Disguised compliance involves parents giving the appearance of co-operating with child welfare agencies to avoid raising suspicions and allay concerns.

Published case reviews highlight that professionals sometimes delay or avoid interventions due to parental disguised compliance. It is hard for professionals to work with families where there may be lack of cooperation and/or a hostile attitude.

When there are child welfare/protection issues, a failure to engage with the family may have serious implications and non-intervention is not an option.

This course has been produced to support professionals working with these problematic dynamics.

This training is provided by Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP)

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• understand Disguised Compliance in a way that will be helpful in practice


• be able to identify forceful counter arguments as a form of disguised compliance


• be able to consider the impact of themselves and other practitioners of working with parents who present themselves in a forceful articulate manner


• appreciate the importance of listening to parents whilst maintaining independent, child-centred assessments


• identify the possible motivations behind parents who disguise their level of commitment to the process of working together


• be able to consider ways of forming better partnerships with such parents


• understand the key messages from practice in working with parents who present in this way