Risk and parenting assessments in child welfare court proceedings – a psychodynamic approach

This article discusses a court directed parenting and risk assessment of a mother who has a chronic history of trauma and abuse. It addresses the complex unconscious dynamics that need to be managed by social workers when working with parents in court proceedings regarding their children. Often such parents present with their own complex histories of trauma and abuse and despite their conscious intentions to do so this has contributed to their inability to provide adequate care for their own children. An understanding of the powerful unconscious processes in operation more effectively gauges the risk factors that such parents present. However, such cases and enactments on behalf of parents can be bewildering to social work practioners. This may potentially lead to the social worker feeling persecuted during the process, resulting in impulsive, unprocessed and poor decision-making despite their best conscious intentions. To mitigate these challenges there is discussion of the support needs required for social workers, who engage with such complex unconscious dynamics.