Social Work Assignment

Within this assignment, I am going to discuss the key differences between social care and social work; I will then look at how the concepts of risk, power, difference and identity are embedded within social work theory and practice. Firstly, I am going to give a brief history of the origins of social work, before delving into the differences and exploring the key concepts in relation to social work theory and practice.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when social work came about, as all societies throughout history have done some sort of social work i.e. in the form of caring for family members. Some may say that it was the development of Poor Law that was introduced in 1536 in hope of tackling problems of unemployment, poverty and illness in England that started it; with this model being carried through to the 19^th century. The Charity Organisation Society emerged in 1869 with an objective of rationalizing and coordinating charity giving (Pierson, Online: 2011). Some people believe that it had a massive impact on social work; with a focus on helping individuals to help themselves, by identifying and understanding their problems as a way of tackling them; rather than receiving support from the government. This is a concept that is still employed by many social workers today, for example when dealing with casework.  The Settlement movement of the late 1800’s followed on from the work of the Charity Organisation Societies, with similar aims of tackling poverty and unemployment, their big focus was around engaging neighbourhoods to take up the challenge of dealing with poverty and disadvantage at that level (Rogowski, 2010:31). Nowadays this is something that we still see, through the roles of Community Based Social Workers, whose position involves them actively engaging with local communities and identified groups, providing/advising of social services, in order to help promote well being and health. Moving on from this, World War Two seen the government becoming more involved in the welfare of individuals, most people welcomed this intervention; this in turn led to the production of the Beveridge Report in 1942 (Rogowski, 2010:41). Within the report, Beveridge identified five giant evils: idleness, want, ignorance, squalor, and disease, and aimed to tackle these through suggestions made in the report. It has been a highly influential document that has formed the basis of the reform of the welfare state; for example, the creation of the NHS was one big aspect that evolved from it. The 1960s through to the 1970s seen social work really beginning to establish itself, with the  Seebohm Report (1968)  seeing the creation of new governmental departments formed which we still have today.

Defining social work can be difficult due it being a contested term, which has led to there being many differing definitions. The International Federation for Social Workers (2014: Online) describe social work as,

… a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work.  Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing.

Whereas, Jackie Smith describes it as,

a very practical job. It is about protecting people and changing their lives, not about being able to give a fluent and theoretical explanation about why they got into difficulties in the first place (Jacqui Smith, former UK Minister of Social Care, quoted in Cowden 2014:2).

Looking at the definition of Social Care, the NHS describe it as,

Social care services help people who are in need of support due to illness, disability, old age or poverty. Social care services are available to everyone, regardless of background. However, social care is subject to rules about your needs and ability. Services can also support the families or carers of people who receive social care (NHS, 2014: Online).

Where similarly the charity Age UK define social care as,

….the phrase used to describe help and support for people – both personally and practically – enabling them to lead as independent a life as possible (Age UK, 2014: Online).

The definitions show that both terms are contested, more so the definition of social work. This may be due to general differences in opinions, or could be due to the needs of society at the time the definition was written. The needs of society at the time will affect what people view as social care and social work. Factors such as the time that the definition was written and government involvement in both areas will also have affected what people view as social work and therefore written.

What is apparent from the definitions is that both social care and social work involve working with people who need extra support, but there are many differences that set social work apart from social care that will be explored throughout this essay.

One of main differences of social work, is that it is an accredited profession, to become a social worker you have to have a professional qualification; it is a protected title, that means that you can only call yourself a social worker if you have been registered onto the Health and Care Professions register (HCPC, No date: Online). This in turn makes it a criminal offence for individuals to identify themselves as a social worker, if not registered. This has not always been the case as it only became a protected title under the Care Standards Act 2000; from this seen the rise of the General Social Care Council in 2001 whose main aims are to,

distribute codes of practice for social care workers and their employers, maintain the register of social care workers: and regulate social work education and training (Parliament, Online: 2009).

This sets social workers apart from social care workers, due to the professional status and the professional autonomy that comes with it. The codes of practice that are enforced set standards and a framework that social workers should adhere to; with status brings power and responsibility, and if found to misuse this and defect from the code of practice, this could see them being struck off the register and unable to practice as a social worker. In the case of a support worker, they don’t need to be registered to work or necessarily have any qualifications, but they too also work to government legislation, such as safeguarding vulnerable group’s act 2006 and other relevant legislation. Due to social workers being viewed as ‘professionals’, they are personally held accountable for the decisions that they make. This means that they have to be able to justify and back up reasons for their decisions, accepting individual responsibility where decisions have been wrong. Social care workers would not have to worry about the issue of accountability, as they will usually have people in positions above them directing them.

Another big difference between social workers and social care workers is the amount of time each spends working directly with service users. Social care workers provide high contact support, such as personal care and supporting individuals with everyday daily tasks. Whereas, social workers tend to be mainly office based only making contact with service users when they are reaching high risk/need categories, they are the ones responsible for the assessment and management of need and risk, and also the commissioning of services. A report by the British Association for Social Workers, asked social workers what they viewed as an issue in social work and one of the big themes was administration. With one commenting saying that it, ‘the very essence of social work is being eroded’ (BASW, Online: 2012), because of this in some cases support workers may actually be more knowledgeable about the clients they are working with than actual social workers.

Power is a key concept and reoccurring theme that comes up within social work. There are many different types of social power that social workers may have to use; for example, knowledge power, this may be used to create a personal bond with the service user to build up trust. Social workers may have to employ institutional power, for example, it may be necessary to admit someone to hospital under a section of the Mental Health Act 1983 if they are unwilling to go themselves in order to get them the treatment they may need. Or, they may have to remove a child from there caregiver if they are deemed unfit to care, Under Section 44 of the Children Act 1989. Social workers have positional power, for example, over the service user. This may be an issue for some service users, therefore social workers need to work in a way that positively addresses these relationships; this may help the service users feel more comfortable when working in partnership with them to overcome their problems, rather than feeling like they are being dictated too.

Power is something that can pose a challenge to some people in social work; it is something that can be misused and something that can be helpful in difficult situations.

There are four different ways that power can be viewed, which Smith (Online: 2010) describes as: potential, possession, process and product. He states,

….power is conceptualised as a material force, but not necessarily as a fixed quantity (Smith, Online: 2010).

Meaning that power in social work is there, but might not always need employed in such forceful ways. Looking at power as a potential means that social workers because of their professional status, may have the power to help change things, but only have this power when they actually have implemented change. Power as possession, is an issue that social workers have to actively try to tackle. It identifies some groups in society having more power than other, for example, feminists may argue that men are the dominant group in society, whilst disabled people may argue that able-bodied individuals get preferential treatment over them. As a social worker it is part of their job to challenge power relations such as these, tackling discrimination and prejudices, and promoting social justice. Social workers try an achieve this though working in an anti-oppressive way, whilst self reflecting on decisions made helping social workers to identify if they have used their power appropriately.

A model of anti-discriminatory practice that social workers often refer to is, Thompson’s PCS Model (2006), the ‘p’ stands for personal, which focus’ on personal prejudices, as a  social worker they should not be judgemental, and should challenge people who appear this way to break down any of their misconceptions. The ‘c’ refers to cultural, for example, some prejudices may be down to shared ways of thinking, i.e. women’s roles in British society use to be viewed mainly as  the main care giver and housewife but with time have greatly shifted, seeing many women working equally alongside men.  But on the flip side of this, there are still many cultures within Britain that still view this as the norm, therefore it is important that social workers identify and respect this cultural difference, and work in a way that supports that individual, without further causing oppression. Lastly, the ‘s’ stands for structural, and addresses the way that some prejudices are institutionalised and sewn into society, for example as a result of laws or policies.

Although we are all humans, we all have differences that give a potential for unfair treatment, i.e. through oppression or discrimination. Differences can be linked into groups, such as by, race, class, ethnicity, religion, or sexuality; but by putting yourself into a group may cause discrimination against another group. Social workers need to be sensitive in regards to people and their differences, working in a way that accepts and values people for their differences and ensuring they are not discriminated because of these. Alongside this is the importance of identities when working with a service user. We as human beings construct our own identities through the things that we do, the things that we associate ourselves with and the things that we say. Therefore, when working with a service user, it is important to understand in what ways they view themselves and value this. For example, you may be working with a mentally ill patient, who also identifies herself as a mother with responsibilities to her child, therefore this has to be taken into consideration as being identified as mother may make her feel valued and seek comfort in that.

This leads me onto labelling, service users may not want to be identified as ‘vulnerable’, ‘mentally ill’ or ‘disabled’ therefore it is important to avoid this. The labelling theory would suggest that these titles might cause other people to label them as deviant, because they are different from the ‘norm’; it may also suggest that because of these titles people may start acting to them (Shepard, 2009: Online). Foucault, when looking at the construction of identities suggests,

modern identities are produced by disciplinary regimes that permeate our being, defining and constraining who we are, in terms of fixed limits and boundaries of normalcy and deviance (in Wier, 2009:Online),

which infers that it is the dominant groups/people in power that construct our identities; therefore through labelling, a social worker may be constructing an identity that makes a service users feel under valued. Therefore, they need to work towards constructing an identity that the service user feels valued and proud of. By being labelled they may feel that it leaves them open to discrimination, as discrimination is often based on an identified difference. Social workers often work in ways that try to actively break down any negative associated labels and the stigma attached.

As briefly mentioned before, a big part of a social workers role is based around risk assessment and management. The idea of risk is at the forefront of virtually every modern day discussion, from the food we eat to even relationships. We live in a society where there is a societal theme that we are at risk (Webb, 2006: 23). The role of a social work has evolved from assessing peoples need to assessing risk. Social workers now have to try to think about what has not happened and prevent this from happening (Beck, 1992: Online). Social workers have to be risk takers, taking chances on things that may have a high probability of occurring but low consequences. Webb looks at the importance of assessing and planning in social work and states that,

Life planning also becomes a particularly important activity in societies that are       structured by risk (Webb: 2006:94)

He sees its purpose as, ‘to avoid chaos and uncertainty’ (Webb, 2006:94). Therefore reiterates the importance and need for planning, in helping people through times in their lives where insecurity, risk and breakdown loom.

We are currently living in a society were many social workers are applying a risk averse approach when dealing with issues around children and safeguarding, due to many of the recent child abuse scandals i.e. Rotherham and Rochdale. Because of this, it has seen the number of children that have gone into care surge (NSPCC, Online: 2014), as social workers are living in fear that if they don’t remove a child they may leave them exposed to abuse; and this is something that they don’t want to be held accountable for (Furedi, 2006:20).

Need and power also coincide, due to the fact that it is people in high positions of authority that set out the levels on need assessment frameworks. Certain legislation makes it compulsory for local authorities to carry out assessments for people who may be in need; it is a legal duty, but it is not a legal duty to provide the services/resources. When looking at the concept of need Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy identifies five levels, starting from the lowest level, physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and then lastly, self actualisation. He suggests that lower levels of need must be satisfied before higher ones can be addressed. Social workers need to assess need to guide there decision-making and provide justification for decisions before they are made.  There are four types of need that Bradshaw (1972) suggests, two of which are employed by social workers when they are assessing the needs of an individual: normative need, which is need defined by experts, which can be seen in the form of the frameworks provided by local councils. The second is comparative need, which looks at comparing to other people needing or receiving help; social workers will do this when they are looking at people who are more at risk, giving them priority over a service instead of someone with a lower risk of falling into a higher category of need. For example, in circumstances were the toxic trio of drug/alcohol abuse, domestic violence and mental health problems are in play, these individuals are more likely to be given priority as they are seen as higher risk.

Although it is a social workers job to help people in need of extra support, there can be issues around the fact that social workers have power over clients in the terms of that they define what is considered as ‘vulnerable group or person’ and they have the power to define need. When dealing with risk management and assessment this can be particularly difficult, as a client may personally express their needs but if they do not reach the boundaries on the risk assessment criteria forms, they might not actually get access to the resources. With scarce resources due to public service cuts, it has caused the criteria of need to become tougher to reach; only making it possible for people in high need/risk categories to gain access to resources. Social workers should be looking at preventing problems from escalating before they reach this point, but because of the scarce resources and the risk society we live in, this is just something that social work is evolving into.

We have seen in the above discussions that both social care workers and social workers have roles that involve them working with vulnerable people; they have many differences that set them apart. The main ones being that social work is a recognised profession with a protected title, that has public recognition; it has professional autonomy, which makes social workers subject to procedures, frameworks regulations and expectations; and lastly, they have the power to enforce the law where needed. Social care workers, although working with similar service users, they do not have to register to any regulating body, they do not need any formal qualifications, and although they work to government legislation, they do not have the same powers as social workers.

It can be seen throughout the discussion that all of the key concepts of risk, power difference and identity are interlinked, and are all deeply embedded within social work theory and practice. Social workers are always faced with issues around power, as it is something that their status brings, but something they are trying to challenge in society through tackling dominant groups. They have to work in a way where there status doesn’t affect the service they are giving, ensuring that service users feel empowered to make their own decisions and changes. And lastly, social workers actively promote equality for all people, respecting individuals for their differences; actively trying to break down negative stereotypes and labels.

 References

Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage

Bradshaw, J. (1972) ‘A taxonomy of social need’, in G. McLachlan (ed.) Problems and Progress in Medical Care. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Care Standards Act 2000. (c.14) London: HMSO

Children Act 1989. (c.41) London: HMSO

Cowden, S. & Pullen-Sansfacon, A. (2014) The Ethical Foundation of Social Work. London: Routledge

Donnison. D. (1969) ‘The Seebohm Report and its implications’. International Social Work. Vol (12)0 pp. 11-17 http://isw.sagepub.com/content/12/2/11.full.pdf+html?hwshib2=authn%3A1421401727%3A20150115%253Ac03651f2-2f38-4194-9cbd-0d7c09ea9365%3A0%3A0%3A0%3AlQCZPrrS%2BQqEzNtXxdxm4Q%3D%3D

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