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Book Review
Making a difference in families: Research that creates change
Robyn Munford and Jackie Sanders (eds)
ISBN: 186 508 9095 2003 248 pp pages St Leonards: Allen & Unwin
Felicity Croker
School of Nursing Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD
This edited book is an international, interdisciplinary collection of research experiences selected for their success in making a difference both to the perspectives of the researchers as well as the daily lives of the families within the communities being researched. Contributors share an interest in developing evidence-based best practice when working with families. In each research project, the focus is on the relationship between the researcher, who is positioned as a learner, in partnership with the participants and stakeholders, who are perceived as the experts. Through this respectful and inclusive approach, accompanied by critical reflection, the researchers have developed significant personal and professional insights, which are shared in this book.
Each of the first nine chapters details a case study of a research project involving different kinds of families conducted across cultures and in diverse settings. Employing a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods with flexible approaches, these case studies depict research experiences in Canada, Ireland, Australia and especially New Zealand. The final chapter is a cross-national, comparative study of family policies.
Often, with social research, the participants are asked to share deeply personal information without seeing any beneficial outcomes in the resulting policy. Consequently, both the researchers and participants can feel frustrated by their inability to make a difference. This book provides hope and direction. The contributors demonstrate a number of effective strategies and points in the research process where family researchers can achieve a positive social impact.
The chapters are structured around seven key themes (p. 9). First, the contributors discuss their experience of family research and provide scenarios that exemplify the philosophy which guided their research practice. Second, they describe their methods and the rationale for selecting those methods. Third, the authors discuss the framing of the research questions, with particular reference to who was involved in the decision-making processes and the points at which participants were involved. The fourth theme involves ethical concerns along with the considerations about the relationship between the researchers and participants. Next, when presenting the analysis, emphasis is given to the ways in which the processes and findings can be transformative. With the sixth theme, contributors explore how issues raised by the research were addressed. Finally, how the research created potential or actual change is discussed along with the role of the researcher in the change process. This structure makes the text particularly helpful for teaching purposes and for beginning researchers as it explicitly details the processes of negotiation, decision-making and flexible application of a selected method. Critical reflection accompanies these processes. Particular themes are highlighted in different chapters.
Depending upon your background and interests, particular chapters will appeal to different readers. I found chapters one, two and five outstanding.
Creating change through reflective research practice is emphasised in the Canadian project described in chapter one. While most Australian researchers have adopted post-modern paradigms, Raven, Rivard, Samson and VanderPlaat boldly describe their learning experiences with empowerment-oriented research, based within the emancipatory tradition. Working in impoverished communities along the Atlantic seaboard, Raven et al encountered resistance to the research findings. Developing a proactive, community action program for families had involved broad-based, extensive discussions and rich debates with participants; however, a series of 'critical moments' came with the initial evaluation and post-evaluation reflections. These revealed how the participatory action research (PAR) model had intended to be empowering, but had in contrast led to further marginalisation of the disadvantaged population. The two main issues centred on the validity of the initial findings and how families were positioned within the language of the report.
Initial analysis conducted with a qualitative software package, left the richness and diversity of views within the data unexplored. A subsequent more sensitive manual reading revealed the varied ways people used the family resource centres and the social changes that were occurring.
The second issue was 'a wake-up call' (p. 27) for the researchers. By accepting and reiterating institutional discourses in the evaluation, they were working in direct opposition to their empowering intent. Parents had been constructed as disadvantaged passive recipients of a service that helped them with their problems. Reconstructing families who accessed the resources as active agents making choices and managing challenges reframed the outcomes in a language of empowerment. Reflection upon these critical moments provided insights that led Raven et al to re-define their understanding of PAR.
Chapter two, titled 'Optimising the relationships between research, policy and practice: A systemic model', evaluates community-based programs for children living in adverse conditions in Ireland. Reflecting on a decade of major socio-economic changes and significant realignments of childcare policies and services, Canavan, Dolan and Pinkerton have focused on the macro-structural influences on families. With the shift away from institutional care and towards out-of-home care, opportunities arose for the evaluation of family support programs and projects. They present a dynamic model of an applied research system. Set within the overall context of a project and the actors within it, this model incorporates the ideological, political and economic forces that act upon different levels of society. These impact upon the research process and outcomes (p. 39). Their sophisticated evaluation process is conducted by a strategic alliance between funding organisations, academic researchers and service providers. This systemic approach enables a relationship between policy, research and practice. Although challenging to maintain, this collaboration optimised the impact of the research.
Bray and Mirfin-Veitch, in chapter five, are concerned that research with disabled people and their families usually positions them within a 'tragedy' or 'charity' model (p.74). They explore effective ways to raise decision-makers' awareness of these families' daily lives. Each of the five research projects described has a different methodology, creatively adapted to suit the needs of the participants and sustain their involvement throughout. For example, to ensure that intellectually disabled parents were included, Bray and Mirfin-Veitch applied an innovative data collection technique designed for 'difficult-to-count' populations. Their approach has given voice to previously silenced people, successfully highlighting their concerns so as to influence policy and practices.
The Canadian program evaluated in chapter nine identifies how a family-centred research process can support and advocate for parents whose children have special needs so as to bring about social change. The participants became actively involved in the evaluation to ensure that the subsequent policy decisions led to services that adequately met the needs of families.
Australian readers may be disappointed that O'Neill's chapter 'Clients as researchers: the benefits of strengths-based research' is the only local contribution. Presenting the St Luke's model of family and community work as an exemplar, O'Neill describes a simple, yet effective way to meet both organisational needs and empower clients through PAR processes. Clients responded enthusiastically to being given access to information and processes that facilitated their capacity to cope, achieve goals and regain control in their daily lives. O'Neill discusses ways in which the shift in focus from traditional problem-solving approaches to strengths-based research which is capacity building, can change organisational practices and service delivery.
In five chapters, the case studies are located in New Zealand. The complexities of ensuring culturally appropriate research processes and inclusive practices when working with Maori communities are discussed in chapters three and five. Strategies for minimising the 'trials and tribulations' that can occur when conducting studies with Indigenous people are described. A particular focus is placed upon the 'insider-outsider' issues in community-based projects. The principles of negotiating entry, ownership, reciprocity and giving back to the community, sensitivity to the particular community's needs, inclusiveness in decision-making and reflection on research processes, can be applied to research with Indigenous people beyond New Zealand.
Worrall and Mackenzie focus on developing and sustaining best practice in 'Mandatory social work: Research with vulnerable families'. They particularly consider the ethical challenges created by the power relationships between the state and agency staff working with involuntary clients from vulnerable families. Social service provision to New Zealand families is meant to be based on the principles of 'empowerment, partnership, family primacy and culturally appropriate practice' (p. 131). Critical reflection on the challenges of meeting this ideological expectation within the constraints of mandatory practice led Worrall and Mackenzie to explore and uncover the real experiences of clients and professional workers. Using a trialectic model of ethical research (p. 149), this chapter examines the gaps between theoretical assumptions, client experience and practice outcomes to arrive at an understanding of power structures that can increase vulnerability of involuntary clients.
Chapter eight addresses the complex and challenging issues involved in multi-method organisational research that is valid, rigorous and yet achieves active involvement and acceptance from staff within a social service agency. Methods that strengthen practices which generate a more sensitive response to clients' needs are explored.
In the final chapter, Briar and O'Brien examine some of the issues when conducting comparative family policy research across OECD countries. Despite the range of social conditions, the scenarios illustrate how differing models provide varying levels of family support. Disseminating these findings could potentially influence social policymakers towards more family friendly models.
The structure, diverse content and reflections in Making a Difference in Families will appeal to a wide readership. While showcasing innovative research methods and non-traditional approaches, this book also includes valuable reflections upon research relationships, processes and transformative outcomes. Selected chapters would be valuable resources for both students and teachers in a range of subjects and disciplines.
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