Families’ perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory
- Author
- Lana De Clercq (UGent) , Florien Meulewaeter (UGent) , Sara Rowaert (UGent) , Stef Decoene, Louise Caffrey, Mike Caslor, Stijn Vandevelde (UGent) and Wouter Vanderplasschen (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
- Abstract
- The Signs of Safety (SofS) approach has been designed as a strengths- and solution-oriented approach for professional care providers to support families and children referred to Child Protection Services (CPS). Although SofS has been implemented worldwide within statutory and non-statutory child protection practices, research from the perspective of families that evidences the approach’s impact is currently lacking. As previous research has called for more theory-driven impact studies, this study applies Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework to better understand how SofS enables families to experience ‘autonomous’ motivation rather than ‘controlled’ motivation by supporting basic human needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Sixteen parents, minors, and network members from five case studies were interviewed through semi-structured interviews about their experiences with their SofS trajectory in Flanders, Belgium. The results demonstrate that by leveraging SDT and integrating it with the principles of SofS, practice workers can establish a supportive environment that respects family autonomy, promotes collaboration, and encourages self-endorsed goals, ultimately enhancing the safety and well-being of children and families involved in CPS.
- Keywords
- Signs of Safety, Child protection, Family perspective, Self-Determination Theory, Autonomous Motivation
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JPA98EV3A82AC714VJ1G4KHY
- MLA
- De Clercq, Lana, et al. “Families’ Perspectives on the Impact of Signs of Safety in Child Protection Services through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory.” CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW, vol. 171, 2025, doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108166.
- APA
- De Clercq, L., Meulewaeter, F., Rowaert, S., Decoene, S., Caffrey, L., Caslor, M., … Vanderplasschen, W. (2025). Families’ perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory. CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW, 171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108166
- Chicago author-date
- De Clercq, Lana, Florien Meulewaeter, Sara Rowaert, Stef Decoene, Louise Caffrey, Mike Caslor, Stijn Vandevelde, and Wouter Vanderplasschen. 2025. “Families’ Perspectives on the Impact of Signs of Safety in Child Protection Services through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory.” CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW 171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108166.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- De Clercq, Lana, Florien Meulewaeter, Sara Rowaert, Stef Decoene, Louise Caffrey, Mike Caslor, Stijn Vandevelde, and Wouter Vanderplasschen. 2025. “Families’ Perspectives on the Impact of Signs of Safety in Child Protection Services through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory.” CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW 171. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108166.
- Vancouver
- 1.De Clercq L, Meulewaeter F, Rowaert S, Decoene S, Caffrey L, Caslor M, et al. Families’ perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory. CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW. 2025;171.
- IEEE
- [1]L. De Clercq et al., “Families’ perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory,” CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW, vol. 171, 2025.
@article{01JPA98EV3A82AC714VJ1G4KHY,
abstract = {{The Signs of Safety (SofS) approach has been designed as a strengths- and solution-oriented approach for professional care providers to support families and children referred to Child Protection Services (CPS). Although
SofS has been implemented worldwide within statutory and non-statutory child protection practices, research
from the perspective of families that evidences the approach’s impact is currently lacking. As previous research
has called for more theory-driven impact studies, this study applies Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a
framework to better understand how SofS enables families to experience ‘autonomous’ motivation rather than
‘controlled’ motivation by supporting basic human needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Sixteen
parents, minors, and network members from five case studies were interviewed through semi-structured interviews about their experiences with their SofS trajectory in Flanders, Belgium. The results demonstrate that by
leveraging SDT and integrating it with the principles of SofS, practice workers can establish a supportive environment that respects family autonomy, promotes collaboration, and encourages self-endorsed goals, ultimately enhancing the safety and well-being of children and families involved in CPS.}},
articleno = {{108166}},
author = {{De Clercq, Lana and Meulewaeter, Florien and Rowaert, Sara and Decoene, Stef and Caffrey, Louise and Caslor, Mike and Vandevelde, Stijn and Vanderplasschen, Wouter}},
issn = {{0190-7409}},
journal = {{CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW}},
keywords = {{Signs of Safety,Child protection,Family perspective,Self-Determination Theory,Autonomous Motivation}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{10}},
title = {{Families’ perspectives on the impact of signs of safety in child protection services through the lens of self-determination theory}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108166}},
volume = {{171}},
year = {{2025}},
}
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