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Question: 1

Family structure and interaction assume cardinal functions in the social control theories and delinquency. However, myriad factors are assimilated with family configuration and criminal behavior and consequently folk’s relations and felony. Akers R.L. (1998).Family interface dynamics include; management and control, character prop up, compassionate and dependence cherished communique, influential communication, parental condemnation of peers and variance, these factors have the equivalent upshots on crime in both-parents. Akers R.L. (1998).

Paucity or stumpy proceed echelon is a prime factor that puts more emphasis as a primary illustration for criminal traits. Research findings have shown that scarcity is the genesis to most unsociable performances. Akers R.L. (1998).

In the regard to the family constitution, dealings by particular family members influence the functional dimensions of others. According to research findings a member’s initiative about the well being of other member of the family presents with each other an element of safety in opposition to catastrophes, thus, extend beyond acquaintances. Akers R.L. (1998).

Whereas a pattern of asymmetric consideration is evident between parents and children; thus parent’s value meaning incorporate the children’s expenditure as well their own, the child’s convenience utility is purely centered on the child’s using up. This structure leads to an off the wall child philosophy, thus if the parent is adequately compassionate in the direction of his or her child, both the parent and the child are comfortable.

This finding supports the proposal that self-sacrifice benefits two parties (the addressee as well as the bringer). Akers, R.L. (1989). Family unit is an integral aspect for the development of children. In the event that interaction between parent and child vanishes through a divorce, the absence of one parent i.e. the father may upshot in the parent’s goodwill for the child to cry off from what would be if not.

If the cry off is adequate, the child acknowledges the repercussion and advance to a more selfish verdict and both the parents and the child stand to loose. The rationale here underscores the fact that augmented philanthropy promotes good actions even on the part of a egoistically aggravated child while curtailed or deprived of selflessness enhances poor behavior. Akers, R.L. (1989).

Question 2

When children become naughty, parents have been viewed as the line of control. Nonetheless, antagonism and resistance in children has been inspected as the lack of obedience. On the extreme hand, heavy-handed parenthood has witnessed the production of belligerent insubordinate and unfriendliness offspring. Research findings support the argument that poor parenting is a concrete impetus that has brought about the development of delinquent children’s.

According to the social hypothesis, the connection progression, Baumrinds constituents of precious parenting and typologies that contents the most profound parenting is the convincing of parents and reaction and demandingness. Based on the self control theory, if a child fails to develop self control by the age of 10 years they often don’t acquire it. Akers, R.L. (1989).

Question 3

Akers’ social learning theory is a cluster of the learning point of view of criminology that has been influenced by chronological collective and opinionated circumstances. Akers theory is mostly applied to characters within a certain group from which the underpinning is due; these include a bunch of criminals, peer stratums or communal stratums. Smoking within the puberty age bracket is one of the deviant traits that Ronald Aker (1985) debate about.

The social erudition theory digs out concrete facts as to why puberty enhances the smoking habits but is not in a position to explain the genesis of the behavior. Ronald Aker (1989) successive study of alcohol features among the aged illustrate the fact that mature drinking and puberty drinking tag along similar conduits of customs and group performance.

Question 4

The control theory unlike the learning theory is centered on issues that appertain to why persons kowtow in a given society (Hirschi 1969). The social control theory presumes that fastidious persons are mingled fittingly in a civilization, while others are not; conversely, the discrepancy is brought about by how persons socialize not to break the law. According to the Social Learning theory, conventionality is affiliated to the “attachments” structured by children that help to reroute them from nonstandard manners.

These unions incorporate affection, participation and the principle system. In a nut shell this amalgamation maintains the puberty and a section of the wider society concerned. Inadequate socialization exhibited by a child in form of weakened links of caucus is known as broken bond theory. Nonetheless, failed to bond theory is another twist of the social control theory that depicts an outright lack of attachment to others and to compliance that leads to character deviance. Akers, R.L. (1989).

Question 5

Respondent learning is typically a behavioral type of learning. Persons as well as animals conditioned this way don’t learn consciously the association flanked by stimuli and responses, but, since the pairings happen repeatedly, the conditioned stimulus elicits the conditioned response unconsciously.

In most cases, the rejoinders are not automated; however distinctive results do induce the animals or humans to repeat the behavior while divergent outcomes cause them not to repeat the behavior. Behavioral theorists in this case hold the view that distinct psychological disorders lead to respondent conditioning. Watson’s experiment on Albert illustrated that phobias could be learnt by means of combining a neutral and a harmless stimulus with an unconditionally frightening event, hence bringing about the association of fear with a harmless stimulus. Akers, R.L. (1989).

References

Akers, R.L. (1989). Social Learning Theory and Puberty Cigarette Smoking cum Alcohol. 43:230-139

Akers R.L. (1998). Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of crime and Deviance. New York University Press

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How far is globalisation a form of Americanisation? Drawing on theory critically evaluate why the US has been so hostile to overseas left wing regimes since 1945?

There has been a great deal of debate over the extent to which the current phase of globalisation can be defined or delimited by the process of Americanisation. Multinational corporations have adamantly maintained that their operations overseas are not vehicles of Americanisation, but are instead a form of ‘indigenisation’ through adaptation to local cultures. Some scholars have argued, however, that contemporary discourses about globalisation have fallen under the spell of a form of historical perennialism in which current trends have been extrapolated too far into the past and inaccurately conceptualised as being merely a continuation of deeper trends. “Globalisation is now used to describe everything and its opposite, from the Roman Empire to WW1, from cosmopolitan behavior to Genghis Khan’s conquests, and even the Neolithic age,” writes Daniele Conversi in his article titled The Limits of Cultural Globalisation? (Conversi 2010, p. 36). Central to this misconception is a confusion between globalisation as an ideology, usually expressed as a form of cosmopolitanism, and globalisation in practice. Whether the current phase of globalisation is the latest chapter in a millennia-long saga of societal integration, or is in fact something completely different, it is difficult to dispute that it has taken on a distinctly American character since the end of World War 2.

On a superficial level, the Americanisation of the world seems obvious and intuitive. English is now spoken with at least partial competence by over half of the world’s population and has become the de facto lingua franca facilitating communication between people from remote locations. Not only is English the dominant language on the internet, but more than a third of the world’s mail, telexes, and cables are in English, and approximately 40% of the world’s radio programs are in English (Swain 2011). Of the top ten global brands, seven are based in the United States with Coca-Cola occupying the top spot, leading many to perceive it as a symbol of Americanisation. The fact that the McDonald’s fast food franchise has disseminated to all corners of the globe has made possible the somewhat tongue-in-cheek use of the “Big Mac Index,” now regularly published by The Economist as an informal way of comparing the purchasing power of any two currencies (Hoefert and Hofer 2006). As we will see, the forces of cultural homogenisation flowing from the United States go far beyond language, hamburgers, and soda.

The modern era of globalisation can be demarcated by the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944 (Korten 2001), which set the basis for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, establishing, in the IMF’s own words, a system of “global surveillance activities (IMF 2007).” During the early years of the Cold War, the Marshall Plan facilitated the transfer of American industrial management models to Western Europe (Kipping and Bjarnar 1998). The methods employed to help Western Europe recover from the ravages of war would later be applied to under-developed countries, first as a means of deterring the spread of communism, and later as a project of global trade liberalisation. In the words of Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen,

The most widely recognised instance of Americanisation is seen…in the profound influence U.S. popular culture exerts on global culture. But it has also become very clear in the legal forms ascendant in international business transactions. Through the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), as well as the GATT, the U.S. vision has spread to—some would say been imposed on—the developing world (Sassen 1996, p.20).

While Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter all played a role in advancing the neoliberal agenda, it wasn’t until Reagan that the doctrines of privatisation and deregulation took on the ideological character espoused by many conservative thinkers today (Conversi 2010). What came to be known as ‘Reaganomics’ was advanced during the 1980s when structural adjustment loans (SALs) were leveraged to “blast open” and “discipline” the Third World (Bello 1999, p. 27).

While the advent of Reaganomics had a considerable impact on economics and finance abroad, Conversi contends that its effects on cultural practices may have been even more extensive. “In Reagan’s years, the robust nexus between politics, economics, military and the expansion of mass consumerism was amplified through the media industry,” he writes (Conversi 2010, p. 39). A constant condition that the IMF and World Bank attached to their developmental support packages was the total overhaul of local cultural productions, formerly tied to regional and national markets or subject to state regulation such that they would be left to the mercy of corporate expansion.

In the cultural arena, the removal of trade barriers has led to the unfettered preponderance of American items of mass consumption and to the virtual erasure of millions of local cultural producers, an event that has been presented as an ineluctable step on the road to further development. This has led not to the kind of globalisation envisioned by cosmopolitan theorists, but rather to the assertion of a cultural hyper-power (Conversi 2010, p. 41).

Hollywood’s embrace of the global marketplace led to the collapse of native film industries in both Europe and Asia, which were displaced by an invasion of American cultural products via mass distribution agencies (Conversi 2010). The content of Hollywood movies can have subtle yet profound effects on the culture and institutions of foreign countries. One Chinese activist described in detail how the portrayal of the inner workings of the United States government and judicial system in American popular culture has convinced many Chinese citizens of the merits of American-style democracy (Nye 2004). The bombardment of US cultural exports has been a primary motivation for the Chinese government’s increasingly draconian information policies.

American cultural imperialism has been met with varying levels of resistance. In recent years, the cultural policies of governments abroad have come to encompass protectionist measures that Harvey Feigenbaum has described as being “cultural counterattacks” against the homogenising effects of neoliberal globalisation. These protectionist policies typically involve intentionally limiting the availability of American broadcast programming through the use of sophisticated quota systems:

The French, for instance, require that 60 percent of the prime-time television shows be European productions and that 40 percent be French. Canadians require their television networks to broadcast significant content, and the South Koreans will tolerate large numbers of television shows from abroad only if they have scientific or educational content (Feigenbaum 2002).

As a counter-weight to the U.S. championing of neoliberalism, France has been attempting to pull Europe in a different direction. Cultural exception is a political concept introduced by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1993 and refers to the belief that cultural products should be exceptions to the trade agreements codified by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States and various industries and lobbies have predictably lambasted cultural exception as being protectionist, culturally chauvinist, deleterious to global free trade, and that it makes it easier for oppressive governments to suppress minority voices. Despite these objections, however, cultural exception was upheld by UNESCO in 2005 with only two countries (the U.S. and Israel) out of two hundred voting against it.

Much to the dismay of narrow-minded theocracies such as Iran, and oppressive regimes such as the Chinese government, the effectiveness of these protectionist policies are limited by new decentralising audiovisual technologies such as satellite and digital on-demand television. China has responded to the threat of new media with the infamous Gold Shield Project and increasingly severe penalties for breeches of its digital information policies. Most media industries, however, have at least partially acquiesced to the cultural hegemony of Hollywood and the United States (Feigenbaum 2002).

If we accept the premise that global trade liberalisation has been a central tenet of U.S. foreign policy since 1945, the reasons for U.S. hostility toward left-wing regimes abroad becomes obvious. Left-wing leaders typically promote socialist and populist policies such as protectionism, nationalisation of industries and the socialisation of services, all of which are anathema global free trade. Virtually every left-wing government since World War 2, almost all of them democratically elected, has faced at least some degree of opposition from the U.S. Government ranging from trade sanctions to overthrow and the instigations of coup d’etats.

The following examples of covert foreign regime change actions illustrate the lengths that Western politicians have been willing to go in order to protect private property and ensure free trade across the globe. In the 1953 Iranian coup d’etat, the CIA collaborated with the United Kingdom depose the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh who was attempting to nationalise Iran’s petroleum industry, which threatened the profits of British Petroleum (BP) (New York Times 2000). During the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944-54, the CIA engineered the overthrow of the democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz whose ambitious agrarian reforms designed to grant land to millions of landless peasants were seen as a threat to the land holdings of the United Fruit Company. After the CIA installed a puppet regime led by the military dictator Carlos Castillo Armas, the country entered a civil war lasting decades in which over 200,000 people were killed (Streeter 2000). Probably the most famous example of a democratically elected leftist leader who was ousted by the U.S. is Chile’s Salvador Allende who adopted collectivist policies that nationalised industry before being deposed, killed, and replaced by the far more repressive Augusto Pinochet. A more recent example, though not himself deposed by U.S. machinations, was the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez whose administration proposed and enacted democratic socialist economic policies involving redistribution of wealth, land reforms, and the establishment of worker-owned cooperatives.

Despite all of this, it remains fashionable in both scholarly and popular discourses to maintain that globalisation and Americanisation are wholly distinct phenomena. As mentioned earlier, representatives of large multinationals such as McDonald’s often attempt to portray their relationships with local cultures as bi-directional and reflexive rather than hegemonic, pointing to such practices as incorporating elements of indigenous cuisine into fast-food menus (Conversi 2010). Another somewhat inane example is the choice made by McDonald’s to replace Ronald McDonald with Asterix the Gaul as their official mascot for French markets. Globalisation apologists often employ the terms ‘glocalism’ and ‘glocalisation’ in an attempt to describe these ‘intercultural’ encounters as being largely symmetric and egalitarian and to characterise globalisation as being compatible with the maintenance of local cultures. What we typically see, however, are local businesses being forced to Americanise their appearance and practices by market pressures (Conversi 2010). One prominent example is ‘Bollywood’, which despite being heralded as an affirmation of Indian national identity, produces cultural content that merely imitates American cultural forms (Rao 2007). A case can be made that such indigenised forms of ‘Americana’ are potentially even more devastating to cultural diversity than more candid forms of imperialism because they can more easily don the disguise of national indigenousness (Conversi 2010).

We can conclude that while superficial efforts have been made on the part of multinational corporations to adapt their products to indigenous cultures, such efforts are motivated by market forces rather than by any concern for cultural diversity and tend only to exacerbate trends toward cultural homogenisation. While optimists taking the long view may interpret American cultural hegemony as a necessary evil required to lay the groundwork for a truly cosmopolitan global society at some point in the future, it simply does not make sense to posit neoliberal globalisation as being continuous with earlier globalising trends. The period from 1945 to the present coincides with the ascendency of a global order taking a very particular form and encompassing the widespread enforcement of trade liberalisation, privitisation, deregulation, and an antipathy toward left wing regimes. Whether Americanisation will become a permanent fixture of our transition to a truly planetary society remains to be seen.

References

Bello, W. F., 1999. Dark Victory: The United States, Structural Adjustment, and Global

Poverty. London: Pluto.

Conversi, D., 2010. “The Limits of Cultural Globalisation.” Journal of Critical

Globalisation Studies, Issue 3 (2010), pp. 36-59.

Feigenbaum, Harvey B, 2002. “Globaloney: Economic Versus Cultural Convergence

Under Conditions of Globalization.” The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society 31 (4): 255–64.

Hoefert, Andreas; Hofer, Simone. “Prices and Earnings: A Comparison of Purchasing

Power Around the Globe.” 2006 Edition. UBS AG, Wealth Management Research.

IMF (International Monetary Fund)., 2007. ‘World Economic Outlook. Globalization

and Inequality’. World Economic and Financial Surveys. Washington, D.C.

Kipping, M & Bjarnar, O., 1998. The Americanisation of European Business: The

Marshall Plan and the Transfer of US Management Models. London: Routledge.

Korten, D, 2001. When Corporations Rule the World. San Francisco, California:

Berrett-Koehler Publishers/ Kumarian Press.

New York Times, 2000. “Special Report: Secret History of the CIA in Iran”.

Nye, Joseph S, 2004. Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. Cambridge:

Perseus Books.

Rao, S., 2007. “The Globalization of Bollywood: An Ethnography of Non-Elite

Audiences in India.” The Communication Review, 10(1), pp. 57-76.

Sassen, Saskia., 1996. Losing Control? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization. New

York: Columbia University Press.

Streeter, Stephen M., 2000. Managing the Counterrevolution: The United States and

Guatemala, 1954–1961. Ohio University Press.

Swain, Smarak, 2011. Social Issues of India. New Delhi: New Vishal Publications.

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‘The ability to live free from violence and fear is a basic human right.’ – Sandra Horley CBE, Chief Executive of Refuge. Annual Report, 2014, p 2

Introduction

A brief essay cannot detail all aspects of a topic which transcends gender or sexual orientation and encompasses psychological, physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse. Domestic violence (DV) includes forced marriage, human trafficking, rape and sexual assaults, ‘honour killings’ and elder abuse (Crown Prosecution Service, 2015). While recognising the importance of these issues and acknowledging that men can also be victims, this essay will focus on DV against women. The evidence shows that the majority of victims are women in heterosexual relationships (Department of Health, 2005). Also, as women tend to have overall responsibility for their offspring, it is relevant to discuss the impact of DV on the children involved.

Domestic violence against women will be noted in the context of patriarchy, but this essay will also build on the main findings of Dobash and Dobash’s groundbreaking research (1979) which helped to identify DV as a separate topic for investigation. Many responses have been developed to meet the needs of victims. This essay will focus on the ‘Refuge’ model and the newer ‘MARAC’ inter-agency support structure. For illustrative purposes, case histories will be cited where appropriate. Finally, as modernisation of services has attracted criticism and reductions in funding have put pressure on service provision, the impact of these changes will be considered.

Domestic violence is defined as ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those age 16 or over who are, or who have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality’ (Home Office, 2013).

The Crown Prosecution Service states that one in four women in England and Wales will be a victim of DV during her lifetime (CPS, 2015). International statistics suggest that one in three (one billion women) have suffered DV (Heise et al, 1999). UK police receive one phone call every minute of every day (Women’s Aid, 2014) and the British Crime Survey estimated that 12.9 million DV incidents are perpetrated against women over a one year period. At the same time, DV against men accounts for a further 2.5 million incidents (Walby and Allen, 2004). It must be acknowledged that female victims can on occasions be the aggressor. However, the level of violence inflicted by men is generally more extreme (Hester, 2009). Repeat victimisation is also more common in DV cases than in any other type of violent crime.

The impact on victims is long-lasting. Besides physical injuries, women face increased incidence of depression and suicidal ideation. Psychosomatic disorders are commonplace and there is greater risk of unplanned pregnancy, HIV or STIs (World Health Organisation, 2002). Finally, they run an increased risk of being killed: every week, two women in the UK are murdered by their current or former partner (CPS, 2015). The World Health Organisation estimates that 40-70% of murdered women are killed by their current or former partner (WHO, 2002).

Children are also victims. Women’s Aid (2015) notes that mothers shield their children to the best of their ability, and may defer seeking help in the belief that the family should stay together. However, 90% of DV incidents are witnessed by children who may also be victims of abuse at the hands of the same perpetrator (Department of Health, 2005).

DV has not always been viewed seriously. Early feminists identified violence towards women as a form of patriarchy, arguing that the power relationships inherent in patriarchal society were reflected in male domination of the domestic sphere (Millett, 1970). In 1971, Erin Pizzey opened the first UK Women’s Refuge in West London. At that time, DV was rarely spoken of openly but the volume of women and children seeking help forced the issue onto the political agenda. In 1975, the first Government Select Committee was created to investigate DV. They recommended a minimum of one family refuge place per 10,000 people. The following year (1976) the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act was enacted, offering civil protection orders (injunctions) for those at risk of abuse. The Housing Act (Homeless Persons) 1977 acknowledged that women and children at risk of violence were effectively homeless and had the right to state-funded temporary accommodation (Isaac, 2014). Domestic violence costs the taxpayer money: ?3.1 billion in 2004 (Department of Health, 2005). However, the cost to the victims is immeasurable.

A ground-breaking study of women in a Glasgow refuge confirmed that most abuse goes unreported. Male sexual jealousy was the usual source of conflict. Most women believed the abuse would stop after marriage, suggesting that warning signs were there at an early stage (Dobash and Dobash, 1979). This is supported by a recent SafeLives survey, which found that victims stayed in abusive relationships for around three years during which time they could be assaulted up to fifty times. On average, they saw five professionals in the final year before accessing specialised help (Topping, 2015). Refuge (2014) noted that women using their services had suffered for an average of five years before escaping.

The opening of the first Refuge marked a sea-change in service provision. Refuge is now one of the best-known charities involved in the sector, with a network of ‘safe houses’ across fifteen local authorities. Their experience, garnered over four decades, gives them a credible voice and their ‘three-pronged approach’ – provision, protection and prevention – has spawned a range of services.

Refuge protects women by advocating on their behalf for services, and lobbying for implementation of progressive legislation. They advise other agencies on best practice and campaign to raise awareness of DV by promoting education, training and research. DV should never be taken lightly: 80% of victims suffer multiple types of abuse, including physical, sexual, financial and emotional violence. 55% of women accessing Refuges had been strangled or choked by their partner and 55% had received threats to kill (Refuge, 2014):

‘Michelle was in a coma for thirteen weeks after being savagely attacked by her ex-partner. He hit her with a crowbar thirteen times. Her children witnessed the assault.’ (Refuge, 2014, p 6)

Most Refuge residents were denied access to economic resources, including bank accounts or welfare payments. Sometimes debts had been accrued in their name, and they may have been prevented from accessing education or employment. Empowering women to regain financial independence with workshops on budgeting skills and ‘preparation for work’ courses are key components of the Refuge programme (Refuge, 2014).

Activities are organised locally with input from refuge residents, and often reflect the ethnicity of the client group: the Hackney Refuge celebrates Eid and Diwali festivals with the exchange of gifts and special food prepared by the residents. Refuges are sensitive to the cultural needs of minorities, including victims of human trafficking and those with insecure residential status. ‘Special’ services are staffed by refuge workers (who speak a total of 28 different languages) from the same cultural background (Refuge, 2014).

‘Ayla’ suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband and his relatives before fleeing with her daughter and contacting police. Her husband was arrested; Ayla was referred to the Refuge because of the serious risk of ‘honour’-based violence. Her Key Worker introduced her to a local service which provided counselling in Kurdish to help her manage her depression and build up her confidence. She notes:

‘Ayla ….. continued to receive death threats from her extended family for leaving her husband. When she arrived at the Refuge, she had some bruising to her face and her right ear. She could not hear in this ear …………. She was sent for various tests at the local hospital [and] was found to be profoundly deaf in her right ear due to the physical violence she had suffered over the years.’ (Refuge, 2014, p6)

A Refuge is home to the women and children for weeks, months or longer. Two out of every three residents are children, traumatised and needing specialist support. Children who witness domestic violence suffer emotional abuse. The effects include anxiety, depression, insomnia, nightmares, bedwetting, truanting, aggression, social isolation and loss of self-esteem. Older children may begin using alcohol or drugs, may develop eating disorders or resort to self-harm. (Women’s Aid, n.d.) Specially trained Child Support Workers are in every Refuge.

Once life-threatening injuries are dealt with, other needs are assessed. Refuge staff are adept at organising multi-agency interventions, including support for alcohol and drug misuse or mental health issues. Finding a safe permanent home is not easy but women are supported at every stage. On leaving the Refuge, women can access community-based outreach networks providing continued support for their individual needs.

Services are currently being stretched to breaking point as funding is slashed. Home Secretary Theresa May has refused to ring-fence budgets for women’s refuges, and public policy has changed to offering protection orders to victims and supporting them to remain in their local community. Erin Pizzey, founder of the UK Refuge movement, thinks this is a retrograde step: ‘My therapeutic model included long-term shared accommodation for vulnerable mothers and children. That is still needed.’ (Laville, 2014). The impact of budget cuts is significant. During 2014, refuges received 20,736 referrals. Of these, 31% – around 6,800 women – had to be turned away (Refuge, 2014).

New support structures for high-risk victims include ‘MARAC’ – a ‘Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference’ – which brings together social workers, children’s services managers, police and probation officers, drug and alcohol workers, housing officers, mental health officials, medical practitioners, GP link workers, and specialist domestic violence service managers. The concept originated in Cardiff following the deaths of a toddler and an unborn child as a result of DV. There are 288 MARACS across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey and Scotland, and they usually meet monthly (Tickle, 2014).

DV victims deemed at particularly high risk of suffering traumatic or life-threatening events have their cases referred to their local MARAC. Only fifteen out of every thousand cases are men. Panel members contribute their knowledge of each case: rapid decisions are made and actions follow (Tickle, 2014).

In one instance a man had made serious threats towards his partner’s unborn child; child protection social workers were immediately assigned to the case. The victim was unaware of her partner’s previous convictions for battery. Under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (‘Clare’s Law’) it was decided to inform her of his previous history (Tickle, 2014). It is not apparent from these measures just how safe the victim would be, or how confident she would feel, while awaiting more permanent arrangements. Despite MARAC’s attempts to create a safety net around potential victims, the number of fatalities linked to DV has not decreased.

Links between MARACs and multi-agency hubs based in local authority areas are being enhanced to facilitate earlier identification of cases, particularly those involving children. The risk to a child in an abusive household may be higher than the risk to the adult, and many of these children remain unknown to children’s services. However, the multi-agency approach has its critics. Hague (1998) acknowledges the potential benefits of the policy but cautions against over-optimism, arguing that they exclude the main stakeholders – the victims – as contributors, and can provide a smokescreen to disguise inaction. She also predicted the marginalisation of the refuge movement (Hague, 1998).

Preparing an abuse victim to leave home and find a place of safety takes time. Tickle (2014) notes: ‘Becoming safer and staying safe are long-term, hard-won goals.’ There are many barriers to ending a relationship with an abusive partner, including shame, guilt, lack of support, and financial dependence. Safety is a real concern, and with good reason. Women are considered to be at the greatest risk of homicide at the point of separation or after leaving a violent partner (Refuge, 2015). However, the links between DV services and the Justice system have been considerably strengthened in recent years. Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) are specialist refuge staff based in police stations, hospitals etc, working with ‘high risk’ women and supporting them through the criminal and civil justice systems. During 2013 – 2014, IDVAs supported 2,642 new women and 2,918 children, including helping 1,024 women through the criminal justice system. 95% of women who wanted to make an official complaint were empowered to do so, and 58% of cases which went to court resulted in a guilty verdict (Refuge, 2014, p 11).

Conclusion

This essay has shown the extent and nature of DV in the UK and the efforts made to provide support for victims. Services have progressed enormously and DV is no longer treated lightly. Police prosecute when they have the evidence to do so, courts have the power to remove abusers from the family home, and women are becoming more aware of the services available to them.

Despite this, women are still at risk. Education and public awareness have roles to play in reducing the incidence of DV. In a multi-cultural society such as the UK, it is also essential that women facing particular challenges because of their ethnicity or cultural heritage have the confidence to come forward and lead by example from within their communities.

The Refuge model has operated successfully for decades but it has limitations. Their literature rightly highlights their work with women and children, but it does not clarify what happens to adolescent sons. It seems doubtful that they can be accommodated within a Refuge, even though they are presumably as emotionally damaged as their sisters or younger brothers. The Refuge is probably the safest option for women, but that protection may carry a price they are not prepared to pay.

It also seems doubtful that abused women would feel completely safe in their family home with just a court order between them and a clenched fist. The MARAC concept has huge potential and it is encouraging to see cooperation between agencies. However, notwithstanding budgetary pressures, when there is an immediate danger to a woman and her children, it would surely more prudent to arrange safe accommodation rather than to rely on care in the community. Nevertheless, women do move on from domestic abuse and the stories of survivors are truly inspiring.

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This essay will consider the role of citizens in two areas of justice: environmental justice and trade justice. Environmental justice will be examined specifically in relations to the issue of sound pollution (Open University, 2015c, p.31). Secondly, the role of citizens in ensuring trade justice will be examined. This can relate to the notion that all trade should have fair and equal access to trading markets (Open University, 2015e, p.21).

Sound is environmental pollution that occurs as a result of an individual exercising their right to positive freedom, the right to exercise their liberty free from constraint (Open University, 2015a, p.59). In this case, sound pollution may differ in definition depending on the context and the type of sound. It has been demonstrated that people are much more tolerant of some sounds that they deem necessary, such as traffic noise. However, noise also impinges upon individuals’ right to a peaceful existence (Open University, 2015c, p.31). There are a number of health benefits associated with a low level of background noise, and it is clear that restraints should be considered in terms of how far someone has the right to affect this (Open University, 2015c, p.41).

Given the definition of what constitutes noise may varies between different people, ages and cultures, it is impossible to have a standard rule that should apply in all cases of sound production (Open University, 2015c, p.44). People accept that there is likely to be environmental noises: even the tranquillity of the countryside involves farming machinery and that they cannot control this sound production (Open University, 2015c, pp.23-24). Furthermore, it seems problematic to have sanctions against noise when this does not affect other people (Open University, 2015c, p.44). In justice terms, therefore, the approach may be concerned with ensuring that people have the freedom to make noise as long as this does not impinge significantly upon other people’s rights to peace, within reason (Open University, 2015a, p.59). Given the definition changes of what noise might be regarded as problematic varies between people, it would seem this could be left to the judgment of those affected. It is accepted that some level of background noise is acceptable when it is unavoidable and has some benefit, such as building work. Other uses of sound, such as playing music at a high volume might be regarded as less acceptable: it offers some benefit to the person, but such benefits can still be achieved at a lower volume or through the use of headphones.

A drawback with the use of citizens in ensuring such justice is that it requires negotiation between different parties, and there may be individual differences between what people perceive is acceptable or unacceptable (Open University, 2015c ,p.44). There is a greater expectation for quiet and privacy today than in the past, but many buildings are poorly insulated against noise transmission and therefore even a low level of sound in a home can be disturbing (Open University, 2015c, p.44). The onus is placed upon the individual who believes that the noise is disturbing in arguing their case and there is also a responsibility of the person who produces the noise to respond sympathetically (Open University, 2015c, p.78). Therefore, where there are disagreements concerning the appropriateness of noise production, there may be tensions; for example, practising a musical instrument may be noise pollution to some people but may be regarded as necessary for work for another.

In such cases some further arbitration with the requisite requirements of what constitutes a ‘reasonable’ balance between noise production and peaceful existence (Open University, 2015c, p.77). Where noise is predictable and easily measured, such as in homes close to an airport, zoning regulation that controls the level of noise at different times of day should make a difference (Open University, 2015c, p.77). Therefore, there are contexts in which citizen’s involvement in ensuring justice may be exhausted. Nevertheless, for noise produced in the neighbourhood, citizens play an important role in regulating their noise production or tolerating a level of noise deemed acceptable, and this informs the guidelines or legal enforcement that may develop to regulate the soundscape.

Citizens have been argued to have a role in ensuring fair trade by purchasing goods that hold the ‘Fairtrade’ label (Open University, 2015d, p.5). It has been argued that access to markets is disproportionately available owing to the fact that there is limited protection to short-term market fluctuations (Open University, 2015d, p.5). This is particularly acute in some goods such as sugar, coffee, tea and chocolate, which are largely produced in poorer countries (Open University, 2015d, p.7). Fairtrade guarantees a minimum market price depending upon certain conditions. For example, farmers involved in the conditions need to invest some of the profit into community projects, adhere to a number of ethical guidelines and environmental practices (Open University, 2015d, p.9). By using the fair trade label, the organisation informs consumers that they are buying a good that supports such communities. Therefore, citizens support the aim of the organisation by changing their purchasing behaviour accordingly. Through their consumer behaviour, citizens believe they are helping producers receive a more equitable distribution of resources (Open University, 2015b, p.56).

There are two drawbacks to the Fairtrade process. The first is whether this is effectively a form of citizen justice or whether this is simply a type of conspicuous consumerism (Open University, 2015d, p.15). As many Fairtrade goods are more expensive than equivalents, they are perhaps a way that consumers attempt to show off their environmentalist credentials conspicuously rather than for this being the primary basis for their behaviour (Open University, 2015d, p.15). However, there is also the question of whether this matters: one argument is the more people buy Fairtrade goods, the more lucrative this market will be, and the lower this price differential will be. Therefore, although initially this serves as a symbolic boundary between Fairtrade consumers and others, price is a more significant determinant for consumers to make their decision (Open University, 2015d, p.17). Therefore, the decision of some supermarkets to make their own-brand teas hold the Fairtrade label may be an example that the label does not preclude participation to the wealthiest

A second issue that might consider whether citizens have a role in the Fairtrade process is whether the framework is a success: does this provide a better option for agricultural producers than other methods (Open University, 2015d, p.25). In the Fairtrade model, there is little attention paid to the working conditions of casual labourers, and research has demonstrated that for most workers, there is no difference at all between working on a Fairtrade farm and non-Fairtrade farm (Open University, 2015d, p.41). It has also been argued that intervention on this scale might affect the workings of the open market which uses price to create incentives to efficiency (Open University, 2015d, p.54). However, Fairtrade allows poorer farmers to avoid being victims of seasonal price fluctuations that might occur after sowing by guaranteeing them a price each year. Nonetheless, these benefits are initially strong for farmers, but research has shown these benefits are short-lived (Open University, 2015d, p.59).

In conclusion, there is clearly a role for citizens in justice for both the issues of environmental sound and in Fairtrade. In environmental sound, given the subjective assessments of what constitutes noise pollution and different ideas of what the right to tranquillity involves, citizens have an active role to play. However, for some aspects of noise pollution such as industrial or transportation noise, or where there is no agreement between citizens, this issue may be more effectively resolved by government intervention. In Fairtrade, citizen involvement can have some effect in mitigating the negative effects of the market, but perhaps represents one way in which development can be assured in poorer countries. Therefore, there is clearly a role for citizens in justice, but there are limits to the impact of this involvement.

Precis

Environmental justice and trade justice are two areas in which citizens can play a role. In environmental justice, the right to tranquillity against the right to produce noise can depend upon subjective factors. Where the noise is unavoidable and involves benefits, tolerance may be higher. Where the noise level can be reasonably controlled, such as playing music on a loudspeaker, tolerance may vary. Zoning, where industrial or transport activity is regulated to reduce noise level can occur in some areas. Therefore, citizens help identify nuisances, but regulations and enforcement may be required.

Citizens may play a role in ensuring trade justice. Fairtrade is a system whereby a minimum price is guaranteed for farmers in return for investment in community projects or environmental methods. Consumers may buy Fairtrade products to ensure a fair price for producers. This has been criticised as a type of conspicuous consumption, but it has also received the support of retailers, allowing for a more inclusive role. Secondly, the impact of Fairtrade has been questioned: it is based on a model of family farms and does not take into account the conditions of casual workers. However, as it allows minimum price, it can offer some benefit to small-scale producers. Therefore, in both cases there is a role for citizens in ensuring justice.

References

Open University (2015a). DD103, Week 13- Introducing Common Resources and Rights. Available at WEBPAGE, [accessed 30^th July, 2017].

Open University (2015b). DD103, Week 20- Exploring Boundaries, Available at WEBPAGE, [accessed 30^th July, 2017].

Open University (2015c). DD103, Week 23 -Managing the Soundscape, Available at WEBPAGE, [accessed 30^th July, 2017].

Open University (2015d). DD103, Week 24- Fair Trade: Bridging Boundaries, Available at WEBPAGE, [accessed 30^th July, 2017].

Open University (2015e). DD103, Block 4- Review and Consolidation, Available at WEBPAGE, [accessed 30^th July, 2017].

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The debate over whether social problems are socially constructed or biologically determined takes us immediately into the realms of constructivism and positivism. As such, we must begin our essay by offering a definition of the two fundamentally important sociological paradigms. Constructivism implies that social problems are indeed the result of socially constructed phenomena. Viewed from the constructivist perspective, the myriad of social, cultural, economic and political factors that affect the day to day running of contemporary society are subject to a variety of competing pressures, each of which are able to create new social problems where – in a different social, cultural, economic and political context – none would have arisen. Thus, society itself is the trigger for conflict and resolution; society itself is the location of the answers to the questions posited by the complexities of social construction. Thus, “because we are locked into our society, because our journey of knowledge occurs within the journey of our societies, we cannot know things about society with absolute certainty – the ‘truth’s of the social sciences are interpretative.”

The positivist tradition, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Beginning with the publication of The Positive Philosophy by French intellectual Auguste Comte in 1853, the positivist tradition to sociological theory has historically sought to underline the significance of science to the study of society and its ills. According to Comte, “the social world of human relationships could be treated as though it is similar to the natural world of inanimate objects.” As a result, positivist sociologists have since aimed to show how t is possible to develop a scientific study of society as though the study of society is equivalent to studying ‘social physics.’ Thus, human beings, their behaviour and interaction, have since been treated as scientific variables while society itself has been interpreted as methodological, scientific data with ‘cause and effect’ reduced to ‘results and equations.’ The implication here is that biology and other scientifically verifiable instances of pre-disposition towards deviance are responsible for the creation of social problems.

Taken at face value, these two opposing sociological theories would appear to suggest a deep-seated theoretical schism in the understanding of society and its many and varied problems. Yet both the positivist tradition and the constructivist tradition seek in the first instance to underscore that social problems are the result of delinquency and abnormal psychology. However, because, according to Gerald Davison, John Neale and Ann Kring, “the way different societies understand abnormal behaviour strongly affects the way they treat it,” the divergence between these two opposing sociological schools should be considered to be a natural schism over what is an inexorably complex, multi-faceted subject.

For instance, if we start from the assumption that society is, as a construct of human beings, controlled by the behaviour of people, then we must assume that biology plays some kind of a role in determining which elements of society are prone to problem types of behaviour and, conversely, which elements of society conform to cultural ‘norms.’ As the fundamental building blocks upon which humankind has been built, biology has historically been the first place to look in attempting to rationalise people and the deviations inherent within the organisation of any given society. Biology has, it can be argued, been able to show the innate behavioural differences between the sexes, highlighting how males have traditionally been more prone to producing social problems such as crime and disorder than females. However, according to Anthony Giddens, any attempt to understand society (even the differences between the sexes) as a ‘natural’ product of biology and genetic engineering can only remain fixed firmly within the realms of scientific hypothesis and not scientific fact.

“There is no evidence of the mechanisms which would link such biological forces with the complex social behaviour exhibited by human men and women. Theories which see individuals as complying with some kind of innate predisposition neglect the vital role of social interaction in shaping human behaviour.”

Ultimately, although adopting such a standpoint enables science to provide answers as to why social problems exist, it does not take into account the inherent diversity between peoples that is such a crucial part of the human condition. If, for example, we think of the modern urban space as representing a microcosm of human society, we can see how biology is completely incapable of accounting for the vast range of characteristics, problems and successes of the modern urban community. Factors such as ‘social exclusion’ and ‘urban degeneration’ are equally, if not more, important than biology in determining which sectors of society are subject to the most social problems. In bypassing the potentially debilitating sociological effects of poverty, exclusion and housing, the proponents of the positivist approach to sociology ignore some of the most basic triggers for social problems in the contemporary era. Only by understanding and acknowledging the complex interaction of sociological forces which conspire to render a person or a community problematic can policies be put in place to remedy the ills.

We should also note how social problems are in many ways created by the very society which purports to be in such a state of distress. Stan Cohen observed as much in his seminal study Folk Devils and Moral Panics: the Creation of Mods and Rockers where the author acknowledged that, throughout history “societies appear to be subject, every now and again, to periods of moral panic. A condition, episode, person or group of person emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people.”

Viewed through this prism, social problems – especially those social problems relating to crime, delinquency and disorder – can be seen to have been constructed as a means of protecting the traditional socio-political elite from what it perceives as a threat to its moral authority with the global mass media being the vehicle through which the social construction of delinquency has been transported to the news-consuming general public. The vilification of youth culture which Cohen so brilliantly exposed can be seen to have been repeated in a variety of forms since the 1970s. When, for instance, we pause to consider the media’s portrayal of youth culture at the dawn of the twenty first century with the incumbent demonisation of ‘hoodies’, we can see the extent to which social problems can, firstly, be constructed by a fearful socio-political elite and, secondly, how that fear can be disseminated via the media as a sociological fact. This is what Cohen refers to as “deviancy amplification” whereby the projection of the threat from a perceived social problem is grossly over-exaggerated, resulting in many cases in the cultural myth transpiring into a social reality. In this way, then, we can begin to see how the question of society and its myriad of problems is not nearly as straightforward a question as it at first appears.

Conclusion

One cannot offer a conclusion as to the production of society’s problems without reference to social construction. The idea that all of society’s problems are the result of pre-determined biological engineering is little short of preposterous, having its roots in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries imperialism and the need to underscore the white European man’s position at the top of the global hierarchy. Ultimately, sociology, while designated a ‘social science’, is not a science in the strictest sense. As Ken Browne notes, “the differences between the ‘natural’ sciences and sociology mean that sociologists cannot follow exactly the same procedures or produce such precise findings as those in the natural sciences.”

In the final analysis, as a study of people and their interactions with one another, the study of society cannot be reduced to scientific pre-determination, methodology, facts and figures. Only by acknowledging the complex interaction of forces that conspire to trigger social problems, can the broader issues of society and humanity be more adequately understood.

References

Browne, K. (2005) An Introduction to Sociology: Third Edition Cambridge: Polity Press

Cohen, S. (2002) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers: Second Edition London and New York: Routledge

Davison, G.C., Neale, J.M. and Kring, A.M. (2003) Abnormal Psychology: Ninth Edition London: John Wiley & Sons

Einstadter, W.J. and Henry, S. (2006) Criminological Theory: An Analysis of its Underlying Assumptions London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield

Giddens, A. (2006) Sociology: Fifth Edition Cambridge: Polity Press

Jacobs, B. and Dutton, C. (1999) Social and Community Issues, in, Roberts, P. and Sykes, H. (Eds.) Urban Regeneration: A Handbook London and New York: Sage

Morrison, F. (1995) Theoretical Criminology: From Modernity to Post Modernism London and New York: Routledge

Roberts, P. (1999) The Evolution, Definition and Purpose of Urban Regeneration, in, Roberts, P. and Sykes, H. (Eds.) Urban Regeneration: A Handbook London and New York: Sage

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An Investigation of Principles, Care Strategies and Theories Related to Social Care Practice
Part One

This section provides a summative assessment of the principles, care strategies and theories that direct social care work within the UK. Specifically, the application of support principles, procedures for protecting clients from harm and the advantages of utilising a person-centred approach in working with clients are discussed. Additionally, ethical issues, applicable policies, legislation issues and regulation and the impacts of existing policies are presented in relation to providing social care.

Applications of Support Principles

Ensuring that individuals are properly cared for in health and social care requires the application of a number of support principles. Examples of these support principles include equity in the provision of care, universality in its accessibility and providing multiple financial options for individuals of all backgrounds (Alcock, Daly & Griggs, 2008). As the individuals who require health and social care services differ in their ethnic, cultural, social and socioeconomic backgrounds, these support principles are pivotal in meeting the needs of the greatest percentage of the population (Alcock et al., 2008). Valuing diversity and providing support for families of varying backgrounds is a critical component of UK health and social care policy (Alcock et al., 2008).

Procedures for Protecting Clients from Harm

Protecting clients from harm is another important consideration for social care home managers within the UK. Generally, clients taking advantage of social care services are in vulnerable positions, and face financial, psychological or medical difficulties that make them prone to potential harm or abuse (Alcock, May & Rowlingson, 2008). The practise of safeguarding social care receivers is critical to preventing such abuse (Alcock et al., 2008). Current National Health Service (NHS, 2012) policy mandates that health and social care workers adhere to strict procedures for preventing neglect or abuse. Practitioners are held accountable for the services they provide, as well as their efforts to empower clients, protect their confidentiality and basic human rights and taking any additional measures necessary to protect vulnerable clients (NHS, 2012).

Benefits of the Person-Centred Approach

The person-centred approach guides all current UK health and social care practice (Edwards, 2012). This model of care, based on the early therapeutic work of Carl Rogers, emphasises protecting the individual rights of clients, and making decisions in a manner that best meets their unique needs (Moon, 2008). While this term is used frequently in other health and social care systems, many find themselves actually relying on financial and political considerations when planning care (Moon, 2008). The NHS prides itself on placing client satisfaction in the spotlight and enacting legislation that protects this person-centred approach, such as the Human Rights and Equality Acts (NHS, 2012). The advantages of this model range from increased client satisfaction, the ability to reach individuals from a diverse range of ethnic and financial backgrounds and more effective case outcomes (Edwards, 2012).

Ethical Dilemmas and Conflicts

Health and social care is a field rife with potential ethical dilemmas and conflicts. Examples of ethical dilemmas that commonly arise in this field are potential legal violations on the part of a client or colleague, the necessity to select between case alternatives that do not meet client needs, reporting unethical or illegal behaviour on the part of the client and negotiating roles and responsibilities when working with vulnerable population members (Edwards, 2012). Due to the sometimes-sensitive nature of the health and social care field, the NHS maintains ethical guidelines and policies for all practitioners to follow (McLean, 2010). Additionally, these guidelines are subject to perpetual reform to adapt to changing population needs (McLean, 2010).

Implementation of Policies, Legislation, Regulations and Codes

The NHS continually evaluates its policies, legislation, regulations and codes to ensure they are relevant and specific to the varying ethnic, cultural and financial backgrounds of the population (Tingle & Bark, 2011). The Health and Social Care Act 2012 currently serves as the most extensive legislation guiding the field within the UK (Department of Health, 2012). This act maintains policies on health and social care providers, professional accountability and the organisation of the field (Department of Health, 2012). Within this act are specific policy standards providing a greater voice for patients, a more patient-centred model of care and standards on streamlining health and social care services to prevent inefficiency (Department of Health, 2012). The result of this act has been greater accessibility of care and improved health and social care efficiency (Department of Health, 2012).

Local Policies and Procedures

While UK legislation guides health and social care practice throughout the region, local policies and procedures may vary depending on population needs (Tingle & Bark, 2011). For example, regions with higher or lower socioeconomic statuses may adapt local health and social care policy accordingly (Tingle & Bark, 2011). In such cases, local government associations or community well-being associations can convene to reform procedures in a manner that best meets local needs (Department of Health, 2012). These organisations serve to inform NHS policy through highlighting various local health and social care needs (McLean, 2010). Through adapting local policies and procedures to meet community need, the NHS is able to deliver a higher quality of service on a national level (McLean, 2010).

Impact of Policy, Legislation and Codes of Practice

Legislation, policy and code reform have a profound impact on health and social care practice. This reform protects both clients and practitioners, and provides practical guidance as to best practices related to specific social care needs (Department of Health, 2012). The aim of evaluating policy, legislation and codes of practice is to ensure that standards are current, relevant, clear to clients and practitioners and ensure the safe and ethical care of all individuals (Tingle & Bark, 2011).

Part Two

Changes in rules and legislations regarding health and social care practice serve to protect clients from discrimination and facilitate optimal person-centred care. Understanding the theories, social processes and professional roles involved can promote more holistic care delivery and prevent common ethical dilemmas. This section discusses such theoretical contributions to the health and social care field, as well as changes in organisational policy.

Theories Underpinning Health and Social Care Practice

Theory is critical to the field of health and social care, as it directs all practice (Jones & Atwal, 2009). The general theories and models of care utilised within the healthcare system ultimately dictate its legislation and policy reform (Jones & Atwal, 2009). Furthermore, delivering care based on theory helps guide future health and social care research (Jones & Atwal, 2009).

Health and social care within the UK is largely based on humanistic theory (Edwards, 2012). Humanistic theory emphasises the individual needs of each individual in designing care services, protecting clients’ individual rights, autonomy and dignity (Levin et al., 2011). Additionally, humanistic health and social care values the significance of effective communication with clients and colleagues, as well as in inter-professional working environments (Edwards, 2012). Humanistic theory is responsible for the person-centred model of care practised within the UK, which has subsequently directed recent policy reform (Levin et al., 2011).

Additionally, social learning theory has had a large impact on health and social care practice in the UK (Jones & Atwal, 2009). This theory highlights the importance of learning through observation and modelling in terms of adhering to a care plan (Jones & Atwal, 2009). Through understanding the significance of this form of learning, care home managers can empower clients and provide the best possible care to individuals of diverse backgrounds (Mendelstem, 2009). Theory-driven health and social care practice is generally better suited to address the multiple factors that influence practice (Mendelstem, 2009).

Finally, anti-oppressive theory and anti-discriminatory practice have shaped health and social care in the UK (Alcock et al., 2008). Anti-oppressive theory pertains to a style of professionalism that emphasises the role of social justice and the significance of individual rights (Alcock et al., 2008). Anti-discriminatory practice refers to social work that serves a range of diverse social and ethnic backgrounds, and does not limit service based on any of these characteristics (Alcock et al., 2008).

Impacts of Social Processes

Social learning and other social processes can impact health and social care services in varying ways. For example, user involvement has recently been a key focus of policy reform within the UK (King’s Fund, 2011). This practice has promoted a more patient-centred health care model that accounts for the perspectives of both patients and caregivers (King’s Fund, 2011). Research (e.g., Levin et al., 2011) has demonstrated that user involvement has improved service related to cancer care, as well as other disciplines within the health and social care umbrella. Forming a partnership with health and social care users and professionals can improve the inter-professional working environment and strengthen individual impacts on both policy and care (King’s Fund, 2011).

Additionally, engaging users and accounting for social processes in directing health care policy has shifted the current model from a reactive-oriented approach to one that is more proactive (Hearnden , 2008). Through incorporating service users, for example, the health and social care field has been able to anticipate cultural change and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population (Hearnden , 2008). Finally, the combination of the engagement of users and the person-centred care model, the process of social exclusion within the health care system has largely been avoided (Hearnden , 2008).

Effectiveness of Inter-Professional Working

Health and social care within the UK is trending toward an increasingly inter-professional working model (Wallace & Davies, 2009). This health and social care policy promotes the collaboration of professionals to best meet the needs of clients (Wallace & Davies, 2009). The NHS has incorporated this policy into its legislation, and emphasises care that fosters working relationships between differing professional organisations (Trodd & Chivers, 2011). This model of care has resulted in a higher level of care within the UK, and has been critical in transforming perspectives on healthcare (Trodd & Chivers, 2011).

Accompanying the inter-professional model of care in the UK has been a more collaborative educational model (Courtenay, 2012). Practitioners are increasingly trained to incorporate an understanding of inter-professional care into their academic programmes, leading to a more holistic and patient-centred healthcare system (Courtenay, 2012). The sharing of knowledge that has resulted from this inter-professional model has subsequently created more effective and efficient care plans (Jones & Atwal, 2009). Though the implementation of an inter-professional working environment into practice has faces several challenges, such as a lack of support or training from managers, consistent evaluation and reform has led to improvements in the level of care throughout the UK (Trodd & Chivers, 2011).

Perhaps the most important area in which inter-professional working has been effective is its ability to transcend professional boundaries (Courtenay, 2012). Through effective collaboration with colleagues, professionals are able to share responsibilities and bypass many of the conflicts that previously detracted from these collaborative efforts (Courtenay, 2012). The result has been a more efficient and effective model of care (Courtenay, 2012).

Role, Responsibilities, Accountabilities and Duties

Regardless of one’s specific role within the health and social care system, working within a team environment enables professionals to work through difficult practical problems (Mendelstem, 2009). Additionally, the inter-professional working environment allows professionals to share resources, knowledge and services to solve these complex challenges (Mendelstem, 2009). All professionals are responsible for maintaining ethical codes and professional standards related to their specific health and social care discipline. The effective sharing of information within an inter-professional work environment requires that individuals are held accountable for maintaining a high level of expertise, and effectively carry out their professional duties (Mendelstem, 2009).

Each individual within the inter-professional working environment is also responsible for demonstrating the values and principles set forth by the NHS and their specific professional governance (Jones & Atwal, 2009). Collaborating with colleagues requires ethical conduct, effective verbal and non-verbal communication, respect for the contributions of other members of the care team and sharing responsibilities and professional duties (Harlen, 2005). Understanding these roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and duties facilitates a more holistic, patient-centred model of care (Day & Wigens, 2006). As a health and social care student, educating one’s self regarding these factors and their influence on policy is critical to future practice. Encouraging this understanding further improves the quality and efficiency of the healthcare system (Day & Wigens, 2006).

Contributions to Organisational Policy

Many roles within the health and social care field serve to assist in the implementation and reform of national healthcare policies (Jones & Atwal, 2009). As health and social care is practiced in a diverse range of settings, these workers play a vital role in directing organisational policy (Edwards, 2012). No other professionals possess the combination of organisational and practical insight as health and social care workers, and these professionals are essential in enabling other professionals, such as government officials and educators, in carrying out their duties (Jones & Atwal, 2009).

Additionally, health and social care workers are the first line of defence in safeguarding vulnerable population groups, and are primarily responsible for directing organisational policy regarding protecting these individuals (Department of Health, 2011). In protecting clients’ rights, social care workers are important in obtaining the resources needed to promote best practice standards (Pereira et al., 2008). Finally, through engaging in ethical practice, effectively managing case loads and continuing to increase professional knowledge, social care workers are influential in contributing to organisational quality (Edwards, 2012).

Recommendations for Good Practice

In meeting good practice requirements, education and professional development are vital (Courtenay, 2012). Through continuing to receiver further training, professionals can sharpen their skills and best meet the changing needs of a diverse population (Courtenay, 2012). Additionally, incorporating evidence into practice can facilitate a higher level of quality in health and social care (Rushton, 2005). This practice involves the review and dissemination of current research surrounding health and social care, and the subsequent implementation of this evidence into professional practice (Day & Wigens, 2006). The combination of these strategies can ensure the safeguarding of vulnerable population groups, a more collaborative working environment and the successful adherence to best practice standards (Courtenay, 2012).

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Introduction

Recent demographic indicators reveal that over the next decade the effect of ageing on the UK adult population will result in a 20%increase in those of 65 and a 60% increase in “the over 85 year-olds” by 2027 (DoH 2007a, p.1). This trend, together with the increase in the numbers of the population suffering from medical and health issues, including dementia and disability, presents a challenge to the provision of adult social care, in terms of both funding and the need to deliver appropriate services designed to provide this segment of the population with “equality of citizenship” (ibid).

As a response to the changing demography, in 2006, the Department of Health (hereinafter DoH) produced a white paper outlining a new direction for the provision of adult social care services within the community, which indicated the need for a fundamental change from previously existing policies and procedures (DoH 2006). Subsequent DoH (2007a, 2007b and 2009) publications have served to provide guidance on how it was anticipated these change would transition into the practical environment. The central theme of this new direction was based upon a personalised agenda, with users and their carers being given more control and choice over the care services they required and the format in which they wished these services to be provided. In other words, the objective was for adult social care services to be provided based upon a person-centred approach rather than the internal social care services decision-driven model (Department of Health 2007b).

As with all new fundamental and structural changes of this nature, a key element of the ‘personalisation agenda’ is to ensure that the quality of service delivery matches the health and social needs of the local community. It is this aspect of the new adult social care than forms the basis for this paper. Following a brief overview of the objectives and requirements of the ‘personalisation agenda,’ the paper will outline the measurement hat are required to be put in place to ensure the delivery of the requisite quality service to the end user and their carer (Mullins 2006).

The ‘Personalisation agenda’

The basic premise of the ‘personalisation agenda’ programme and its aim of moving control of adult social care services to a user/carer-centred model. In other words, instead of professionals within the social services making the decision in relation to the support services required, and how this would be provided, under the new systems, these issues will be determined by the individual user. Therefore, with the aid of the social services team as and when required, the purpose of ‘personalisation’ was to deliver four main objectives, which are outlined as follows:

Budgetary control

The user/carer will have the opportunity to design and create their own budget to cover their health and care needs. Based upon this budget, an allocation of funds will be provided over which the user/carer will retain control

Choice of support requirement spending

Within the context of the budget and resources that has been designed by the user/carer, they will retain the choice of what support services they require and how the budget will be allocated across these services

Choice of service providers

Rather than social services deciding the service provider, that choice will now be in the control of the user/carer. In this respect, the user/carer can decide whether the support services they require should be delivered at their home, at an external location, such as a care home or respite centre and, ultimately, whether the provider of these services should be the local social care service or an external private organisation.

Appropriate and timely access to support

Instead of having the delivery of their health and social care services determined by the professionals within the health care sector, the personalised approach gives the user/carer the right to choose the time of these services, for example, at night or during the day.

To ensure that these objectives could be met, with a target data for their full implementation being set at April 2011 (ADASS 2009), were tasked with introducing a system based upon the following changes:

Integrated working with the NHS

Commissioning Strategies, which maximise choice and control whilst balancing investment in prevention and early intervention

Universal information and advice services for all citizens

Proportionate social care assessments processes

Person centred planning and self-directed support to become mainstream activities with personal budgets which maximise choice and control

Mechanisms to involve family members and other carers

A framework which ensures people can exercise choice and control with advocacy and brokerage linked to the building of user-led organisations

Appropriate safeguarding arrangements

Effective quality assurance and benchmarking arrangements

To deliver these changes successfully within the target time scales set, this process has required local social services departments to take steps to redesign the manner in which their organisation were operating as outlined within the following section of this report.

3 Re-designing the provision of adult social care

For the adult social care departments of local authorities, main areas of change required to develop a user/carer-centred approach to service provision, the most important factors that needed to be addressed were concentrated upon three main areas. These can be defined as follows:

Ensuring the resources are available to assisting the user with the creation of their own care assessment needs and budget

Ensuring the facilitators of that choice were available and making sure that the required quality of service is delivered, and

Providing and communicating information in a manner that enables the user to make an informed choice

Consequently, there was a need to focus upon introducing improvements to three key operational elements:

3.1. Human resource capabilities

It will be apparent that some user/carers may require assistance with the process of conducting a personal assessment of their ongoing health and social care needs and designing the budget required to ensure that these needs are capable of being met. For this purpose therefore, it has been important for the local authority to provide users’ with access to employees with the required level of skills and capabilities to assist the user/carer with this process. In many cases, the requisite skills and competences required to achieve this transformation of services might not have existed within the roles of existing frontline service team members. Therefore, it has been important to introduce training programmes designed to assist the workforce to adapt to the new roles.

3.2. Physical internal and external resources

As user/carers now have the choice of how, where and who they wish to provide their service needs, it has been important to realign existing internal existing and external physical and, in some cases human, resources to provide the appropriate range of choice. In basic terms, this choice can be divided into two main categories, these being whether the user/carer requires the service to be delivered in the home or at an external location and having the choice as to whether the service is delivered by the public or private sector.

Home or external delivery of service

Within this context of choice, the main area of change has occurred where user/carers have wished their service requirements to be delivered in their own home. To facilitate this choice, adult care services have needed to ensure two requirements are met. Firstly, there has been a need to ensure that there is a sufficiency of employees experienced in the delivery of home based care services to users/carers, which in some cases has again meant retraining existing members of the workforce to ensure their ability to transition from working in a controlled environment to one where self-control is the main requirement. Secondly, it has meant that the adult social care service has an adequacy of physical and portable equipment required to facilitate home based service provision.

Public or private service provider

Concerning the choice of provider, it was incumbent upon the adult social care services to achieve two objectives. Firstly, there was a need to develop relationships with a sufficient number of external private care providers to enable sufficiency of choice for the user/carer. Secondly, as part of their remit to providing the appropriate type and quality of care, the department also needed to be assured that the quality of service available from the external private provider complied with the standards and quality of care as set down within the government and DoH requirements. Private health and social care providers in this context can refer to agencies and individuals who are trained in the provision of individual care services as well as the external organisations that are operate nursing, care home and other health care facilities.

3.3. Communication process

The final change required, and perhaps in many ways equally important as those discussed previously, has been the need to introduce a robust process of bi-direction communication between all the stakeholders, which includes the adult social care management teams, employees, external service providers, both public and private and, of course, the service user/carer. In order to make an informed choice it is critical that the user/carer has access to data and information related to all the available options open to them. For example, in the case of private care homes, this would include details of the accommodation amenities, the type of care services available from the provider, and overview of their quality standards and the price of the service being provided. In other words, there is a need to create a knowledge based organisation (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995). In practice therefore, the communication process within the adult care service environment in accordance with the following diagram (figure 1).

4. Measuring quality service delivery

4.1. The rationale for measuring quality service

Major Service delivery transformation of the nature being discussed within this report requires change and, as Turner (2009, p.1) rightly confirms, “Change: and the need to manage change through projects, touches all our lives, in working and social environments.” This has certainly been the case in designing a process that requires the adoption of a user/carer-centred approach to adult social care. Similarly, as with all changes of this nature, not all aspects of the process can be completed at the same time, in other words it needs to be introduced in stages (Allan 2004, Cameron and Green 2004, Blake and Bush 2009 and Turner 2009). For example, providing carers with information related to private provider service choice cannot occur unless or until these providers have been contacted and a relationship built with them to facilitate their willingness and appropriateness to be included in the process. Lewin (Wirth 2004) in developing what he terms as the ‘freeze model’ suggests that stages required to complete this change are three in number:

Motivation of need for change (Frozen)

Design and implementing the change (Unfrozen and moving to a new state)

Making the change permanent (Refreezing)

Source: Wirth (2004)

Of equally critical importance having identified that structure that needs to be put in place to effect the change/transformation to the ‘personalised agenda’ requirements for the organisation, is to ensure that each aspect of this process is managed in an efficient and effective manner in order to deliver the quality of service that meets the user./carer needs. It is equally important to continue to measure the quality of service delivered on an ongoing basis. The ADASS (2009) have suggested that the transformation to the new service structure should be based upon the extent to which the local adult social service department has achieved the following five key priorities:

That the transformation of adult social care has been developed in partnership with existing service users (both public and private), their careers and other citizens who are interested in these services.

That a process is in place to ensure that all those eligible for council funded adult social care support will receive a personal budget via a suitable assessment process.

That partners are investing in cost effective preventative interventions, which reduce the demand for social care and health services.

That citizens have access to information and advice regarding how to identify and access options available in their communities to meet their care and support needs.

That service users are experiencing a broadening of choice and improvement in quality of care and support service supply, built upon involvement of key stakeholders (Councils, Primary Care Trusts, service users, providers, 3rd sector organisations etc), that can meet the aspirations of all local people (whether council or self-funded) wanting to procure social care services.

Source: ADASS (2009)

Consequently, it is clear that as an integral part of delivering these priorities, the local adult social services department to have implemented a number of performance assessment and measurement models are discussed in the following section of this report.

4.2. Measurement models for quality service delivery

For measuring the effectiveness of quality service delivery within the context of any organisation, there are a number of management and measurement models that can be used. The objective of some of these, as Turner (2009, p.357) comments is to analyse and assess the performance of the changes that are taking place, such as the transformation of adult social care being discussed in this report. However, in addition to these measurement models, there are others that are designed to measure service quality for specific elements and stakeholders within the change process and post change performance.

Taking the above issues into account, the focus of this discussion is aimed at measurements to be used during the course of the adult social service transformation, the effectiveness of individual employees and external provider’s provision of quality services and the measurements used to assess the satisfaction levels of the user/carer. This triangular approach is designed to achieve the following objectives for the adult social services department:

Monitoring quality service delivery against timelines and milestones set

Enabling department to comply within regulatory agendas

Ensuring required skills and competences of work force and external provider’s

Monitoring development of appropriate team based relationships

Measuring extent to which services provided meet with user/carer needs

In all of these areas, the measurement models being used are designed to be part of a continuing process of ensuring the service delivery remains at the highest level of quality (Mullins 2010).

4.2.2. Project and post-project performance

In the view of the author of this report, in order to evaluate the change and improvement to the quality of service during both its implementation and execution stages, it is considered that the measurement model based upon the KPI and Balanced Scorecard approach which was developed by Kaplan et al (2006) is the most appropriate for use. This is especially true within the implementation stages of the change process. The reason for this is that it provides regular opportunities for reassessment and the rapid introduction of measures to address issues that might have arisen (Johnson and Clark 2008). Moreover, within the context of the ‘personalised agenda’ approach, it has the added benefit of being able to combine the financial as well as the non-financial outcomes. In this respect therefore, when used in the adult social services this model not only enables an assessment of the service quality being delivered but will also help to ascertain whether the user/carer is being provided with value for money.

The design and benefits of this measurement model can best be explained from the following diagram, which clearly shows the objective of the Balance Scorecard is to assess and evaluate the performance of quality service delivery from four main perspectives. There are to provide a process for learning and growth, to provide guidance for the management of the organisation, ensuring satisfaction of user/carer needs and, as a result to achieve the financial objectives (Kaplan et al 2006).

In terms of improvement to the service quality, are clearing identified within the appraisal of the KPI’s (figure 3), in that it provides learning for the organisation, which leads to better decision making and continues the process of improved service quality delivery.

Source: API (2010) http://www.ap-institute.com/kpi_fig3.htm

4.2.3. Employee performance appraisal

Skills and competences of employees, whether part of the internal social services workforce or engaged by an external provider, are another key an essential area of service quality delivery that needs to be constantly kept under review (Leat 2001 and Armstrong 2006). The extent to which an employee is able to perform their duties in a manner that satisfies the user/carer, will have a significant impact upon the latter’s level of satisfaction. Consequently, it is important for managers to work with the employees to ensure that they are both acquiring the skills needed to perform their roles and motivated to undertake these duties in a manner that seeks to achieve excellence.

The most appropriate model in this instance is the use an individual employee ‘performance appraisal’ system. This model is based upon interactive communication and discussion process that takes place between the employer/manager and the employee (Leat 2001). The first stage is for both parties to complete a previously designed ‘performance appraisal’ form, which can be similar to the example that is provided in appendix 1 and attached to this report. The purpose of both parties completing this document is so that the level and standard of the employee’s performance is provided from both perspectives. This provides the opportunity for the employer to gain an insight into where the employee feels they are excelling and/or consider that further assistance from the organisation, perhaps in the form of additional training, may be considered helpful.

Following completion of the appraisal form, the employee will then deliver a copy of this to his/her employer for consideration. It is preferable at this stage to ensure that a meeting has been arranged at which both employee and employer will be able to discuss freely the results of the appraisal (Armstrong 2006). It should be deliberately designed for this appraisal process to take the form of a two-way conversation or discussion. From an employer’s viewpoint, this will provide them with the opportunity to provide the additional assistance that the employee perceives to be missing from their development, and discuss those areas where the employer considers improvements are required. For the employee, this process is likely to lead to them feeling more involvement with the organisation and therefore more motivated to produce the best service performance they can (Leat 2001).

Further, to enhance the levels of employee involvement and motivation, which as Armstrong (2006) argues, is key to gaining the best quality of service from the workforce, it is important that the adult social services department introduces a system of employee discussion groups. During these sessions, all employees should be encouraged to participate and share their views and opinions on the effectiveness of the processes that is intended to improve service quality for the user/carer. Often, these discussion sessions will lead to the innovative ideas being suggested which, although not previously considered, could produce benefit for the process, as well as improving employee’s level of involvement with the organisation.

4.2.4. User and carer service quality satisfaction

Academics and researchers, especially those who are intimately involved with the social and health care sectors, have sought to provide a number of tools aimed at improving the quality of service delivered to the user/carer. Two of these models, which have recently been assessed, are the SPRU and ASCOT models (SCIE 2010), the objective of both being to find ‘excellence in adult care services.”

The SPRU (Social Policy Research Unit) model (SCIE 2010, p.4)

The focus of the SPRU is based upon the conducting post-service delivery assessments and evaluation which, in other words means that this models, through some format, measures the extent to which the service quality has provide the required service and needs priority for the user/carer. It is a model that is often relied upon for inspection and compliance purposes, such as when the Quality Care Commission conducts an inspection of a private care home (Francis 2009).

The ASCOT (Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit) model

The ASCOT model of performance measurement is very similar to the SPRU model, with the difference being that in this case there are a more defined number of specific issues that the research in question is endeavouring to use for their assessment of the quality of the service being delivered to or experienced by the user/carer, as outlined below:

Accommodation, cleanliness and comfort – The person using the service feels their home environment, including all the rooms, is clean and comfortable.

Control over daily life – The person using the service can choose what to do and when to do it, having control over their daily life and activities.

Dignity – The negative and positive psychological impact of support and care on the personal sense of significance of the person using the service.

Food and nutrition – The person using the service feels they have a nutritious, varied and culturally appropriate diet with enough food and drink they enjoy at regular and timely intervals.

Occupation – The person using the service is sufficiently occupied in a range of meaningful activities whether it be formal employment, unpaid work, caring for others or leisure activities.

Personal cleanliness and comfort – The person using the service feels they are personally clean and comfortable and look presentable or, at best, are dressed and groomed in a way that reflects their personal preferences.

Safety – The person using the service feels safe and secure. This means being free from fear of abuse, falling or other physical harm and fear of being attacked or robbed.

Social participation and involvement – The person using the service is content with their social situation, where social situation is taken to mean the sustenance of meaningful relationships with friends, family and feeling involved or part of a community should this be important to them

Source: SCIE (2010, p.5)

What both of these models have in common is that they are based upon the recognised processes of quantitative primary research, which is commonly used by academics for a wide range of investigations (Johnson and Durberley 2000, Easterby-Smith et al 2004 and Gill and Johnson 2010). With the overall objective of ‘personalised agenda’ being to deliver a quality of service that meets the user/care’s needs and requirement, it follows that the only way that this quality can truly be measured is by gathering information from the source that is intimately connected with, and experiencing, the service being provided, this being the end users. Consequently, it is important for the adult social care department to introduce a continuing process of measures designed to accumulate feedback from the user/carer, which should include:

Regular conduct of a survey questionnaire aimed at gaining user/carer feedback and comments on all aspects of the services delivery process that they have decided to be included within their care management plan

Regular individual one-to-one meetings with user/carers to allow for more comprehensive bi-directional discussion related to their experience of the service quality provided

Of course, the most important part of this process is for the organisation to ensure that where issues or concerns are raised by the user/carer, These are referred to the relevant stakeholder group or person within the organisation so that they can be appropriately be addressed. Additionally, regular contact should be maintained with the user/carer, to advise them of the outcome of any measures taken to improve the quality of the service delivered.

5. Conclusion

There is no doubt that the transformation of adult social care has not only signalled one of the most comprehensive reforms of quality service delivery to the user/carer in many decades, but also one of the most complex in terms of its introduction and successful implementation (DoH 2009). Consequently, ensuring that the quality of the services being delivered are maintained during and post this implementation has required the introduction of a number of measures designed specifically to ensure that that this remains the case. As indicated within this report, those measures, the central part of which is to evaluate and examine the user/carers perception of service quality is being met, need to be applied to all stakeholder groups, including those internal to adult social services and the external services providers whose services are also utilised. It is considered that the measurement and managed tools discussed within this report provide the best models for this purpose.

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Introduction

This report will focus on the needs of an older person using the ideas of developmental theorists. The subject of the case study will be a 70 year old female called Y and the key theories discussed will be Erikson’s life cycle model and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Background

I have based this study on a lady who I will refer to as Y. She is a neighbour who I have known for several years and is 70 years old. She had a fall recently which left her hospitalised for a short period with a broken shoulder. Her mobility is also waning due to arthritis and her shoulder injury has left her unable to drive and requiring physiotherapy. She also need short term help with aspects of personal care such as washing and dressing. She is a widow and I know her (adult) children fairly well. She and the family know that I am studying social work and one of the children had actually asked me for some advice recently about her mother’s situation and how they might access support services. I have had some discussions with the family and told them about this assignment during the course of these discussions; they have given me consent to discuss Y’s case. Y still has capacity to give consent this type of issue and she is also happy for me to use her details on the understanding that she will remain anonymous.

Methodology

Once I had obtained consent for Y and her family and provided assurances that her information would be kept confidential, I met with her on three occasions to discuss her needs, her feelings about her situation and how her situation might be improved. I had access to her medical records; I also met with her son and daughter on one occasion to discuss their mother’s situation. The interviews lasted around thirty minutes and were relatively informal.

Developmental stage and psychological models

The development model that I am applying to this case study is Erikson’s theory of psychological development. It is a model that believes personality development is something that continues through the course of a person’s life and Erikson breaks this down into eight different stages of development. The early stages cover the first stages of a person’s life. Moving through adolescence into young adulthood and middle age. At each stage Erikson’s model explains some of the thoughts and feelings that are likely to occupy a person’s mind, and discusses how success or failure in work or relationships can impact on a person’s psychological well-being (Newman and Newman, 2012).

It is the latter stage of Erikson’s model that are most relevant to Y. She has passed through stage 7 which Erikson sees as a period often pre-occupied by careers and parenting to the final stage of the model which is labelled Integrity vs Despair. At this point people are often examining their lives and considering whether they have a feeling of contentment about what they have achieved in life or feelings of disappointment. They are often worried about the future and there is a gradual realisation that the end of life is imminent (Ryan and Coughlan, 2013).

Erikson wrote about the concept of ego integrity and that people analyse that opportunities they have taken or lost in life. If people feel that they have not made the most of life’s opportunities there can be a feeling of despair that they no longer have time to put it right (Ryan and Coughlan, 2013).

When I applied this theory to Y I found that she was a person who was on the whole happy with what she had achieved in life. She had enjoyed a career working in local government; she had been happily married and raised two children who seemed to be going on to live fulfilling lives. I did not feel that Y had regrets about the past but she was starting to worry increasingly about the future.

Any view of Y of course should take into account her wishes, feelings and needs as an individual rather than simply looking at her age and pigeon-holing her according to a theoretical model, Social work as a profession should avoid stereotyping (Zastrow, 2014) and this is something by social work codes and standards

Attitudes and belief systems

My discussions with Y have me an insight into her attitudes and belief systems. Returning to Erikson’s model, I found that she had a positive view of her life to date but was increasingly concerned that the period of her life where she is an active citizen is coming towards an end. This is a view that can be held by other in society about older people. Ageist views that older people are a burden to society rather than making a contribution exist (Thompson, 2003) and I felt that Y herself was buying into this outlook.

I also felt that Y was worried that her lack of mobility would prevent from achieving her goals of playing an active part in the lives of her young grandchildren. Again, Erikson’s model suggests that dissatisfaction in the later stages of life can lead to despair and this was a concern about Y.

Psychological needs

I have given consideration to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in looking at what psychological needs Y might have. Maslow argued that people are motivated to satisfy a certain level of need before being motivate to move on and meet the next (Mcleod, 2007).

Y has safety needs at this point. Her fall and her limited mobility are making her more vulnerable at home. My discussions with her established that she was concerned about having more falls or her mobility continuing to wane. She needs to be reassured in some way that her current condition is hopefully temporary, that she will recover from her shoulder injury and soon be as active and independent as she had been prior to her fall.

The next of Y’s needs from Maslow’s hierarchy that should be prioritised are her love and belonginess needs (McLeod, 2007). She clearly receives love from her family but her current lack of mobility, particularly the fact that she cannot drive until her should has healed, means that she is having less contact with family and friends; she is also reliant on people coming to her rather than being proactively able to go and make contact with friends and loved ones.

Maslow’s theory touches on the importance of self-esteem and this may well be a particular need of Y at the moment. She is feeling vulnerable due to a combination of age, declining mobility and a feeling that she is less able to look after herself than previously. She needs to get her confidence back and getting out and doing the social activities she has done prior to her fall will be central to her recovery both physically and psychologically.

I think that one of Y’s greatest needs over the next few months will be to remain engaged with the community around her. There is a concern that social isolation could lead her into depression; she will begin to overly dwell on the negatives of her situation and consequently move into a downward spiral both psychologically and physically.

Recommendations for holistic care needs

In the short-term, Y needs a carer to visit her once a day to help her get washed and dressed. She can make basic meals but a temporary frozen meals service might also be useful for her.

She will require ongoing physiotherapy for her shoulder. Monthly sessions at the local hospital should be a minimum but she also needs to take responsibility for doing her exercises each day.

A holistic assessment should also focus on her mental health; Y may be prone to some level of depression and this is something that professionals and family need to monitor. Counselling sessions should be commissioned if required.

Y should also be in touch with Age Action so she can use their information service, in particular in relation to social activities and travel whilst she cannot drive

Practical suggestions

There are a number of practical steps that can be taken immediately to make the home environment safer for Y and hopefully improve her overall well-being. One thing that she can do is identify current hazards in the home that increase her risk of falling and remove them. This might simply be furniture or ornaments in places that cause a problem. She can also invest in making the bathroom safer with rubbers mats and by installing hand rails around the bath and shower.

I would recommend that anyone caring for Y, whether this is a family member, neighbour, professional carer or volunteer, undertakes training with the HSE. Specific training courses such as 2Care in the Home” can provide guidance for carers on basic aspects of care such as feeding, washing and dressing.” In the short t-term, Y only needs assistance with dressing due to her injury and hopefully she will be able to manage her personal care in the medium term. If her abilities deteriorate however it is useful to have people with the correct skills on hand.

For Y’s family, this is the time in Y’s life where they may need to look for support as carers. Carer’s Allowance and Respite Care Grants may be some of the types of financial support open to them and I would recommend that they speak to their local Department of Social Protection office or research the help and support available to carers at http://hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/olderpeople/carersrelatives/Support_for_Carers.html

From a policy perspective, my experience with Y makes me feel that the government should have a focus on social inclusion for people in later life. Social care should not just be about the provision of personal services, it should also understand the psychological fears that older people have as they move toward the end of their lives and appreciate the importance of human relationships to them. Finding ways to allow older people to connect with others should be a central policy aim.

Long term consequences

The long term consequences of failing to meet Y’s needs are both physical and psychological. Failure to make her home environment safe could lead to further physical harm but a failure to meet psychological needs can also be damaging. Maslow’s theory stressed that the failure to meet one need leads to a lack of motivation to meet others (Moyle et al. 2014). Erikson’s theory also referred to the feelings of despair that can occur in later life (Moyle et al., 2014). If Y’s needs around contact and relationship are not met, her self-esteem will suffer and she will lose the motivation to do the things in life that make it worth living. Depression and despair may then follow.

Ethics and values

My engagement with Y and her family has been in line with the IASW standards; I have proposed solutions that are in Y’s best interests and acted in an honest and trustworthy fashion, ensuring confidentiality and essentially looking at ways to promote the rights of Y whilst ensuring that she does not take actions that might cause her harm (IASW, 2009). I am sure that Y is safe and looked after by her family but I think it is important that she understands her limitations at this point and does not allow her frustration to lead her to ‘run before she can walk’ in terms of long term recovery.

One of the key elements of the IASW Code of Ethic is that “truly valued, fully human life is generally realised by individuals living and acting interdependently in communities;” (IASW, 2007, P2) and I feel that my engagement with Y has been to encourage to get back to her life living interdependently in the community as soon as possible.

Critical reflection

My reflection on my engagement with Y and her family was that I engaged with her in a respectful and person-centred manner. My prior knowledge of Y and her family made the situation a little easier; I knew that they trusted and there were no professional power barriers impacting on the interviews. I felt that I used my communication skills well and asked questions best suited to gathering the relevant information from Y and her family so that the best recommendations could be made.

I hope that my intervention has been a positive development for Y and that she will take on board the suggestions I have made. I feel that we developed a relationship based on trust and that she valued the knowledge and ideas that I offered. I do believe that she will benefit from my work with her.

List of References
Age Action (2015) Information Service. [Online] Available: [https://www.ageaction.ie/how-we-can-help/information-service] accessed 2nd February 2016
HSE (2015_ Support for Carers. [Online] Available: [http://hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/olderpeople/carersrelatives/Support_for_Carers.htm] accessed 2nd February 2016
IASW (2009) Code of Practice [Online] Available: [https://www.iasw.ie/attachments/2eb7f6f6-ca51-4f38-b869-df7e0b411e91.PDF] accessed 2nd February 2016
IASW (2007) Code of Ethics [Online] Available: [https://www.iasw.ie/attachments/8b37e75a-26f6-4d94-9313-f61a86785414.PDF] accessed 2nd February 2016
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. [online] Available: [http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html] accessed 2nd February 2016
Moyle, W., Parker, D. and Bramble, M. (2014) Care of Older Adults: A Strengths-based Approach. Cambridge University Press
Newman, B. and Newman, P. (2012). Development Through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. Belmont: Wadsworth
Ryan, P. and Coughlan, B. (2013) Ageing and Older Adult Mental Health: Issues and Implications for Practice. London: Routledge
Thompson, N. (2003). Promoting Equality – Challenging Discrimination and Oppression, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke
Zastrow, C. (2015). Social Work with Group. Stanford: Cengage

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Organizing to encourage effective direct support

The following report is based upon the experiences and perceptions of direct support (and of the ‘social model’ of disability provision) of a particular person with learning disabilities: Mark. The experiences and perceptions in this case study are taken from interviews and discussions with Mark himself, with members of his family, and with his social workers and managers. The purpose of the report is to describe Mark’s experiences of social care under direct support and to compare these with the types of social work that he experienced before the introduction of direct support. The report focuses upon Mark’s growing sense of ’empowerment’, ‘ability to help himself’, and ‘individuality’ that emerge from his experiences of direct support. Thus a major theme of this report is to examine how direct support assists people with learning disabilities to gain recognition as contributing members of the community.

The report has the following structure:

A (i). An analysis of the government’s seminal white paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (DOH, 2001). This white paper was a momentous recognition by government of the ‘social model’ of social provision, and it thrust direct support to the front of the government’s strategy for learning disability. A discussion of this white paper allows an analysis of Mark’s own experiences of direct support: how successful it has been for him, how he perceives the changed attitudes of the social workers he works with – how they now perceive their work differently now.

(ii). This section also examines the notion of ’empowerment’ and the idea that people with learning disabilities must be recognized as contributing members of society also, rather than ‘medical problems’.

(iii). The model, Organizing to Encourage Effective Direct Support, stresses the need to examine direct support from the perspectives of all involved: the person with learning disabilities, his carers and also the government and managers who make decisions that affect him. This white paper then is a highly useful document for understanding the government’s perspective and attitude to the needs of people with learning disabilities.

B. An analysis of the biographical material furnished by Mark’s case study. Does his experience of direct support match that set out by the government in Valuing People? Which direct support schemes in this white paper has Mark benefited from? What are does he perceive the benefits of direct support to be in contrast to previous types of social care that he has experienced? How do those people who live and work with Mark perceive these changes?

C. An analysis of three theoretical and practical existing models of disability provision – moral, medical, social – and Mark’s various experiences of these models. How does Mark experience the theory of social provision when it is put into practice?

D. Conclusion. The report concludes with an examination of Mark’s future prospects working with direct support, and the future prospects of direct support itself

A: Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability in the 21st Century

‘A person-centred approach to planning means that planning should start with the individual (not with services), and take account of their wishes and aspirations. Person-centred-planning is a mechanism for reflecting the needs and preferences of a person with a learning disability.’ (Valuing People, 2001, p49)

This quotation from the government’s seminal white paper Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century encapsulates the radically new ideas and ideals established by this document for the provision and practice of social work for people with learning disabilities. This white paper represented both an important official recognition of the validity of the ‘social model’ of disability provision, and also a promise to implement its ideas and philosophy of learning difficulties, as had been advocated by social work practitioners and academics for some time. Thus this white paper was a significant move away from the ‘medical model’ of disability provision that had held supremacy for most of recent healthcare history. As the above quotation suggests, this new approach to disability gives the individual far greater freedom to make decisions about his own future – the philosophy is ‘person-centred’ and ‘individualized’ – and, more than this, recognizes that people with learning difficulty have exactly the same rights and should have exactly the same opportunities as non-disabled people. The white paper acknowledges the new phenomenon of the ’empowerment’ of people with learning difficulties and suggests how empowerment can be extended amongst those with such difficulties.

An analysis of this white paper is vital for any student with learning difficulties who seeks to analyse how direct support works in practice. Valuing People established guidelines and proposed schemes that have to be met in practice, in the lives of people with learning disabilities. In the next section, this report looks at how this government model has been experienced by one particular person with learning difficulties: Mark.

This present analysis focuses upon Chapter 4 of the white paper: More Choice and Control for People with Learning Disabilities. The introductory statement of this chapter sets the tone for the entire document. It states:

‘Government objective: To enable people with learning disabilities to have as much choice as possible over their lives through advocacy and a person-centred approach to planning the services and support they need.’ (Valuing People, p44)

Thus from the very beginning of this chapter the paper makes it clear that people with learning difficulties must have ‘as much choice as possible’ and be helped by a ‘person-centred approach’ to take control of their own lives. A second key promise emerges soon afterwards: ‘Services should respond to the wider aspirations of people with learning disabilities and give them more choice and control’ (Valuing People, 2001). This phrase reveals that people with learning disabilities are no longer thought of only in terms of those disabilities, but that their ‘aspirations’ and ‘personalities’ are taken into account also. The paper contends that social workers must seek to reverse the many problems halting direct support at the time: for instance, services were too lethargic, advocacy was limited, and people with learning difficulties had far too little say and involvement in the management of their own care. The paper suggests methods as to how these faults in the system might be changed. For instance: advocacy services must be extended considerably, more people must receive direct payments, and a person-centred approach must be developed by social workers and managers. Managers have the vital responsibility of ‘personalizing’ people with learning disabilities and getting to know those difficulties intimately. Managers and organizations cannot help unless they take such an approach.

Valuing People made several proposals to affect such reform: the Disability Rights Commission, ?1.3 million per annum to expand advocacy services, The Learning Disability Development Fund are all examples of proposals made in the white paper. Let us look at several of these methods of direct support in more detail.

Disability Rights Commission: The role of the DRC is to assist people to guarantee their rights as secured by the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). The Commission’s work involves getting disabled people into consultations about major policy initiatives that concern them; ensuring that decision-making material is available in user-friendly formats; and educating businesses and institutions about how to work with people with learning disabilities.

Advocacy: Advocacy is absolutely crucial for successful transfer of responsibility and decision-making to people with learning disabilities themselves. Advocacy can be of two types: self-advocacy or advocacy through organizations. The government gives ?1.3 per year to further advocacy programmes.

Direct Payments: Direct Payments are a further means of giving people with learning disabilities more control over their own lives. Direct Payments enable Local Councils to allow people to pay for support they are entitled to before that support has been given. This was extended by the Carers and Disabled Children Act (2000) which facilitated immediate payments to carers and to 16 and 17 year olds with learning difficulties. (The Health and Social Care Act (2001) widened the availability of Direct Payments still further.) Once these payments are received disabled people have far greater freedom to choose what type of support they require for themselves. The Implementation Support Team was set-up to improve application rates for this critical scheme.

Person-Centred Planning: This initiative is intended, as its name suggests, to ensure that the planning of care for a person with learning disabilities is organized as much as possible by working with individuals themselves. The paper suggested that Learning Disability Partnership Boards begin to implement this approach throughout care management and practice as soon as possible.

Care management: According to the white paper care management is the ‘formal mechanism for linking individuals with public services’ (Valuing People, 2001). In other words, care management is the vital instrument of direct support. Therefore it must be ‘responsive to person centred planning, and have the capacity to deliver the kinds of individualized services likely to emerge fro the process’. Connexions Gateway was set-up to establish vocational plans, as well as health, housing and communication plans for people with learning disabilities.

Fair Access to Care: Free Access to Care was aimed to establish the basis by which eligibility for social care for adults should be determined.

In conclusion, Valuing People was a sea-change in the policy of the British government and its care agencies towards the care of those with learning difficulties. Its emphasis upon direct support through person-centred care and individuality gave people with learning difficulties rights and confidence to exercise those rights that they would never have previously thought possible. It empowered disabled people to help themselves. Managers and social workers too were seen as vital instruments for changing the prejudices and attitudes of the public, and creating awareness that people with learning disabilities are valuable members of the community.

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The concept of social work in the modern world has attained significant stature and its application in the culturally diverse societies is often stressed. Its relevance in the research area of disaster management is also worth mentioning. In the new era of globalization, the benevolence of the people to contribute to social good of the fellow beings in frustrating situations is to be appreciated.

The relevance of social work and social activities has been recognized at international level and organizations such as the United Nations emphasize the need for the involvement of the various charitable societies and organizations across the world for socially useful causes. Addressing the needs for social activities at international level, various organizations and charitable societies have played their vital role in the recent crisis situations concerning the Tsunami.

It is of foremost significance to have a profound analysis of the various factors contributing to the overwhelming worldwide response to the crisis situation of Tsunami. The paper focuses on the critical discussion of various responses by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and International Social Work Organizations to meet the needs of the hour. Relying on the applicable theories of globalization and social work, this paper concludes on the lessons taught by this natural calamity relating to the international social work.

Tsunami: The Disaster of the Millennium

In less than 3 minutes the room filled up with water and the unbroken waves were roaring inside the room smashing everything that was inside the room (A statement of Tsunami Victim, http://www.theaca.net.au/journals/ca_archive/ACA%20Mag%20Vol5%20No2%20Winter%2005.pdf)

The AASW and other International Social Work Organizations provided all possible aid to the sufferers after the disaster ‘Tsunami’ of December 26th, 2004. It has mainly focused on the physical needs in terms of food, water, shelter and medical relief. This natural disaster took away thousands of lives and made the survivors homeless.

Many lost their dear ones, especially children. They were desperately in need of emotional support and necessary support for developing their family again after this catastrophe. A primary assessment of these relief activities confirms the value of social work in the framework of the world with the theories of globalization.

Families and Survivors of Tsunami Project (FAST) is initiated by International Federation of Social Workers Asia Pacific and supported by international organizations as a professional response to the crisis. (FAST) http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/news/FAST_outline_draft12012005.pdf

The professional assessment of Social work and its strategy are indisputably goes beyond just physical relief efforts. They render their services to the survivors/sufferers for a longer term perspective to fulfil human and social needs for community/cultural bonding. Social workers’ relief efforts are generally concentrated in the social and emotional rehabilitation. Thus social workers help in alleviating grievances of the people. The FAST project succeeded in capacity building and development of the Tsunami survivors, including society rebuilding.

In such difficult situations the very notion of social work has its own significance. International Social Work draws together the practice of wisdom emerging within the broad scope of international social work practice. “(Pawar., and Cox 2008). Nowadays people consider social work as an international profession and many job opportunities have emerged due to the new concept. Though social work has a history associated with the origin of mankind, it was recognized now due to the extensive researches and analysis carried out by man through ages on the social work towards many international issues.

The relief and rehabilitation efforts taken by many International Social Work Organizations like AASW, IFSW and HRW are well appreciated by the whole world. In Indonesia, where the tsunami hit hardest, AusAID worked with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide substantial emergency relief (Source: Australia’s Emergency Response to the Tsunami Magazine article by Alan March; UN Chronicle, Vol. 42, June-August 2005). They became a role model of every charitable society by showing their memorable and historic efforts in the process of systematic of rescue and rehabilitation efforts in the aftermath of Tsunami disaster.

AASW: Working for a Noble Cause

The constitution of AASW, the national professional representative body of social workers in Australia, has recently been amended this year and on-going through the latest constitution. It has seen society established in 1946 and started working for the welfare cause since 1989.

As a member of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the Company recognises that social work originates variously from humanitarian, religious and democratic ideals and philosophies, and that it has universal application to the meeting of human needs arising from personal-societal interactions, and to the developing of human potential (Source: Relationship with the International Federation of Social Workers AASW Constitution 2008, http://www.aasw.asn.au/about/FinalisedAASWConstitutionforASIC270608.pdf).

The AASW affirms that their professional social workers, in association with IFSW members offer services to the socially, physically, economically very poor society for their welfare and self-fulfilment. Officering their best, they mostly achieved the purpose of functioning by developing a disciplined and scientific strategy for the welfare and improvement of the living quality of people.

The AASW engaged in the building up of resources meant for various levels of targets whether it is individual, national or international needs. All of this reveals that the concept of social work has attained a global perspective. The global dimension of social work has given it a new life and attraction. Alleviating current social burden to unfold the full potential of communities is the guiding spirit of Social Relief International (Welcome to Social Relief International 2006).

Social work in modern times has become a profession which is sought after. The professional touch given to social work has caused the disfiguration of the very concept of social work for the benefit of society and human beings. The essay tries to make an analysis of the very concept of international social work and how it has helped in removing the severity of many a social calamity and disaster, and its relevance at the context.

The proper understanding of dimensions of international social work will enable the people to get a broad idea of the different and varied aspects of social work. These different dimensions of international social work have their matchless relevance in the modern society. These dimensions are namely economic dimensions, social dimensions and the environmental dimensions. Issues, strategies, and programs related to international social work draws together the practice wisdom emerging within the broad scope of international social work practice. (Pawar. and Cox 2008).

Using a broader perspectives approach, that involves scientific, economic, environmental and social development methods, authors David Cox and Manohar Pawar stressed the community to actively counter the global challenges that is often critical to life. This is the time to respond to modern global challenges which causes disaster to the well-being of people, communities and all the nations in the world. For responding to the natural calamity, the modern people have to adopt a broad outlook, which includes universal, human rights, environmental, and social development perspectives.

At this juncture, social workers need join their hands together for getting the crisis removed from the society whatever be the problem. But the measures that have been taken will not suffice the required level. There are few examples which prove it. The Human race has overcome so many challenges over the years that nothing seems impossible! However, Social Relief International believes that we have not even achieved one tenth of what is possible when it comes to creating socially acceptable living condition for all (Welcome to Social Relief International 2006).

The above cited quote has been taken based on the ongoing process of relief and rehabilitation works in Africa which is the greatest example of how confused governance joined with poor. These new programmes have to be put into practice and strategies have to be found in this regard. There should be a change in the approach of the people to the social relief programmes. Social relief international approach should be based on three main ideas.

Children must become the centre of any programme that aims to relive poverty, communities should have the access to resources within themselves to overcome social challenges and the research and policy analysis has to be the complete part of every social programme.” (Welcome to Social Relief International 2006). The new dimensions of international social work make it possible in the vast practicability of these measures.

The new approach gives more practical sense to the novel ideas of international social work. The international social work makes it possible for the whole world to come into contact with each other and also there is unanimity and the feeling of oneness in the entire realm.

Globalization: Its impact on Social Work

There are many definitions for the term globalization. It is the integration of economic, political, and cultural systems across the globe. Globalization is a force for economic growth, prosperity, and democratic freedom, (Welcome to a student’s guide to globalization). Anyhow globalization is the process of becoming the global village and it has some theoretical perspective. Due to the globalization the world economy has been configured and unleashed to have a free and fair business across the world. This results in a drastic change in socio-economic conditions of the people.

The makeover of home and households in transnationalism is also among one of these multidisciplinary perspectives. Globalization as a process has many merits and demerits. It helps in the integration of the whole world to one to an extent. There are a few theories which question the utility of the very concept of globalization. Many debates have been made to substantiate the point that the globalisation is useful to all the nations up to an extent.

Economic globalization can been viewed by utilizing two theoretical perspectives, herein described as free-market capitalism and world systems (Globalization: Two Sides of the Debate). Both these have their own positive as well as adverse impacts. These two perspectives are most often utilized for debate in many social forums.

The ‘world systems’ perspective offers the greatest explanatory power in its approach to and explanation of the underlying logic and dynamics of economic globalization as well as the potential consequences of such a phenomenon (Globalization: Two Sides of the Debate). Globalization affects a range of social issues such as poverty, immigration, women’s social position, health, and development. The importance is to be given to whether it is affecting these social issues positively or adversely.

Globalization and poverty are interrelated as globalization has helped in removing or reducing the rate of poverty in many developing countries. It has enhanced the rate of immigration from poorer countries to develop or developing countries. Globalization has helped in removing many of the social problems of women. It has also helped in the improvement of the health of the people. Due to the globalization factor, there is a scope of vast developments in every field as well as every parts of the world. The help rendered by globalization in removing the poverty has great impacts upon the society.

It could remove the level of poverty by creating more and more employment opportunities. Comparing the nations across the world through the past 20 years, countries like China, India and some of the nation’s belonging to East Asia have gone through with the fast growth in their economic conditions and remarkable decline in the poverty rate. Situations in other countries were a little different. The scenario of Latin America remained idle.

The economic developments of the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa seem to be brought to an end and even regressed. But it is to be analysed what is the ultimate repercussion of globalization. The neoliberal argument says that world poverty and income inequality fell over the past two decades for the first time in more than a century and a half, thanks to the rising density of economic integration across national borders. (Hunter 2004).

Globalization and migration represent two of the most dynamic global socio-political trends of our present time. While both have their own driving dynamic, they are highly interrelated.

Globalization has an ambivalent and somehow contradictory influence on the current migratory flows. (Papantoniou., Peschke,. And Moritz 2004). It means that globalization opened different kind of prospects, situations and conditions as per the choices of people that increase the anxiety for a better place of comforts and intensify the thought of migration. Globalization resulted in mixed kind of direct or indirect consequences that includes breaking down of national economies, acute poverty, developing economic disparities, conflicts and wars, revival of tribal, ethnic, and religious fundamentalism, declining of traditional industry, environmental degradation, which might pave way towards migration anticipated as a survival strategy.

Based on an analysis of around 150 million people, it was found that they migrated outside their countries of origin and have been forced into exile due to their economic constrains. Studies show that the condition of women becomes more and more deplorable due to the impact of globalization. Apart from these there are a few beneficial changes that have taken place due to globalization; this may include various rights for the protection of women from all kinds of threats.

Globalization has helped in improving the health conditions of people all over the world. The access to medical care and treatment could save many lives and this shows that people have an improved level of health in the times of globalization. All these conditions helped in the improvement and development of the world. The improvements in every field helped to create a lot of development in the condition of the entire world and its people.

Peoples’ Welfare: In Paper & In fields

The translation of International human rights is to be made possible at the local level; efforts have to be taken to bring about these radical changes. There are authenticated sources which tell that the efforts were not so relevant. Successes and limitations of these efforts to translate macro/international human rights norms into concrete local policy initiatives and in so doing, argue for a gendered and radicalized critique of human rights. That is attentive to the creative and often unexpected uses of macro-political tools for local political ends. (A Policy for Redressing Gender and Racialized Inequalities? The Substance and Politics of Rights Ordinances in the United States).

There is also another drawback about the international treaties of human rights that it is too remote from the realities of people and their lives. International human rights treaties often claim that timely efforts are taken for changing people’s poverty and deteriorating condition into stable and developing one. But in practical fields it never happens and for that the international treated are always criticized for turning their face around from the realities of people’s living conditions. Indeed, scholars have gone as far as to argue that international law itself is unlikely to advance human dignity because human rights treaties are flawed as a matter of substance and process (McGinnis, 2003:137 A Policy for Redressing Gender and Racialized Inequalities? The Substance and Politics of Rights Ordinances in the United States).

The potential for new technologies and telecommunications for enhancing information exchange and social justice activism is getting improved in the era of globalization. The technology savvy world develops modern and innovative communication models with a view to create opportunities for the people to speak about the better experiences and social concerns. Such basic social problems as inequality, poverty, and discrimination pose a constant challenge to policies that serve the health and income needs of children, families, people with disabilities, and the elderly (Anderson. and Herr 2007).

There are places or nations where we can see the process of significant changes both in personal values and civil life. New technologies in every field have helped to make faster telecommunication facilities for enhanced and speedy information exchange. Sometimes modern trends such as globalization of business and consumer values, fast growing and developing communication media and its personalization, and the economic rearrangement of business into e-commerce and other information-oriented economies are often treated as bane, but it has a positive aspect too.

Because of the above changes of modernization the whole world could provide helping hands wherever it need within little timeframe, whether it may be monetary forms of help or information based or even manpower related. Yet there are many signs – from the WTO experience in Seattle to the rise of global activism aimed at making biotechnology accountable – that new forms of citizenship, politics, and public engagement are emerging (Anderson, and Herr 2007).

International Social Workers: The Role in Rehabilitation of Needed Community

The position of international social work in the modern times is very stable and effective too. New and more vistas are opened in the field. The nature of work has fully changed over the years. Social workers among teenagers is getting vide vitality and is becoming popular. In the New Arenas for Community Social Work Practice with Urban Youth, Melvin Delgado contends that social services with teenagers need to be re-conceptualized (Chow 2001).

As an initial process, according to him, the young people should be trained in the way that it would benefit the development and growth of nations by extracting maximum potential from them. Continuing the topic Delgado insists to adopt the approach of developing energetic and hardworking community for the development and economic nourishment of the country. Analysing various case studies regarding humanities, arts, sports and human psychology the author advises the society to adopt the successful intervention strategies of community social work practice.

The Asian Tsunami Disaster received unprecedented global publicity resulting in an outpouring of financial assistance from governments, the general community and private donors, and international bodies. The AASW and the International Federation of Social Workers Asia Pacific responded to this crisis in a very helpful manner by giving such assistance to the victims and to those who directly or indirectly suffered the aftermath.

The International Social service organization FAST prescribed a working perspective in their constitution and that is Social work seeks to enhance community expertise and empowerment in the decision making process through all stages of planning, intervention and recovery. Strengths and resilience of the local community is acknowledged. International assistance is essentially collaborative with national/local partners in a consultancy role and in training/support/ research and evaluation (Source FAST http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/news/FAST_outline_draft12012005.pdf).

By using the knowledge and value based skills social workers can intervene in the people at the levels of individual, group and family, community and their policy. These intervention/consultation is guided by certain disaster management principles, values and code of ethics . The tasks, issues and priorities mentioned in FAST constitution are as under:-

Assessment of social emotional impact and needs.

Planning short term interventions re grief, loss, trauma reactions.

Working alongside agencies providing medium term interventions for communities and within temporary shelters to develop temporary communities.

Helping manage the grieving process; providing info; assessing vulnerable people and referring for intervention/treatment.

Therapeutic work, support and placement of orphaned/unattached children, adolescents and the widowed.

People with physical disabilities or mental/intellectual disabilities.

Assisting in education, research and evaluation, as well as documenting the event and process.

(Source FAST) http://www.aasw.asn.au/adobe/news/FAST_outline_draft12012005.pdf

No country stood alone from the aftermath of the disaster. Every country either directly or indirectly had to suffer the repercussions of this crisis. Tsunami was the result of a catastrophic earthquake at a magnitude of 9.0 in rector scale, which shook the Indian Ocean and formed very high tidal waves. The world has become a dumb witness of this deadliest natural disaster which happened in modern the era.

These deadly tidal waves devastated coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Southern India, Thailand, and other nations, taking lives of around 228,000 to 310,000 due to casualties and other sorts of loss to the properties of nations. Meanwhile, the international aid provided all sort of relief and rescue, and rehabilitation services for the affected areas, that could covered around 3 billion USD (about 2.3 billion euros) from across the world. Past experience shows that rebuilding takes years of momentous effort. For instance, in Hokkaido, Japan, it took over five years to completely recover from a 1993 earthquake-triggered tsunami ( http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/tsunami/overview.php).

There was global support against the disaster; help from different parts of the countries flew to the affected countries. Every nation joined their hands to fight against the disaster as well as to console the victims. With the outpouring of support from the global community, the recent tsunami disaster has highlighted a number of factors regarding the coordination and delivery of international aid. (Fertig, Foster, and Nicholas 2005). While providing the aids to the sufferers these organizations had sustained a number of bitter experiences and setbacks at the beginning stage.

Some of the difficulties the organizations had to face during the time of aid operations for the victims were that of financing such missions, providing the required type and amount of supplies, and bringing aid to affected populations while dealing with home and foreign governments. The AASW and the international social organizations rendered a significance services to tsunami victims. AASW and International Social Work Organizations, the renowned organizations for social services, bestowed a sort of social, economic, psychological solace upon the victims that rejuvenated them both physically as well as mentally in alleviating the sorrow of the tsunami affected people of different regions.

These organisations help for the removal of poverty from grass root level. IFSW is an international body for social work, representing half a million professional social workers around the globe (http://www.aasw.asn.au/news/news_archive.htmvb). The rehabilitation services rendered by these humanistic organizations, irrespective of their basis objectives and aims, were actually the need of the hour. The assistance provided by them cannot be belittled. The social workers from these organizations tried their hardest to reduce the grievances of the tsunami affected people and to rebuild their socio-cultural status.

Tsunami: Rescue and Rehabilitation

The Asian Tsunami Disaster received unprecedented global publicity resulting in an outpouring of financial assistance from governments, the general community and private donors, and international bodies. The AASW and the International Federation of Social Workers Asia Pacific are responded to that crisis. No other rescue and relief operations have ever received as much publicity as the Tsunami rehabilitation efforts.

As social work has become a profession it will certainly have possibilities for some drawbacks in the near future. Many organizations have now emerged as social organizations to render help for the needy and for the disaster affected people. Now, social work and social workers become part and parcel of a wider acknowledged profession. It has been included in the curriculum of many countries.

In a review of 20 years quantitative research and analysis into the psychological effects of disasters, Norris (2002) concluded that of the 50,000 people who had experienced 80 different disasters (62 per cent of which were natural disasters) and found the magnitude of individual effects like 74 per cent suffered from psychological problems, 65 per cent had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 37 per cent got depression or major depressive disorder and 19 per cent went through with anxiety or generalised anxiety disorder (Source Magnitude of Individual Effects) http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/97176/Disaster_Literature_Review_Edited_Final.pdf ).

Keeping in mind the facts mentioned above, the training of social workers should be planned accordingly incorporating human psychology and process of treatment for these kind of mental traumas. International social work has the following key features which distinguish it from any other profession. The study of International Social Work includes the main issues like natural calamities, disasters, major accidents, and its rescue/rehabilitation related strategies and programmes to be implemented at the right time in the right place of affected people.

Adopting these practices develops the broad scope of international social work services. As this essay has already narrated, the suggestion of authors David Cox and Manohar Pawar, regarding the ways of responding against the critical situations by all means available in this world.

Conclusion

The essay provides a positive approach with incorporating therein the overall perspectives and scope of international social work and social development practice to the world. One cannot expect a genuine social worker organization or other determined charitable societies to deceive peoples in the name of relief and rescue services. Thus the efforts made by Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and International Social Work Organizations for the rescue and rehabilitation of Tsunami affected people solely justified. Only because of these services the sufferers made themselves rehabilitated and returned to their normal life. So the services got deserved recognition and applause.

Ethically speaking to have a mind for social services is a generous initiative that everyone does not possess. The young generation can be provided with appropriate teaching, practicing, developing subject requirements and processes and thereby the world could create a best quality people with generous thinking and deed.

To propagate these values one need to have implement the process of international social work practice for students and practitioners at all levels. International Social Work is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses in Social Work and Development Studies as well as an excellent resource for social workers, human services professionals, and development practitioners (20060718 Pawar. and Cox 2008).

So the international social work organizations today become one of the inevitable social organizations for a noble cause. They help the entire world by rendering purposeful social services for the sake of humanity. Social workers have to be appreciated and applauded for their dedication and their sacrifices in the matters related to work.

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