The need of participate interventions in child protection: fieldwork voices in Nuevo León State

This article examines characteristics and social work practices within the\r\nMexican child protection system by combining observations of practice with the voices and\r\nthe views expressed by managers, social workers, families, children and young people. The\r\nresults of the study confirm the need for and desire to adopt a participatory approach, in\r\npreference to the individualistic ideas that currently dominates practice. The traditional\r\nMexican culture, the implicit and explicit representation of family and the social problems\r\nconnected to drug trade conflicts appear to have contributed to a child protection system\r\nwith a “child-centered perspective”, characterized by asymmetric power relationships, lacking\r\nthe empowerment and engagement of service users. These practices seem to be counter to\r\nthe legislative framework and appear ineffective. Reflections regarding how family needs\r\nare identified, understood and addressed reveal a commitment to find new ways of working\r\nwith families among service users and providers. However, the biggest challenge in the\r\nMexican context is to balance the protection of the child with support to their parents; without\r\nensuring the former, the latter will remain a partial and counter-productive work practice.