The social model and contextual safeguarding - key messages for practice

Abstract

Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to safeguarding young people from harm they experience in extra-familial contexts. As such it is compatible with, and supports the development of, a range of practice frameworks and models that are being used to improve child protection responses and systems. In this briefing we explore the relationship between Contextual Safeguarding and the Social Model of Child Protection – and the potential that may exist in bringing these two ideas together to create child protection practices that target the social conditions in which abuse occurs. The briefing is divided into three sections. In section one we summarise the two approaches. In the second section we reflect on what the two approaches share and where they may diverge. In the final section we present how they could work together by use of a case study, and make recommendations for how to explore this potential in the future.