'Troubled Families’ : Policy continuity and discontinuity?

Shannon, MB

Abstract

The discourse around families perceived to have complex needs has developed at a policy level, very much reinforced
by media representations. The notion of the troubled family has recently been generated as a result of Coalition
Government policy-this controversial construction of particular families has been explicitly linked with the involvement
of the welfare state. Within this context, the Governments Troubled Families tsar, Louise Casey has published an
extensive outline of the policy, including the stories of a number of such families derived from interviews. The
participants accounts present a picture of some of the complex and long standing issues they face.
As a part of PhD research, literature was accessed exploring the notion of troubled and complex families. Exploring
these ideas in previous decades shows a continuity in the construction of this idea. This paper seeks to show the
continuity in the ideas about such families who present with complex problems, whilst highlighting the new, more
controversial version of these ideas. The stories of families who are the subject of intensive family intervention in
Casey's report are thus set in the context of this more individualised construction of family behaviour and will arguably
be perceived and interpreted in this new context. This discourse reflects the rebalancing of the family/state
relationship.

Citation

Shannon, M. (2015, April). 'Troubled Families’ : Policy continuity and discontinuity?. Presented at British Sociological Association Conference 2015 Societies in Transition : Progression or Regression?, Glasgow Caledonian University

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: British Sociological Association Conference 2015 Societies in Transition : Progression or Regression?
• Conference Location: Glasgow Caledonian University
• Start Date: Apr 15, 2015
• End Date: Apr 17, 2015
• Publication Date: Apr 16, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2015
• Related Public URLs: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference