THE SOCIAL WORKER. PT.1

For many people, the mention of 'social worker' or 'social workers', will elicit a response of disdain or disgust. For others, it will be to remind them of someone who has helped them to get through a particularly difficult time in their.  For those who have not directly had involvement with 'the welfare services', it might conjure up reports and/or pictures 'those people who help to protect abused children', or 'are responsible for the death of abused children', or 'taking away people's children.' 

Of course, although it might seem fair to assume that all social workers are motivated with a desire to help, the assumption still needs to be tested. For example, some social workers might be motivated to help vulnerable parents whom they see as victims, while other might be motivated to help the vulnerable children. All of which then raises questions about the how, why and whens, as well as priorities, if the worker is to be successful in 'keeping children safe.'

That people will view social workers in a good light and a bad light, is not really so surprising, considering the roles and responsibilities of social workers, and the different people who become social workers. Yes, like 'the Lord', as it were, social workers are powerful operatives of the state or government, can allow you to keep your children following reports of them having been abused, sometimes to the further detriment of the children, or they can have them removed from you, if they are able to get the courts to accept their evidence proving that the child has been harmed, or is at risk of suffering significant harm. 

Thus the basis of our love hate relationship with social workers; that they either fail to effectively safeguard vulnerable children, or that they exercise their powers unduly punitively against poor and powerless parents.  It appears to be the nature of most social policies and legislation regarding the welfare of children, that they are based on the tragedies surrounding the small minority of children who have been failed completely or substantially by the system, including their parents.

The perennial challenge for all those involved in the work of safeguarding and protecting vulnerable children, is probably that of, how do you get the right balance between  effectively safeguards and protecting the minority of children who suffer or will always be at risk of dying and suffering life-changing injuries, but without making the the safeguarding and protection system, as it applies to the majority of children who are not at such level of risks, overly expensive, cumbersome, inefficient and, ultimately, ineffective.

It is probably the case that you would have expected that the people who go into social work would have some common attributes, such as wanting to help vulnerable and struggling individuals and families to sort out difficult problems their are experiencing in meeting either or both theirs and their family's needs. You might also expect that the people who opt to become social workers and/or do social work, are people who are good listeners, patient, good organisers and assessor, good communicators and good at engaging and empowering people into becoming better problem-solvers.

Where people who do not have all of the above attributes, or to the level which is required to enable them to become competent social workers, you might then expect that the 3-4 years of social work training in an higher education establishment, such as a university, would provide them with the additional moulding they require, before making the transition from university to doing the actual work they are trained to perform.

Social work training is expected to provide the trainee with the theoretical framework and some field work practice to underpinned their post-qualifying practice.  The training will typically include subjects such as psychology - which is the study of how the human brain and thought processes function - psychiatry - which is to do with the kinds of mental disorders which people can suffer from - sociology - which is to do with how societies are structured and function - social policies, politics, and legislation, primarily those pertaining to the welfare and safeguarding of children, families and adults.

During the course of their training, trainee social workers will go on placements, which can be with local social services offices or other establishments, probation offices, women's refuges, et al, where they are taught to do the work of paid employees, under the supervision of an approved supervisor.

Surviving your placement is one of the biggest challenge a trainee or student social worker faces in the early stages of his/her career. This can result from difficulties in the relationship between the trainee and the supervision, the trainee being given too big or complex a 'protected caseload', or not being provided with enough support from the supervisor and/or the placement team. 

Insufficient support from the supervision can arise from that person having a large caseload/work load themselves, and having to prioritise it over providing support to the trainee. The problem could also be a result of the trainee not being ready or having the required basics, such as enough initiative, organisational, planning, time management, tasks prioritisation, and/or communication skills, to successfully undertake social work training.

It is, of course, interesting that relationship problems between the trainee social worker on placement, and his/her practice supervision should present such a big challenge, as the latter is in the business of working with individuals and families to effect positive changes in their lives and parenting, which oftentimes include needing to address dysfunctional relationships, and the former, the trainee social worker, who is aspiring to become a practising social worker.
It might be the case that, where the two are able to appropriately resolve this is, is indicative of the progress and success the graduated trainee will experience in his/her future practice.

To be continued.

Social work can be like climbing a mountain, with threats from the top and below.