Re: Untreatable Families... The Emperor's New Clothes ?

[nico.trocme@xxxxxxxxxxx]

> Date:          Fri, 13 Mar 1998 17:37:33 -0500
> Reply-to:      CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
> From:          Carolyn Hartley <carolyn-hartley@uiowa.edu>
> To:            Child Maltreatment Researchers <CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.
>                edu>
> Subject:       Re: Untreatable Families

......

> I don't disagree with the notion of assessing a client or family's
> amenability to treatment or readiness for change.  Prochaska and DiClemente
> have done work on identifying stages of change that might be useful.  I
> would be most distressed to think that a judicial system might be using
> such information to opt not to recommend or provide treatment, or take a
> parent's children away without giving them an opportunity for services.
> 
> And again, I think we need to strongly consider the possibility that the
> client's lack of progress may have something to do with the fact that we
> may not have figured out or developed a service needed to assist them.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Carolyn Copps Hartley, Ph.D.          (319) 335-1267
> University of Iowa                    email:  carolyn-hartley@uiowa.edu
> School of Social Work
> 308 North Hall
> Iowa City, IA  52242


A critical point that we often fail to make for fear that the public 
& funders will realize that we cannot do what we sometimes  claim to 
be able to do.  

Untreatability is indeed a critical issue.  Dr. Hartley is right to 
remind us that untreatability should be primarily viewed as an 
intervention challenge rather than a family trait.  

Whatever tool is used it should include service capacity measures 
along with parent capacity ones.


Nico Trocme
Centre for Applied Social Research
Child Welfare Research Unit
Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto

246 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1A1

tel: 416-978-5718
fax: 416-978-7072
nico.trocme@utoronto.ca