A conceptualization of vulnerable families from a child protection perspective

Vulnerable families are those exposed to circumstances involving risks to their wellbeing and their children’s in particular. In such conditions, parents can more frequently display ineffective parenting practices and experience difficulties in dealing with child behavior problems. Such families are more likely to engage with social services and be referred to parenting support. Providing parents with professional interventions to support their parenting is a way of promoting children’s and parents’ mental health and wellbeing, reaching children’s developmental potential, and protecting children’s rights. However, no clear definition is presented in literature stating which are the characteristics or/and risk factors that contribute to the concept of a “vulnerable family”. To address this gap, a scoping review has been conducted to map the characteristics of the families engaged with social services and referred to parenting interventions. The review followed the JBI Manual’s recommendations and the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews. A systematic search was run on scientific and grey literature databases and 8528 records were retrieved. Following deduplication procedures, 5890 records were screened for title and abstract, and 139 records for full-text eligibility. A total of 50 records (46 studies) were included in the review addressing parents of children aged 2-18 years old engaged with social services and referred to a parenting intervention. Results show mainly single mothers to male children as the caregivers referred to parenting intervention due to child maltreatment or neglect. Parents display low education levels, low income, and high unemployment rates. The main risk factors observed are intimate partner violence, substance abuse, parents’ history of childhood adversity, parental mental health issues and parenting stress, low social support, inadequate housing, and child behavioral problems. The qualitative synthesis informs a conceptualization of vulnerable families from a child protection perspective which is relevant for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in their work to guarantee children’s rights and protection and their families’ psychosocial adjustment and well-being.