1.1 Prologue - What's In It?

This is the Prologue – also called Section One – entitled The Natural World Of Child Protection.

The Prologue is divided into three Chapters. This is Chapter One – the Opening Guide.

Chapter Two is a list of the Contents of the website, (Sections and Chapters), and Chapter Three is entitled The Website Itself and contains some relevant information that will be of interest to anyone reading it.

Chapter One contains just two Sub-Chapters. The first Sub-Chapter is a general welcome and Sub-Chapter Two gives a synopsis of the different Sections.

1.1.1 WELCOME

1.1.2 SYNOPSIS OF DIFFERENT SECTIONS

Many thanks for considering my website – The Natural World of Child Protection – to be worth reading.

I’ve been doing a bit of browsing and I think that this is the first of its kind in Ireland on child protection.

I will begin, like the Tour de France, with a Prologue; that’s what you are reading now.

The Prologue is (or was, I’m not sure if it still takes place) a short event that sorts out a few racing matters before the cyclists head into three long weeks on the road.

But – I promise – while the content, I hope, will be a little challenging, it will not be an endurance test like Le Tour – well I hope not anyway! You won’t have to have it read in three weeks, and you’re not competing with anyone else for some sort of yellow jersey in supporting families, or protecting vulnerable children.

Now I notice from reading other websites of this nature, or, indeed, blogs, that they focus, mostly, on contemporary matters that are of interest within the subject. Many of them focus on the writer and his/her interests, or perspective on the subject matter; and some of the writing is very good…….

This is slightly different.

It will be an invitation to look at child protection from a different perspective to the mainstream.

There’ll be lots of contemporary (leading edge – as they are sometimes called) matters included; many of them will be framed within a historical perspective.  That is, how we got to where we are now and what influences us the most.

Now it might be useful to say here that the website started out as a book – and may yet, some day, be a book – but at present it’s on-line because I invite feedback, commentary, observations, alternative opinions, and reflections.

In fact, that is one of the main reasons why it is on-line and not a book. (Some of you might think it’s kind of half way between a blog and a book).

Anyway, I decided (after breaking through the fear barrier) that I might as well use modern technology as best I can because I feel that it is more interactive, dynamic, and invitational and enables two-way knowledge flow (this term will be used a lot) than a book which is generally static and where knowledge flows from the writer to the reader, and the flow from the reader to the writer can be slow – if at all. 

Just to expand on that point a little, there has been a major change in the way we find and then take in information in the Internet age than how we did it in days gone by.  For example, I notice that in my Spotify account, when I listen to a particular singer or album, Spotify hints at other albums, bands, singers etc. that I might be interested in – and makes them known to me.  It’s the same with Facebook or Youtube.

This is very seductive!

Rather than listen to an album or watch a video that I really enjoy in a focused way and take it in fully, the suggestions lead me to hop from one to another and not really wholly absorb what I hear (or see). So it takes a little bit of discipline to stick to one thing.

It is kind of like that with websites too.  There is so much information, (and particularly on older blogs and websites going back years), that it is hard to detect what is useful and relevant. 

I suppose that there’s no real harm in being presented with too much information, but I do find it difficult to focus when too much is available to me at once.

I have tried to achieve some balance in this regard and I hope that I have designed it so that you will not feel overloaded.

How this is attempted, and how to navigate the website is described in the next post.

Nowadays we are accustomed to buying furniture in so-called flat-packs that have to be assembled at home. Unless something is very complicated I generally have a go at putting it together myself before I read the instructions. Very often I’m able to figure it out – and if I don’t, or if there are bits left over – there are always the instructions to fall back on ……..

In this website you might want to have a go and start using it – and you will probably get on fine. (You may, indeed, have started already).

But if you want to know more about how it is put together here are the instructions!

When I say instructions, I mean how to get around – i.e. navigate – the website, and use it in a way that you feel suits you; and that you are comfortable with.

It is divided into Sections, Chapters, Sub-Chapters and Posts.

What you are reading now is a Post – it is so called because that is what it is called in internet lingo. While it is intended that each post makes sense if it is read on its own, it will make a lot more sense if it is read in the context of the Sub-Chapter, Chapter and Section in which it is situated. Here is a Table which I hope will assist you in going where you want to go:

The principal difference between reading a full Section or Chapter from start to finish and reading posts on their own is that if you read a Section from the start you will probably not need to click on links that say previous post (because you will have read it already – unless, of course, you want to refresh your memory) or next post, or following post, (because you will be getting to that one as the Section or Chapter is read).

Of course, like all websites you can, kind of, play with it, mull over ideas, and make connections that you might think fit naturally together.

That is, you can read something that might be of interest to you, then skip using a link to a post (or Section, Chapter or Sub-Chapter) that will add information to what you are reading – and then return to the part you were originally reading. Or, you can skip, using a link to another part that captures your interest; from the post you skipped to.

You can also do this by using the Carousel (the Interesting Questions) at the bottom of the pages by clicking on one of the topics scrolling across.

Now – and this is important – if you click on one of the topics in the Carousel, and read the post that the link brings you to, and you want to find out more, you can, at the bottom of the post, click on the previous post or the next post to give a context to the post you are reading. (In fact, when road-testing the website, some people fed back to me that this was the most interesting way)!

Or you can, at the top of the post, click on the Sub-Chapter – or indeed, the Chapter or Section that the post is in – and read that in full.

(Because of this kind of layout, there may be a little repetition here and there. I tried to keep repetition, and/or duplication to a minimum and I hope that I succeeded).

Finally, it might appeal to you more to simply read the website from start to finish like a book – clicking on Read in Full in each Section Box in sequence on the Home Page – the choice is yours!

Now most of the links will be to information within the website itself, expanding on the term that is linked – others will be to external sources, and terms (or concepts) that have particular relevance (including some that I came up with myself) are linked in the Glossary of Terms.

Words (or phrases) that I use that might not be familiar to everyone, or that have a particular meaning that I think is important are linked to an Internet dictionary. This is the dictionary I use, which I found – after some Internet-trawling – explained and described words very well. I am doing this because, as I said above, I assume little prior knowledge – and your first language might not be English.

Even if your first language is English, sometimes there are words that are not often used in our day to day conversations that only people who have been educated in a certain field might be familiar with.

For instance, I didn’t know the meaning of the words polemic, paradigm or ubiquitous (and many others) until I was well past my formal education years. Yet they’re handy words to know.

I probably don’t need to explain the next few paragraphs, but once I was Internet-ignorant myself (indeed I still have a lot to learn – but I’m getting there) so I said I’d include them just in case.

Because 1): the Internet has world-wide reach, and 2): I am aware that you might be a younger reader, and I am an older writer; I include historical, scientific, geographic and general knowledge links even though what I am linking to might be so well-known that they could be considered to be common-knowledge to someone of my age living in this, the Western World.

You will note that I use Wikipedia a good bit – but not exclusively – for the external links. I find that the absence of ads makes it easy to read. Also, it is usually well laid out, and the information is generally accurate and up to date. And, like my website, it generally assumes very little prior knowledge.

Another point – the links will open in a new tab – this is simply because I prefer it that way myself. It means that you can leave the link open, read the post at the pace you want, and then read the link (for further information) when it is convenient. (By the way this sometimes won’t happen on a smartphone and some tablets so it might not be as easy to play with the website on these devices).

As we all probably know by now, the Internet is full of false information, so I have tried to link to websites that are reliable, reasoned and verifiable. This is particularly important in websites that are offering a different viewpoint to the mainstream. (Though, of course, mainstream media is not immune from falsity either)!

Because I intend that each post is a stand-alone entity, there are many links that are repeated throughout the website. If you are reading Chapter by Chapter, like a book, I hope that this is not too annoying. I also hope that you will get used to skipping over the links that you don’t need to click on.

Also, I will usually only link a word or phrase once per post. That is, once it is linked, if the word or phrase is used again in the same post it won’t be linked the second or third time unless there is a specific reason for doing so.

And getting away from links, if you see [1], [2] etc. in the main text, it is the equivalent of a footnote. You will have to scroll to the bottom of that post (not Chapter, Sub-Chapter or Section) to read what it is referring to.

Another point – when you scroll down to the bottom of a page, if the amount of the text is too large for one page, you will see something like this:

1 2 3 4 (or arrows, and/or maybe more numbers – depending on the size of the Chapter or Section that you are reading).

Obviously, when you come to the bottom of page 1, and you want to continue reading, click on 2, and then at the bottom of page 2 when you want to go to page 3, click on 3 and so on, to the final page. To go back, simply click on the previous number. If there are no numbers, click on the arrow to go to the next page.

I know, I know – this is probably simple stuff – but I said that I’d assume no prior knowledge!!

Oh yeah, if you come across any obvious typos or links that don’t work let me know and I’ll correct them.

And – if you are one of those people who toil for years doing one of the most important jobs in the world – educating our children (i.e. a teacher – particularly an English teacher) please excuse my grammar. I know that the spoken word is different to the written and I have never learned, formally, how to write. I hope my sentences aren’t too lumpy, repetitive or inelegant.

Nobody asked me to do this website, which is principally concerned with the protection of vulnerable people, and in particular children affected by imprisonment in Ireland – or, I would hope, anywhere in the world [1].

I am aware that there are zillions of websites out there – so why read mine? I suppose in a way it’s a bit of a shot in the dark!

Considering the concept of the emotionally healthy enough adult, (and the relatively uncertain prospects of children in care of the state) [2], ordinary common sense will ordain that a very important focus for any child protection project is maintenance of emotional health of those who care for children, whether they are parents, step-parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents, extended family members, professional carers, or others in the community.

Because of this, consideration of the systems in which families are situated will be an ongoing theme.

Now, I have often observed that people (including myself) can be swept away in a wave of enthusiasm at the initial stages of a new programme or model that promises much!

However it is the maintaining of new, creative and original thinking and practice over many years and even decades in an organisation that is truly the acid test of the commitment to the process of development.

Another important factor is how adaptable the model is.

That is:

1. Has it the flexibility to be implemented in different locations and cultures?

2. Have the originators of the model the capacity to reflect, listen and learn from others while still maintaining the original ethos, goals and purpose of the initial programme?

My hope is that – as the website is read – your minds and hearts will be opened to the possibility that there can be a different way of working than is currently the norm – if that is achieved I would be very happy indeed.

[1]. Because I have lived and worked all my life in Ireland it is probably weighted a fair bit towards my native land.

[2]. Much research that is commonly available concludes that the best place for children to grow up is in a stable family of origin. Also, many men and women that I have met who had been to prison had been in the care of the state as children.

In my post on navigating the website I explained that it is divided into Sections, Chapters, Sub-Chapters and Posts.

I explained that what you are reading is a post – it is so called because that is what it is called in internet lingo!

I will also repeat here (in case you missed it) that each post can be read on its own – but it will make more sense if it read in the context of the Sub-Chapter, Chapter and Section.

Each post in this Sub-Chapter is a Synopsis of what is in each Section.

And just to say – there will not be any links in the posts in this Sub-Chapter apart from the link that will take you to the Section itself; and (here and there) words that I think people need to know. The synopsis is a brief description of what is in the different Sections and Chapters – you will have to open the actual Sections to get to the links.

Now, in each synopsis (i.e the following posts) I mention propositions, ideas etc. that I consider to be new thinking, or original ideas in respect of a theory of change.

When I say new, I mean that either 1): I have not come across it before in different sources that I have studied or read, seminars or conferences attended, or courses done over many decades; or 2): it is so strange to mainstream ears that it sounds a bit ridiculous, weird, or, some naysayers might say, too idealistic.

I’m not saying that the concept, thought, theory or proposition doesn’t exist anywhere in the world in any language. It’s just that I haven’t come across it!

In fact, one of the great advantages (and one of the most exciting aspects) of the world-wide-web is the linking together of information whether from informal or formal, or published or unpublished sources and the democratisation of information sharing in general.

And it also means that it is a bigger challenge to be new than in pre-Internet days.

Section One is the Prologue – what you are now reading. It is, as I said already, a short initial overview. The first Chapter is this one; (Welcome, Navigating the Website, brief run through the Aims, and then a Synopsis of the Sections in the website).

Following that there is a Chapter which contains a list of the Contents – all of which (hopefully anyway) will be self-explanatory. In the Contents are links to the Sections and Chapters, but Sub-Chapters are not linked.

However, when you click on a Chapter in the Contents, you will arrive at the first post in the Chapter, entitled What’s In The Chapter?, and from there there’s a link to each Sub-Chapter.

The Prologue finishes with a Chapter entitled The Website Itself. This is a description of different aspects that might be of interest before you start reading.

For example I explain why I use the term Natural World and how the idea to write the website came about.

I discuss the values that seep into us unnoticed through our education, our religion, the commercial world (how, for example, corporate values influence us). I also discuss the challenges that we encounter when we aim to share power in this work.

And I include a Chapter on trauma as it has particular significance.

I finish the Prologue with acknowledgements and a note on the style that, I feel, the website is written in.

Section Two, Setting The Scene, describes the scene that is set which is always influential in determining our feelings as we embark on whatever activity, event etc. we are going on or participating in.

For example if we go to a circus, a birthday party, or on an aeroplane different scenes await us to prepare us for the show, party or flight.  The first scene in a film is intended to set us up for the story to follow, and indeed gives us a flavour of the atmosphere in which the film will be set, and the early chapters in this website – The Natural World Of Child Protection – will do the same.

Section Two is, of necessity, quite a long Section.

The circumstances of and the environment surrounding children who need protection, mostly – but not exclusively – growing up in families affected by imprisonment that are almost always ignored by mainstream society as it goes about its business constitute the scene that is the subject of this website.

I would say that the scene also includes the struggle that they have to be heard.

So in Section Two, Setting the Scene, I am aware that you may already have feelings, some of which may be strong, about the subject matter.  You may not agree with all of the Section – but I invite you to consider it and weigh it up against what you do believe.

To begin Setting the Scene, I include an Introduction, and follow this with a longer description of the Purpose and Rationale – that is, why I am writing it at all.

To really get into the meat of the Section I follow with what I feel are Important Descriptions that, I believe, everyone who aspires to protect vulnerable people should know about.  I describe what I call the Focus Group and the Pillars, and I will be using these terms a good bit.  So it is important when reading to remember what/who they are. While nothing in the Chapter on Important Descriptions is really new as such, I believe that the slant, or emphasis that I place on how they are viewed by people in general and society at large would be new to most community worker ears!

The final Chapter in the Section is about how we arrived at where we are today in respect of how Power and Control are wielded in society, and how both influence the way we think and then what we do, or don’t do about (seemingly) intractable problems. In this Chapter I introduce what might be a different perspective on the corporate world when I introduce the term corporate closed-ness. This will be an important concept in respect of how we are, unknowingly, controlled from the cradle to the grave.

The reason that I spend so much of the book Setting the Scene is that I feel strongly that the perspective on families affected by imprisonment (and society itself) that is offered to students of disciplines [1] that lead them to work in child protection (particularly in communities where the level of criminality is above the norm) is offered through the lens of the system, and it generally leans towards the academic or theoretical.

Generally, the perspective of the person who is powerless, in distress and has a true, intuitive, felt-sense of disadvantage and comes looking for help is not given high importance.

I am hoping that Section Two, Setting the Scene, will offer this perspective.

[1]. Social care, youth work, community work, social work, psychotherapy, counselling, teaching and similar disciplines.

Section Three is entitled A Bit Of Theory.

I have come to regard the work that is the subject of this website as very complex when I view it from one perspective, but very simple when I view it from another.  This is a bit of a paradox so Section Three describes some theories that I believe are important and relevant in the world of helping people in distress. The Chapter aims to offer a deeper appreciation of this simple/complex paradox.

The first is the theory of Cause, Effect and Nurture, that is the relationship between how we behave and the impact that our behaviour has on ourselves and our environment.  As our principal topic is child protection, Chapter One finishes with a description of how nurture is the dominant cause of a child growing to maturity, i.e. the effect.

This is followed by a Chapter that posits the importance of Systems Theory.  That is, how virtually everything in the world affects everything else – what is in close proximity, obviously, having more influence than what is distant.  This Chapter also describes how helpful the applications (and the implications) of systems theory are in our work.

I push out the boat a bit in the next Chapter when I describe Universal Theories of Change that can be applied in family support work so that people are truly included and their natural talents are allowed to flourish and grow – with minimum interference from external experts!

I said in the first post in this Sub-Chapter that I’d mention anything that I consider to be new or original. I believe that the Chapter on the Universal Theories of Change, and in particular my description of the Root Foundations is a new concept in the overall landscape of helping people in deep distress.

The following Chapter – Trauma and Related Topics – is a bit technical in terms of description, but I consider it to be very important.  Any individual or organisation that aspires to work in child protection needs to get a handle on, and have familiarity with these topics.  Alleviation of trauma (or what would nowadays be labelled as trauma but might have been called something else in times gone by) has been a goal of people as long as humans have walked the earth.

Every generation has tried to come up with different ways of easing suffering in their fellow humans.  The different ways are called modalities and after the Chapter on Trauma I describe Modalities of Helping that I believe have the best chance of working in our chosen field.

While there is a plethora of information available on many different Modalities of Helping from countless sources I believe that some of the ideas in this Chapter are new. In particular my exploration of complex variables and the firm grip that technology has on our thinking, our problem solving in general, and how this has influenced the way we go about helping people.

I finish the Section with a Chapter that I have entitled, (as a patriotic Irishman), The Family Support Shamrock. And I think that most of the material in this Chapter is also new!

It is the intention that the theories ensure that the Sections that follow make sense – so even though they are a little long they are central. They will set the tone for the Concepts And Propositions in Section Four, the Practical Applications in Section Five, and even the wrap up in Section Six, the Epilogue.

Section Four includes Concepts And Propositions that are intended to provoke thought, and a deeper consideration of factors that are influential in behaviour, growth, development and evolution, both in the individual human being as well as society in general.

The Section focuses on how the natural world (I’ll explain what I mean by the natural world in Chapter Three of this Prologue, and why the term is included in the title of the website) manifests, and has parallels in our psychological and behavioural world.  Much of this paralleling happens at an unconscious level – in other words – as we go about our day-to-day life, we are not really aware of it.

Because of this lack of conscious awareness I propose that the natural world is all the more influential, (that is to say, contains far more power) in our lives. I call this high impact-low noticeability and I will refer to that term when relevant.

I will describe phenomena such as Symmetry and our response to it, Resonance, Chaos, Critical Mass, as well as the difference between Stress and Strain.

Section Four also contains what I believe is an important Chapter on Anthropology, that is, how we evolved into what we are now and what factors were important in our evolution in respect of their importance to us now. In all my years of study or reading I have not really come across much emphasis on where we came from! This is amazing – really.

Nor have I come across much discussion on how we became class-conscious – i.e. how some of us seem to think that we are superior to others and, over time, developed a belief that we are more entitled.  This – I believe anyway – is of vital importance in the world of helping people who are poor, or disadvantaged in different ways.

I also describe how our cultural and social and then legal and justice worlds developed in parallel.

Energy is a very important thing to be aware of – and various aspects of energy in the context of helping people in distress are discussed.  Being excited about something increases the energy that we have available to do our work.  Initially it takes energy to debunk a myth – but in the long term energy is increased because we are not wasting it upholding the myth!  Both are explored in the Chapter on Energy.

Some of the above subjects might not seem, at first sight, to have much relevance.  But I believe that they have – and all the more so because they are not often in the consciousness of practitioners who work in the field of social work, youth work, social care, family support work, and related professions.

They also offer a basis for the essential design features that are needed so that an organisation will be attractive to very hurt people who, largely, have given up hope that they will be able to influence their own destiny.

On a personal note I value these concepts and propositions in my work in general and think about them a good bit.

They are all relevant to the practical steps that we wish to take in Section Five, and serve to explain the rationale underpinning suggested practice. 

All the theories in the world, in any field of exploration, are of little use to the general public if there are no practical applications ensuing from the theories.

A few years ago I brought a malfunctioning keyboard to my cousin who is a bit of a genius when it comes to fixing electronic gadgets.  I watched as he lifted the keys out of their bed and laid them aside with an elegant movement of hand and arm.  I commented on his dexterity and he, with great patience and a lot of wisdom, (and sensing that I had ambitions to do something similar – which I had) warned me that this was a ‘don’t try this at home’ kind of action – or great harm would probably be done to my Yamaha!

When something is done, and done well, it appears simple.  However the simplicity that the casual observer sees is almost always the result of inherent talent, education in the chosen field, years’ of dedicated practice, and knowledge and wisdom acquired from experience, i.e. exposure to a very wide variety of trial and error situations, and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

Whether it is playing a musical instrument, fine-tuning an engine, fly-fishing, executing a trapeze manoeuvre, scoring a goal with an overhead kick, or cleaning porridge off the floor that a six year old spilled while doing eight time tables with a nine year old and at the same time intervening in an escalating row between a four year old and a three year old, the effortlessness of what is casually observed belies the dance between the information continually being gathered by our five senses, (and maybe the sixth) the layers of thought processes that occur as a result of the information gathered, and our resultant actions arising from decisions and judgements about the likelihood of success that we aspire to in the moment that cause feedback loops from muscle to brain and vice versa.

Every decision is influenced by the result of every action, and we change decisions in real-time so that our desired outcome is (or, is not) achieved.

To think about how we do it, as we are doing it, would be well-nigh impossible.

Section Five describes the Applications of the Concepts and Propositions that I described in Section Four and the Theories in Section Three.  The applications include how helpful it is to try and Culturally Match our response in our work.  Creativity is one of most important elements and this is covered in Section Five. 

Leadership is covered in some depth. I believe that the invitation that we offer to families in distress needs to be modeled by our leadership practices which is why I give some emphasis to invitational leadership. Some of you might find my ideas about leaders encouraging sceptism a little different to the norm!

Different perspectives on Training are offered and Research and Evaluation is given a lot of attention.  (Thinking about new again, I think that the perspective that I offer on research is somewhat different to what is usually offered).

To finish the Section, Organisational Matters are covered in some detail. For example, I explore what compassion and spirituality really mean to us and how we can model what we desire for families in our day-to-day work in our organisation. I ponder on the implications of size in organisations and what change means. I believe that playfulness is important in organisations set up to enhance the well-being of hurt children so I give a Sub-Chapter to that too!

There is no point in going into too much detail here on the Applications but it is important to say that I firmly believe in the well-known quotation (from the Bible I think – or, as the mechanic said to the parish priest who was sprinkling holy water on his broken-down engine) ‘faith without good works is of no avail’.

So the challenge of continual application of the theories, concepts and propositions which I describe in previous Chapters (that is, the good work) will also be addressed – and in particular in the Chapter on Research and Evaluation.

In addition to description, Section Five also describes practical steps that we need to take if we wish to design in methods of working that will reach the populations with whose children we wish to have the most significant impact.

And when exploring what would optimise good work I will try not to dwell on the inhibiting factors, but will focus instead on the working well factors.