An Approach to the Management of the Assessment of Practice Placements

Correspondence to Annie Hudson. Lecturer in Social Work. Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, University of Manchester. Manchester M13 9PL Summary This article addresses some of the issues and problems inherentin the assessment of practice placements. and discusses theefforts of one course to devise a method of managing the assessmentprocess. It begins with an identification and brief discussionof those problems, then moves on to review the development ofthe method and describe the system as it currently operates.The second part of the article discusses the need for continuingattention to both the design of the system and its implicationsfor the roles of those most involved, with particular emphasison the role of the tutor. The article concludes by posing somequestions raised therein which have relevance for current debatesabout the future of social work training.     

Working in the Social Services: Job Satisfaction, Stress and Violence

Correspondence to Professor Jan Pahl, Department of Social and Public Policy and Social Work, Darwin College, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury CT2 7NY. Summary A major survey of the social services workforce (Balloch etal., forthcoming), carried out in the Research Unit at the NationalInstitute for Social Work, has produced new data about sourcesof job satisfaction and about the incidence of stress and violence.The survey took place in five different local authorities inEngland, and interviews were carried out with 1276 individuals,selected from four groups of staff: managers, social work staff,home care workers and residential staff. The results suggestedthat those who work in the statutory, social services do experiencemore stress and violence than workers in other parts of thehealth and welfare services. However, different jobs presenteddifferent hazards. In general, home care workers were the mostsatisfied with their jobs, and were also the group least likelyto be stressed or to experience violence in the course of theirwork. By contrast, residential workers, especially those withmanagement responsibilities, were most at risk of both violenceand stress. Men were more likely than women to experience violence,while other groups with a higher than average risk of stressincluded younger members of staff, and managers and social workstaff responsible for elderly people.     

A Profile of Adult Placement Carers

Correspondence to Andrew Gage, Manchester City Council Social Services Department, Adult Homefinding Team, Fenham, 5 Moorfield Road, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 8UZ. Summary This study examines the social and personal characteristicsof the people providing support in their own homes (adult fostering)to people with severe learning disabilities. Comparisons aremade with the general population on social and personal areas.A typical carer is identified and the results lead into issuescurrently affecting carers. Links are drawn between carer characteristicsand service user quality of life which require further study.     

Research Note: Developing Outcome Measures in Child Care

Correpondence to Dr Harriet Ward. Research Associate, University of Bristol, Social Policy and Social Planning. The Alfred Marshall Building, 40 Berkeley Square, Bristol BS8 1HY. Summary The complexity of the concept of outcome has discouraged researchinto the impact of the care experience on the child. This Notesummarizes the conceptual thinking behind a comprehensive systemof assessment which is being piloted in four local authorities,and reports on the preliminary results.     

Dying and Bereavement, Spirituality and Social Work in a Market Economy of Welfare

Correspondence to Margaret Lloyd, School of Social Work, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Summary This paper examines the contribution of social work practiceto the care of people who are dying or bereaved. It considerscurrent challenges to traditional practice arising from societaland organizational change, reaffirming the importance of thesocial work role but arguing that, in order to face those challenges,social workers must broaden their perspective to incorporatea spiritual dimension. The paper draws on a research study conductedby the author.     

The Supply of Foster Families for Children in Care

Correspondence to John Miles, Institute of Social and Applied Psychology, The University, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7LZ. Summary The family circumstances of 2694 foster homes in England arecompared with representative families from the 1985 GeneralHousehold Survey. Foster families typically include a womanin the 31–55 age group, live in homes with three or morebedrooms, are two parent families with one parent working full-timeand the other not, and they have older children only. The incidenceof families with these characteristics is used to develop anestimator of the relative supply position of local authorityareas for foster care, from which a number of conclusions aredrawn. Over the last thirty years some social changes have improvedthe supply, others decreased it, and on balance the nationalsupply position is little changed. Ironically, supply is bestin those areas which have the lowest need for fostering services.Ways in which local authorities can improve their supply positionare considered. The supply estimator reveals that the averageboarding out payments made by authorities show clear signs ofresponsiveness to the local supply position for foster families.     

Understanding 'Going Missing': issues for social work and social services

Correspondence to Malcolm Payne, Professor of Applied Community Studies, The Manchester Metropolitan University, 799 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 8RR. Summary Recent research about young people and adults who ‘gomissing’ raises important issues for social work and thesocial services. Large numbers of young people go missing eachyear, becoming vulnerable to exploitation and at risk of committingcrime and suffering from other social difficulties. Adults leavebehind families with practical and emotional difficulties. Adefinition of ‘going missing’ should focus on absencefrom social expectations and responsibilities. Five groups ofmissing person are identified: runaways, pushaways, throwaways,fallaways and takeaways, reflecting different social situationsin which going missing occurs. It is argued that going missingis one of a range of choices which people in difficulties maymake, depending on their approach to problems in their livesand the availability of opportunities. Effective local co-ordinationto focus on reasons for going missing, on reunions and returnsto residential care or home, and to provide emotional and practicalhelp to people ‘left behind’, are required, providedthat care is taken to protect people who go missing becausethey are subject to abuse and violence.     

Huntington's Chorea and the Young Person at Risk

Correspondence should be sent to J. R. Korer, Mental Health Research Unit, Manchester University, Department of Psychiatry, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT. Summary Social workers increasingly find themselves involved with familiesin which one or more individuals suffer from genetic disease.Huntington's chorea is such a condition and has serious implicationsfor other individuals, both in the nuclear and extended family.This paper explores some of the likely responses of young peoplein such families and how they can best be helped. A social workerneeds to be aware of the differing responses to varying degreesof risk and how young people in the situation can be advisedand helped. It follows on from an earlier study (Korer and Fitzsimmons,1985) which looked more specifically at family life within thesefamilies.     

Beyond Retroduction? -- Hermeneutics, Reflexivity and Social Work Practice

Correspondence to Susan White, University of Manchester, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester Summary Over the last three decades qualitative research methodologieshave been in the ascent within social science. Yet social workevaluation studies have tended to be quantitative in nature,conventially relying upon the generation of criteria againstwhich interventions are retrospectively judged. The generationof such criteria inevitably depends upon pre-suppositions, whichin themselves go unresearched. As a consequence the .sense makingactivities on which social work interventions depend are renderedimmune from critical analysis. This reflects a broader tendencyfor social work to cling to naive realist epistemologies, whichare arguably obsolete within the interpretive paradigm in whichits activity is properly located. By examining the debates withininterpretive social science, this paper argues for an approachto social work assessment which avoids the pitfalls of naiveobjectivism and the nihilism of anarchic relativism, whilstretaining creativity, imagination and hope.     

Children in Need: Definition, Identification and Support

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper examines the way in which local authorities operationalizethe concept of need contained in Part III of the Children Act1989. Findings from an empirical study conducted by the authorssuggest that difficulties are being encountered in operationalizingneed, and that these difficulties stem from an inherent contradictionbetween the all-embracing spirit of the Act and current politicaland social realities. The paper identifies key dilemmas in theimplementation of Part III of the Children Act and highlightsconflicts facing social services departments.     

Care Management and Professional Autonomy: The Impact of Community Care Legislation on Social Work with Older People

Correspondene to Mark Lymbery, Centre for Social Work, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. e-mail: Mark_Lymbery{at}nottingham.ac.uk Summary The 1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act appearedto herald a new dawn for social work with older people, whichhad previously been a relatively neglected and undervalued areaof social work practice. The legislation proposed a new rolefor social workers as ‘case managers’, with considerableautonomy and flexibility about the way in which the ‘casemanager’ responded to need. By the time community carepolicy was implemented, the role of ‘case manager’had been transformed into that of ‘care manager’,with a focus which emphasized procedural and managerial requirementsrather than a more flexible professional practice. This paper explores the extent to which this shift has substantivelyaltered the nature of social work practice with older people.It outlines key theories of professions and their applicabilityto social work, and critically analyses the impact of the ‘newmanagerialism’ within social services departments. Thepaper also examines the nature of social workers' practice witholder people following the impact of community care legislation,and concludes that the impact on the social work professionhas been to locate an increasing control of practice with socialwork managers, with potentially serious consequences for thecontinuation of a distinctive social work role in relation toservices for older people.     

From Hollis to the Orange Book: Developing a Holistic Model of Social Work Assessment in the 1990s

Correspondence to Margaret Lloyd, School of Social Work, University of Manchester, Dover Street, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary Amidst questioning of its essential identity, social work iscurrently developing new procedures and training programmesin assessment, traditionally one of its core activities. Thedemand for this redevelopment has been created by the changingprofessional climate in both probation and social work practice,in particular the response to legislative changes such as theNational Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. This paperexamines the established model of social work assessment inhistorical context and identifies its shortcomings for practicein the 1990s. It argues that despite the apparently diverserange of assessment tasks now undertaken by social workers andprobation officers, there remains an identifiable, common setof skills. Moreover, unless social work anchors these assessmentskills in a conceptual framework, retaining a sense of its ownhistory, the essential character of social work assessment willbe lost amidst mechanistic procedures and competing philosophies.This paper suggests a typology for making sense of the rangeof assessment tasks in current practice, arguing that this mustbe rooted in a holistic theoretical and philosophical model.The term ‘social work’ is used in its generic senseto include probation practice.     

Parton, Howe and Postmodernity: A Critical Comment on Mistaken Identity

Correspondence to Carole Smith, School of Social Work,, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Dover Street Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Summary In their contributions to the debate about social work, modernityand postmodernity Parton(1994) and Howe (1994) argue that therecent changes in social work practice can best be understoodas features of, or responses to, the postmodern social orderin which it is located. This has led, they argue, to an increasingfragmentation of the profession and an undermining of its formalknowledge base. We will argue here that, not only does suchan argument oversimplify the nuances of the ‘postmodernity’question, but it represents a misreading of the pressures affectingpractice at this time, which are more properly attributableto the operation of the discourses and ideologies of a particularphase of late capitalism and high modernity.     

Dependency and its Relationship to the Assessment of Care Needs of Elderly People

Correspondence to Dr Ian Gibbs, Social Policy Research Unit, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York, YO1 5DD Summary A number of previous studies of old people in residential homeshave suggested that a substantial minority are not in need ofthat form of care. The rapid growth in the number of peoplein private homes, supported by social security payments andentering without any independent assessment, has led to concernthat many more people enter residential homes without needingto be there. Social workers were employed in four areas to assess the needsof residents newly admitted to homes in the independent sectorand over eighty per cent were found to be in need of residentialcare. It is suggested that the measures of dependency used toindicate need in some previous studies fail to take into accountthe complex factors involved in deciding whether a person needsresidential care.     

A Survey of Approved Social Work in England and Wales

Correspondence to Prof. P. Huxley, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Mathematics Tower, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary A survey of approved social workers (ASWs) was undertaken withlocal authorities in England and Wales, to review the provisionand organization of ASW services, and the contribution theymake towards the establishment and maintenance of a comprehensivemental health service. The findings show some variation in provisionwhich is in itself indicative of a variety of factors operatingto produce local and regional patterns of provision. Some ofthese are related directly to policy decisions, others to demographicand geographic variables, while still more are related to teamstructure, workload demands, and generic/specialist issues.The future pattern of mental health social work following theimplementation of the NHS and Community Care Act is consideredin the light of the findings from the survey.     

Assessment and Action Records: Will they Promote Good Parenting?

Correspondence to Theo Knight, Department of Applied Community Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, 799 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2RR. Summary In this article the authors seek to provide a critical lookat Looking After children: Good Parenting and Good Outcomes(Department of Health, 1995). They welcome the sentiments underpinningthis major contribution, which recognizes the many disadvantagesfaced by children and young people who are looked after by localauthorities, and acknowledge that local authorities have notbeen positive parents of those in their care. The writers alsoacknowledge the thoroughness which has gone into the detailof the Action and Assessment Records contained in the abovepack. What is questioned is the normative view of parentingand family life which is seen to be at the heart of these documentsand the lack of consideration of the resourcing of action plans.The checklist approach is criticized for the way in which itwill enhance the bureaucratic nature of being in public care,which in turn affects the relative power positions of parentsand children in relation to the local authority and which willimpact on the development of a partnership model of care. Thewriters conclude that children and young people in care arebut one group of young people facing disadvantage and deprivationin British society. An examination of their plight and how toaddress it need to be based within a clear framework of children'srights and a recognition of the power adults hold over them.     

Accommodation and Employment: A Survey into the Circumstances and Expressed Needs of Users of Mental Health Services in a Northern Town

Correspondence to Barbara Hatfield, Mental Health Social Work Research and Staff Development Unit, University of Manchester, Department of Psychiatry, Mathematics, Tower, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary A sample of 120 mental health service users in a Northern Townwas interviewed about satisfactions and expressed needs in arange of life domains. Most of the 120 users were male, in theolder age ranges, and not in current partnerships. Most hadservere and long-term conditions. Living situations includedhospital wards, hostels, a group home, living with family orfriends, and living alone. The domains of accommodation andemployment are discussed in this paper. The majority of peopleexpressed themselves as ‘satisfied’ with their accommodation,although a sizeable monority were not satisfied. Lack of choiceof alternatives emerged as an underlying feature of ‘expressedsatisfaction’. A sizeable group expressed the need forhelp in obtaining employment, particularly those living in thecommunity. It is argued that for consumer choice to have a realisticmeaning, people with severe mental illnesses need the experienceof choice from more than one alternative.     

Closing the Circle: Social Workers' Responses to Multi-Agency Procedures on Older Age Abuse

Correspondence to Professor Michael Preston-Shoot, School of Law and Applied Social Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L7 4DN, UK. E-mail: m.prestonshoot{at}livjm.ac.uk Summary This paper reports findings from a project which examined howinter-agency procedures on older age abuse in domestic settingswere used in one local authority. Observations about the useof procedures and about practice with older people who had beenabused are placed in the context of national policy developmentsand are reviewed alongside the available literature. The researchquestions the extent to which guidance is effective in providingdirection for practitioners who encounter older age abuse, andhow well guidance and practice combine to protect victims.     

Predictors of Stress Amongst Social Workers: An Empirical Study

Correspondence to Professor John Collings, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Leeds Metropolitan University Calverley Street, Leeds, LS1 3HE, UK Summary Much of what is known about stress amongst social workers isanecdotal and there is a dearth of systematic research findingson the subject. This questionnaire study examined the perceptionsof work-related stress, and factors contributing to high andlow levels of stress, in a sample of 243 social workers drawnfrom four local authorities in northern England. The samplewas broadly based in terms of a range of personal backgroundfactors, and included social workers in urban, rural and semi-rurallocations. A measure of overall stress was constructed encompassingpsychological and physical aspects, and which permitted an analysisof the relative importance of predictor variables. A varietyof rating scales was used to assess aspects of the work environmentand perceived stressors. The most powerful predictor of overallstress that emerged related to the pressure involved in planningand reaching work targets. The study also identified certaincaseload and supervision-related predictors of stress, but,apart from age and marital status, personal background factorsseemed of weak predictive power. Social workers' perceptionsof their image in society seemed an additional source of pressure.The study findings suggest a need for combining organizationalwith individual oriented initiatives to combat stress.     

A Brave New World of Personalized Care? Historical Perspectives on Social Care and Older People in England

Social care policy for older people in England continues to generate extensive discussion around the need to break with the past and to deliver a personalized response to need. This article explores the extent to which this represents a complete break with the past by looking at four key reports from the past, namely the Rucker Report (1946 ) on the break up of the Poor Law, the Seebohm Report (1968 ) on the personal social services, the Griffiths Report (1988 ) on community care and The Royal Commission on Long Term Care ( Sutherland Report, 1999 ). Each is interrogated in terms of how social care is defined, how services are to be delivered, how quality is understood and the assumptions made about who will be able to access services. This analysis is used to draw out key continuities in policy assumptions such as the primacy of family and the ongoing debate about ‘What is social care?’ and how it can be distinguished from health care. The article also argues that the voluntary sector has always been seen as a ‘key player’ in social care. Finally, the analysis of the four reports is used to trace the ever changing role of local authorities in the planning, purchase and provision of social care services for older people.