scholarly journals “Moving out of the safe zone”: Promoting learning communities and reflective supervision in a social work statutory child protection agency

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Rankine ◽  
Andrew Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Safe Zone ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Reflective Supervision ◽  
Supervision Practice

INTRODUCTION: Social work supervision in statutory child protection settings is often confused with line management and has little focus on professional development, critical reflection and exploration of practice. Within Aotearoa New Zealand, the statutory child protection agency Oranga Tamariki (OT), is under considerable scrutiny regarding the management of risk, child abuse, and the over-representation of Ma ̄ori tamariki within the child welfare system. This article covers the first collection of findings from a larger supervision study.METHODS: Using critical reflection as the methodological lens, four experienced OT supervisors participated in a learning community where supervision recordings were brought to each meeting to improve reflective capacity, critical reflection and skills. Data were collected from the learning community and thematic analysis was undertaken to explore current supervision practice in OT.FINDINGS: The three themes generated from the learning community discussions were: supervisory skills/interventions; the structure of supervision; and working with emotion and trauma. These themes highlighted the significance of the learning community as a forum for supervisors to share their existing supervision practice together, “moving out of the safe zone” as they engaged in positive and constructive feedback with their colleagues in a supportive space.CONCLUSIONS: Reflective supervision, within statutory child protection, is essential for learning, critical reflection and cultivating robust decision making in social work practice. The creation and development of professional supervision spaces such as learning communities provide the basis for supervisors and supervisees to develop their skills and ensure accountable, anti-oppressive and ethical practice.

A Process Model of Social Development Supervision in Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mpumelelo Ncube
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Supervision Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Development Approach

Supervision practice in social work is understood as the mainstay of the profession. However, various studies have pointed to the inadequacies of supervision to facilitate quality service provision. Previous studies have reflected a general misalignment between the approach to supervision practice and the approach to social work practice as one inadequacy leading to the failure of supervision practice. Although there are numerous supervision models in the profession, some of which are aligned with certain practice approaches, none is directly identifiable with the social development approach, which should be at the core of social work orientation in South Africa. Thus, this article provides a process model of supervision in social work that aims to establish a dialectical relationship between supervision and the social development practice approach. The study was underpinned by Thomas’ research and design process, which was used to design and develop a social work supervision model mirroring a social development approach. The paper concludes with recommendations related to the use of the developed model.

scholarly journals Emotional intelligence as a part of critical reflection in social work practice and research

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110247
Author(s):  
Mari D Herland
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Emotional Aspects

Social workers often experience higher levels of burnout compared with other healthcare professionals. The capacity to manage one’s own emotional reactions efficiently, frequently in complex care settings, is central to the role of social workers. This article highlights the complexity of emotions in social work research and practice by exploring the perspective of emotional intelligence. The article is both theoretical and empirical, based on reflections from a qualitative longitudinal study interviewing fathers with behavioural and criminal backgrounds, all in their 40 s. The analysis contains an exploration of the researcher position that illuminates the reflective, emotional aspects that took place within this interview process. Three overall themes emerged – first: Recognising emotional complexity; second: Reflecting on emotional themes; and third: Exploring my own prejudices and preconceptions. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, addressing the need to understand emotions as a central part of critical reflection and reflexivity. The argument is that emotions have the potential to expand awareness of one’s own preconceptions, related to normative societal views. This form of analytical awareness entails identifying and paying attention to one’s own, sometimes embodied, emotional triggers.

scholarly journals Digitalization of Critical Reflection with ATLAS.ti Software in Social Work Supervision

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Komalsingh Rambaree ◽  
Nessica Nässén
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Fundamental Part ◽  
Technological Tool ◽  
Supporting Tool ◽  
Social Work Supervision

In this technology-driven era, the digitalization of social work practice is becoming almost mandatory in many countries, especially in Europe. Within this context, it is important to look at the possibilities and challenges for the digitalization of critical reflection, which is a fundamental part of social work practice. Using a conceptual and theoretical framework based on reflective practice, critical reflection, and experiential learning, this article aims to outline and discuss the use of ATLAS.ti software as a supporting tool in digitalizing critical reflection in social work supervision (SWS). For illustrative purposes, a case example of child welfare from Sweden is used. This article considers both the benefits and challenges of using ATLAS.ti as a technological tool for the digitalization of critical reflection in SWS. It concludes that social workers’ autonomy and wellbeing need to be at the center in deciding about the use of digital tools such as ATLAS.ti in SWS.

scholarly journals Containment: Exploring the concept of agency in children’s statutory encounters with social workers

Childhood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Morrison ◽  
Viviene Cree ◽  
Gillian Ruch ◽  
Karen Michelle Winter ◽  
Mark Hadfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Children’S Agency

This article examines children’s agency in their interactions with social workers during statutory encounters in a child protection context. It draws from a UK-wide ethnographic study. It finds that much of social workers’ responses to children’s agency in this context are best understood as a form of ‘containment’. In doing so, it offers an original and significant contribution to the theoretical understanding of children’s agency, as well as its application in social work practice.

Art of Becoming a Social Work practice educator

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabnam Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Doctoral Student ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Supervisory Relationship ◽  
Reflective Supervision

      Through this practice note, I share some of my reflections and learning of becoming a practice educator.  The experience has enhanced my skills as a social worker and team manager and now as a social work doctoral student.  Based on my observations of supervision as a practice assessor and my experience of having many different managers throughout my career, I have noticed when social workers move into management without a practice educator qualification, the supervisory relationship experience is a different one than that of a practice educator – turned manager.  I question why this is.  Is reflective supervision only reserved for students? I am suggesting that it should not be.  Each supervisor should be supported and enabled to connect with their Art, as supervision is a form of Art.   

Recruiting and Engaging Men as Fathers in Social Work Practice

2014 ◽  
pp. 235-260
Author(s):  
Joseph Fleming ◽  
Andrew King ◽  
Tara Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Engaging Men ◽  
Current Knowledge Base

Evidence in the research literature suggests that men are usually not engaged by social workers, particularly in child welfare and child protection settings. Mothers also tend to become the focus of intervention, even when there is growing evidence that men can take an active and important role in a child's development in addition to providing support to the mother and family. Whilst there have been some promising developments in including men in social work practice internationally, there remains a gap in the research regarding the engagement of men as fathers in Australia. Given the growing relevance of the topic of fathers, the purpose of this chapter is to add to the current knowledge base, to support social work students and practitioners to engage with men in their role as fathers, and to offer an evidence-based practice model that may assist social workers in their work with men as fathers.

Social Work Practice Outcomes

2014 ◽  
pp. 166-185
Author(s):  
Colin Pritchard ◽  
Richard Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Psychosocial Development ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Child Homicide ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Beneficial Impact

The key issue in all human services is outcome. The authors report on a series of four mixed methods research studies to conclude that good social work can bring about positive measurable differences to inform policy and practice. The first focuses on how effective Western nations have been in reducing Child Abuse Related Deaths (CARD); the second explores a three-year controlled study of a school-based social work service to reduce truancy, delinquency, and school exclusion; the third examines outcomes of “Looked After Children” (LAC); the forth re-evaluates a decade of child homicide assailants to provide evidence of the importance of the child protection-psychiatric interface in benefiting mentally ill parents and improving the psychosocial development and protection of their children. These studies show that social work has a measurable beneficial impact upon the lives of those who had been served and that social work can be cost-effective, that is, self-funding, over time.

Developing and Sustaining Critical Reflection on Social Work Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Laura Béres ◽  
Stephanie L. Baird ◽  
Joanna Bedggood ◽  
Katherine Bodkin ◽  
Hiedi Britton-deJeu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice

scholarly journals Child Protection With Muslim Communities: Considerations For Non-Muslim-Based Orthodoxies/Paradigms in Child Welfare and Social Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1201-1218
Author(s):  
Patrick O’Leary ◽  
Mohamad Abdalla ◽  
Aisha Hutchinson ◽  
Jason Squire ◽  
Amy Young
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Legal Contexts ◽  
Muslim Communities

Abstract The care and protection of children are a concern that crosses ethnic, religious and national boundaries. How communities act on these concerns are informed by cultural and religious understandings of childhood and protection. Islam has specific teachings that relate to the care and guardianship of children and are interpreted in diverse ways across the Muslim world. Islamic teachings on child-care mostly overlap with Western understandings of child protection, but there can be some contested positions. This creates complexities for social workers intervening in Muslim communities where the basis of their intervention is primarily informed by a non-Muslim paradigm or occurs in secular legal contexts. The purpose of this article is to address at a broad level the issue of how overarching concepts of child protection and Islam influence social work practice with Muslim communities. It addresses a gap in practical applications of the synergy of Islamic thinking with core social work practice in the field of child protection. For effective practice, it is argued that social work practitioners need to consider common ground in Islamic thinking on child protection rather than rely on Western frameworks. This requires further research to build evidence-based practice with Muslim families.

scholarly journals Embodied Social Work Practice Within Risk Society

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Smeeton ◽  
Patrick O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Extreme Risk

This paper critically discusses the limitations of theorising social work from psychological and sociological perspectives and argues that phenomenology offers more opportunity to understand the embodied experiences of service users and social workers themselves. The paper argues that psychology and sociology have a limited analysis of being-in-the-world, which ought to be social work’s primary consideration. The paper offers an overview of the sociology of risk before embarking on an extensive description and discussion of Heidegger’s and Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology applied to the lived experience of child protection social workers working within risk society. The argument is put that phenomenology is a useful tool for understanding the lived experience of social work practitioners. Findings: The authors conclude that embodied social work practice containing fear and anxiety can be thought of as akin to taking part in extreme risk sports and that this is an unhealthy experience that is likely to skew decision-making and adversely affect the lives of social workers and service users. Applications: The authors argue that phenomenology can enhance understanding of practice and decision-making and offers insights into the lived experience of social workers. Phenomenology is useful for helping social workers negotiate risk-saturated environments, through a focus on meaning.

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