How do child and family social workers talk to parents about child welfare concerns?

Abstract Working with parents in relation to child welfare concerns is challenging. Social workers are expected to combine working in partnership with ensuring that the focus remains on the child's needs and protection. To date, most research in this area has relied on retrospective accounts from parents or workers. The current study explored the responses of 40 social workers to nine vignettes, six of which were textual prompts based on the Helpful Responses Questionnaire (Miller et al. , 1991), and three further verbal prompts designed to reflect typical resistance comments found in working with parental alcohol misuse. Responses were taped and rated. Overall, social workers tended to use a very confrontational and at times aggressive communication style. This was so consistently observed that it is likely to be a systemic issue. In conclusion, it is argued that at the levels of research, theory and official guidance, insufficient attention has been give to the micro‐skills involved in safeguarding children and that this is an urgent priority for further work. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.