Relatives rather than social workers should be recruited to help parents in difficulties, a conference was told yesterday. Someone who minds the children can be of more benefit to parents than experts who provide counselling or advice, said Mr Pat Dolan, who co-ordinates the Western Health Board's adolescent and family support services.
He was speaking during a joint presentation with Mr John Canavan, of the Department of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway, to an international conference on family support, organised by the board and the university.
Mr Dolan said there was no stigma in being helped by a relative. It would be cheaper for the State if it could harness their support. "It's very hard to get a social worker at 11.30 p.m. if your teenager is seen drinking his head off down in the estate," he said.
The Neighbourhood Youth Project in Galway had found that parents put more value on practical help - such as taking the children away for weekends - than on counselling and information.
Mr Dolan said research he had conducted on the social networks of disadvantaged parents showed each parent had about 10 people on whom to call for support. More than half were relatives. The bond between parents and adolescents remained very close, even where there were great difficulties between them.
Parents seeking professional help for family drug problems have felt patronised, and made to feel guilty about their children, Ms Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, NUI Galway, and Ms Fiona Walsh, drugs co-ordinator with the Western Health Board, told the conference.
"Helping organisations need to examine their own position and philosophy before embarking on any crusade to save the drug-using public," they said.