REFLECTION ON SOCIAL WORK PLACEMENT

REFLECTION ON SOCIAL WORK PLACEMENT

 

Introduction

It’s a chilly morning and am having this home visit with my placement educator who is a senior social worker at Early Restorative Practice (RES), on my first day of placement at a service user’s home. I was very privileged to attend this meeting upon my PE request and consent from the service users. The meeting proved to be a very fruitful one for the vast experience of the great ambience around. There was plenty for my observations and the general feel about the place. Confidentiality will be address as I will not be disclosing the individuals that are involved names, location and personal details per the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPPR 2018.

Reaction to the event:

My first observation was a conversation between the service users and my placement educator, and both were addressing the issues regarding the visit and what support will be needed to move forward. Still, on my listening skills for the conversation, I heard a big bang noise arriving from upstairs of Mrs B and Mr A house. Mr A, who is a child was hitting the door hardly that I was scared and shocked. This is because I thought he was destroying the house and then at the same time, I had other many things going through my mind. I would have gone outside to call my manager or my placement educator as a student social worker or either way.  I would have also asked the mum the reason as to why he was behaving like that. The other idea on my mind was that maybe he always acts like that, only if I was already a qualified social worker. My PE was very calm and relaxed, and I thought perhaps she is familiar with the situation.

Still, when I later discussed with her, she told she would have stepped in if she felt the child was aggressive towards the mum or us, but then, there was no need to do that because she did not feel threatened.

In conclusion, I assumed this is how they live over here every day and that it was nothing of a fuss. I felt safe and secure towards the end of the visit because Mrs B went upstairs and was able to calm the child down and eventually. The child then came downstairs and had an excellent chat with us as we dropped him at a friend on our way back to the office.

Event Analysis

From the developing events, as i listened to the service users views, I learnt that it’s always good to respect and listen to someone’s wishes and feelings at the moment every action takes place. It’s advisable to be considerate of the surrounding environment and the possible cause of the reaction as stated by (Race and O’ Keefe p126, 2017). The children Act 1989 and section 53 of Children Act 2004 indicate that it is essential that a social worker respects a child wishes and feelings during care planning and intervention. At the end of the conversation, i had a discussion with my placement educator about the issue. I was later advised and supported by my PE, and this has enabled me to change my thought and not to discriminate against the child no matter the situation. The Equality Act 2010 outline we should treat people equally regardless of who they are in any condition. Throughout the conversation, I learnt not to be judgemental to the service user’s actions irrespective of their background. This also applied to their life experiences because every home and child is different from each other. After all, not every child is going to have the same experience, and people behaviour is going to be different, but it is about learning acknowledging them. The use of non-judgmental language is essential while doing the social work consultation and communication used should be neutral (Rojek, 2012). I also acknowledge my PE for demonstrating a strength-based approach by empowering Mr A and Mrs B to voice their wishes and feelings and therefore provided solution focus outcome (Saleeby, 2009). Although, critics like Staudt, Howard and Drake 2001 describe the strength-based approach as the poorly defined strategy not different from any other procedures. My PE also implemented a person-centred approach by placing the person and as an equal family partner to planning the care (Karl Rodgers 1940). Thus enabling the individuals to find the best way forward. Thorne, 2007 criticised this approach by saying that it won’t be effortless to apply if service users are not motivated and at such, building a relationship with the individual’s vita in this situation or circumstances.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I recognised the case was not familiar from the beginning to me, and maybe correctly, I would have known more of the situation beforehand.

Future planning

In the future, I will be aware of the difficulties and struggles I would have to face as a social worker and how I would approach a service user when they are in a challenging situation. Besides, this situation will enable me to adapt to various conditions and provide reasonable solutions to my future. As a service user, i also learnt that I need to remain professional no matter how extreme the situation my service user is facing. By analysing this situation, I think I will pay more attention as to figuring out the best possible solutions such as showing calmness and empathy if I face a situation like this in future.

                         

 

References

Ellis, A.L. and Hartlep, N.D., 2017. Struggling in Silence: A Qualitative Study of Six African American Male Stutterers in Educational Settings. Educational Foundations, 30, pp.33-62.

Rojek, C., 2012. Fame attack: The inflation of celebrity and its consequences. A&C Black.

Fawcett, B., 2009. Vulnerability: Questioning the certainties in social work and health. International Social Work, 52(4), pp.473-484.

Rodgers, K.F., Nokia Bell Labs, 1940. Variable condenser. U.S. Patent 2,192,986.