Risk and Social Work Practice

Abstract

Risk assessment and risk management have emerged as central organising principles for an increasing number of health and welfare programs. As a consequence, the language, technologies and imperatives of risk have assumed considerable prominence in the practice of many social workers. The present paper addresses three significant and contemporary explanations for the rise of risk in the day-to-day work of many social workers. In the context of these approaches, the paper examines some of the challenges risk presents to professional and ethical social work practice. Four issues with particular meanings and impacts for social work are discussed, namely the priority of risk over need, changing professional roles, relocation of responsibility to individuals, and the culture of blame.     

A Strengths Perspective on Caregiving at the End-of-life

Abstract

The most recent version of the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics includes substantial reference to social workers’ professional responsibilities for environmental awareness and advocacy. This article reports on a qualitative study of 20 Australian environmentally-conscious social workers from a variety of fields of practice. The study found that while there was a high level of awareness of the relevance of environmental issues for social work practice, participants reported professional and organisational constraints, which prevented them from aligning their environmental concerns with their professional practice. The findings from this study suggest that proenvironmental views and actions may not yet be accepted as a legitimate aspect of social work practice, despite strong recognition of the links between social justice, human rights, social work, and the environment in the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics.     

Rural social workers and their jobs: An empirical study

Abstract

Results are reported from a national survey of 194 social workers commencing rural positions in Australia in 1994 and 1995. This paper focuses on: practitioner, position and community characteristics; which location the practitioners came from; their professional, rural practice and rural living experience; preparation for the positions by employers and educators; satisfaction with rural work and life; and anticipated length of stay. Results challenge myths about rural social workers and support key themes of rural practice literature. Respondents were mixed with respect to age and experience, scattered widely throughout Australia in different-sized communities, mostly living and working in the same communities and engaged predominantly in generic practice. There appears to be a pool of rural practitioners in Australia who are committed to living and working in rural places. Implications are developed for practice, employers, the profession, professional education, research and theory. Tentative explanations are offered for high rural staff turnover.     

Building Relationships with Aboriginal People: A Cultural Mapping Toolbox

Abstract

This article describes a cultural mapping tool developed specifically for working with Aboriginal people experiencing mental health problems. The tool has broad scope, drawing from ecological and systems approaches. It will assist social workers to understand cultural and family obligations and build relationships with Aboriginal service users. Students learning about cultural diversity have expressed concern about asking culturally-sensitive questions. Australian human service workers typically state they feel inadequate in addressing Aboriginal culture in their practice approaches. The three components of the cultural mapping toolbox, (a) the social and emotional wellbeing cluster map, (b) the community and cultural diversity map, and (c) the migration map, provide social workers with a way of supporting a culturally connected lifestyle in contemporary society.     

Overcoming Future Professionals’ Fear of Digital Storytelling

ABSTRACT

Digital storytelling assessments at university can develop emerging human service and social workers’ skills in contemporary social media production and related advocacy. Despite growing interest in digital storytelling in these disciplines, there is little support for developing the technical sides of the practice. This article shares key learnings from an Australian teaching and learning project used to develop a digital storytelling module for social work and human services students at university who are not filmmakers. Students across a range of courses undertook digital storytelling assessments using the module. A key finding was that students still experienced considerable fear but were able to turn that into significant personal and professional development. This article explores these and other key learnings from the project and offers tips for others wishing to implement digital storytelling.

IMPLICATIONS

• Emerging social work and human services professionals studying at university often exhibit fear and resistance to new tasks such as digital storytelling. Such students need to be supported to navigate that discomfort to achieve learning.

• Students can be supported using online modules that support the technical and creative sides of digital storytelling.

• This project found that students were able to develop confidence and skills in digital storytelling after completing this module and assignment.

     

Raising the Titanic: Rescuing Social Work Documentation from the Sea of Ethical Risk

Abstract

One of the most contentious issues in social work practice concerns what should be written about people who access social work services, how comprehensively, and in what format social work assessments, interventions, and outcomes should be documented. The present paper describes a structured approach linked to an action research project that was undertaken by hospital-based social workers to identify and minimise problems associated with documentation in the medical record. The Social Work Ethics Audit provided social work staff with a risk-management tool that highlighted documentation as a key area of ethical risk. Through a process of evaluating existing recording practices, social workers were able to meet the challenge of improving social work recording in medical records, returning it to its proper place as a vital component of clinical and ethical practice rather than an administrative task submerged beneath competing priorities. It was anticipated that the social work documentation proforma that resulted from the ethics audit process would have applicability in other health care settings.     

The Expansion of the Peer Adviser Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges for Social Work

ABSTRACT

Peer adviser roles are becoming an increasingly common—and celebrated—aspect of agencies where social workers are located. This article reports on a qualitative research study exploring the experiences of staff within a homelessness outreach service in which three peer advisers (people with a lived experience of homelessness) commenced employment. Drawing on action research principles, the study explored the experiences of the peer advisers and the broader team following the introduction of the peer adviser roles. Themes identified include, realising the skills of peer advisers, defining the role, taking a “whole of team” approach, and reflecting on power. This study demonstrates that the introduction of peer adviser roles into human service organisations is a promising strategy for creating services that are more likely to respond effectively to the needs of service users. However, social workers need to be aware of the pitfalls of tokenism and the devaluing of experiential knowledge.

IMPLICATIONS

• Peer advisers in health and welfare agencies add significant benefits to an agency’s capacity to respond to the needs of service users.

• The introduction of the peer workforce is aligned to social work values of service user empowerment and the valuing of experiential knowledge.

• In order to avoid tokenism, the introduction of peer adviser roles should be supported by both the attitudes and actions of other staff members, as well as organisational support structures.

     

Gender Dynamics in Social Work Practice and Education: A Critical Literature Review

This paper offers a critical analysis of existing literature on historical and contemporary gender dynamics in Australian social work education and practice. Analyses of gender dynamics and inequalities have the potential to illuminate pathways for inclusive social work education and practice, for both practitioners and people who access social work services. This critical review of the literature demonstrates that Australian social work education and practice have been shaped by gendered discourses, structures, and power dynamics since its inception. In a contemporary sense, women constitute the majority of social work educators and practitioners, while men disproportionately dominate positions of power and prestige, although rigorous Australian data on the roles and representation of men and women are not readily available. Our findings point to the need for further engagement with gender as a unit of analysis in Australian social work research, including further engagement with inclusive and intersectional feminisms.

IMPLICATIONS

• Enhanced knowledge of Australian social work history, particularly in relation to gender, allows for a greater understanding of current gendered power relations in social work education and practice.

• Gender dynamics are underresearched in contemporary Australian social work education and practice.

• Up-to-date data on the status and representation of men, women, and nonbinary people in social work are needed as the foundation for transformative and inclusive social work education and practice.

     

Professional Distance and Social Work: Stretching the Elastic?

Abstract

Professional distance and the parallel concept of models of practice reliant on professional objectivity have been major platforms in professional education. In social work, these ideas are often seen as contentious, unreasonable and, in some cases, unrealistic. Radical, feminist and rural social work approaches, for example, suggest that the expert role is not only inappropriate, but can be counter-productive and disrespectful of the people with whom we work. Postmodern approaches call for a deconstruction of professionalism in favour of context-specific partnerships between worker and client. How can workers ensure good, professional practice within a more flexible approach to professional distance and expertise? What are the issues and how may they be resolved? Are the boundaries of the professional relationship elastic and, if so, what are the consequences for practice and the individual worker? The present article explores the notion of flexible, elastic boundaries using literature and research from radical, postmodern, feminist and rural social work approaches.     

Forging an Identity as a Newly Qualified Worker in the Non-government Community Services Sector

Forging a professional identity is commonly assumed to be a key objective for new graduates transitioning to work. However, the extant literature on professional identity development gives minimal consideration to the role of contemporary work conditions such as increased contract-based employment and occupational instability in carving out a work identity. These workforce trends are particularly pronounced in the non-government community services sector, where worker mobility is high and workers often occupy roles that are not profession-specific. In light of these trends, this article seeks to broaden existing understandings of professional identity development. Focus groups were conducted with 24 newly qualified workers with degree-level qualifications in social work and the human services employed in the community services sector in Queensland. The findings suggest that these workers held a variety of allegiances, which were not necessarily aligned with a profession but instead shaped by the interplay of personal, professional, and organisational factors.     

Personal Growth Towards Intercultural Competence Through an International Field Education Programme

Abstract

An international social work field education programme at the University of South Australia provides social work students with the opportunity to develop intercultural skills and intercultural sensitivity. The programme is conceptualised within a developmental framework that enables the identification of stages of personal growth and professional development from ethnocentrism to ‘interculturality’ or intercultural sensitivity. This framework, alongside the use of a clear ethical perspective and the reflective practice process, is a useful resource to assist students to identify their level of sophistication of cross-cultural competence and to respond to them in ways that facilitate their growth and development towards competent social workers working with difference and across cultures.     

Where professional and personal values may clash: social workers' attitudes towards professional involvement in the evacuation of Israeli settlers from Gaza and Northern Samaria

Israel's evacuation of settlers from their homes in Gaza and North Samaria provided a real time opportunity to examine social workers' attitudes towards offering their services in controversial political situations. This study, conducted shortly before the evacuation, is a qualitative examination of the attitudes of 108 Israeli social workers towards offering professional services to the evacuees. Findings show that while most respondents supported social worker involvement, around a quarter either qualified their support or objected outright. Calls are made to ensure that professional services and resources become available to persons of all political persuasions and in all political situations.     

Social work and technology: Challenges for social workers in practice: A case study

Abstract

Social Work is just beginning to consider the full impact of technology on practice. In this paper the experience of social workers working in Centrelink, the Australian Government's service delivery organisation, is explored in the context of Centrelink's increased reliance on technology to deliver its services to six million Australians. The results of a survey that indicated nearly one half of Centrelink's social workers have received no formal training in how to use the technologies they rely so heavily on in their work are considered, as is the role of the social workers who are working as a part of Centrelink's call centre network. It is argued that social workers need to be careful not to confuse means and ends when it comes to utilising technology as a part of their practice.     

Integrating Environmental Issues into Social Work Practice: Lessons Learnt from Domestic Energy Auditing

Abstract

This study of domestic energy audit practice draws on current literature and focuses on a program at Kildonan UnitingCare. It explores and highlights the relevance of natural environmental issues for social work practice and includes practical ideas for addressing financial, social, and environmental issues within case work practice and advocacy. The overlap between energy audit and social work practice is said to apply to both service user issues and the professional skill base of social workers. Finally, a transformation in social work thinking practice and education is suggested, within a vision that is community focused and holistically integrated.     

Making Continuing Professional Development Relevant and Accessible in Regional Social Work

ABSTRACT

Continuing professional development (CPD) is an integral component of quality social work practice (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2013). Despite this, there is a lack of knowledge around the perceived needs and challenges of accessing CPD for rural and regional social work practitioners. This research explored professional development education needs and challenges for rural social work practitioners. The findings revealed an increase in complex cases in practice leading to the need for more training in mental health, legal aspects, and therapeutic interventions. Strong demand for CPD was evident, with a preference for face-to-face training instead of online modules. In the face of persistent challenges some innovative solutions were possible from a partnership between service providers, higher education providers, and the professional body to better meet the needs of the rural social work practitioners.

IMPLICATIONS

• Increasing complexity in rural, regional, and remote social work practice has placed extra demands on the knowledge resources of social workers.

• Continuing professional development (CPD) must be relevant and readily accessible to meet the needs of those who practice in these areas.

• Partnerships between agencies, higher education providers, and professional bodies, along with the use of technology can increase accessibility for rural, regional, and remote social workers.

     

Making Social Policy “Sexy”: Evaluating a Teaching Innovation

Abstract

How to stimulate student interest in social policy, while reinforcing its professional significance for social work, remains an understudied topic. This paper reports an evaluation of a teaching intervention that sought to enhance student interest in social policy by: more explicitly connecting social policy with professional social work practice; introducing an assessment exercise that involved visiting Parliament House; and undertaking weekly “hot policy topic” small group discussions. Social work students were found to be quite aware of the importance of social policy to professional practice. The intervention did not measurably increase interest in social policy, but heightened student awareness of their capacity to contribute to policy processes.     

Mental Health Workers Negotiating Risk on the Frontline

Abstract

Following deinstitutionalisation and the shift to models of community care, mental health practice has become increasingly focused on managing the risks posed by service users. However, the effects of risk management on workers’ professional identities have not been investigated empirically in Australia. Drawing on in-depth interviews with mental health workers from Victoria, Australia, this paper explores the diverse ways in which these workers adapted the formal technologies of risk management (e.g., the completion of risk assessment screens) to their professional identities. Some workers experienced risk management technologies as constraining their interventions with clients, while others saw these technologies as providing opportunities to strengthen and enhance their professional skills. Pondering these differences, the author speculates on the emergence of a new form of professional identity in the broader context of contemporary community mental health care.     

Limiting relationships through sousveillance video based digital advocacy: multi-modal analysis of The Nervous CPS Worker

ABSTRACT

Digital media technology and Internet-based/social media sharing are shifting the contexts and processes of social work, including the relationships emerging in practice. The Nervous CPS Worker, a digital video shared via YouTube, provides a concrete practice-based example of the use of social media self-advocacy by professional foster parents. This case-study demonstrates the fragmented and shifting power-relations brought to bear within contemporary social work. Multi-modal analysis facilitates the development of a layered qualitative understanding of this video, shaped by the researcher’s inter-textual relationship with the material. Supplemental online texts are applied to the Nervous CPS Worker and relevant scholarship, including discipline specific knowledge, reveals the layered and convergent meaning making processes present in this video through the use of auditory communication, visual representations and genre. Analysis demonstrates how contemporary social work contexts, such as neoliberalism, and standardisation are implicated in practice and how identity and context compete for recognition and space within the home visit depicted in this video.     

Independent Mental Health Advocacy: A Model of Social Work Advocacy?

ABSTRACT

Advocacy has received less attention in social work research than other aspects of social work practice. This paper draws attention to two tensions in social work advocacy; between worker-led advocacy and person-led advocacy, and between individual advocacy and system level advocacy. We argue that human-rights-based social workers must choose a person-led approach over a worker-led approach while advocating with both systems and individuals. This argument is made by drawing on findings of an evaluation of Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) in Victoria, Australia. It is shown that social work training had not prepared social workers for rights-based, person-led advocacy and that social workers in public mental health services were struggling to maintain the rights of people in their services even with assistance from IMHA.

IMPLICATIONS

• Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) is a model of advocacy influenced by social work theory and delivered in part by social-work-trained advocates.

• Social work training is not preparing social workers for person-led, human-rights-based advocacy.

• Public mental health social workers are struggling to maintain the rights of people in mental health services even with the support of external advocacy services.

     

Managing Risk in Community Care of Older People: Perspectives from the Frontline

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, Australian governments have focused on expanding community and home-based services for older people. This has led to increased levels of dependency, vulnerability, and complexity to be managed in the community. Consequently, aged care services have had to develop mechanisms for regulating and managing these increased risks, and risk management has become more central to the practices of professional workers in this field. This paper reports on some findings from a large-scale study that explores the way risk management policies have been translated into practice by community-based services in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on interviews with 18 frontline and management professionals employed in community aged care, we found that these workers were wrestling with a diverse and new range of institutional risks beyond those encountered in the actual delivery of frontline care. We found that these workers experienced “risk” in four different contexts, which often created demands for contradictory or conflicting responses. Here we examine these “contexts of risk practice”: professional workers' relationships with their clients, relationships with other service providers, the unregulated nature of the home as a work environment, and community expectations about the management of risk. Despite tensions that frequently arose, workers expressed strong professional commitments to their clients and were motivated to find positive resolutions amid competing interests. We conclude that tensions experienced by workers were embedded in the structural dimensions of institutional relationships and the systematic absence of shared understandings of “acceptable” risks in the community care of older people, rather than in the failure of professional agency.