I am the Face of Success - Research Paper Example

I am the face of success’’ The of the study is very positive and refers to the success achieved by the ‘peer parents’ in child welfare. It is an appropriate title which could have been modified a little to describe the study accurately. For example, it could have been ‘We are the faces of the successes’. This is because the study mentions numerous successes which have been achieved by various peer parents throughout the child welfare programs. A title should be judged not only on the basis of what it tells but also what it fails to tell. The title fails to provide any clue to the tentative but steady attempts made by birth parents. They are equally responsible for the success of the child welfare projects. There is no doubt that peer parents deal with them in an empathic manner, but birth parents should be given credit for placing their trust in the hands of people they don’t even know. Their commitment to reunite with their children deserves at least a small mention in the title. Abstract An abstract of the study is provided which gives a glimpse of the contents. At first glance many of the things are understood. The abstract touches on many points which give the reader a feel of the past, present and future efforts for child welfare. It briefly highlights the inadequacies of the past methods, the efficiency of the peer mentor programs and an optimistic forecast of the future in this area. The methodology for the study is described in clear words and a qualitative approach has been taken to analyze the result. As said earlier, the most of things mentioned in the abstract are easily understood by the reader but some new terms such as peer parents and parents clients can create confusion in the mind of the reader/researcher. But the abstract tells in very unambiguous terms, the results obtained by the study. Since it was a qualitative analysis, there is absence of any dependent or independent variables. The abstract definitely invites the reader to continue with the article, but as is the case with any qualitative analysis, there are many points of contention. Introduction The introduction starts with the mention of profound changes in the foster care system. Many reasons are cited and they all seem to be concrete enough to change the course of foster care system. But here again, as is the case in many other academic pursuits, author has shied away from giving economic reasons behind the phenomenon. U.S. government is making massive cuts in almost every sector’s spending. The economic considerations could also have been touched upon by the introduction. The other lacunae in the introduction is a proper description of the inadequacies of the past methods and procedures. A lot of emphasis has been paid to the involvement and increasing participation of the birth parents. But not enough background is provided about the weak points which existed earlier and which shall be sought to be corrected in the present study. The study seems to be based on an independent phenomenon of birth parents participation supervised by compassionate peer parents. There seems to be no real need which would absorb the reader into the study. The lack of any old structure makes it hard to make any comparison and hence the relative success of the particular child welfare program. The focus of the study seems to be more on bringing forth the participation of parents and guidance received by them from peer parents. The introduction of the study can be said to be lukewarm about the reasons for the study. But still the reader’s interest doesn’t subside because of the serious issue of child welfare. No study which deals with bringing out efficiency in the child welfare system can be discarded. But still it would have been better if there was more clarity in the introduction about the weaknesses in the old approach and strengths in the new one. Literature review The literature review section or ‘background’ as it is called in the study justifies the research. What remained unexplained in the introduction was made clear. This section touches on many studies that have been conducted in this area of social work. Most of the researches point to the need of human element throughout the process of child welfare. There is emphasis on relationships and mentoring. The literature review then starts to delve into even much more personal attitudes and reactions of the parents. There is mention of ‘coping assistance’, ‘cognitive perception of problem’, ‘re-defining of identity’ and ‘helping alliance’. All these terms indicate towards the employment of qualitative techniques for analysis of the data. The area of the study seems to be centered on human sentiments and emotions. This justifies the use of qualitative techniques. The purpose of the study is to understand the significance of peers as instigators of change in the process of child welfare. There are many programs that are built on the principles of the findings of the above mentioned literature review. An attempt is made in the study to test their effectiveness. The benefit of a qualitative analysis in this study is that this analysis deals with not only feelings but perceptions of the parents as well as mentors. One area in which the literature review disappoints is the absence of any number of figures about the programs. There should be some statistics on the issue so that the reader can grasp the gravity of the problem that is being dealt here. These welfare programs would have their own cost. The participants (peer parents) have to be paid. There are various other figures that are missing such as number of successful reunions till date and also the success ratio of re-unification of child with its parents. Methodology The research methods used in the study are quite simple but at the same time innovative. The study describes its process in a chronological order. Sufficient amount of information is provided about the process starting with the contacting of focus groups and ending with obtaining of results. There is reasonable amount of clarity about the methods of data collection. On the basis of the information provided in the study, subsequent researchers can successfully set up the basic structure if there arises any need to replicate the study. Replication becomes necessary when there is a need to test the validity and accuracy of any study. But there isn’t any detail about the problems faced during the organizing of this research. The study itself talks about emotionally charged atmosphere and need of neutralizing some factors to gain an accurate feedback. But there is no mention of major problems faced. This may hamper the success of any other similar studies conducted by other researchers. The design and sampling of the research also raise a few questions. The study doesn’t describe the exact geographic location or composition of its sample. The reader should have a clear idea about the places where the study was conducted. There should be detailed information about the economic status of the participants. The issue of child welfare is relevant not only to the poorer sections of the society but also the affluent ones. The research design is explained and it is quite straightforward. The real complexity comes while analysis of problems. The study itself confirms that the participants were inclined to give extreme responses of emotional nature. This could have obscured the real issue while analysis of their statements. There was also a risk of the discussions and interviews going astray. The topic of child care would have led to discussion of other side issues. The focus was kept around the main theme. The study describes salient quotations related to emergent themes being culled and commonalities of the interviews being distilled into broad themes. The sample design and the data generated justifies the use of qualitative techniques for analysis of the results. While dealing with human emotions, traumas and sufferings, quantitative analysis doesn’t shed light on the inner world of the participants. It merely gives an indication of the trends and patterns of the life of people. The study was an analysis of the compassionate, empathic and efficient supervision of peer parents in the program. It was a paid job though the research mentions a few peer parents leaving the program to set up their own business in child welfare. Apart from peer parents the birth parent’s participation in focus groups was appreciated by giving them $35 gift card to a local grocery store. Results The study’s result section shows that a lot of effort has been made to explore the experiences of the parents. There was a danger of making general conclusions on the basis of interviews. But the study has divided the discussions into many themes and sub-themes. These give an insight to not only the main features of parent’s opinions but also give them a chance to express themselves in detail about the many sub-themes. The qualitative analysis could have become extremely inefficient if there was focus on only the main themes of shared experiences, communication and support. The results are provided in three separate tables and they are very coherent in describing the findings. The opinions of birth parents are put in these tables. Results are also given about the benefits peer parents get from the whole process but it is not provided any structure like the birth parents results. This may be due the monetary benefit that is already available to the peer parents which lessens their opinion’s significance in the results section. Discussions At the end of the study discussions are provided about the results. The discussion is very consistent with the contents inside the study and the results obtained. For the first time in the study limitations of the child welfare model are discussed. The study itself professes the need for further research into the question of child welfare. The limitation of small sampling is highlighted and the study itself advocates the usage of to minimize any potential selection bias. The discussion also questions the viability of current model because it is depends on the whole-hearted participation of the peer parents. Many peer parents opt to work somewhere else and so there can be a shortage of them. This can lead to the collapse of the present model of child welfare. The study finally ends with citing references for the work used in the study. Most of the literature belongs to this decade which has seen many researches in this field. Ethics and other issues The study has explored a new dimension of child welfare where there is equal participation of birth parents and peer parents. But there arise many questions about the ethics of the study. First of all, this may be an infringement of the privacy of the participants. It is understood that the research was approved by the sponsoring university’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. But the situation can completely change if the private life of any participant is disturbed because of the secrets he/she revealed in the emotional atmosphere of the focus group. If such a case arises then this can jeopardize the whole model overnight. 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