ABSTRACT

For many years, modern child protection systems have been criticised for their over-reliance on technical rational approaches to practice. It has been suggested that such approaches fail to appreciate the complex nature of child protection work and the importance of good professional judgment which goes beyond strict adherence to the likes of practice manuals and risk assessment tools. Furthermore, these approaches may be hindering rather than improving practice. In this article I say why Aristotle’s virtue ethics offers a good guide for informing good professional judgment in child protection. Namely, it moves practitioners away from being bound to prescribed modes of practice to an ethical frame that values the good character of the practitioner which includes an ability to exercise practical wisdom considered essential for determining good decision making. By drawing from Aristotle’s concept of phronesis (translated as practical wisdom), and focusing on the child protection ‘first home visit’ I identify key elements for good professional judgment in child protection. These elements are: exercising the moral virtues; being guided by the goal of practice; drawing from analytical reasoning, intuition, emotion and experience; finding the golden mean; and engaging in reflective practice.

摘要

多年来，现代儿童保护系统因过于依赖技术理性的做法而受到批评。有人提出，这种方法不能理解儿童保护工作的复杂性和良好的专业判断的重要性，而这种判断超出了严格遵守操作手册和风险评估工具之类的范围。此外，这些方法可能会阻碍而不是改善实践。在本文中，我说了为什么亚里斯多德的美德伦理学可以为指导儿童保护方面的良好专业判断提供良好的指导。即 它使从业者摆脱了从规定的执业方式的束缚，转变为重视其良好品格的道德框架，其中包括行使被认为对确定良好决策至关重要的实践智慧的能力。通过从亚里士多德的概念言语表达（翻译为实践智慧），并着重于儿童保护的“首次家访”，我确定了儿童保护方面进行良好专业判断的关键要素。这些要素是：行使道德美德；以实践的目标为指导；从分析性推理，直觉，情感和经验中汲取灵感；寻找中庸之道；并进行反思性练习。