Inter‐agency conflict: an ethnographic study

Abstract

An ethnographic study using observation and in‐depth interviewing of professionals from different organizations, intensively ‘shadowed’ a small number of alleged child abuse cases as they moved through the service system. A high level of inter‐agency conflict was observed and common sources of conflict were: gatekeeping disputes; dispositional disputes; and domain disputes. Dynamics relating to the displacement of hostility on to other agencies in cases in which all the professionals involved felt impo‐tent to protect vulnerable children, were also observed. These findings provide some fresh insights and hypotheses into the com‐plexity of inter‐agency interaction in the field of child protection.

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