within Canada, the United States and Australia. The paper outlines some common planning and procedural elements, and underlying values between the examples given. The author goes on to discuss the tension between western and aboriginal thinking, where the former assumes universality and the latter acknowledges difference. The author argues that indigenous models of conflict resolution are moving into a more accepted phase, where they are no longer tokenistic and superficial. The author concludes by advocating for models of practice which the community has agreed to engage with, based on the models’ ability to meet the community’s cultural needs.

Keywords: Canada, British Columbia, indigenous, aborigina, child welfare, literature review

Edwards, L., & Sagatun-Edwards, I. (2007). The transition to group decision making in child protection cases: Obtaining better results for children and families. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 58(1), 1-16.

This article provides a brief overview of the several group decision making models used within the child protection system in Santa Clara County, Calif., including team decision making, family group conferencing, child protection mediation, wraparound services, emancipation conferences and information sharing. The authors put forward three suppositions: 1) decisions made in groups offer more robust judgments for the welfare of children and families, 2) groups including family and community members produce better decisions than groups including only professionals, and 3) a complement of different group decision making models provides better options for use in different circumstances within the child protection field.

Keywords: California, United States, U.S., child welfare, literature review

Harris, N. (2007). Mapping the adoption of family group conferencing in Australian states and territories. Adelaide, Australia: Australian Centre for Child Protection. Retrieved December 9, 2008, from http://www.unisa.edu.au/childprotection/documents/FGCharrisN.pdf

This paper draws on a literature review of articles and studies carried out in Australia through 2006 and from 18 interviews conducted with managers or conference facilitators from states across the country. While the New Zealand model is used and adhered to in places, the author reports that the use of family group conferencing in Australia varies. Family group conferencing is not offered routinely to families and varies in the power given to families to make decisions (e.g., in some jurisdictions the plan can be amended and in others, the statutory child welfare workers are not obliged to implement the plan). The author concludes that overall, family group conferences in Australia serve a different function than in New Zealand, where they occur within child protection structures. Australia’s implementation is seen to “fall far short of the systematic empowerment of families that has been envisaged in New Zealand” (p. 28).

Keywords: Australia, literature review, developmental stage

Helland, J. (2005, October). Family group conferencing literature review. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: University of Victoria, International Institute for Child Rights and Development.

This literature review was prepared for the Child and Youth Officer for British Columbia. The author organizes the review around descriptions and applications of family group conferencing; literature that reports the experiences of children, youth, families, social workers and other stakeholders; and process and planning outcomes.

Keywords: British Columbia, child welfare, literature review

Huntsman, L. (2006). Family group conferencing in a child welfare context. Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia: Centre for Parenting & Research, Funding & Business Analysis Division NSW Department of Community Services.

The author organizes this detailed literature review around history of family group conferencing; variations on the approach; suitability of family group conferencing for culturally diverse and indigenous communities; roles and attitudes of participants, including family, children, young people and professionals; the effectiveness of family group conferencing; implications for policy and practice; and recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Australia, child welfare, indigenous, literature review