1. Risk II & Disguised Compliance
Nathan Loynes

2. Read ‘The bad old days’ – What do you
think?

3. Tim Gill – Who is to blame? (p.61)
1. Discuss in small groups why
‘blame’ seems to be a prominent
aspect of contemporary culture.
2. How do you feel about blame?
(as ‘the blamed’ and/or ‘the
blamer’)

4. In ‘Loco Parentis’ (Tim Gill, p.63)
• What does this term mean?
• Which ‘yardstick’ do the courts use in
determining this?
• Do you think ‘uncertainty’ (risk) applies to the
concept of ‘loco parentis’?

5. Was this a risk too far? (What if you
worked for the nursery in question?)

6. Every Child Matters or Every £
matters?
“For both pre-school and school-age
children, the last decade has seen a
dramatic expansion in the time spent
in formal childcare. The main reasons
for this expansion have been
economic, not educational”. (Gill,
2007:68).

7. Read Gill, p. 69, from ‘If care
workers…’
Consider the following points and feedback:
1. Overriding priority to return children
unscathed?
2. Little incentive to allow children to experiment?
3. Hurt/distress means (staff) taking a risk
themselves.
4. Low status?
5. No time for reflection & planning?
6. High turnover – cannot develop sustained
relationships.

8. The media is ‘to blame’ (sic)
Senior BBC journalist, Andrew
Marr: “to sell papers, news
must move and that often
means provoking fear” (cited in
Gill, 2007:73).

9. Gill: ‘Beyond Risk Aversion’
• The situation is complex.
• Proposals for the future are equally
challenging.
“Resilience means finding ways to
function in a world when bad things
happen. So what distinguishes it from
fatalism, indifference or negligence”
(pages 83/4).

10. Disguised compliance: ‘Clouding’ risk
assessment?
• Parent/Carer distracts professionals away
from harm.
• Involves ‘apparent’ parental cooperation.
• Can be identified by family’s failure to ‘change’
• Professionals need to challenge there own
held assumptions, play ‘devil’s advocate’ (i.e.
frequently internally ask ‘what if…?’)
• Why is playing ‘devil’s advocate’ difficult?

11. Cases in the news:
A: Peter Connolly’s mother to be released
B: Hamzah Khan
C: Daniel Pelka
• How do you think ‘blame’ feature in these
cases?
• Do you consider that ‘disguised compliance’
was an issue in these cases?

12. Conclusion
• There are pressures on services (i.e. nurseries and
childcare) to be risk averse.
• Gill argues that this is for economic rather than
educational/developmental reasons.
• Disguised compliance involves practitioners being
‘taken in’ by parents.
• Disguised Compliance (DC) can exist at the
preventative end of the child protection process, and
unfortunately often identified ‘after’ a tragic event.
• We can mediate against DC by being reflective, asking
questions, and building strong relationships with the
children (‘seeing’ the child).