This research aimed to explore how clinical psychologists respond to child safeguarding dilemmas, with special attention to the role of psychology in child welfare. Transcripts from 20 semi-structured interviews with clinical psychologists working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in England were analysed using a qualitative framework approach. In these interviews, two family case vignettes were used to examine how psychologists respond to child safeguarding dilemmas. We identified three overarching themes: operating within a system of stretched resources; characterising who is considered ‘supportable’ by psychological services; and challenges around conceptualising and responding to risk. Clinical psychologists viewed social services as responsible for family cases with safeguarding concerns and were reluctant to engage in high-risk cases where stability in the home was not yet established. They saw their role in child welfare primarily as sense-makers for families, by offering a contextualised explanation/formulation for the presenting difficulties.

中文翻译：

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临床心理学家如何应对儿童保护困境：一项定性研究

本研究旨在探讨临床心理学家如何应对儿童保护困境，特别关注心理学在儿童福利中的作用。使用定性框架方法对来自英格兰儿童和青少年心理健康服务机构的临床心理学家进行的 20 次半结构化访谈的笔录进行了分析。在这些采访中，两个家庭案例片段被用来研究心理学家如何应对儿童保护困境。我们确定了三个首要主题：在资源紧张的系统中运作；描述哪些人被认为是“可以接受心理服务支持的”；以及围绕概念化和应对风险的挑战。临床心理学家认为社会服务机构负责处理有保障问题的家庭案件，并且不愿意参与家庭尚未建立稳定的高风险案件。他们认为自己在儿童福利方面的作用主要是为家庭提供意义，为当前的困难提供情境化的解释/表述。