Social Work Practice Learning

David Edmondson

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781446208915, 9781446208908
• eBook ISBN: 9781446293027
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Work
• Index: Social Sciences

This book provides essential knowledge and skills to address all the new social work education requirements for placements and practice learning. It will help you successfully pass your compulsory social work placement whilst meeting the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) for Social Workers and developing their professional practice.

Giving examples of the PCF plus clear exercises, strategies and tips, the book:

-Introduces your students to social work in the context of contemporary reforms.

-Takes you through each stage of the new placement structure explaining supervision, reflective practice and critical thinking in social work.

-Addresses trouble shooting and problem solving on placement.

-Helps you prepare for complex casework with individuals, families, groups and communities; address risk in social work; and engage with diverse groups and communities.

By using this book, you?ll be armed with the tools you need to get the most out of your placement.

David Edmondson is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Manchester Metropolitan University

1

The Idea of Social Work: A Brief Introduction

Overview and Learning Outcomes

This chapter will cover:

• History, contexts and ideas about social work.

• Being and becoming a social worker.

By the end of Chapter 1 you will be able to:

• Offer an explanation to others of the roots and relevance of social work.

• Discuss the contemporary context of social work practice.

• Engage with debates about recent social work reforms.

• Make an effective contribution to debates about the purpose and future of social work.

Introduction to Chapter 1

This chapter seeks to orientate you to the practice of social work and to help you prepare for your forthcoming practice learning placement. It differs from the later parts of the book, where the focus is more on the placement itself and the skills, knowledge and values that are required to be successful in your practice and learning.

In this chapter, we deliberately take time to consider the context and history of social work to inform our thinking about what social work is and what it is for. In preparation for your forthcoming practice learning placement you should be able to explain your work and why social work is important. This last aspect tells us something about the current status and profile of social work, which has come under repeated public scrutiny and criticism in recent years, with some justification in certain regards. At your interview to be accepted onto a social work course you may well have been asked why you want to be a social worker. You possibly answered that you want to ‘help’ people. But what does this really mean and what does becoming a social worker really entail?

Students in training and experienced practitioners are often asked by service users, carers, other workers, critics and allies alike – What is social work about? What do social workers do? Whatever the quality of your answer, a supplementary question typically follows: Why on earth do you want to be a social worker? When you are out on placement, how are you going to reply?

It is important we consider these questions. After all, if we aren’t clear about what we are doing and why, then not only will we not be able to do our job properly, we cannot reasonably expect others to accept or trust the services we offer.

So, when we say at our social work course interview that we want to help people, what are the things we may be thinking about? This question is further complicated, given social work and social workers frequently find themselves having to try to deal with very real and genuine crises in people’s lives; severe needs and problems of daily living brought about by sudden illness, chronic health problems, family breakdown, domestic violence, neglect and abuse, loss and emotional distress. This list is by no means complete. Such events are perhaps among the most significant and life changing moments in people’s lives. However, it is in just such circumstances we find social workers trying to do their work, often against a backdrop for individuals, families and groups of real poverty, neglected communities, health and social service cutbacks and experiences of inequality, discrimination and stigma. If we look back at the history of social work, it is exactly these social situations that gave rise to social work and gave purpose to our work. To be an accomplished social worker you need to be alive and alert to the broader context of your work and practice.

It is also important to note that today social work and social workers have a wide range of legislative and professional responsibilities which impose explicit duties and responsibilities on our practice (e.g. Children Act 1989, NHS and Community Care Act 1990, Human Rights Act 1998). You will undoubtedly look at human rights, law and policy in detail during your academic learning but it is important you are aware that significant areas of your practice are statute-led, whether this be in relation to social work in the areas of children and families, work with vulnerable adults or in specialist services and settings (e.g. community mental health work and specific duties located within mental health law). This aspect of social work practice is not only very challenging in itself, but frequently raises dilemmas for practitioners in terms of trying to balance respect for individual freedoms with responsibilities to the community and wider society which may involve intrusion into the private lives of people and aspects of ‘social control’ in our roles as ‘agents’ of the state.

Karen Broadhurst, writing about risk and social work, puts this challenge for social work elegantly by saying that the one of the key tasks of social work is providing effective risk management but trying to do this within the humane task of social work (Broadhurst et al. , 2010). These are not new tensions in social work and remain today. However, be assured, these are challenging dilemmas even for the most seasoned social work practitioner. Remember you are at the very beginning of your learning and career and your academic teaching and practice learning is provided to take you on the journey to be ready to begin your practice.

Contemporary Social Work in the Context of Reform

Social work in England today is once again facing major public scrutiny and review (DfE, 2011b, 2012; Social Work Reform Board [SWRB], 2010), driven most recently by public concerns following a series of high profile non-accidental child deaths and serious case reviews, perhaps marked most notably by the tragic death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly on 3 August 2007. The cumulative effect of these tragedies and reviews prompted the UK government to set up a comprehensive ‘root and branch’ reorganisation of social work. The Social Work Task Force, launched in 2009, was charged to drive and deliver social work reform and to improve frontline practice and management.

The Task Force quickly set out to examine and review the social work profession, ranging from social work management and casework, through to inter-agency working, administration and training and finally to change how social work is perceived by the public and reported in the media. The Task Force made 15 recommendations for a comprehensive reform programme and the Social Work Reform Board (SWRB, 2010) was set up to take forward the reforms. Alongside the Reform Board, the Munro Review of Child Protection was commissioned in 2010 by the Department for Education to provide an independent review of child protection in England. This review was published in three reports with the final report The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final report: A child-centred system being published in May 2011 (DfE, 2011b).

Reinforced by Eileen Munro’s complementary Review of Child Protection, the Social Work Task Force identified several key issues faced by children’s services and the wider social work profession. Particular attention was drawn to the organisational difficulties social workers face in their day-to-day work, notably in relation to over-bureaucratisation of child protection processes and procedures, inadequate leadership and management and too little professional development and support, particularly for recently qualified social workers (Edmondson et al., 2013).

The Task Force also critically commented on how inadequate social work has been at explaining its work to the public, and that the value and role of social workers in child protection work, arguably one of the most demanding and testing areas of social work practice today, are poorly understood and have failed to engage the public with the very real challenges and dilemmas facing many local authority social workers in their day-to-day practice. ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ has become a commonly held view in social work team rooms about their likely treatment in the press in terms of the reporting of social work interventions where child protection is the main issue and removing a child may be necessary (The Guardian, 2012).

Commentaries about social work have reinforced the assertion that social work is again at a ‘watershed’ and a ‘crossroads’ in terms of its future and frequently questioned its ability to reform and change sufficiently to attain a new ‘safe, confident’ future (DCSF, 2009).

Later in the book, we will look at the implications of these reform programmes and particularly how these relate to your placements and practice learning.

INFORMATION POINT

Social work reform in the 21st century

Visit the e-links below to look at the work of the Task Force, Reform Board and the agencies relevant to the government’s main social work reforms. Read about the Task Force and Reform Board recommendations for the future of social work and how the different agencies are involved in taking the reform programme forward.

The Social Work Task Force

In 2008 the Social Work Task Force (SWTF) was set up to improve the quality, status and public profile of social work, to reform social work education and training and also to review recruitment, training and retention of social workers.

The Task Force produced its final report: Building a Safe, Confident Future: The final report of the Social Work Task Force in 2009, which made 15 key recommendations for the comprehensive reform of the social work profession (DCSF, 2009b).

The Social Work Reform Board

The Social Work Reform Board (SWRB) was established in 2010 to take forward the work of the Social Work Task Force.

The Munro Review of Child Protection

Alongside the Reform Board, the Munro Review of Child Protection had been commissioned in 2010 by the Department for Education to provide an independent review of child protection in England. The review was published in three reports with the final report, The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final report: A child-centred system, being published in May 2011 (DfE, 2011b).

The College of Social Work

The SWRB’s recommendations were also supported by the creation of a new independent College of Social Work, primarily established to represent the social work profession and be responsible for upholding the agreed professional standards for social work. The College has a lead role in the development of professional standards for social work; represent the profession in national planning of services and improve the public profile of social work.

Figure 1.1

Have a good look around the College site and look at the useful student sections and news archive. Maybe sign up for the monthly e-bulletin or follow the College on Twitter.

Social Care Institute for Excellence

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) was set up over a decade ago to promote and support the development and delivery of high quality social care for children and adults. SCIE is now considered an effective resource for people interested in social care and those delivering care.

Figure 1.2

Health and Care Professions Council

In July 2010, the government announced its intention to close the General Social Care Council (the previous regulatory body for social work), and transfer its regulatory functions to the Health Professions Council (HPC). In order to reflect this new remit, the HPC’s name was changed in 2012 to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC is the main regulator for health and social care workers and has as its main remit the protection of the public.

Anyone wishing to use the title of social worker – which is protected in law – has to be registered with the HCPC and comply with the Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers in England (2012).

The Standards relate to proficiency and conduct rather than professional aspirations or expectations. There is a range of actions available to the Council including stopping people from practising. In terms of professional development, registered professional social workers are expected to be responsible for the ‘scope’ of their own practice and for meeting the professional requirements set out by the College of Social Work.

e-Links

www.hpc-uk.org/

www.education.gov.uk/swrb

www.collegeofsocialwork.org/

www.scie.org.uk/

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle
• Advertisement
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Author and Contributors
• Introduction
• The Features of the Book
• Acknowledgements
• 1 The Idea of Social Work: A Brief Introduction
• 2 The New Professional Capabilities Framework and Revised Placement Structure
• 3 Planning and Beginning your Placement
• 4 Understanding Values and Ethics
• 5 Translating Values and Ethics into Practice
• 6 Assessment and Evidencing your Practice Learning
• 7 Introducing Risk in the Context of Social Work Practice Learning
• 8 Using Supervision, Reflective Practice and Critical Thinking
• 9 Understanding Problem Solving
• 10 Getting Ready for Professional Practice
• References
• Index