re: Research Question

["john murray" <psychometre@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Anne,
Recently this list has held interesting debate about secrecy in CWS. Lack of 
information, or the alleged inability to collect and collate information 
only assists in the level of secrecy as one can blame structural failures 
inherent in the systems instead of blaming  the ethical or corporate ethos 
that leads to the lack of those systems.

I have gone through report after report from government inquiries in 
Australia stretching back over a century, and always the lack of information 
is pointed out, and always the same old recommendations are raised, and 
always NSW DOCS (community services) falls back on this whorey old excuse to 
explain their inability to protect children, or even know the most simple 
things about children in their care, or indeed the nature of the departments 
own  operations.

(information after all informs practice- or not as the case may be)

Recently a parliamentary inquiry was informed by senior DOCS staff that 
their system (which previously had been promised to tell all- just as the 
new one is going to) was used by IT and IS specialists as a demonstration of 
how not to create a system.!!!

I haven't researched information on this issue, but would suggest that you 
take a sample of Government Inquiry reports, and internal reports stretching 
over say 50 years, and look at what each one has to say.

My hypothesis is that CWS doesn't realise that a lack of a policy is in fact 
a policy statement, just as a lack of basic information, or a system capable 
of extracting useable information  is a statement about the professionalism 
of e service being provided.

My hypothesis would then suggest that as IT and IS is now so bloody 
fantastic, privacy implications will be relied upon as a reason not to share 
information generated, or more importantly, a reason NOT to record certain 
felids of information in the first place.

As you no doubt realise, while the technology available today is incredible, 
it still has to work with that which is put into it. That will be the 
problem of he future!

I would be interested in seeing what you produce, or if you find any 
interesting analysis or study of this issue, could you pass it on.

Cheers
John Murray.


>I am conducting research on the use of IT and IS systems in the provision 
>of child welfare and child protection.  I am wondering if anyone has any 
>suggestions for literature/case studies for review.
>
>In my preliminary research, I have found limited information looking at IT 
>and Child Welfare specifically.  I was wondering if there are any 
>hypotheses for the lack of attention to this area--while areas like 
>hospitals, budget offices, and libraries are the focus of a multitude of 
>studies.
>
>Thanks for your help.
>
>Anne Pordes
>Candidate, MSc Social Policy and Planning, London School of Economics

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