The theories I have learned at university and tried to put into practice whilst on my 2nd year placement The WritePass Journal

The theories I have learned at university and tried to put into practice whilst on my 2nd year placement Introduction The theories I have learned at university and tried to put into practice whilst on my 2nd year placement Introduction This assignment will discuss some of the theories I have learned at university and tried to put into practice whilst on my 2nd year placement. Social theory helps us to understand the ways of the world and how we live in it. It also provides us with different outlooks on why things happen in the way they do, and how society is organised and structured in a certain way. For the purpose of this essay I will use names for people instead of letters as I feel this will make the essay flow better. Any names relating to the service users or placement setting will be fictional. The placement setting was an inner city hostel, providing twenty four hour support for people age between sixteen and thirty. The service user group consisted of ex offenders and people leaving care. According to Giddens (2001), Social theory includes concepts on conflict and class, as well as theories to help make clear the reasons for behaviour and how people develop. Durkheim, Weber and Marx are all founders of social theory and analysed how societies functioned in the attempt to make sense of social problems and behaviours. The most important learning curve for me this year is that Social Work is bursting with theories, laws and guidance with a purpose to make our work more professional for those using the service. However, I found that actually putting everything I have learned into practice proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated. And at times, it seemed almost impossible and meaningless. From my observations whilst on placement at the hostel it became obvious that there are many reasons for not putting these theories into practice. The main reason was resources and constraints due to funding cuts. But I also witnessed sloppiness and lack of anti discriminatory practice from senior members of the hostel staff. I had to question one occasion involving Kevin, (a service user at this hostel) , when I was asked if I would deliver a pre written warning form the manager, to Kevin for using drugs in front of the other service users. I knew that Kevin is not very well thought of in the hostel, because of his attitude; there were times when he has really tried the patients of the staff, including my-self.   But after reading the warning letter, I felt that I had to voice my concerns. In my opinion the letter was discriminating because all the residents who use drugs, did so in front of each other, so why single him out. This resulted in the warning not being given and a feeling of irritation towards me from the cluster manager. I feel that, anti discrimination and anti oppressive practice are some of the main underpinning principles of anyone working in the field of social work. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW), state in their definition of social work, the encouragement of â€Å"social change and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being†.   People from all social groups can experience abuse or oppression of some form or another, and I feel that the above definition suggests that a role of social work is to help protect vulnerable people against abuse. The expressions â€Å"oppression† and â€Å"discrimination† are sometimes used interchangeably. However, Thompson (1997) describes discrimination as â€Å"prejudicial behaviour acting against the interests of those people who characteristically belong to relatively powerless groups, it is a matter of social formation as well as individual or group behaviour†. Thompson goes on to say that oppression and discrimination involves â€Å"hardship and injustice brought about by the dominance of one group over another; the negative and demeaning exercise of power.† Empowerment and partnership have also appeared to me as problematic areas of work. This is because I have been attempting to link the theory learned at University, which includes, empowerment and partnership amongst others, and put them into practice whilst on my placement. As a result, I personally experienced the problems that have to be overcome in order to work productively with these concepts, such as one problem I encountered when working with Barry, (a service user at the hostel) was the support worker from his previous hostel, and part of the same agency, had contacted me to see how things where progressing, she then disclosed details of our private conversation back to Barry who then turned to me asking why people have been talking about him. In my opinion professional boundaries hade been broken and inter agency working or partnership was not beneficial in this case, especially when Barry told me that he had been out drinking with this previous support worker and that he ha s gone back to her house afterwards. I felt that this is a direct contradiction to the Code of Practice that we are supposed to abide by. Observing others and how they deal with similar difficulties and a fixed consciousness of how I was working on placement by the means of my reflective diary was a very useful way to assess whether I was effectively using the concepts of partnership and empowerment. Theory has taught me that the concept of partnership (a theory discussed in the module, planning care for adults) does not comprised of a one method or technique but a term that has a range of meanings, Partnership is a fundamental part of anti-discriminatory practice, and for a long time social workers have put great emphasis on enabling and empowering people and avoiding dependency. But the need for clarity, whilst on placement made the term, partnership, more meaningless with no real significance at all. The principles of Social Work can be seen in many different ways and what one sees as partnership working, another may not. As a result, there did not seem to be any tangible way of working towards partnership with the service users at the hostel. This made it complicated for me at the start of the placement as observing others using their own interpretation of partnership made me feel very confused as they all worked towards it in different ways, if at all. I consequently, had to find my own way of working to encourage partnership working. I evaluated the route I took with each client by means of the way I worked with them and their feedback, as well as by means of the supervision sessions with my Practice Teacher. Partnership is all about promoting the self esteem and self determination of a service user. This will increase their sense of power and control over their own lives. Working in partnership involves challenging oppression to allow service-users to be in charge of of their environment by understanding and addressing the causes of the problems in a collaboration between client and worker. This will eventually promote inclusion.   Partnership working will create â€Å"active participants rather than passive recipients† (Thompson, 2007). What I found in the hostel, was that service users didn’t really have any say in what activities they did. One of these activities was making Christmas cards and this was understandably of no interest to the young males aged sixteen to thirty, who where resident at this time. I heard one of the service users describe this activity as â€Å"just like being a kid at school†. The hostel staff saw this as attitude issues; however I thought it was fare comment. According to, Marsh (2003), â€Å"Partnership does not imply an equality of power, or an equality of work†. The hostel staff were predictably involved in the use of authority, this is not a barrier to empowerment or working in partnership, provided that this power is not misused, however, telling the service users that â€Å"if they worked for three days making Christmas cards, they would receive a one day gym pass† seemed like coercion.   I feel that, It was not for the staff to use their power to coerce service users into following a particular course of action, but to â€Å"use such power constructively in identifying and working towards agreed goals as part of a process of partnership† (Stepney and Ford 2000).Service users in this situation must feel that their input and choice of activity is not considered. In my opinion service users can make a significant contribution in terms of their experience and knowledge of their situation; we should recognize their problem solving abilities rather than seeing them in terms of the problems they bring. This involves being able to â€Å"use power to empower† and the â€Å"use of power should be the exception rather than the rule† (Thompson, 2007). Involving service-users as much as possible will facilitate social work in becoming a procedure whereby the worker does things with people rather than to them.(Thompson, 2007). Beckett (2006) in his book â€Å"Essential Theory for Social Work Practice† states that one of the ways in which we can make sure that the service-user remains the main focus is to involve them in shaping the service itself. According to Braye (2000), there are times when this can occur. One such time is when the service user is involved in their own service. The personal support plan is a written agreement that is carried out within the first week of residency at the hostel. This involves a member of staff and the service user identifying the individual needs of the particular person. for instance, their need for outside agencies such as counseling support, their needs regarding change of doctors or dentist and their needs for maximizing benefit claims This is very beneficial because every service user that comes into the hostel has specific needs relating to their own particular circumstances. The personal support plan allows the service user to fully contribute in tailoring the support to their specific needs. Braye, goes on to say that another element is a service user’s involvement in group work. Group work theory was one of the main theories I witnessed and used on placement. Pierson and Thomas (2002) state that, â€Å"Group work is a range of activities†¦that can enable individuals and groups to develop problem solving skills to address both their own concerns and those of the wider community.† There are several areas in which group work therapy is used, and which have varying levels of success.   According to Coulshed and Orme (1998) these can consist of, educational and recreational groups, group counselling and self help groups.   They can all have different themes but most will grow in very similar ways.   Interpersonal skills are an important tool when working with groups and some of the main skills that are used within this are effective verbal communication, active listening and willing participation within the group (Coulshed and Orme 1998). The group work sessions I was involved in were mostly informal/social group settings such as cooking, games and quiz nights. What I mean by informal, is that it didnt fit any formal therapeutic group work theory and had no formal structure. Informal group work is mainly for sharing views and knowledge in a social/fun setting of individuals located within the same organisation. The benefits of informal group work are that it is a more relaxed, social atmosphere with no hard fixed meeting time. This can make attendance higher as it is a non threatening social setting. Group work of this kind can help Developing service users knowledge and generic skills, such as communication skills, collaborative skills, critical skills and attitudes towards diversity. Group work can also develop person’s abilities through the â€Å"interplay† of different personalities and increase their desire to socialise (BASW). I found that being able to verbalise issues within the setting of the group helped in producing confidence and allowed self expression in the service users. Actively listening too the group can also encourage the growth of more ideas and promote further discussions from other members present. Active listening is a way of communicating that makes others feel understood and confident to express themselves more honestly. This involves (amongst other things) good eye contact, repeating back what they have said and sitting in an un-oppressive position.   (Cournoyer 2008). Another form of group work is the formal group activity.   When I was on placement at the hostel there were always, four males and two females resident. The same two females had remained, whilst the males have changed. There was a lot of sexual activity at the hostel with the residents constantly changing partners. Kevin, (who I referred to earlier in this essay) is HIV positive and has Hepatitis C. Dale (a resident at the hostel) told us that she had intercourse with Kevin and with all the other male residents and that all the male resident have had intercourse with Ellie, (the other female resident). This information, along with the binge drinking problem with all the residents prompted a sexual health and alcohol awareness day to promote the dangers of STIs and binge drinking to the residents. Konopka (1963) describes group work as a method of social work that is used in order to help people enhance their social awareness through focused group experiences and to cope more successfully with their personal or community problems. This definition shows a pattern within group work of helping people with problems. Brown (1994) provides a modernised and more comprehensive definition of group work He states that â€Å"Group work provides a context in which individuals help each other; it is a method of helping groups as well as helping individuals; and it can enable individuals and groups to influence and change personal, group, organisational and community problems†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Brown 1994) During feedback from the ,sexual health awareness presentation, I gave to the service users from two hostels,   it was stated by my practice teacher that my verbal communication skills were very good, and that I was able to generate good ideas, good service user involvement as well as being quite a motivational speaker. Task centred practice was another theory used by the agency that I was placed in; it was useful in range of settings such as counselling, education and self help. The theory of task centred practice was first discovered in the United States by Reid and Shyne (1969). Task centred intervention was brought about through the responses opposed to psychodynamic theories as this method was a long time consuming process that often lead to dependency. Task centred intervention is similar to crisis intervention, as in, it can be seen as planed or predictable. In the early 1990s task centred work was originally used in family and group casework.   (Marsh and Doel 1992) As a concept emerging in the 1960s, task centred practice is comparatively new in comparison to some other social work methods. Previous to the carrying out of task-centred practice, many service users received long term intervention and Social workers focused on feelings rather than action.   Buckle, (1981) in Coulshed Orme (1998) state that: â€Å" some clients received help for years and compulsive care-giving by helpers often resulted in the difficulties of becoming the responsibility and ‘property’ of the worker.†Ã‚  Ã‚   This form of intervention could possibly lead to â€Å"learned-helplessness†. This is another theory and describes what happens when the service user becomes dependant on the social worker and discards the concept of them fending for or helping themselves. M, Payne (1997) refers to research carried out by Seligman (1975). Seligman’s theory of ‘learned helplessness’ was discovered through his experimentation on animals and humans. He discovered that people with low expectations produced little results. Seligman states that, â€Å"their capacity to learn useful behaviour in other situations becomes impaired. People lose motivation, become anxious and depressed and poor at thinking.† One common assumption with the term â€Å"task centred† is that the social worker does the tasks, such as phoning other professionals for the service user, but this is not the case. The focus of task centred practice should be on empowering the service user to do these tasks themselves in a set time scale.   Couldshed and Orme (1998) state that, â€Å" task-centred practice, also known as brief therapy, short-term or contract work has had a significant impact on both social work practice and the organisation of services†. Service user participation is the key to task centred practice, but on the other hand, the service user may be unwilling to participate. This may possibly be due to court orders, where the service user has little choice but to follow the conditions set by the court or they will face prosecution. Under these circumstances, the client may agree to the situation but possibly reluctant to accept or partake in the process  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (M. Payne 1997). If this was the case, then a task-centred approach may be unsuccessful and another approach such as person centred could be more suitable (Dole Marsh 1992). A service user could also appear unwilling to take part because of their preconceptions of social workers. We would also have to consider the attitude of an individual social worker. If the social worker appears defensive or appears to be unaware of the power imbalance then the service user may also be reluctant to participate. Social workers also need an understanding of their own feelings and underlying prejudices and values before attempting to explore the interpersonal skills involved in building up client worker relationships. Reid (1992) suggests that: â€Å" only acknowledged problems offer necessary degree of partnership.† To conclude this assignment, I have discussed the different theories I learned about in University and practiced on placement. Social work involves changes to procedures, knowledge and legislation. So many failings with cases in the past have provoked changes and many of these are involved with making social workers more capable of justifying their work. This is done consecutively to minimise harm caused to service users, our organisation and ourselves. Social work is a profession categorised by risk, uncertainty and difficulty and as a result, we need theory, awareness and a sound knowledge of our values and ethics to enable us be accountable and proficient in our practice. Theories, values and ethics permit us to assess our practice and to reflect on it, in order to help us be more accountable and be able to justify our actions when helping others.   (Maclean, Harrison 2009) References Beckett, C. (2006) Essential Theory for Social Work Practice. England: Sage Publications Ltd. Brayne, S. and Preston Shoot, M. (1995) Empowering Practice in Social Care. Great Britain: Open University Press. Brown, A. (1994). Group work 3rd Edition. Ashgate Publishing: Great Yarmouth Code of Ethics for Social Work, www.basw.co.uk. Viewed on 22/04/2011 Cournoyer, B (2008) The Social Work Skills Work Book (5th Ed). Belmont: Thomson higher education. Coulshed, V. and Orme, J. (1998). Social Work Practice an Introduction, 3rd Edition, New York: Palgrave. Dignan, J. Marsh, P. (2003) Restorative Justice and Family Group conferences in England: Current State and Future Prospects’, in McLaughlin, E. Fergusson, R. Giddens, A. (2001) Sociology, 4th ed. Polity Press:  Cambridge. Doel, M. and Marsh, P. (1992).   Task-Centred Social Work. Aldershot: Ashgate. Hughes, G. Westmarland, L. (Eds) Restorative Justice: Critical Issues.London: Sage Publications Ltd. Payne, M (2005) Modern Social Work Theory. 3rd Edition Basingstoke: Palgrave Pierson, J. and Thomas, M. (2002). Collins Dictionary of Social Work, 2nd Edition Great Britain: HarperCollins Publishers Limited. Reid and Shyne (1969). The origins of case work, iriss.org.uk. viewed 04/05/2011 Maclean, S and Harrison, R. (2009), Theory Practice A Straightforward Guide For Social work Students. Rugeley: Kirwin Maclean Associates Limited. Thompson, N. (1997).   Anti-Discriminatory Practice, 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Stepney, P. and Ford, D. (2000) Social Work Models, Methods and Theories. England: Russell House Publishing