County Hall Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire HU17 9BA Telephone (01482) 887700
www.eastriding.gov.uk
Malcolm Sims Director of Corporate Resources
Ms J Clearly/ Your Ref:
Our Ref: 1a/TT/CAF/FOI04116
Enquiries to: Tracey Tomlinson
E-Mail:
Tel. Direct: (01482) 393203
Fax. Number: (01482) 393269
Date: 11 April 2013
Dear Ms Clearly
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Rights of Access Request
I write to acknowledge your recent application to East Riding of Yorkshire Council for access to information under the above Act the details of which are set out below.
Details of Request:
Re Academic Paper
Department of Social Science, the Psychology Section, University of Örebro
THE RHETORIC CASE
Persecution strategies in a child care order investigation By: Linda Ärlig
Full text here: http://www.nkmr.org/english/the_rhetoric...
Taking full account of the contents of the academic paper referenced above, please provide answers to the following questions under the FOI.
A. Is the Council aware of this research and does it account for it in its children's social care practice?
B. In dealing with cases, what policy and practice has the Council put in place in order to ensure the protection of parents (and their children) whose children are involved in child care proceedings from Persecution Strategies being used by individual and/or colluding social workers (and departmental legal professionals) as described in Linda Ärlig's academic paper, THE
RHETORIC CASE - Persecution strategies in a child care order
investigation?
If so, how does the Council ensure such protection? Whilst the relevant laws in the report are different in England and Wales the 56 identified Persecution Strategies in the paper can be summarised by the following be behaviours:
The authority knows best Blackening the names of the parents. Making children
and parents to appear in need of care. Pushing through and sticking to decisions
that have been made
• Disregarding laws and regulations
• Destroying relations of importance to the family
• Influencing the reader
• Disregarding elementary aspects of objectivity
The use of Rhetoric, Withholding and Fabrication techniques in the 56 strategies results in biased, non-factual and inaccurate reporting as summarised in the following six groups:
Influencing the reader through language
Making the client seem pathological
Ignoring objectivity aspects
Exercising power and control
"The authorities know best"
"Feel-believe-think-experience-interpret”
D. When such issues are raised by parents, (allegations of persecution including issues regarding factuality), that may fit into such strategies, behaviours and groupings in childrens’ care matters, can parents access trained, competent, effective and independent investigators with suitable forensic systems in order that a full independent investigative assessment of such matters can take place? Is full file disclosure available, and are the files reviewable before any determination of the case regarding children occurs?
E. What training and monitoring systems are in place to identify any such issue?
F. How many instances of any allegations of such strategies being in use have:
1. Been alleged in the last year?
2. Been investigated in the last year?
3. From 2. how many were identified as evident by the number of cases of occurrence?
4. What range of remedies were then applied? The Persecutions Strategies are listed below for your convenience.
PERSECUTION STRATEGIES
1 Rhetorical strategy
2 Insinuating strategy
3 Positive-negative argumentation strategy
4 Negative reinforcement strategy
5 Negative synonym strategy
6 Repetition strategy
7 Hammer strategy
8 Multi-minus strategy
9 Contrast strategy
10 Strategy of selective use of words indicating uncertainty
11 Generalisation strategy
12 Strategy of making trivial statements in a negative context
13 Strategy of making the client seem pathological
14 Strategy of implying that the client’s criticism stems from the client’s pathological condition
15 Therapy strategy
16 Strategy of making the client seem peculiar
17 Strategy of making the client’s behaviour seem too intense
18 Strategy of persecution by use of the fundamental attribution error
19 Scapegoat strategy
20 Strategy of calling attention to non-existent "facts"
21 Suppression strategy
22 Strategy of ignoring the client’s perspective
23 Strategy of vagueness
24 Strategy of gradually suppressing details
25 Strategy of using the impersonal form
26 Exaggeration strategy
27 Quantitative strategy
28 Fabulation strategy
29 Strategy of gradual intensification
30 Lying strategy
31 Strategy of presenting irrelevant information
32 Implicit theory strategy
33 Strategy of exploiting and exaggerating events
34 Strategy of collecting negative historical events of little or no relevance
35 Strategy of referring to unspecified others
36 Presumptive strategy
37 Control and power strategy
38 Provocative strategy
39 Strategy of trying to accuse the client of lying
40 Anti-democratic strategy
41 Strategy of presenting insulting values and comments
42 Strategy of restricting the credibility of others’ opinions
43 The social authorities know best
44 Strategy of emphasising social authorities’ resources
45 Strategy of exceeding the limits of your competence
46 Moralising strategy
47 Strategy of justifying yourself and your actions
48 Strategy of stressing one’s own experience
49 Strategy of making vague references to experiences
50 Strategy of ascribing an experience to the client
51 Strategy of ascribing a negative attitude to the client
52 Interpretational strategy
53 Strategy of using strategic interpretation
54 Strategy of using signs as evidence
55 Strategy of interpreting everything negatively
56 Negative prognosis strategy
You have a right to have the existence of the information requested either confirmed or denied unless the Council claims an Absolute Exemption under Part II of the Act. Officers are currently establishing whether the information requested is held and I will write to you with the Council’s response by 9 May 2013 which is 20 working days following receipt of your request.
If in the meantime you have any queries regarding your application please contact
Tracey Tomlinson who is the Freedom of Information Co-ordinator on the above telephone number or by email on .
Yours sincerely
for the Director of Corporate Resources