Participatory social work and report writing Rudi Roose*, Andre Mottart†, Nele Dejonckheere‡, Carol van Nijnatten** and Maria De Bie§ *Senior Researcher, Department of Social Welfare Studies, †Senior Researcher, Department of Educational Sciences, ‡Researcher, Department of Social Welfare Studies, §Associate Professor, Department of Social Welfare Studies, Ghent University, Belgium, and **Associate Professor, Department of General Social Sciences, Utrecht University; Extraordinary Professor, Department of Pedagogy: Family and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands ABSTRACT Participation of children and parents is a central notion in child and family social work. This paper reports on a research dealing with how the participative paradigm comes to the fore in the practice of report writing in the work with looked-after children. As social work is essentially a language-centred activity, report writing is a core skill in social work. A participative practice of report writing would imply that the perspective of the children and parents is present in the reports. The results of our research show that a participatory approach to writing reports is not self-evident. On the one hand, the practice of report writing shows a big diversity in the way the cli- ent’s perspectives are given attention. On the other hand, the incor- poration of the client’s voice does not necessarily stand for a participatory approach because it may be used to strengthen pro- fessional views rather than clarify clients’ perspectives. The case is made in such a way that a participatory approach of child and family social work demands more attention to the practice of writing reports. Correspondence: Rudi Roose, Department of Social Welfare Studies, Ghent University, H. Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium E-mail: rudi.roose@ugent.be Keywords: child protection, child welfare, children’s participation, discourse analysis, looked-after children Accepted for publication: October 2008 INTRODUCTION Participation of children and parents is a central notion in child and family social work. In this partici- pative paradigm, social work is user-led rather than service-driven: the perspective of the client is central. In this paper, we report a research project dealing with how this participative paradigm comes to the fore in the practice of report writing, more specifically re- porting on the work with looked-after children in Flanders, Belgium (see Note 1). The practice of writing reports is important because social work is essentially a language-centred activity (Parton & O’Byrne 2000; Hall et al. 2006; Harrison 2006; Van Nijnatten 2006). Through report writing, social workers can have a significant influence on outcomes for individual clients. Reports provide the social worker with ‘an important opportunity to persuade influential decision-makers, such as courts, managers and funding bodies, of specific concerns facing clients at individual and community levels. Hence, effective report writing skills are essential to achieving out- comes in social work practice’ (Healy & Mulholland 2007, p. 101). Clients deem reports essential because what is written does not vaporize but rather clots for a long time and for different people to see. These reports make it possible to make or break reputations, ‘not just for one moment, but for the days to come’ (Margolin 1997, p. 44). A participative practice of report writing would imply that the perspective of the children and parents is present in the reports. The results of our research show that a participatory approach to writing reports is not self-evident. The case is made in such a way that a participatory approach of child and family social work demands more attention to the practice of writing reports. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2008.00599.x 322 Child and Family Social Work 2009, 14, pp 322–330 © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd