It also involves considering how and why you think the way you do. (Eds.) Tew (2005) believes if mental health services were more receptive to the social model of looking at mental distress, then significant amounts of this stigma and the resultant oppression would be removed. During Session A, the fact that I chose to explore JKs mental distress alongside the other issues that were going on in his life allowed me to identify that his physical health, including intense back pain that he has been experiencing, was having a substantial effect on his mental health, and I encouraged him to seek help and support with this. Thompson, N. (2009) Practicing Social Work: Meeting the Professional Challenge, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. WebWhen selecting the CI it needs to be something concrete that actually happened and you were involved with or observed not abstract. Readiness for Field: What Do Field Instructors Think? Planned risk-taking can and should promote a good quality of life, develop new skills and expand life experiences (Barry, 2007). Social Work Methods and Skills: The Essential Foundations of Practice. All work is written to order. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. The Journal of Adult Protection, 15(1), pp. The intersection of Alices gender, her adverse experiences both as a child and as an adult, her diagnosis of schizophrenia and the fact that she has experienced poverty for the entirety of her life has led to oppression and discrimination at multiple levels. A closer critical analysis of the factors and experiences that have shaped Alices life expose the fundamental flaws and prejudices in my misplaced assumptions. The increasing influence of post-modern theory, which does not promote one paradigm over another, but focuses on the subjective nature of truth, has helped to alleviate these issues in social work to some extent (Fook, 2012). a{Yk@p}r5h|yiPV8Gzc 4g@&S*/NNVw1{@F:db{1iQl9b:iA::~tTUkKGR?# !)oSb=\wI/#%tAJ The Context of Risk Management in Mental Health Social Work. Theorizing Social Work Practice. Web Transparency: Reflective social workers who sense an ethical issue share their concern with supervisors, colleagues, and appropriate administrators. Stephanie also advises young people to improve their situations and gives her professional consultations. Before you can begin to assess the words and ideas of others, you need to pause and identify and examine your own thoughts. (1985). The whole thrust of the conversations, whilst acknowledging the trauma of the past and the difficulties of the present, were very much focused on the aim of Alice moving-on in both a literal and metaphorical sense. [Online] Available at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/doc/194419/0052192.pdf. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.io. WebThe value of peer reflection. Adopting this process has helped me to identify possible assumptions that I suspect I may have held. It asks the student to consider: How could I improve? 18, 197-295. Social Work Perspectives on Human Behaviour. Thompson, N., 2010. This can come from both internal sources (personal reconsideration) and external sources (professional support or research), and this new information can completely re-construct the way that an incident or event is considered, and change the narrative that we are engaged in. BASW, 2014. The Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Models of Organising Adult Safeguarding. Often Alice would experience what appeared to be moments of psychosis during which she seemed to be transported back in time to a particularly traumatic event which resulted in repetitive phrases and sentences being used to describe what had happened. K.4/=aT!Ji7bQJn2B Hall, C. & Slembrouck, S., 2009. British Journal of Social Work, 30(1), pp. Department of Health, 2014. 191-198. Therefore, social workers need to look at their own underlying assumptions, as well as dominant social narratives, in order to shape their holistic understanding and experience of a given incident. Department of Health, 2015. *You can also browse our support articles here >. This means that each communication is potentially categorised differently and therefore there is a danger that co-agencies conceive of a given situation in completely different ways (Hall & Slembrouck, 2009). Interventions in social work are often described as having four stages: engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation (Suppes & Wells, 2017). He was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, and dealt with significant anxiety and depression. Firstly, I now believe that I saw and understood the situation in simplistic, binary terms. The Learning Centre - UNSW. The reflector makes sense of what has been learnt from the experience and what future action might need to take place. JK had clearly been the subject of this stigma throughout his life. The historically oppressive nature of mental health services is widely recognised in literature (Szasz, 1961; Foucault, 1967), and JK expressed to me at times that he felt that he was not listened to by medical professionals, and just moved from service to service having things done to him, rather than with him. Knowledge and skills for child and family practitioners, London: HMSO. I found these to be very helpful in working with JK. Tober, G. and Raistrick, D. (2004) Organisation of Services Putting it all Together in T. Peterson and A. McBride (Eds.) It can help students to analyze and integrate past and current knowledge into their practice. 679-687. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! WebBrookfields areas of reflection can be adapted for social workers and implemented in several areas of field education. Risk, Advanced Liberalism and Child Welfare: The Need to Rediscover Uncertainty and Ambiguity. An awareness of the social context, for us and for people who use services. However, appropriate use of this type of reflection should inform future practice, and encourage appropriate reflection-in-action when presented with a similar situation again. Sarangi, S. & Slembrouck, S., 1996. Communication Skills in Health and Social Care. Mental Health, Resilience and Inequalities, Copenhagen: World Health Organisation. Whilst there is not universal agreement (Ixer, 2016), the central importance of critical reflection to the profession of social work is widely accepted (Thompson, 2010, p. 183). Schn (1999) introduced the concepts of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action in his book The Reflective Practitioner. A place to live: Housing needs for people with psychotic disorders identified in the second Australian national survey of psychosis. Trevithick, P. (2012) Social Work Skills: A Practice Handbook, Maidenhead: Open University Press. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. Firstly, reflection-on-action, which involves reflecting on an experience that you have already had, or an action that you have already taken, and considering what could have been done differently, as well as looking at the positives from that interaction. Example - Medium reflection Today I spent time with James (client) and his family on the ward. Atkins, S. and Murphy, K. (1994) Reflective Practice, Nursing Standard8(39) 49-56. Of particular importance when working with service users who have a dual diagnosis was systems theory, and I found this theory to be particularly important when reflecting on Session A. Healy (2005) has recognised that systems theory have been highly influential on the knowledge base of social work. Maintenance of the Effect of Training in Communication Skills: A Controlled Follow-Up Study of Level of Communicated Empathy. (2010) An Introduction to Applying Social Work Theories and Methods, Maidenhead: Open University Press. WebSocial workers need to be prepared to critically reflect on the theory that they are bringing to practice. Social Work Perspectives on Human Behaviour. How can professionals support children and young peoples mentalhealth? Suter et al (2009) have found that a willingness to communicate is a key characteristic needed for effective collaboration, and after the other professionals were not active in engaging with me, I lost this willingness, potentially to the detriment of my work with JK. The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct, An Introduction to Applying Social Work Theories and Methods, Practicing Social Work: Meeting the Professional Challenge. h27U0Pw/ What was challenging? The Learning Centre - UNSW, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License, Identify weaknesses in your understanding, Gain a deeper understanding of course content. In social work, reflection has strongly encouraged students and practitioners to increase awareness of the self in working with clients in practice. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! I have printed out your article to reread so I can remind myself to self reflect. Maidenhead: Open University Press. This assignment is based on my work with one particular resident who I will refer to using the pseudonym Alice. I will then explore my experience of reflection, and how reflective practice supported me to apply theory to practice. Ingram, R., 2013. Developing and building self-awareness is important so you can recognise areas for improvement and identify your learning needs to make positive changes. Opinions expressed on this site are the opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. During the course of this exchange Alice disclosed to me that she felt trapped, bullied by a member of staff and other residents, and that she was feeling utterly powerless with no hope of moving on from the hostel. Become an independent learner and problem-solver. I think that is [an] important [value]. Although I will discuss my involvement with JK more broadly,I will focus on one particular key working session that we had, where JK was most descriptive about all his concerns and the issues that were effecting him (session A). The figure below shows that the reflective thinking process starts with you. Schwartz, S., 1982. Boud, D., Keogh, R. &Walker, D. Savaya, R., Gardner, F. & Stange, D., 2011. London: SAGE. & Gardner, F., 2007. I continued to learn more about Alices life over the following weeks. Taking a postmodern perspective that conceptualises the body as the site of power relations (Foucalt, 1977) leads to an understanding that the body is fundamentally implicated in mechanisms of domination and control. (Tangenburg & Kemp, 2002). WebExample of reflective writing *In some texts the Analysis and Discussion stages will be fused in one paragraph/section; in longer assignments they might be written as two separate sections. Social workers must have leadership skills to help promote social change. London: SAGE. I was able to look at my own practice, and my own assumptions and narratives; however, I was unable to determine how best to address wider inequality and societal oppression of people like JK. Both of her parents committed suicide, she was raped and endured physically abusive relationships with two consecutive partners. Lishman, J., 2009. The examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions forms the foundation of your understanding. Reflective practice is an essential skill for those working in health and social care, but why is it so vital and how can it be learned? Supported housing is often regarded as a positive environment that promotes recovery-oriented practice (Harvey, et al., 2012), but it can also be experienced as an oppressive and hostile setting where staff are at best indifferent to the needs of service users or can actively act as the oppressor (Bengtsson-Tops, et al., 2014). Being from Nigeria originally, and coming from a different cultural background than myself, meant that I had to be particularly careful in applying theory to the work that I did with JK.However, it is also clear that practice cannot just be based on routine or habit, with no basis in evidence (Thompson, 2009). Wilson, A. Marmot, M., 2010. Reflection forms a central part of social work practice and education, and it is particularly important for social workers in placement settings or newly qualified social workers (Dcruz et al, 2007; Parker, 2010). Factors that promote and hinder joint and integrated working between health and social care services, Working with Substance Misusers: A Guide to Theory and Practice. Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care: Knowledge and Theory. Furthermore, a social worker uses self-reflection to analyze personal and emotional feelings about a case or situation. When I met with the social worker we did a role playing exercise. Typical triggers include poverty, adverse childhood experiences, rape and physical or psychological violence (Read, 2010; Burns, et al., 2014). In your role, youll engage with stakeholders and organizations to manage strategy, advocate for positive change and maintain relationships. The very nature of this type of accommodation means that the population is transient. This involves revisiting your prior experience and knowledge of the topic you are exploring. Many of the people that we worked with had been subject to section 2 or 3 orders under the Mental Health Act 1983/2007, and were now experiencing aftercare under section 117. Piat, M., Sabetti, J. The diversity of roles within Alices network highlights the danger that various professions and agencies may assign different levels of priority or even conceptualisations to the arising issues (Hudson, 2015). Parrish, M., 2014. 1st ed. Specific guidelines are useful for field educators in encouraging student reflection. I will start by outlining my practice setting, and the details of the particular case study. & Herrman, H., 2012. I would volunteer less and make myself appear less capable and unable to perform the task at hand. After having many struggles in my field setting, I began to reflect more and more on myself and my performance. Although these moments appeared to be traumatic for Alice she said on many occasions that she wanted to speak about her past. Karban, K., 2017. As a social worker, I hope to have a profession that involves helping children; being a school guidance counselor, a therapist, or possibly even being a social worker in the pediatric ward of a hospital. If you are not used to being reflective it can be hard to know where to start the process. This is an example of a reflective log to help you think about your own reflective writing. Clement, J., Williams, E. and Waters, C. (1993) The client with substance abuse/mental illness: Mandate for Collaboration Achieves of Psychiatric Nursing, 7(4), 189-196. An effective way to protect clients and practitioners alike is to avoid any suggestion that the ethical issue is Banks, S. (2006) Ethics and Values in Social Work, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. The number of professions and agencies involved with this single client illustrates the multiple points of contact and potential challenges that operating in this contemporary inter-agency environment presents. 63-72. WebSocial workers also understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and recognize the extent to which a cultures structures and values, including social, economic, political, and cultural exclusions, may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create privilege and power. The role of housing in adult safeguarding. 280-298. Maidenhead: Open University Press. This involves revisiting your prior experience and knowledge of the topic you are exploring. This aspect is known as the psycho part of the Biospycho-social Spiritual perspective. The physical scars on Alices body as a result of these experiences can be understood from a postmodern perspective as embodied manifestations of power and oppression (Tangenburg & Kemp, 2002). Dalrymple, J. Communication in Social Work. As noted above, people experiencing problems with addiction tend to have other issues in other areas of their lives (Tober and Raistrick, 2004).I was able incorporate specific applications of systems theory for the service user group I was working throughout my placement, and in particular with JK. This is especially concerning when one considers that housing staff may be the only service that residents have contact with (Cass, 2015). Data analysis indicated that critical reflection is not a priority for direct practice social workers in the context of privilege. fTTF*nw^ulVK`493t75AL1[YMTc!A2{2ILk'MX@M~?6K^aFd%YBA k%;VD)\!Rm/WL}(ajSVCisO(?2GX#9jVF_Yh. Reprinting & reuse, The Field Educator is published by the Simmons University School of Social Work. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Parrish, M., 2014. The importance of recognising multiple perspectives and social contexts in a non-linear, fluid and multifaceted way leads to more bottom up practice that in turn empowers marginalised people by recognising and legitimising their experiences and voice (Fook, 2012; Graham, 2017; Parton & OByrne, 2000). A degree of scepticism about existing knowledge, beliefs and values. Thank you Tarrell for this! More time could have been spent on listening to JK and his perspective, rather than trying to fit him into a theory or model for the sake of evidencing my own case notes or reflective journals. My work with Alice has taught me many things, most notably the impact of personal and structural processes of oppression and discrimination. The Learning Centre - UNSW. Risk management can be seen as a continuum (Nolan & Quinn, 2012), so whilst service user vulnerabilities must be taken into account when assessing risks there is also a balance to be struck. (2010) Getting Started in C. Knott and T. Scragg (eds.) y~u <=ZVYIY8[Sr7RtK Anti-Oppressive Practice Social Care and the Law. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated. 1st ed. In addition to this, Alice also has contact with a psychiatrist and regular medical reviews with her GP. Task: The Assessment Process In this social work reflective log, I will focus on the social work. 2nd ed. 1st ed. 2; & Ehliasson, K., 2014. Client Participation in Managing Social Work Service-An Unfinished Quest. Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. I recognised that where unequal power dynamics exist in a relationship, it is usually the partner with the most power that benefits most from the interaction (Milner and OByrne, 2002). & Beresford, P., 2000. I then realized that I was being challenged to do things outside of my comfort zone, and when underperformed, I would lose confidence. I discussed how I engaged with different models of reflection, experienced power dynamics, and explored different interpretations of mental distress. British Journal of Social Work, Volume 43, pp. Hudson, A., 2015. After identifying these strengths, the social worker will then work with the client to utilize these strengths to help them in their current situations. Inequalities in Child Welfare: Towards a New Policy, Research and Action Agenda. Parton, N. & OByrne, P., 2000. Boud, D. (1999). The people with whom we worked usually had a multitude of presenting issues and concerns, and I was aware from the onset that complex settings like this require social workers to be reflective in their practice in order to be able to deal with a variety of situations (Fook and Gardner, 2007). Tangenburg, K. M. & Kemp, S., 2002. more than 1 year ago, The fear of being rejected and incorrect has been with me as long as I can remember. Cambridge: Polity Press. The theory base of social work is essential to all the work that we do in practice (Teater, 2010). New York:Basic Books. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. *aaL]5 w{X}qQJsG=8HY3^IwL68/ zRsb@MzzBAA3>8>[o]{z?#wfi a(e@hVqj!q*1N!)m y.DJ Social Work: A Critical Approach to Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Working with Substance Misusers: A Guide to Theory and Practice, London: Routledge. 55K views, 2.4K likes, 2.7K loves, 2.5K comments, 240 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from ABS-CBN News: Healing Eucharist Mass | Teleradyo (30 April 2023) Although I engage with and explored multiple models of reflection during my placement, the model of reflection that I found most useful was Schons theory of reflection (Schon, 1983; 2002). Schon, D. (2002) From technical rationality to reflection-in-action in R. Harrison, F. Reeve, A. Hanson and J. Clarke (eds) Supporting Lifelong Learning: Perspectives on Learning, London: Routledge. These service users particularly challenged me, as I found their intersecting issues usually stretch well beyond their dual diagnosis, to other areas like housing or physical health. Language, Bureaucracy & Social Control. Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services. Due to the limits of the current medium, I will be focusing mostly on reflection-on-action. Health Soc Care Community, Volume 26, pp. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. In relation to Session A, one area that I reflected on was that I may have focused too much on theory when working with JK. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 46(9), pp. Macdonald, G. & Macdonald, K., 2010. & Baker, K., 2013. I have a career, not in social work, but I have an opportunity, at 47, to get free schooling. Fook J. and Gardner F. (2007) Practising Critical Reflection: A Resource Handbook, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. This week I met with a social worker at Cherry Health which is located a few blocks from Heart of the City. Care and Support Statutory Guidance. Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Practice. 1st ed. Transforming Social Work Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives. Different models of reflection supported me throughout the reflective process. Despite the dogged insistence of the dominant medical model discourse, contemporary evidence points to a causal link between social factors and a diagnosis of schizophrenia (Read, 2010). Healy, K., 2012. Adult safeguarding and the role of housing. Once I began doing more, I became more confident to speak up. Graham, M. J., 2017. Assessing a clients strengths and limitations. Throughout my social work education, the difference between the medical model and the social model of experiencing mental illness has been stressed to me, and I clearly saw this when working with JK. What am I most proud of? The strengths perspective allows social workers to assess and identify talents, strengths, and skills within their clients. 840-850. Oppression and discrimination also takes place at a wider level. Bengtsson-Tops, A., Ericsson, U. Tarrell Clark, BSW, is a May 2020 graduate of Stockton University and works with adults with developmental disabilities. I will seek to examine and reflect on my interactions with Alice, primarily by applying a reflective model to a critical incident. WebAccountable: [the] social worker shouldnt be scared to ask for guidance and support. An Unfinished Reflexive Journey: Social Work Students Reflection on their Placement Experiences. The worker expressed a great deal of frustration at the lack of inter-agency communication, written or otherwise, and a failure to disclose key pieces of information. For example, she can help the young clients keep guardianship over their children, continue to help administrations, soften the punishment for young convicts, or free them from imprisonment (Rivera-Ayala, 2021). That is to say, communication is not neutral and does not necessarily have a universal meaning to each element of the agency or profession (Hall & Slembrouck, 2009). Finally, I used this reflection to look at things that I could have done differently, including a decreased focus on theory and engaging more with other services. 1st ed. Working with Substance Misusers: A Guide to Theory and Practice, London: Routledge. Healing Eucharist Mass | Teleradyo (30 April 2023) - Facebook The Practice Competency Framework (PCF) domains provide some direction about what areas social workers are expected to emphasise in practice, and what needs to be evidenced in order to successfully complete a placement. Applying the Strengths Perspective to Your Self-Reflection. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Eventually, when I noticed an opportunity to do more administrative tasks and things that are more within my comfort zone, I volunteered. For example, could my knowledge of Alices dysfunctional relationships in the past have resulted in me making assumptions about inherent personality traits? 9-18. From a postmodern perspective, practitioners should not seek to totally eliminate risk by a scientized, calculated approach because this is doomed to failure (Parton, 1998, p. 23). Dedicated to your worth and value as a human being! Schon, D., 1983. (2005) Social Perspectives in Mental Health London: Kingsley. Thank you! Abingdon: Routledge. Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care: Knowledge and Theory, London: JK. When I worked with him, he lived in a housing project that was specifically meant to house ex-offenders. Housing, Care And Support, 18(2), pp. Throughout field education, Brookfields guidelines can encourage the reflective process. I understand everything you experience is a teaching moment, good or bad. I am currently on placement in a Supported Housing Hostel for adults in Cambridgeshire. It is essential that social workers have the confidence to question their own practice, the organisation that they work in, and dominant power structures in society at large (Fook, 1999). The implementation of The Care Act 2014 introduced new responsibilities and statutory duties on local authorities and partner agencies with an emphasis on moving away from process-driven practice (Cass, 2015).