Working together to protect children: a case study of policy implementation in Greece.

Athanasiou, Helen (2016) Working together to protect children: a case study of policy implementation in Greece. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This is an exploratory case study aiming to describe the current state of the child protection system in Greece by examining both policy interventions and service responses targeted at all the stages of the phenomenon, ranging from detection and investigation to the provision of support or out of home care. This thesis is embedded in EU and international mandates for protecting children, embracing the Convention for the Rights of the Child as the starting point and value base of any developed, contemporary system designed to deal with this complex phenomenon. The main objective is to paint a picture of policy implementation in conjunction with front line interagency and multidisciplinary working. Data is collected and analysed in regards to all three levels; the macro, or policy level; the meso, or organisational/structural level and the micro, or frontline, professional, case specific, grassroots level. The researcher uses first-hand knowledge of the systems of both England and Greece in order to position Greece within the EU continuum of approaches based on the long-standing dilemma of support versus protection. As a result, the study concludes by offering suggestions on how to overcome barriers and improve the current situation in Greece so as to ensure that vulnerable children and their families receive appropriate and adequately designed services that would potentially enhance their life chances and enable better outcomes. This is achieved by distilling lessons to be learned from other more developed systems and adopting them to the Greek reality. This is an opportune moment for such a study as there is significant international movement towards convergence, which advocates unifying responses to such complex social phenomena and utilising international evidence of good practice.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2016 Helen Athanasiou
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Sets:	Departments > Social Policy
Supervisor:	Munro, Eileen and Bridge, Gill
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/3516

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