A good introduction to some techniques for communicating with children and young people is provided in Community Care by Professor David Shemmings and colleagues. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/static-pages/articles/Social-work-tools-for-talking-to-children/
I think there is a real dearth of solid practical guidance on child protection and, probably, far too much procedure, theory and policy. So it is really good to see something like this which is intensely practical and very useful.
I have often thought that it would be very useful to have a practical guide to ‘knocking on doors’ – i.e. what are good ways to explain to angry or frightened parents that you are visiting them to undertake a child protection inquiry.
Another area where much more practical help is required is in observation and recording. It seems to be just assumed that it is relatively easy to conduct a fraught interview, drive back to the office, deal with some telephone calls and then write down what happened in a way that is both accurate and helpful to whoever has to read the record. Believe me it isn’t.
