Table of Contents
Intervention and Legislation
The family were assessed under section 17 of The children Act 1989, which relates to the promotion of services for children in need, their families and others. It states that the local authority amount other duties has the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need. (Nscb.org.uk, 2019)
Working together to safeguard children 2015, which was updated and replace in 2018 sets guidance for Early Help practitioners’ and outlines duties mandatory for every local authority within the United Kingdom. It states that intervening at the earliest point of an emerging issue is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later or at crisis point.
It also states that in order for early help involvement to be effective, intervention relies upon local organisations and agencies working together to identify children and families who would benefit from early help, undertake an assessment of the need for early help and provide targeted early help services to address the needs of a child and their family which focuses on activity to improve the outcomes for the child. (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019)
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The Children Act 2004 also sets a responsibility for local authorities to promote inter agency co operation to improve the welfare of all children.
Special guardianship orders appoint one or more individuals to be a child’s special guardian. It is a private law order under The Children Act 1989, proposed for children who are unable to live with their birth parents due to concerns around the welfare of the child/ children. (Familylives.org.uk, 2019)
ID had been missing from school before early help became involved, once the case was allocated contact was made to the family within two day adhering to early help guidance. The phone called explained that that family had been referred to early help and they were asked if they were aware of the referral. An appointment was then booked with the family for an initial visit, at this visit I introduced myself as the families allocated worker and begun to explain the early help service. Before continuing to the next steps of the visit I asked if the family would like early help support and explained that they have a right to decline if they feel the do not require support. The family consented to engage with early help.
I explained that I would be completing an assessment on the family and it would include all family members living in the home and maybe some outside of the home. The family was okay with this and intervention begun.
The school were contacted on behalf of the family to address the concerns around the way ID’s situation was handled.
CAMHS advise, I liaised with the CAMHS help line to discuss my concerns about ID’s emotional wellbeing and self-harming disclosure. I gained the information needed to support the family and informed the without hesitation.
Parenting sessions, GM was referred to Triple P Teen Parenting sessions to help her set boundaries and determine roles within the home.
Direct work was completed with ID and the family, ID was asked to choose the potential schools she would like to attend on September, we also completed the child’s voice tool kit to determine how ID was feeling and how she could be supported. FD was also included within the assessment; I had to meet with the family after my finish hours at placement to collect his thought on the situation and how it impacted him.
The early help assessment (OFJ was completed and a support plan was created with the involvement of the family, realistic goal was identified and set.
Ethical Dilemma, AOP and ADP
Anti-discriminatory practice aims to reduce discrimination and oppression. Social workers can be at risk of oppression due to the element of care and control within practice.
Instead of the individual differences between individuals being seen a positive thing the diversities become the basis for unfair discrimination to disadvantage certain groups of people which then becomes a source of oppression. (Thompson, 2016)
An example of when I demonstrated anti oppressive practice is when I advocated on behalf of ID and the family to rectify the missed opportunity by the school to support and safeguard ID when allegations arose about the threats and the bullying taking place at the school. If I did not address the concerns, I would also be demonstrating oppressive practice towards the family through my authority and power. GM felt empowered enough to speak with me about making a complaint about the way the family were treated by the school.
Another demonstration of anti-oppressive practice is seeking consent to work with the family and contact other professionals regarding the family before the intervention process starts. It is important not to push for force families to do what I want or engage with the service as the service is consent based service. Instead I can inform them of the benefits of working with the service and allowing them to make an informed decision.
An ethical dilemma that arose while on placement was when ID disclosed to me that she was having frequent suicidal thought and had attempted self-harm. I was meeting with ID alone; she hardly spoke but had agreed to write down what she felt difficult to say. When she made her disclosed to me, I explained that because of the seriousness of the disclosure and to safeguard her I would have to relay what she has said to other professionals and GM for extra supervision. ID was silent and still at first but nodded her head in agreement.
As ID and I were building a trusting relationship I was unsure how disclosing our conversation with others would turn out, fortunately ID begun receiving the support she needed and is making step of improvement, and our relationship was not damaged.
Social Work Theories
According to (Teater, 2014) every Social Worker practice from a theoretical framework whether they realise it or not. Social Workers aid with approaching, accessing, and providing intervention or methods for client support based on psychological, sociological and social work theories. Theory informs social workers decisions on the types of methods’ that will achieve the best outcome for the clients they work with.
It is essential that social workers use theory to guide their view and approach in practice when working with individuals, groups, communities and society. Theory can be used to assist social workers to predict, explain and assess behaviour and provides an understanding to how social workers are react and intervene with clients with differing histories, problems or goals. Specific techniques and approaches are applied when working with clients to achieve desired outcomes and goals.
Diversity
Neil Thompson’s (Thompson, 2016) personal, cultural and structural (PCS) model is an important element to understand, it explains how differences between individuals such as, personal beliefs, cultural norms and structural institutions contribute to oppression.
To understand inequalities and discrimination it is important to analyse the situation using three levels; personal level, cultural level and structural level. These concepts are interlinked and interact with each other.
Our personal or psychological beliefs are shaped by our experiences and what we have identified through our life experiences, good or bad.
Cultural beliefs are shaped by religion, beliefs systems and nationality. It is influential in what is deemed as “normal” in different circumstances.
Structural beliefs are shaped by power and influence, it relates to ways in which oppression and discrimination are institutionalized.
In relation to the case study personal oppressive factor could include ID being abandoned by her mother and not having contact with her father and younger brother, although ID has a support home life and is placed within the family she already knows there is still the element of being looked after due to being place in the care of her grandparents.
Cultural oppressive factors could include the generational different between ID and other family relatives, she could feel oppressed in her grandparents not understanding the struggles a young person in her circumstance feels. Which could cause clashes.
Structural oppressive factors could include the bullying from peers at school and staff preconception on ID.
According to annual bullying survey, 2018 within the past year over 1.5 million young people in the United Kingdom experienced bullying, it also states that bullying is a societal issue, and everyone has a role to play in reducing the occurrence of is. (Ditchthelabel.org, 2019)
It is important to encouraging diversity throughout practise, the family are a White British and upper middle-class family. The family member I dealt with on a regular basis was GM who was in her 50’s.
There are identified differences between the family and me, considering that we are of different races, different generations and different cultural backgrounds. On an occasion I felt left out of the conversation between GM and my PE who is of the same race and could have similar cultural backgrounds. A comment was made about me being “Green”. I did not know what it meant. I put I down to our cultural differences, but it highlighted how easy it is to come across misinterpreted communication and how oppression can arise unintentionally.
Seeking involvement from GD and exploring triple parenting sessions instead of seeking it as a woman’s job or assuming he is too busy to engage eliminating the possibility of gender discrimination.
Systems Theory
Ludwig Von Bertalanffy developed general systems theory in the, he examined the complex parts that work together created a functional whole, in other words, if each member of the family are able to communicate and have an understanding of each other and their influence within the family the family and work together to eliminate conflicts the family can work as a unit with all parts functioning properly. (Walker, 2012)
Pincus and Minahan, Walker, (2012) developed the use of systems theory in the application for the unitary model. Specht and Vickey used systems theory in the application of case work.
These theorists believed that a framework could be provided for social workers to use to assist them with assessments of individuals, families and communities to provide areas of need for intervention when facilitating change within a system.
Pincas and Minchan 1973 cited in (Teater, 2014) suggests four systems for social workers to use when determining intervention strategies.
This includes:
- Change Agent System, this is the system influencing the change
- Client System, this is the individual client, family or community
- Target System, this is the most appropriate individual/s to receive change
- Action System, this is other systems that work with the change agent system to promote and influence change.
In relation to the case study, I as the allocated worker for the family would have been the system influencing change. This can be done through identifying areas for improvement and need through the process of assessment. The family would be the family client system and ID and GM would be the parts in the system that required change. While involving CAMHS, and the school ad supporting agencies to facilitate change.
Within the process of assessment, the theories used were systems theory, which looks at different aspects of the micro systems and how they are working together. ID currently has no relationship with her mother or father she also has a younger brother who has been adopted into another family. Her school life has been interrupted by bullying and treats she also feels unwanted at school and has a limited number of friends. Her physical health seems to be okay her mental health is stuffing due to the issues she faces.
Attachment Theory
In the 1930’s John Bowlby worked as a psychiatrist in a Child Guidance Clinic in London, where he treated many emotionally disturbed children.
This experience led Bowlby to consider the importance of the child’s relationship with their mother in terms of their social, emotional and cognitive development. Specifically, it shaped his belief about the link between early infant separations with the mother and later maladjustment. This led Bowlby to formulate attachment theory concept. (Holmes, 2014)
Bowlby suggests that within the ages of 3 years onwards, children begin to formulate reciprocal relationship. During this time the child is focused on the parent aiming to maintain a connectedness.
In relation to the case study the ID was separated from her mum from the age of 3 years old, before this time the family lived together. This could mean that ID could struggle to build meaningful relationships as she enters her adolescent years. Which could result in her not reaching self-actualisation in her later life if not support is received.
I believe that ID could have attachment issues, this is because the relationship had been broken with her mother from a young age, these attachment issues could be the cause of her suicidal thoughts and self-harming attempts. ID’s low self-worth could be related to feeling rejected by her mother.
Critical Reflection
When I met with ID for the first time, I found is very challenging to communicate with her as she would not speak at of our conversation was non-verbal. I found it difficult but decided that she might be more comfortable writing what she wants to say down.
While gathering more information on the family I found myself feeling empathy for ID as she was so young. Although I knew that there are children in worse circumstances, I couldn’t help feeling empathetic towards what she had to experience in her early stages of life.
When the incident in the park was explained to me, I felt like I needed to do something, when I was told about the way the school handled the allegation about ID being bullied and the threats made I was angry with the teacher involved and wanted answers for why it was handled this way.
When ID expressed the way she was feeling, her suicidal thoughts and herself harming attempts to me I remember feeling like a weight had fallen on me. It was difficult hearing a beautiful young girl talk in this way. I was concerned that though talking about the event ID could have been sparked into an episode of self-harm again when I left which made me call CMAHS for advice, I was happy to know that ID could be fast tracked for an assessment of she visited A&E and the concerns were explained.
This case was a hard case for me at first I remember thinking I was not equip to deal with this case, as I was one of the first people ID started to open up to I remained on the case helping ID to gain more confidence and sort out the issues affecting her.
I feel proud that she has begun to come out of her shell and is starting to trust other professionals.
In conclusion my placement within Early Help provided me with the relevant learning objective to improve on my understanding of children and family’s services. I have been able to apply theory and legislation to practice and improve on my confidence and ability to work with families. Through supervision provided by my placement supervisor and placement educator I have been able to receive guided direction when needed and had the opportunity to discuss and difficulties or concerns.
Through training and student forums I have been able to build on the experienced gained in practice and make more informed decisions in practice.
