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Introduction

Using course materials from Death and Dying, I will discuss the idea that death is something to be feared. I will use course material from Block 1, The Social Context of Death and Dying, focusing on units 1 and 2. I will provide evidence of arguments for and against this notion and consider other attitudes of how these views are formed by society. I will also illustrate my answers using materials form the course website, reader and audio activities. I have also incorporated some personal and professional experience. in an attempt to illustrate my points.

Death is portrayed and discussed in various ways by people from all walks of life, their upbringing and religious views can have an impact on how they perceive death. As discussed in Block 1, one indicator that death is something to fear is our use of language. This anxiety is demonstrated in the euphemisms individuals use when describing or explaining a death. For example when undertaking activity 1.1, Explaining the meaning of death, (Block 1, unit 1, pg 1). I discussed my first experience of death. I recall having to explain to my youngest sibling that our mother had died. My sister was 8 years old and I sat her down and spoke firstly about angels and the stars. I went on to tell her that God had decided he needed mum to be an angel. I couldn’t bear to use the word dead as I was struggling with mum being dead and was of the view that using the word ‘dead’ would have been too painful and therefore spoke about angels to make it less emotive. Since then I have experienced the death of other relatives and friends and find that I will use euphemisms such as, “passed away” or “gone to a better place”. I have also heard myself use phrases such as “kicked the bucket, however, this is usually when referring to someone I didn’t really know.

A number of examples are provided in block 1 in relation to euphemisms used to describe what occurs after death. Spiritualist and Mediums use words such as “crossing over” or “passed over” as they see the death as the beginning of a journey from this world to what they describe as the ‘spirit world’. Komaromy (2005) spoke of how she found that whilst exploring how death and dying were managed in care homes, was “frequently met with difficulty over the use of words ‘death’, ‘dying’ and ‘dead’” (Block 1, unit 1, section 1.2, pg 13). It would appear the fear of using these words were not necessarily from the residents themselves but by those who cared for them.

The beliefs instilled in people from a young age from their family, educational professionals and religious sources as well as their personal experience of death can often have a profound impact on how they perceive death and dying. Roman Catholics appear comfortable when speaking about death as they see death as a momentous event that should not be feared. Catholics believe in life after death, stating the soul leaves the body and will normally spend a period in Purgatory and when the soul is cleansed of the temporal consequences of sin they will enter heaven. However some anxiety remains, as for many, there is uncertainty of how long their soul will remain in purgatory. “They do not fear the next world, but rather the passage, the crossing over……..” (Toscani, et al(2003), OU course material, website).

Professor Douglas Davis’ research highlighted that gender plays a significant role in the belief in life after death in contemporary British Society. He states that women are far more likely to believe in an afterlife, than men, with a ratio of almost 2:1. He informs 30% of the population with a similar gender imbalance believe the dead remain among us and have had contact in one form or another with their loved one. (Audio1, activity 1.8, Identity and Belief). This I would argue is based on a person’s knowledge of the deceased and is linked to their sense of identity and the need to continue the link with their loved one, which in turn may offer comfort and peace of mind to those who are bereaved. People also seek comfort through contact with the dead via spiritualists and mediums, in an effort to communicate with loved ones. Justine Picardie describes this as attending a social gathering of the dead (Picardie in Making Sense of Death and Dying and Bereavement: An Anthology, pg 198, Earle, et al).

Research and studies regarding the beliefs and views of individuals in life after death vary from person to person depending on their religious or non-religious beliefs. For example the article “Life at the end of Life: beliefs about individual life after death and “good death” models – a qualitive study” Toscani, F., et al, highlights two different models and arguments regarding death and what would be classed as a “good death”. The attitudes and assumptions depend on whether the individual is a believer or non-believer but even then there can be conflicting opinions between faiths.

Tibetan Buddhism describes in great detail the process of death and the passage over. Tibetan Buddhists are encouraged to read “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” and when an individual is dying, there is a common conception that it is good to read this book to the dying person. “By understanding the death process and familiarisingour self with it, we can remove fear at the time of death and ensure a good rebirth” (Death and Dying in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, Hawter; V.P – internet source: Buddahnet.com). In contrast, Seventh-day Adventist beliefs regarding death are totally different from those of other religions. Adventists believe that people do not die nor do they go to Heaven or Hell. It is their belief that the individual “goes to sleep and will rise again on the Day of Judgement”. (Kormaromy, 2005, Block1, unit 1, section 1.2, pg13). By this they mean the person will remain unconscious until the return of Christ.

The views of atheists vary, although the consensus is that there is no life after death, that when we die, we die, and that is it. “If I am, death is not; if death is, I am no longer: why, then, fear death?” (Toscani,et al(2003), OU course website, pg 8). This does not mean that atheists do not have a fear of death, like believers there are similarities with regards to how they will die and where they would like to die. I worked with a family whose child was dying. When trying to support the family through this difficult period they spoke of feeling angry at individuals who had questioned why they were not in church praying. They informed me that as far as they were concerned that when their child died that was the end. They stated their only fear was that their child would die alone if they left his side.

The management of death and dying has changed over time. French Historian, Phillipe Aries claimed that in the Middle Ages people appeared more optimistic with regards to death, as they acknowledged death as part of life, as it unavoidable. The death affected not only the family of the deceased but the community as a whole. With individuals being assigned particular roles, for example, preparing the body for burial, announcing the death and it was customary to view the body of the deceased. Death was a common occurrence and this may explain why death was seen as inevitable and therefore not feared.

Aires argued that after the 19th century death in western society was hidden and following the First World War, death became a taboo subject and was no longer seen as a natural process of life. (Block 1, unit 2.2, pg 38). The explanation for this could be that it was due to what we know as the ‘nuclear family’ era? Norbert Elias (1985) would argue that in today’s society the role of preparing the deceased has been taken over by funeral directors who offer a wide range of services to the family. This includes collecting and preparing the body for burial or cremation. In my own recent experience of the death of my son, the only duty the funeral director could not undertake was to register the death. Elias argument “is that dying people are now more isolated than in the past” (Block 1, Unit 2.2 pg40).

It should be noted that some traditions continue, for example, the viewing of the deceased remains within many faiths be it within a church setting or funeral directors chapel of rest, although this is usually by family and close friends. This could explain why Aires theory that death after the 19th century did not have an overall impact on the community but rather than on a smaller network, family and friends. German Sociologist, Norbert Elias (1985), (Block 1, unit 2.2, pg 40) challenged Aires ideas, that in the past, death was accepted as being a natural process. Elias claimed death was painful as life was much shorter and more dangerous.

Conclusion

Perhaps the idea of life after death allows us to cope with what can only be seen as a natural fear as the alternative, non-existence is unimaginable and we are psychologically inept to deal with this. Therefore we need to ask the question is death something feared by all? Is this a hypothesis or could it be that for many individuals, especially, those in old age or with a terminal illness that death could be the beginning of something better. It can therefore be argued that whilst individuals and society have diverse opinions regarding death and what happens to them when they die, the majority do have a fear of how they will die. For example being alone, suffering pain, dying young or, being forgotten.

This article critically analyses ‘cultural competence’ as a theoretical construct and explores the need for a framework that will assist social workers to carry out culturally competent assessments of children in need and their families. It is argued that the necessary components of a framework for practice in this area are a holistic definition of culture, an ethical approach to difference, self-awareness, an awareness of power relations, the adoption of a position of complete openness in working with difference and a sceptical approach to a commodified conception of ‘cultural knowledge’. The approach must avoid the totalisation of the ‘other’ for personal or institutional purposes. It is argued that the Furness/Gilligan Framework (2010) reflects these concerns and could be easily adapted to assist with assessments in this area.

Key words: assessment; children in need; children and families; culture; cultural competence
Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse ‘cultural competence’ as a theoretical construct and to explore the need for a framework that will assist social workers to identify when aspects of culture are significant in the lives and children in need and their families. The 1989 Children Act places a legal requirement to give due consideration to a child’s religious persuasion, racial origin, and cultural and linguistic background in their care and in the provision of services (Section 22(5)). This provision established the principle that understanding a child’s cultural background must underscore all work with children. However, there has been a longstanding concern that services to children are failing to be culturally sensitive. Concern over the disproportionate number of ‘children in need’ from ethnic minorities led to their specific mention in The Government’s Objective for Children’s Social Services, which states that “the needs of black and ethnic minority children and families must be identified and met through services which are culturally sensitive” (Department of Health, 1999a: para 16). Government policy documents increasingly recognise the multicultural reality of Britain. Yet, government assessment guidance provides practitioners with little assistance in terms of establishing ways in which cultural beliefs and practices influence family life.

Social work has acknowledged the need to respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, ethnic backgrounds, religions, social classes and other diversity factors in a manner that values the worth of individuals, families and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each (BASW, 2009). There are many indications that culture is significant in determining the ways in which some people interpret events, resolve dilemmas, make decisions and view themselves, their own and others’ actions and how they respond to these (Gilligan, 2009; Hunt, 2005). Practitioners may not, therefore, be able to engage with service users or to facilitate appropriate interventions if they take too little account of these aspects of people’s lives or consider them on the basis of inaccurate, ill-informed or stereotyped ‘knowledge’ (Gilligan, 2009; Hodge et al., 2006).

Culturally competent practice is so fundamental to assessments of children in need that one might expect a well developed literature on the subject. This would act as a robust knowledge base to underpin excellence in service delivery. Thompson (2006, p. 82) admits, “there is a danger that assessment will be based on dominant white norms without adequate attention being paid to cultural differences. Failure to take such differences into account will not only distort, and thereby invalidate, the basis of the assessment but will serve to alienate clients by devaluing their culture.” However, the literature in this area is surprisingly sparse. Almost two decades ago it was described as a “void of published information” (Lynch and Hanson, 1992, p. xvii) and Welbourne (2002) argues that progress is still slow. Boushel (2000) argues that despite the government’s stated concern to know more about the impact of ‘race’ and ethnicity on child welfare, the limited extent to which research reflects the experience and needs of culturally diverse children fails to support a true evidence base for policy or practice. There is evidence that aspects of culture can all too easily be underestimated, overlooked or ignored, sometimes with extremely serious consequences (Laming, 2003; Gilligan, 2008; O’Hagan, 2001). Many mainstream childcare and child protection texts make little reference to culture (O’Hagan, 2001). Not one of the twenty pieces of research into differing aspects of child protection work considered in Messages From Research (Dartington, 1995) explore the cultural aspects of any of the cases dealt with.

There is now a growing body of literature written for health and social care professionals about the importance of developing and incorporating cultural sensitivity and awareness in their work with others (Campinha-Bacote, 1994; CHYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#BCP159C4?andHYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#BCP159C4?a HYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#BCP159C4?andHYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/bcp159v2?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=social+work+religion+and+belief&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#BCP159C4” Furman, 1999; Hodge, 2001, 2005; Moss, 2005; Gilligan and Furness, 2006; Sue, 2006; Laird, 2008). However, despite the apparent emergence of a more general recognition and acknowledgement of these issues amongst many professionals, relevant day-to-day practice remains largely dependent on individual views and attitudes (Gilligan, 2009). A Department of Health (2002) study of 40 deaths and serious injuries to children found that, “information on the ethnic background of children and carers was vague and unsophisticated in that it failed to consider features of the child’s culture, religion and race, as specified in the Children Act 1989” (Department of Health, 2002, p. 26). The failure to conceptualize accurately the cultural and social context within which minority ethnic parents are operating impacts on interventions offered, which ‘… served to reflect and reproduce existing powerlessness. . .’ (Bernard, 2001, p. 3). If, as this suggests, there is a deficit in social workers’ ability to conceptualize minority ethnic service users’ social and cultural context in assessments of children, partly accounted for by a paucity of literature in this area, the implications for practice are potentially a failure to carry out culturally competent practice for many vulnerable children.

In The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report 2003, Lord Lamming commented that, ‘The legislative framework is sound, the gap is in the implementation’ (2003, p. 13). Report after report has expressed concern over the limited skills of social services staff when undertaking assessments and designing interventions with ethnic minority children (Batty, 2002). While many professionals acknowledge that there is a need to work in culturally sensitive ways, there is evidence that many professionals working with children and families do not always feel equipped to do so (Gilligan, 2003). Gilligan (2009) found that whilst professionals may recognise that service users’ beliefs are very important, there is little consistency in how such recognition impacts on practice. Even within his small sample, there was considerable variation in attitudes and much to suggest that actions and decisions are the product of individual choice rather than professional judgement or agency policies (Gilligan, 2009). Practitioners are able to continue with ‘culture-blind’ approaches without these being significantly challenged by agency policies or by professional cultures (Gilligan, 2009). There is a clear need to look again at what we mean by ‘cultural competence’ and to develop a framework that will assist social workers to identify when aspects of culture are significant in the lives and children in need and their families.

Defining culture

There is a clear recognition that aspects of culture are significant in the lives of children and their families and that this needs to be considered in assessment practice. In order to address the lack of understanding and ineffective practice among practitioners in this area it is necessary to provide clear definitions of ‘culture’ and ‘cultural competence’. Assessing children in need and their families is a complex task. There is evidence of considerable variation between social workers’ definitions of the essential components of ‘good enough parenting’, reflecting the variation between professionals in definition of ‘need’ (Daniel, 2000). When reviewing cases of serious injury or death, the Department of Health concluded that: “. . .areas suggested by this research as ripe for … development [include] reaching common definitions of ”being in need” or ”at risk of significant harm”’ (Department of Health, 2002). It is in this context of ambiguity that ‘culture’ must be defined. The 1989 Children Act uses the wording ‘culture’ as a statutory requirement in addressing the needs of black children, but does not offer guidance about its definition.

Culture is a highly discursive term and the object of an intensive theoretical and political dispute (Benhabib, 1999, 2002). The construction of culture as a theoretical concept has always been affected by entangled perspectives, particularly in social work (Boggs, 2004). Harrison and Turner (2010) found that participants in their study spent considerable time discussing the complex nature of culture and the difficulties in defining it. This means that when looking at the practice of cultural competence as part of assessing need and risk the scope for conceptual ambiguity is vast (Welbourne, 2002).

Eagleton (2000, p. 1) states that, “culture is said to be one of the two or three most complex words in the English language”. O’Hagan (2001) argues that culture is a complex concept, with virtually limitless parameters, which cannot be defined or explained in the two or three sentences usually allocated to them in much health and social care literature. For example, Payne (1997, p. 244) provides a rather ambiguous definition of culture: “a difficult concept. It implies a relatively unchanging, dominating collection of social values, and assumes that members of an identified group will always accept these”. It is possible to examine definitions of culture that stem from anthropology, sociology, psychology and cultural geography (O’Hagan, 2001). The anthropologist Edward Tylor (1871) formulated the most enduring definition of culture: “culture… is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. The sociologist Giddens (1993: 31) says that culture “refers to the ways of life of the members of a society, or of groups, or within a society. It includes how they dress, their marriage customs and family life, their patterns of work, religious ceremonies and leisure pursuits”. O’Hagan (2001) defines culture as “the distinct way of life of the group, race, class, community or nation to which the individual belongs. It is the first and most important frame of reference from which one’s sense of identity evolves”. O’Hagan’s definition draws on anthropology and is wide enough to challenge essentialist notions of culture, yet defined enough to be meaningful. It also balances the community and individual aspects of culture. When we consider this definition of culture it can be seen that all assessment of children in need occurs within a cultural context. In fact it is perhaps better understood as taking place within a number of interacting cultural contexts, with the culture of the child at the heart of the process.

The use of the concept of ‘culture’ in developing ‘cultural competence’ and not ‘race’ has been a deliberate shift in terminology from anti-racist theorising. Anti-racist theory, with its emphasis on race, has been criticised for dichotomising ‘blackness’ and ‘whiteness’ which does not permit any differentiation in the experience of racism between different ethnic groups (Laird, 2008). The idea of racial homogeneity has been enduring but this idea must be challenged. White people and black people are not homogeneous groups (Laird, 2008). Culture is a broader term than ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’ and can include aspects of age, gender, social status, religion, language, sexual orientation and disability (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005). Using the term ‘culture’ allows for difference of attitude and experience between individuals who are part of the same ethnic or racial grouping. If one considers that culture is learned from generation to generation, it is inevitably person specific and shaped by one’s personal and societal context.

The Challenge of Cultural Competence

There are a variety of paradigms in the study of race, ethnicity and culture which are located in particular socio-historical and political contexts. ‘Cultural competence’ is just one of these and has not escaped criticism in the professional literature. Writers in social work have argued that cultural competence depoliticises race relations and promotes ‘othering’ (Pon, 2009), assumes workers themselves are from a dominant culture (Sakamoto, 2007) and is based on the flawed assumption that acquiring cultural knowledge will result in competent practice (Dean, 2001; Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010). Despite its wide acceptance, the concept remains subject to multiple, often conflicting, views. There is a need to critically analyse ‘cultural competence’ as a theoretical construct in order to make it meaningful to practitioners and to provide a basis for best practice.

Concern with racism emerged in the social work profession in the 1970s and during the 1980s major texts appeared to guide practice (Payne, 2005). The concept of ‘anti-racist’ practice emerged built on the principles that ‘race’ is a social construct that has been used to justify oppression and that it is necessary to critically examine the dynamics of power relationships that produce oppression. Anti-racist theorists have criticised advocates of cultural competence for creating an ‘exotic’ understanding of people from ethnic minorities and for not recognising practice issues of social inequality or racial discrimination (O’Hagan, 2001). Cultural competence has been presented as apolitical and has been criticised for failing to address the power struggles of history (Barn, 2007). Key issues of power are absent from much of the analytical thinking around the paradigm of cultural competence (Barn, 2007). Given that the political, cultural and professional perspectives on race and ethnicity have important consequences for minority ethnic children and families, social workers need to incorporate an understanding of power relations as a key tool for subverting racism. A more sophisticated and nuanced approach is necessary, which will involve a paradigm shift from essentialist notions of race which view culture in rigid and inflexible ways to one in which cultural sensitivity is understood within the context of power relations (Barn, 2007). It is important to widen the debate beyond ‘black’ and ‘white’, to recognise that racial, ethnic and cultural groups are not homogenous, but to not abandon the challenging of racism and other forms of oppression.

Culturally competent practice needs to take account of the tensions between different cultural norms and values within the UK, not only between ethnically and culturally distinct groups of people. Social work norms and values may not be those of the majority of Europeans, or even of the ‘mainstream’ white UK population, as the case of A v UK demonstrates. Writers such as Olsen (1981), Korbin (1981, 1991) and Thorpe (1994) have problematised the notion of a universal standard of childcare, pointing to significant cross-cultural variability. The essence of this challenge is that standardized definitions of child abuse must be contested as they necessarily relate to culturally defined norms. Korbin HYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#KORBIN-1991?(1991), in what is now a classic essay, warns against the dangers of both Eurocentric practice and overly culturally relativist practice.

On the one hand, Eurocentric practice serves only to impose one set of cultural beliefs and practices as preferable and therefore reproduce patterns of domination and oppression. In the British literature, concern has been expressed that minority families are too frequently pathologised and stereotyped, with workers over-relying on cultural explanations for their problems and utilizing a model of cultural deficit (Williams and Soyden, 2005; Chand, 2000; Ahmed, 1994). It is argued that they receive more and speedier punitive services than preventative/care services (Williams and Soyden, 2005). Lees (2002) argues from her research that there is a tendency to ‘pathologise’ behaviour that is not culturally ‘normative’, an example being negatively evaluating the act of running away from an abusive home among young black women rather than adopting passive coping strategies.

At the other extreme, Korbin notes “… extreme cultural relativism, in which all judgements of humane treatment of children are suspended in the name of cultural rights, may be used to justify a lesser standard of care for some children” (1991, p. 68). It has been suggested that cultural relativism ‘freezes the status quo’ by making standard-setting according to ‘universal’ norms impossible (Laird, 2008). Barn et al (1997) found that adoption of a position of cultural relativity through fear of being labelled as racist affected statutory provision to children and families. They found that some social workers were reluctant to intervene to protect children because they believed that abusive behaviour was sanctioned by their culture (Barn et al, 1997). The child abuse inquiry reports of Jasmine Beckford (Blom-Cooper, 1985) and Tyra Henry (Lambeth, 1987) concluded that ‘culture’ had impinged upon events leading to the deaths of these children. It was suggested that workers were too optimistic in their assessments of carers and that abusive behaviours were interpreted as aspects of culture.

Whilst these concerns turn on the recognition of aspects of cultural difference as significant in the process of assessment, it has long been noted in the social work literature that practitioners fail at the first hurdle, in as much as they do not recognise at all the importance of culture: a culture-blind approach (Dominelli, 1998; Boushol, 2000; Graham, 2002). The culture-blind approach eschews difference in its search for a universal formula. It suggests that a standard of good practice can be established which fits all. For example, Payne (1997) rejects the argument that western social work theory may be incompatible with some of the core components of other cultures and ignores the fact that it was used extensively in the processes of annihilation of various indigenous cultures (O’Hagan, 2001). Despite being consistently criticised as naive and oppressive, this approach represents a powerful paradigm within social work (Williams and Soyden, 2005; Dominelli, 1998).

Finding the balance between these concerns poses considerable difficulties for those charged with assessments of children in need (Dominelli,HYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#DOMINELLI-1998A” HYPERLINK “http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/901?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=how+and+when+does+athnicity+matter&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT#DOMINELLI-1998A”1998). What is needed is an approach to practice that can challenge normative stereotypes of ‘appropriate’ behaviour by parents or children while promoting the rights of children to safety and ‘good enough’ parenting. Brophy (2003, p. 674) states “Balancing a respect for differing styles of parenting and guarding against inappropriate inroads into lifestyles and belief systems, while also protecting children from ill-treatment, remains an exacting task. Professionals can be castigated for intervening too quickly or too slowly.” Social workers must operate with cultural sensitivity within the assessment process but at the same time recognize that at the heart of anti-oppressive practice is a commitment to the non-relative core value of human equality.

A Knowledge Based Competency?

Cultural competence as a practice response to these issues has been conceptualised in several ways. There are not one, but multiple definitions of cultural competence and it appears to be a changeable, evolving concept (Harrison and Turner, 2010). The frameworks available to assist practitioners in assessing aspects of culture are predominantly of two types: assessment models that try to aid in the collection of information and the understanding of specific service users’ strengths, needs and circumstances (Carballeira, 1996; Hodge, 2001, 2005; Hogan-Garcia, 2003; Sue, 2006) and reflective models that aim to help the practitioner to develop relevant skills and awareness in general terms (Green, 1999; Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005; Papadopoulos, 2006).

Assessment models of cultural competence frequently refer to the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, practices and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services, thereby producing better outcomes (Davis and Donald, 1997). To work effectively with diversity, practitioners are expected to gain knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, to have a positive attitude towards cultural differences and develop cross-cultural skills (Ben-Ari, 2010). Examples of assessment models include the LIVE and LEARN Model developed by Carballeira (1996) which identifies a series of activities which practitioners need to engage in to be culturally competent: Like; Inquire; Visit; Experience; Listen; Evaluate; Acknowledge; Recommend and Negotiate. Another example is Campinha-Bacote’s (2002, pp. 182-3) ASKED model which identifies five dimensions of cultural competence: cultural Awareness; cultural Skill; cultural Knowledge; cultural Encounter; and cultural Desire. In line with this approach Sue (2006) argues that “culturally competent social work practice is defined as the service provider’s acquisition of awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to function effectively in a pluralistic democratic society” (2006: 29).

However, there is disparity in the literature as to the ‘knowledge’ that is necessary for effective culturally responsive practice. The above models adopt a cultural literacy approach in which culture specific information and practice is categorised under broad ethnic group categories (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005). For example, Laird’s (2008) book “Anti-Oppressive Social Work” contains chapters entitled “communities with roots in India”, “communities with roots in the Caribbean” and “communities with roots in China”. Similarly, O’Hagan (2001) includes chapters about “Islam”, “American Indians” and “Australian Aborigines” in his book about cultural competence. Laird (2008, p. 156) states “It is only by gaining cultural knowledge, that is, learning to appreciate the variety of ways in which people with different heritages organise their lives, that practitioners from the white-majority community can gain cultural awareness. This is because cultural knowledge… offers practitioners a comparative analytical tool with which to examine cultural influences upon their own lives”.

From this approach ‘knowledge’ is seen as central to the development of cultural competence skills, which are fundamentally knowledge-based learned capacities (Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010). It is widely believed that cultural knowledge is the key to interpreting the code of cultural diversity (Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010). It is argued that without knowledge, one cannot be aware of the presence of biases in professional practices and practice could remain ethnocentric (Adams et al., 2001). There is a tendency to think that if a worker learns about a culture, what Spradley (1994) calls ‘explicit cultural knowledge’, then they will have a framework for working with that culture. Widely existing conceptions of cultural competence assume that the ‘other’ is knowable and that this knowledge is a prerequisite for being culturally competent (Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010).

A radically different stance has been suggested by Ben-Ari and Strier (2010) who examine cultural competence through the lens of Levinas (1969) theory of ‘other’. Levinas (1969) proposes that ethics precedes knowledge. He argues that our humanity is realised through the ‘wisdom of love’ and not through the ‘love of wisdom’ (the literal Greek meaning of the word ‘philosophy’). In other words, ethics precedes any objective searching after truth (Beals, 2007). Levinas’ thesis ‘ethics as first philosophy’ means that the pursuit of knowledge is but a secondary feature of a more basic ethical duty to the ‘other’. Within this framework, the main question becomes what relation to the ‘other’ is necessary in order for knowledge to be possible? He argues that the ‘other’ is not knowable and cannot be made into an object of the ‘self’, as is done by traditional philosophy. By emphasising the primacy of ethics to knowledge, Levinas creates a new framework for working across differences.

This raises fundamental questions with regard to the nature of social knowledge. Laird (2008) argues that the most critical requirement of culturally sensitive social work is to keep open the dialogue between people from different ethnic backgrounds and to ensure that each individual emerges as a unique composite of values, beliefs and aspirations. It is necessary to consider how accumulated knowledge about ‘other’ cultures has the potential to limit our openness in our encounters with people who are ‘other’ to us. Knowledge about other cultures can lead to the experience of totality: something is nothing more than what I make out of it (Ben-Ari and Strier, 2010). When we totalise the ‘other’ we reduce our understanding of it. Levinas (1987) proposes that we should aim for the experience of infinity, that is, the recognition that something is more than what we could make of it. Berlin (2002, p. 144) notes the danger of totalising people from other cultures, stating “classifying people on the basis of group membership only gives us the illusions that we are being culturally sensitive, when, in fact, we are failing to look beyond easy characterisations for the particular and specific ways this person is understanding, feeling and acting”. A knowledge based approach to cultural competency has a tendency to create overgeneralisations of cultural groups and can lead to the worker perceiving themselves as an ‘expert’ despite the likelihood of them being in a position of cultural naivety (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005).

The implication of this is that culturally competent assessments must come from an ethical standpoint of openness on the part of the practitioner. O’Hagan (2001) states, “The workers need not be highly knowledgeable about the cultures of the people they serve, but they must approach culturally different people with openness and respect”. It must be recognised that thoughts, feelings and actions are influenced by external and internal variables that are cultural in origin and, as a consequence, that each individual who enters the child welfare system is unique (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005). A consequence of this is that perceptions of the child welfare problem will be unique to each client or family. Understanding how the family perceives the problem enables child protection workers to work in a more culturally responsive way in developing solutions. Cooper (2001, p. 732) states “the meanings in context of a child’s injury are not ‘revealed’ through objective facts or through ‘expert’ objective assessment or diagnosis. An agreed meaning, understanding and potential for change can only be co-constructed, with the service user and their social relationships and networks, within a situated organisation and multi-agency context”. Aligning solutions with the cultural identity of the family provides the potential for family-centred responses. Cultural competence must move away from an emphasis on ‘cultural knowledge’ if it is to provide an ethical framework for working with difference.

A Matter of Reflection?

The second main type of cultural competence model is a reflective model. Reflection has been part of practice discourse for a number of decades (Schon, 1983; 1987). More recently the concept of critical reflection has taken hold (Fook, 2002). A critically reflective response challenges the values and attitudes associated with professional conduct (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward, 2005). An example of a reflective model of cultural competence is the ‘cultural-reflective model’ developed by Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward (2005). This model includes the processes of cultural thinking; critical reflection and reflective practice outcomes. A strength of the model is that is recognises the interaction between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ within interactions between people of different cultures.

Ben-Ari and Strier (2010) argue that the development of the concept of ‘cultural competence’ could benefit from considering the significance of ‘self’ and ‘other’ interdependence in contemporary debates on cultural diversity. They analyse relations between ‘self’ and ‘other’ using Levinas’ theory of ‘other’ and explore the ways in which these relations play a pivotal role in working with differences. A person’s definition of the ‘other’ is part of what defines the ‘self’ (Levinas, 1969). The idea that the ‘self’ requires the ‘other’ to define itself has been expressed by many writers (Brown, 1995; Riggins, 1997; Gillespie, 2007). It has been recognised that the concept of ‘otherness’ is integral to the understanding of identities as people construct roles for themselves in relation to an ‘other’.

The implication of this is that that all cross-cultural encounters between social workers and service users bring into play not only the heritage of the service user, but also that of the practitioner (Laird, 2008). Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward (2005, p. 59) note that “assessments of the social world are likely to say more about the perceiver than the persons under study”. Social workers need to discover and reflect upon their own value system and traditions in order to be culturally competent. Reflective models, such as Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward’s (2005), recognise that our cultural thinking responses are often automatic and outside of our control. It is necessary to ask where our responses and language come from (Connolly, Crichton-Hill and Ward’s, 2005). The reflective process encourages an examination of values and beliefs underpinning reactions. It involves challenging our assumptions, recognising stereotypes and recognising power and its effects. Without this it is easy to think that it is our way of being is the norm and other people who are “ethnic, idiosyncratic, culturally pe

Introduction

The essay shall explore and analyse the theoretical underpinnings and key elements of critical social work. The account shall then describe assessment in social work practice contexts and consider how critical social work theories like Marxism, Feminism, Radical Social work and Post Modernism have shaped practice. A range of values ranging from personal, professional, institutional, organisational or agency, political, religious and cultural inevitably feature and must be dealt with in practice. Over and above this lies the social justice, emancipatory agenda vehicle by anti-oppressive approaches. Empathy is required and the social worker must be in the clients’ shoes (Egan, 1998). Theoretical bases and approaches enable practitioners to cross social divides and be with the client in a supportive way in an accountable and ethical manner. Vast energy must be invested to dispel and challenge both the personal and the structural dominant forces of oppressive practices. The author shall attempt to demonstrate how theories have shaped the response approaches to service delivery and contributed to professional practice.

Critical Social Work Theoretical Frameworks

The emergence of Socialism, Marxism, Liberalism and Conservativism shaped the emerging ‘social’ professions at the turn of the twentieth century totally and reshaped the manner in which life was understood. How the social, political, economic shaped that reality became core in conceptualising reality and the way humans reacted to the world around them. In most cases socially constructed realities could be explained through the material realities if one was to look at the world through a Marxist perspective. The 1960-70s interpretation of social problems, described as ‘the rediscovery of poverty’. Marxist principles understood the world as socially divided by class, rendering some classes more susceptible to poverty than others as economically determined by having no control of the means of production. Marxist theory locates class struggle as a means of redressing this kind of socio-economic imbalance and the inequality The core elements in this phase were modes of production and power, the equality that came with the package and the desire for change, social change could only be achieved through class struggle.

The human position could thus be understood as driven and controlled by the external, in this case the poor as the oppressed group desired change. Social work’s role involves working with people’s lives, social problems centred on poverty and disadvantage and the core business involves establishing balance, social stability and social justice. Intervention without challenging social exclusion, inequality and poverty has proved to be insufficient yet traditional social work pathologised the individual.

At the early phases social work was more about maintaining public order and suppressing civil unrest and class struggle rather than getting down to the core issues of poverty alleviation and challenging the sources and reasons for the differences that affected the people. Norms of behaviour and lifestyle for the people were determined by the eligibility criteria as the beneficiary elements of philanthropic interventions more than rights driven determinants.

Radical social work emerged to instil that it was in fact a political activity. Social work should be about supporting those in need, challenging inequality and social change, not social control dealing with material realities. With radical social work emerged the community element in social work, conscious raising approach, gradual incremental change in the process and oppositional activism. As the profession developed critical social work begins to understand oppressive forces and work to reconstruct power imbalances (Thompson, 2007; Dominelli, 1988; Braye and Preston-Shoot

Radical social work had been too minimalistic and was criticised for over focussing on class and paying no attention to other forms of inequalities. Bhatti- Sinclair (2011) argues that ‘social workers remain committed to human rights, ethics and values and continuously seek a sharper understanding of how to apply theoretical concepts found in universal humanitarian principles, professional ethics and national law, policy and procedure’. (xii) Inclusivity and citizenship are the main targets in critical social work practice as opposed to viewing people as collective groups (Glaister, 2008). Anti-oppressive practice thereby pursues social justice and challenges practice discrimination and oppression bluntly. Engagement with social reality must involve critiquing of social systems and structures, and set platforms for social change and difference. The approach has an ethical commitment to social justice by exposing inequalities and challenging unequal power dynamics in society. The manner in which society functions has structures that can either oppress or liberate some social groups. As the practitioner works, there is undoubtedly the challenge of professionally compliant.

Social Work Practice Approaches

Critical social work practice at all times engages with how other people on the other social, cultural, religious divide are understood by us. Understanding diversity and how personal views and values are located must be a constant reflective professional commitment. Personal or societal perceptions are shaped over time or driven by historical and socio-political realities/environments must be understood. Where stereotypes have been shaped over time in individuals; a professional operational base must be adopted. Braye, S & Preston-Shoot, M (2003) challenge hypocritical professionalism by arguing that personal values and attitudes will always be there, the issue is that they should not affect effective service delivery. This is the heart of critical social work practice; being able to transcend the personal and being a professional.

Social work can challenge or maintain status quo and that social workers are invested with power to care and control. In the context of what shall be discussed later about assessments, Braye & Preston-Shoot (2003) state that,

‘Preparation for and review of practice requires workers to understand themselves, their relationship with and impact on others, and their strengths and weaknesses in relation to maintaining a professional role’ (2003:135).

Respect is necessary both when working with service users and fellow colleagues. As explored in Thompson’s model – PCS, Social work must explore the personal, cultural and structural dimensions of discrimination, and how these come together, and can be challenged in different ways (Dominelli, 2009). Social work must not reinforce oppression, discrimination or any inequality. Social work can reinforce patriarchal and other oppressive systems and power relations.

There are social realities that social work either challenges reinforce, statistically ethnic minority groups generally experience higher rates of unemployment, live in poorer housing, have poorer health, lower levels of academic achievement, higher rates of exclusions from schools and are over-represented in prison statistics. Families who are from black and ethnic minority groups are more likely to be referred to children’s social work services, receive support services later, and children are more likely to go into the care system. There are other forms of prejudice, inequality and discrimination which can intersect, and these can affect people in many different ways. In light of these objective realities, what could be the drivers of such realities? What ideas are generated about the social group and how could this impact on a practitioner’s judgement when dealing with an individual from BME groups.

The same applies when working with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, awareness of professional responsibility and a social justice approach when conducting an age assessment must be the practice base. The Human rights and child rights must be appropriately accorded without discrimination. Another example is that of mother blaming in a child protection cases. Feminist theory has challenged this gendered approach to problem solving where the female is mostly at the centre of the problem yet ignores the men from the social causal matrix. As a result of critical social work a shift has developed where the whole domestic environment and people must be part of the issue at hand. If all are not challenged this practice reinforces the interests of some groups over others and oppresses women.

Assessment Process

Middleton (1997) describes assessment as part of the planning agenda involving gathering and interpreting information in order to understand a person and their circumstances. It involves making judgements based on information. (Middleton, 1997:5). The process here involves respect for the individual’s values, their core identity and judgements are made without being judgemental. Selective and stereotypical considerations must be avoided, labelling and categorising people and overlooking their individuality and can allow elements of discrimination to permeate the process which must otherwise not be affected by individual values and perspectives. As argued by Clifford (1998) it is important that social workers check their individual biases and ensure that these do not affect the manner in which they undertake assessments.

In direct link with critical social work, assessments must be informed by critical theory to enhance a balanced, just and anti-oppressive assessment process. Personal views held by the social worker must not occupy any space in the assessment process for the sake of justice, fair access to services anti-discriminatory practice.

Parker and Bradley (2005) argue that a balanced approach of an assessment involves wisdom, skills, appreciation of diversity and systematically applied knowledge in direct practice. Service users must feel that they benefit from the assessment process for it to be effective (Addock, 2001) and the social worker and family members must collectively contribute to the process. This involvement enriches the process and eliminates subjective approaches to the assessment.

Social work practice and critical approaches intersect; the worker must be conscious of their personal beliefs and values and strike a responsible, ethical and professional balance in the manner the assessment and intervention is conducted and be honest and explicit with service users. (Parker & Bradley, 2005: 7). Extensive knowledge of the service user’s environmental and living systems and the wider systems that impinge on them must be key determinants in assessments (Parker & Bradley 2005:13) .Service user involvement is empowering and demonstrates citizenship and self driven responsibility as human worth.

Understanding power dynamics in assessments

Power relations inherent in the social work process must be carefully managed and ensure a balanced contributory approach whereby an exchange model would can adopted to acknowledge that the service users are experts of their situations. Service users and social workers exchange ideas, information and ways forward to make a difference and find alternative ways of approaching as collective partners (Parker & Bradley, 2005:14). In terms of skills this involves actively listening to service users being available for them, a professional and non-judgemental or non directive approach, straight and honest talk and social justice pursuit. (Parker & Bradley, 2005).

Child centred assessments must be informed by child development theories, ecological approaches, ensuring equality of opportunity, involvement of families and an interagency approach ensures collective creative interventions. When working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children for example, Culturegrams help in analysing the impact of culture in the lives of those individuals and families being assessed (Parker & Bradley, 2005:50-53). This can be very useful when working with BME groups as well as refugees and asylum seekers in a broader context. Values of the families and individuals are explored and these help shape the nature of the intervention where the individual shapes the course of the intervention as opposed to it being driven by the powerful professionals.

Multiculturalism and social work

Multiculturalism is a 21st Century challenge as citizenship recognition and integration a modern society characteristic. Critical multiculturalism suggests that social workers need to intellectually engage with the issues of difference and citizenship, in a manner that detaches practice from monoculturalist norms’ (Powell, 2001:146). Social workers are practically challenged to interrogate the value assumptions of their approach and assess principles and values they use in practice. ‘If social workers are to avoid narrative repression, they need to be capable of challenging discursive hierarchies of meaning in their practice’. (Powell, 2001:146). This becomes the reflexive component in the intervention. This involves challenging the very systems that they use and lobby for the change in structural elements that could be oppressing the very people they would be working with.

Feminist social work engages in redressing gender inequalities, this could be the mother blaming attitude that it challenges. Critical social work engages a need for awareness by practitioners, a transformation of cultural attitudes around race relations, gay rights and the relationship between sexuality, culture and power and of the need for anti-discriminatory practice (Powell, 2001:149). In order to meet the professional demands of the profession, social workers must seek guidance and close the gap between personal values and professional practice. This must make constant reference to human rights, equality, discrimination and racism (Bhatti- Sinclair, 2011). Fook (2000) argues that expert critical social workers are able to create critical knowledge which challenges and resists all forms of domination.

Anti-racist practice

Dominelli (2008) points out that anti-racist practice beyond that presented in Thompson’s (2007) PCS model by emphasising on its interactional nature. For Dominelli (2008) racism is a multidimensional form of oppression over and above discrimination Institutional and Cultural racism are structurally associated and viewed as less evil than the personal racism which society frowns upon, yet the is no better racism. If practitioners hand over responsibility of BME issues to BME staff this may be problematic as it may result in a lack of obligation by white social workers to anti-racist practice and reinforce difference. Institutional practices must be professionally compliant (Bhatti- Sinclair, 2011:128) at their own level.

Treatment of black families/children hits them every day and there are challenges that the social workers have to deal with in the face of these ingrained stereotypical views of the good white family and the bad black family. Dominelli (2008) argues that ‘challenging how white people perceive black families is only possible within positive trusting relationships. Nomadic settlers fall into the same category where as the minority ethnic groups where stereotypical assumptions exist that can influence the social work process.

To work with individuals on the autistic spectrum requires knowledge and understanding of autism. Knowledge of the condition’s characteristics, the basic understanding of the triad of impairments is necessary for use in the social work process. The individuals must not be viewed as unwilling to engage due their limited social interaction skills but must be understood and appropriate communication systems used. For example, instead of talking through an assessment; picture boards, games of their interest, familiar environments and using their preferred mode of communication would help to involve them, engage them and remove a possible stereotypical view that they cannot make decisions. If this process does not involve them, the likelihood is that anti-oppressive practice would have been failed. Good practice recognises individuality and this permeates through the social work process.

Assessment process in practice

The author’s work experience with a forty year old autistic man in Coventry stands as a unique example of the complexity of service user involvement and creativity aimed at raising the level of positive outcomes in reviewing a care plan. The only established access point for his contributions was when he was away from home, on the bus. During any travel by bus, he livened up and opened up, expressed his views about the service he was receiving and it was the best time to evaluate the support care plan, conversationally in a bus. Working around the individual’s world helped the social care provider to reach out to the very important needs that an office based assessment could not achieve. The bus environment had no powerful/powerless unequal binary dynamic in it. It was his comfort zone. Failure to recognise individual likes, obsessions and sensory issues in autistic individuals can hinders the social work process. Effective assessments can only be achievable when the service user is located at the centre of the process by use of approaches that promote social change and justice.

Challenging discrimination in practice

Children are often described as vulnerable, innocent, in need of protection and lacking experience. If not carefully approached the child may be sidelined from the assessment process and overshadowed by adult ideas. If it is around abuse in the home, it is the child’s experience and not the adult’s experience that must take precedence with the child as the expert. The Lamming Report emphasised the need to see the world ‘through the eyes of the child’. The role of the social worker in practice is to challenge discrimination, exclusion of socially excluded groups like children. Children have been looked at as subjects and the critical approach locates them as able to shape and voice. Failure to recognise children and the social worker’s relatively powerful position practitioners reinforce oppression. The critical practitioner ‘engages service users to facilitate the telling of their stories’ in the assessment process.

Law is used to counter oppressive practice and sets out operational parameters for professionals to deal with racism and be aware that discrimination is unlawful (Race relations Act 1976 & Equality Act 2006, Bhatti- Sinclair, 2011).To overcome the practice challenge, social workers have looked up to anti-racist advocates for guidance on methods and models which respond ethically, effectively and efficiently to daily challenges and dilemmas (Bhatti- Sinclair, 2011).

Training and existing regulatory bodies like the HCPC enable practice to be justice based by requiring professionalism by the workforce through compliance and guidance. The Professional capabilities Framework requires the worker to ‘Recognise and manage the impact on people of the power invested in your role’ (PCF 33) and standards of proficiency calls on the need to ‘recognise the power dynamics in relationships with service users and carers and be able to manage those dynamics appropriately’ (SoPS 2.8). Formalised assessments aid in injecting consistency Crisp et al (2005) argues that the absence of a formalised assessment framework results in subjective assessments. Professionally trained and skilled workers enhance a fair assessment. Assessments must not just look at behaviour, but also the cause of the behaviour in a holistic way in order to make correct judgements and this is achieved through service user participation in the process. Milner & Byrne, (2002) postulate that the assessment there is need for mapping before planning the assessment journey. This involves knowing the child, engaging them and drawing their strengths in order to shape appropriate support (Dominelli & Payne, 2002).

Involvement

Effective anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice must be drawn from practice intelligence, applied research and service users involvement. Empowering practice has an involvement and integration component as opposed to exclusion practice approaches by lack of appropriate language and culture awareness (Bhatti- Sinclair, 2011).Structurally, well planned and coordinated assessments and interventions involve the service user and must respond sensitively to their needs.

Awareness of our own prejudices and past experiences and ideas must be non-threatening to clients (Lindsay, 2010) .Interactive polarisation between the social worker and client can undermine social work effectiveness whereupon families and individuals are pathologised either as unreachable or resistant. Positive communication enhances the relationship building (Kaprowska 2010:5) which is the key to an accurate assessment.

Individuals with disabilities often argue that social workers’ assessments of them emphasise more on impairment and less on being seen as human, instead assessments must explore their individual abilities. In addition when working with individuals who use minority languages it can become a barrier for an accurate assessment hence the need to plan assessments for these individuals with full awareness of this key communication element in order to ensure the service user’s involvement. This could be necessitated by translators or minority language speaking social workers. Similarly, when working with the elderly, assessments must detect abilities and not reinforce ageist stereotypes, shared power and agreed direction principle.

Conclusion

The concept of critical practice locates the social worker as an active participant in a process of interpreting and understanding relationships and communication that must cut across difference. Over and above assumptions, prejudices, personal beliefs, structural frameworks; the critical practitioner must be reflexive and engaged in an empowering way whilst being aware of personal and socio-cultural origins and belief systems and challenging all forms of oppression. Appropriate skills and knowledge must be incorporated for the social work process to be effective.

The essay is an analysis of theories underpinning and key elements of critical social work and its values. Furthermore I will explore Counselling as one of the areas of social work practice and how it is influenced by the critical social work approach in practice. I will include examples from practice experience and literature and also highlight the influence of inequalities, power and social divisions. The views of service users and their contribution towards the practice will also be taken into account in the essay.

Social work in the UK dates back to the 19th as a community and charitable activity to support the disadvantaged and poor. From the charitable and community origins it developed in strength to a field that aims at challenging inequality, oppression; promote social inclusion/ social justice and independence Parrot (2002). Through these values and aims Social Work broadened its knowledge base and developed into Critical social work. Wooster (2002) supports the above origins when he mentions that Social work owes its origins to Christian morality than a commitment to social problems affecting individuals. Following the economic crisis in the UK in the 1970s due to escalating oil prices social issues like poor housing, unemployment, poverty and homelessness social work shifted and broadened its focus and tried to address social issues and problems. (Grimwood et al., (1995).

Adams et al (2009) mentions that in attempting to address social problems, disadvantage and inequalities social work practitioners have drawn knowledge and ideas from various disciplines such as sociology, psychology, philosophy and politics. From this multi-disciplinary knowledge base the underpinning ideology was anti oppressive principle which provides theoretical tools to understand, intervene and respond to the complex experience of oppression. This means social work practitioners have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to challenge inequalities and disadvantage.

Critical practice can be traced and associated with radical social work in the 1960s-70s deriving ideas from Marxist theory Fook (1993). Radical social work upheld the following themes: structural analysis of personal problems, ongoing social critique mainly focusing on oppressive ideas/practice and goals of self emancipation and social change. Parallel to these traditions empowering and anti-oppressive practice to participation in research and community work. Several key principles were shared from radical critiques to present critical social work which are: challenging dominant forces and oppression in all forms, a critique of positivist ideas and the need to challenge dominant constructed ways of knowing by developing other ways of knowing. This would be achieved through recognising that knowledge may reflect reality but may also be socially constructed. In order to create more/new knowledge self reflection and interaction are essential tools using communication processes.

Marx analysed the capital society he lived in Germany and argued that the structures within society derived from the economy and the changes in the industrial revolution influenced some people to be more powerful and others not. Individuals were restrained by the demands of Capitalism resulting in structure/agency problem at the expense of structure. Marx highlighted issues of class and class struggle where there is a struggle between powerful and powerless resulting in different societal classes. As such a situation prevails that those in power will seek to remain in power at whatever cost and means mostly exploitation of the powerless by depriving them of their opportunities and access to facilities. Rush (2004) further mentions that Marxist critical theory is not descriptive but a means of influencing social change by raising awareness of forces within society that brings inequality and highlighting how awareness can help individuals to overcome such forces and liberate themselves.

Critical thinking is also linked to Marx and Socilogists from the Frankfurt School of Sociologists (Horkeimer (1979), Adorno (Adorno and Horkeimer, (1979) and Marcuse (1964) from the 1920s/30s and Habermas (1984, 1987) writing in the late twentieth century. These theorists held that social interpretation was based on assumptions of a fixed social order mainly derived from religion, politics and social beliefs. When this social order started being rejected and challenged. Sociologists argued that knowledge of the envinonment makes individuals more effective (Gerth and Mills (1948) and Durkeim (1972) established that if we understand how social relationships work we would be able to achieve our objectives in society. This is how critical thinking in modernist way is about and it was termed ‘modernism’ but has expanded and embraced other theories concerned with transformation and social change. Gray and Webb (2008) argue that critical theory is shifting from the Frankfurt school but at the same time it has not defined its critical base. (Allan et al 2003; Fook 2002; Healey 2000) acknowledge that there is tension in defining critical theory as it comprises different theories, some argue that it is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of theories and approaches including Marxist, radical, feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, post colonial , critical constructivist and structural perspectives. This suggests that there are many theories although different they all try to understand the relationship between an individual and society.

For the purpose of clarity and continuity I will at this stage define critical social work practice and highlight its values. Adams et al (2009) view critical practice as involving exercising one’s judgement in a reflective and diverse manner. It involves exploring different options in a situation or actions in judging the best way to address issues. The practitioner would review their ideas, perspectives and options of others before deciding a “best way forward.” This is underpinned by the fact of accepting change and continuity as practitioners encounter different situations and ideas. Payne et al (2002) further mentions that in order to fulfil the requirements of critical practice which include liberation and empowerment social workers need an open mind, reflective stance that encompasses diverse perspectives, experience and assumptions. This would result in acknowledging individual differences, equal opportunity and respect. Fook and Garner (2007) further identify three aspects of critical practice which are critical thinking, critical action and reflexivity as essential tools to apply when seeking social justice and change.

In trying to address social injustices and inequality social work uses a variety of skills and knowledge based on theory perspective and methodology. This empowers social workers to put in place intervention which is appropriate to individual circumstances. This intervention empowers social workers with skills to engage service users to bring positive outcomes. Critical social work is also informed by values which overlap the traditional social work values. The value of social justice is upheld from the fact that critical practice is a moral activity and as such professionals are also moral agents.

This is further supported by Thompson (2006) when he suggests that Society comprises of a diverse range of people in which social divisions emerge which in turn forms the societal structures which networks relationships, institutions and groupings. These groupings determine, control and regulate the distribution of power, privilege, status and opportunities resulting in social stratification and dimensions. From these groupings however it is important to mention that unfairness, inequality and oppression is witnessed in the group of people who are vulnerable and marginalised.

From these theories we can trace the ideas of critical perspective and acknowledge that the powerless can influence policy society views from the oppressors. The theoretical development implemented by service users was the theorising of disability from the medicalised interpretation to social model of disability. This shift was championed by disabled people’s movements to express how they felt and were treated for more than a century. This shift and theory influenced societal attitudes, influenced policies and to some extent changed societal attitudes in UK and abroad. (Abberley,1998; Barnes, 1998). (Morris, 1993) supports this by mentioning that the disability movement has overhauled societal perceptions and upheld disabled people’s rights to live independently,promote anti discriminatory practice, fairness and equal opportunities.

Harris and White (2009) further explored events and changes within the welfare state from administering to managing the welfare state. They observed that the Conservative “1979 -1997” and Labour “1997-2010” were influenced by neo-liberalist ideas. This idea upheld the belief that market was superior to the state and as such professionals including social workers were meant to implement competitive government policy and approaches to meet global standards. These changes affected the vulnerable people in society as well because managers had been given the powers to speak on their behalf. These changes, debates and contradictions have put Social Work practice into a contested dilema profession. Although this definition states that “Social work is a profession that promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being”. (International Federation of Social Workers, 2000 p1).

Fook (2002) also argues that critical social work practice should be concerned with promoting a society without domination, exploitation and oppression. In order to achieve this practitioners need to reflect, reconstruct and unpack more processes for change through careful negotiation within the dominant framework. Parton et al (1997) points out that the present political environment is dominantly global, modernized and authoritarian. As such policies are informed and regulated by market principles which prescribes and narrows professional boundaries which affects the rights of service users. In order to achieve their objectives social workers need to challenge and resist the authoritarian elements by employing critical practice.

Adams et al (1998) further identifies that Systems theory is another major theoretical source underpinning social work. The systems theory emphasised that people’s existence is determined by the environment they live or grow in. It highlighted that people’s problems are a result of how they interact with their resource “systems” which are either formal or informal. The informal include friends, neighbours and colleagues. The formal include support groups/ social clubs and associations. The public/ societal include housing ,hospitals, work and school which provides certain structure or particular function in society. The system theory encourages growth and provides a wider range of solutions to problems by identifying areas of improvement or needing improvement. However it is said not to be acknowledging power differences within society and with different roles. Furthermore (Coulshed and Orme, 1998) pointed out that the nature of diversity in society makes it difficult to be entirely dependent on one theory or approach. Different situations and different circumstances entails different approaches through reflective practices and perspectives.

Many critical social theorists have challenged the existence of a social order and have questioned social order as evidenced in the work of Habermas (1984, 1987) who distinguishes between the system and the lifeworld which interact and sometimes conflict with each other. The system represents the structures like the government departments, transnational companies emerging from globalisation, ideas promoted by communicative reasoning, education and media.All these structures are relaying a world view through different reasoning. aAs such Social work is not excluded as an agent of systematic managerialism in agencies.

(Fook 2002 and Gardner 2007) further highlighted alternative forms of critical theory which are feminism and post modernism. They have different views from Marxist views and the Frankfurt sociologists in that they focus on the understanding that the world reflects personal experience and social historical context. They argue that personal experience constructs and is constructed by the world we live in. They advocate to listening to people’s experiences (narratives) seriously and from these we can hear how they view and experience the world in different ways. This is supported by the feminists when they highlight that the narration of experiences by individuals gives us a clue on how they construct the world and how they want to engage with their problems and situations. Thus postmodernists say there is an alternative way of viewing the world than what it seems to be. Postmodernity argue there is a different way of viewing the world and different ways to deal with societal prtoblemsa hence critical social work seeks for different options and take the best way forward.

In order for all these theories to be implemented there should be contact with individuals in society who experience inequality and disadvantage. Furthermore it is also important to mention at this point that social work intervention and practice is broad and spreads into other disciplines. Groupwork, Counselling, Advocacy and Assessment are examples of different forms of practising social work. I will not focus on the broadness of disciplines but will focus on the aims of the essay which are to explore how the critical social work approach influences counselling. Counselling requires a lot of skills and approaches as it seeks to address and resolve individual dilemmas, decision making and resolving issues.

According to BAC counselling is a more deliberate activity and in its definition of the term the British Association for Counselling spells out the distinction between a planned and a spontaneous event. ‘People become engaged in counselling when a person, occupying regularly or temporarily the role of counsellor, offers or agrees explicitly to offer time, attention and respect to another person or persons temporarily in the role of client.’ According to Dryden (2004:40), it is described as principled relationship characteristics by the application of one or more psychological theories and a recognised set of communication skills, modified by experience, intuition and other interpersonal factors, to clients’ intimate concerns, problems or aspirations. Its predominant ethos is one of facilitation rather than of advice-giving or coercion. It may be of very brief or long duration, take place in an organisational or private practice setting and may or may not overlap with practical, medical and other matters of personal welfare.

From the above definitions and tracing the historically it is evident social workers were /and are still engaged in counselling as highlighted by the Barclay report in the early 1980s which mentioned that it was essential for social workers to engage in counselling as it helped to engage with individuals to help them manage their problems, worries and anxieties. Barclay Committee, (1982). This is no longer the situation today as noted by Brearley (1995) political, administrative, legislative changes and ideologies have affected the relationship between counselling and social; work. Some social work practitioners are in dilemma as to when they can do counselling or not and where to start with counselling and when to stop. Because social workers operate in a legislative, organisational, ideological, value and ethical context it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage in counselling without pushing boundaries. Furthermore the economic environment, budget cuts and lack of resources makes it difficult to manoeuvre and employ uncontested interventions.

However despite the above constraints social workers at some point carry out counselling as not carrying it out would render their job inadequate and inefficient.

There are a number of Counselling theories which are Person centred, existential, Cognitive behavioural (CBT),motivational, humanistic, psychodynamic, Karpman’s (1969) Drama triangle and eclectic and intergrative approaches. Some of the theories have been criticised as inadequate and resource straining. One approach that is complimentary to social work is the eclectic/ integrative approach.

Integrative theory is a method of intervention that meets the needs presented by the client and specific circumstances. The benefits of this approach are that it is flexible and adoptable to client needs. McLeod (2003) supports this statement when he mentions theapproach enables the counsellor to choose the best option and techniques from a range of theories to meet the client needs. It can mean employing different elements from different theories to blend them into a new suitable model or theory.This compliments with one of the social work theories of eclecticism which seeks to intergrate different theories to intervene ( quote)

It can be argued that the aims of social work and the aims of counselling are both focusing on individuals and their interaction with the society, problems they face and how they solve them. As Egan 2006 puts it and complimented by Coulshed and Orme 2006 social workers adopt skills that compliment counselling skills some of them are empathy or understanding,respect, self knowledge and acceptance and honest. Although there are criticisms on Egan’s work as being ignorant of psychodynamic ideas meaning it has limited application and effectiveness. A reflective practitioner would seek to promote social justice, anti -oppressive and anti-discvriminatory practice based on knowledge to promote inclusive practice. Both professions are being challenged by increasing literature developing and need to engage in best practice and critical practice to reach all individuals and communities.

My privilege as a social worker working with clients is that I have acquired knowledge and on values of social work issues and intervention. I also have a black African background which has some conflicting values to social work. I will focus on the social work values to overcome any prejudices and biases which may jeopardise my work. I also have the law on my side which will give me power to intervene and practice. From my experience as a caseworker at RA I used counselling as a technique to working with clients. Clients from different background accessed the service to resolve their immigration matters. Mostly the approach we used was person centred approach which meant clients were treated as individuals and given advice relating to their immigration issues

My identity gives me a privilege because I have my own values. I am black African student social worker. I nave my values, knowledge and prejudices which can impact on the way I will relate with clients when in practice. I will not allow my own values and prejudices influence my practice. I will engage in reflective practice and use the critical social work approach discussed in this essay. Clients have their own views, way of life and interpretation of the world. My role is to promote social justice to the people I work with in order for them to have choice and independence. . This is supported by Carrniol 2005 when they mention that it is important for social workers to deepen their conscience into their social location and privilege as the first step towards empowering clients and challenging oppression.

In my previous role as caseworker for refugees and asylum seekers I worked and experienced that men from other cultures do not cry because of their religion. My belief values say if a person is hurting they cry. Also handshakes are part of my culture to greet but others do not handshake. Appointments with Muslims on Friday afternoon were not appropriate as they attend mosque. I would seek to give appointments on another day. Giving Muslims women make caseworkers to counsel they won’t talk give them women? I will signpost people to their own community groups to give help and support. Once you listen to somebody’s problems you are counselling. I overcame all these by putting the needs of clients first before my own.

Privilege as described by Bailey (1998:109) is systemically, conferred advantages individuals enjoy for being members of a dominants few with access to resources and institutional power that are beyond the common advantages of marginalised citizens Sidanius and Pratto 1999 further suggest that an individual’s privilege is derived from their membership or association to privileged groups rather than their personal achievement. According to Ixer 199 it is important to examine privilege critically in two ways i.e. how it benefits the privileged person and how it affects the individual who does not possess it. In critical social work practice social worker need to reflect upon what causes privilege and explore the socio political dimensions of an individual’s problem than focus on their capability to cope. (Fook 1999 Morley 2004)

Carniola (2005) observed that social workers is in the right direction of developing critical consciousness about the psychological impact of oppression on individuals. He further expressed that there is concern on the degree of awareness among social workers on the impact of privilege or dominant status on individual’s subjectivities and world views. Rossitter (2000) echoes the same sentiments when he mentions that the position/ impact and ways in which professionals engage with clients is overlooked and underestimated as they possess a certain class in the form of gender, race, and sexual privilege.

It is important to highlight at this stage the values of critical social work practice. It is important to mention that values are in different categories ranging from personal, organisational, ethical, institutional political and religious. Values can conflict each other as well and socially constructed. Traditional Social work values and critical social work values overlap and are based on Biestek 1961 and consists of the following: Individualism, non judgemental, self determination, purposeful expression and controlled emotional development. In post modernity terms these can be interpreted to promotion of social justice, emancipation, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, empowerment, non judgemental and respect and dignity. As discussed these are values that underpi critical social work for it to exist.

Critical social work as discussed explores the best way forward to individuals problems and seeks to listen and engage with the individual to tell their story and work in partnership to find the best way forward. The limitation is critical social work is surrounded by external forces which are beyond it control. For example resources in the current economic climate globally and at home. It is also criticised as its values and origins are Eurocentric and do not represent universal circumstances as what seems to work in UK might not necessarily work in Afro/ Asian communities. For example the issue of confidentiality is valued and essential in UK and Europe whereas in Afro Asian cultures they value kinship support in times of distress. However they would not want anyone else outside the kinship clique to know about their situation. This brings inrterpretation problems to confidentialtity.

Having explored critical social work practice and theories underpinning it it is important to acknowledge that there is continuos transformation and contest within the academic field and socio-political arena. This is greatly impacting on vulnerable people and how they are treated and marginalised in issues affecting their lives. If the values of critical social work could bre fulfilled and the theories underpinning it are intergrated social work and counselling would be forces for change to promote social justice.

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The essay analyses theories underpinning and key elements of critical social work and its values. An exploration of counselling as a form of social work practice and how it is influenced by the critical social work approach will be included. Examples from practice experience/ literature and the influence of inequalities, power and social divisions will be discussed. The views of service users and their contribution towards the practice will also be take into account in the essay.

Payne (2005) traces social work in the UK back to the 19th century as a community and charitable activity to support the disadvantaged and poor. From the charitable and community origins it developed into a broader field. Jordan (2004) cited in Collins (2009) believes social work owes its origins to Christian morality than a commitment to social problems affecting individuals. Following the economic crisis in the UK in the 1970s due to escalating oil prices social issues like poor housing, unemployment, and poverty and homelessness social work shifted and broadened its focus and tried to address social issues and problems. Adams et al (2005).

Adams et al (2009) mentions that in attempting to address social problems, disadvantage and inequalities social work practitioners have drawn knowledge and ideas from various disciplines such as sociology, psychology, philosophy and politics. From this multi-disciplinary knowledge base the underpinning ideology was anti oppressive principle which provides theoretical tools to understand intervene and respond to the complex experience of oppression. This means social work practitioners have a moral, ethical and legal responsibility to challenge inequalities and disadvantage (Payne 2005).

Fook (2002) claims that critical practice can be traced and associated with radical social work in the 1960s-70s deriving ideas from Marxist theory. Marx analysed the capital society he lived in Germany and argued that the structures within society derived from the economy and the changes in the industrial revolution influenced some people to be more powerful and others not. Individuals were restrained by the demands of capitalism. Marx highlighted issues of class and class struggle where there is a struggle between powerful and powerless resulting in different societal classes. Those in power will seek to retain it mostly by exploitation of the powerless.

Thompson (2006) affirms that society comprises of a diverse range of people in which social divisions emerge which in turn forms the societal structures which networks relationships, institutions and groupings. These groupings determine, control and regulate the distribution of power, privilege, status and opportunities resulting in social stratification and dimensions. From these groupings however it is important to mention that unfairness, inequality and oppression is witnessed in the group of people who are vulnerable and marginalised.

Radical social work upheld the following themes: structural analysis of personal problems, ongoing social critique mainly focusing on oppressive ideas/practice and goals of self emancipation and social change. Parallel to these traditions empowering and anti-oppressive practice to participation in research and community work Adams et al (2005). Several key principles were shared from radical critiques to present critical social work which are: challenging dominant forces and oppression in all forms, a critique of positivist ideas and the need to challenge dominant constructed ways of knowing by developing other ways of knowing. This would be achieved through recognising that knowledge may reflect reality but may also be socially constructed through language and ideology. In order to create more/new knowledge self reflection and interaction are essential tools using communication processes Allan et al (2009).

Moya et al (2009) believes that critical thinking was further enhanced by Marxism through academics from the Frankfurt School of Sociologists (Horkeimer (1979), Adorno and Horkeimer, (1979) and Marcuse (1964) from the 1920s/30s and Habermas (1984, 1987)’s writing in the late twentieth century. The sociologists held that social interpretation was based on assumptions of a fixed social order mainly derived from religion, politics and social beliefs. When this order is rejected and challenged, sociologists believed that this would enhance knowledge of the environment which makes individuals more effective.

Gerth and Mills (1948) and Durkeim (1972) cited in Harrington (2005) established that if we understand how social relationships work we would be able to achieve our objectives in society. This is how critical thinking in modernist way is about and it was termed ‘modernism’ but has expanded and embraced other theories concerned with transformation and social change. Gray and Webb (2008) argue that critical theory is shifting from the Frankfurt school but at the same time it has not defined its critical base. Allan et al (2003); Fook (2002); Healey (2000) acknowledge that there is tension in defining critical theory as it comprises different theories, some argue that it is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of theories and approaches including Marxist, radical, feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, post colonial, critical constructivist and structural perspectives. This suggests that there are many theories although different they all try to understand the relationship between an individual and society. Thus critical practice involves one’s judgement in a reflective and diverse manner Adams et al (2009).

Critical practice involves exploring different options in a situation or actions in judging the best way to address issues. The practitioner would review their ideas, perspectives and options of others before deciding a “best way forward.” This is underpinned by the fact of accepting change and continuity as practitioners encounter different situations and ideas. Payne et al (2005) further mentions that in order to fulfil the requirements of critical practice which include liberation and empowerment social workers need an open mind, reflective stance that encompasses diverse perspectives, experience and assumptions. This would result in acknowledging individual differences, equal opportunity and respect. Fook and Garner (2007) further identify three aspects of critical practice which are critical thinking, critical action and reflexivity as essential tools to apply when seeking social justice and change.

From these theories we can trace the ideas of critical perspective and acknowledge that the powerless can influence policy, societal views and self emancipation from the oppressors. An example of theoretical development implemented by service users was the theorising of disability from the medicalised interpretation to social model of disability. This shift was championed by disabled people’s movements to express how they felt and were treated for more than a century. This shift and theory influenced societal attitudes, influenced policies and to some extent changed societal attitudes in UK and abroad. Abberley (1998); Barnes, (1998). Morris, (1993) supports this by mentioning that the disability movement has overhauled societal perceptions and upheld disabled people’s rights to live independently, promote anti discriminatory practice, fairness and equal opportunities.

Systems theory is another major theoretical source underpinning social work. The theory emphasised that people’s existence is determined by the environment they live or grow in. It highlighted that people’s problems are a result of how they interact with their resource “systems” which are either formal or informal. The informal include friends, neighbours and colleagues. The formal include support groups/ social clubs and associations. The public/ societal include housing, hospitals, work and school which provide certain structure or particular function in society. The system theory encourages growth and provides a wider range of solutions to problems by identifying areas of improvement or needing improvement. However it is said not to be acknowledging power differences within society and with different roles Adams et al (2009). Coulshed and Orme, (1998) clarifies that the nature of diversity in society makes it difficult to be entirely dependent on one theory or approach. Different situations and different circumstances entail different approaches through reflective practices and perspectives.

Harris and White (2009) further explored events and changes within the welfare state from administering to managing the welfare state. They observed that the Conservative “1979 -1997” and Labour “1997-2010” were influenced by neo-liberalist ideas. This idea upheld the belief that market was superior to the state and as such professionals including social workers were meant to implement competitive government policy and approaches to meet global standards. These changes affected the vulnerable people in society as well because managers had been given the powers to speak on their behalf. These changes, debates and contradictions have put social work practice into a contested dilemma profession although this definition states that “Social work is a profession that promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being”. (International Federation of Social Workers, 2000 p1).

Parton (1998) points out that the present political environment is dominantly global, modernized and authoritarian. As such policies are informed and regulated by market principles which prescribes and narrows professional boundaries which affects the rights of service users. In order to achieve their objectives social workers need to challenge and resist the authoritarian elements by employing critical practice. Fook (2002) articulate that critical social work practice should be concerned with promoting a society without domination, exploitation and oppression. In order to achieve these practitioners need to reflect, reconstruct, deconstruct and unpack more processes for change through careful negotiation within the dominant framework.

Many critical social theorists have challenged the existence of a social order and have questioned social order as evidenced in the work of Habermas (1984, 1987) who distinguishes between the system and the life world which interact and sometimes conflict with each other. The system represents the structures like the government departments, transnational companies emerging from globalisation, ideas promoted by communicative reasoning, education and media. All these structures are relaying a world view through different reasoning. As such social work is not excluded as an agent of systematic managerialism in agencies Pease (2005).

Fook (2002) and Gardner (2007) proposed alternative forms of critical theory which are feminism and post modernism. They focus on the understanding that the world reflects personal experience and social historical context. They argue that personal experience constructs and is constructed by the world we live in. They advocate to listening to people’s experiences (narratives) seriously and from these we can hear how they view and experience the world in different ways.

Powell (2001) suggests that feminists maintain that the narration of experiences by individuals gives us a clue on how they construct the world and how they want to engage with their problems and situations. Thus postmodernists say there is an alternative way of viewing the world than what it seems to be. Post-modernity argue there is a different way of viewing the world and different ways to deal with societal problems hence critical social work seeks for different options and take the best way forward.

Adams et al (2009) suggests that in order to seek the best way forward social workers are encouraged to adopt the eclectic approach which entails selecting crucial aspects from different theories and blend them together as one approach. Alternatively they can use different theories for different cases. This has an advantage of addressing inadequacies in particular theories as they compensate one another. However there are also limitations as to master different theories and selecting crucial aspects may be difficult. It might as well be difficult to select the appropriate theory to use in the first place. To overcome these limitations Epstein (1992) suggested that continuous reflection, agreement, debate and teamwork would encourage flexibility in complex issues.

Milner and O’byrne (1998) propose that in trying to address social injustices and inequality social work uses a variety of skills and knowledge based on theory perspective and methodology. This empowers social workers to put in place intervention which is appropriate to individual circumstances. This intervention empowers social workers with skills to engage service users to bring positive outcomes.

Banks (2001) holds that values are diverse, may overlap, can conflict and socially constructed. Traditional social work and critical social work values overlap and are based on “Biestek 1961” and consist of the following: Individualism, non judgemental, self determination, purposeful expression and controlled emotional development. In post modernity terms these can be interpreted to promotion of social justice, emancipation, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, empowerment, non judgemental and respect and dignity. Above all the language used may affect the way we interpret the world resulting in assumptions, overrepresentation or misrepresentation of issues and ideas, Adam et al (2009).

Critical social work as discussed explores the best way forward to individuals’ problems and seeks to listen and engage with the individual to tell their story and work in partnership to find the best way forward. The limitation is critical social work is surrounded by external forces which are beyond it control, for example resources in the current economic climate globally and at home. It is also criticised as its values and origins are Eurocentric and do not represent universal circumstances as what seems to work in UK might not necessarily work in Afro/ Asian communities. For example the issue of confidentiality is valued and essential in UK and Europe whereas in Afro Asian cultures they value kinship support in times of distress. However they would not want anyone else outside the kinship clique to know about their situation. This brings interpretation problems to confidentiality Morley (2003).

In order for all these theories to be implemented there should be contact with individuals in society who experience inequality and disadvantage. Furthermore it is also important to mention at this point that social work intervention and practice is broad and spreads into other disciplines. Group work, Counselling, Advocacy and Assessment are examples of different forms of practising social work. I will not focus on the broadness of disciplines but will focus on the aims of the essay which are to explore how the critical social work approach influences counselling. Counselling requires a lot of skills and approaches as it seeks to address and resolve individual dilemmas, decision making and resolving issues.

According to Dryden (2004:40) cited in Adams et al (2009) counselling is described as principled relationship characteristics by the application of one or more psychological theories and a recognised set of communication skills, modified by experience, intuition and other interpersonal factors, to clients’ intimate concerns, problems or aspirations. Its predominant ethos is one of facilitation rather than of advice-giving or coercion. It may be of very brief or long duration, take place in an organisational or private practice setting and may or may not overlap with practical, medical and other matters of personal welfare.

The Barclay report in the early 1980s mentioned that it was essential for social workers to engage in counselling as it helped to engage with individuals to help them manage their problems, worries and anxieties, Barclay Committee,(1982). This is no longer the situation today as noted by Brearley (1995) when he states that political, administrative, legislative changes and ideologies have affected the relationship between counselling and social work. Some social work practitioners are in dilemma as to whether they can do counselling or not and where to start with counselling and when to stop. Because social workers operate in a legislative, organisational, ideological, value and ethical context it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage in counselling without pushing boundaries, Furthermore the economic environment, budget cuts and lack of resources makes it difficult to manoeuvre and employ uncontested interventions McLeod (2009).

However despite the above constraints social workers at some point carry out counselling as not carrying it out would render their job inadequate and inefficient. McLeod (1998) identified a number of counselling theories which are Person centred, Existential, Cognitive Behavioural (CBT), Motivational, Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Karpman’s (1969) Drama triangle and Eclectic or Integrative approaches. Some of the theories have been criticised as inadequate and resource straining. One approach that is complimentary to social work is the eclectic/ integrative approach.

Integrative theory is adaptable to the needs presented by the client or specific circumstances which is flexible and adoptable to client needs. McLeod (2003) supports this statement when he maintains that eclectic approach enables the counsellor to choose the best option and techniques from a range of theories to meet the client needs. It can mean employing different elements from different theories to blend them into a new suitable model or theory. These compliments with one of the social work theory of eclecticism which seeks to integrate different theories to intervene (Adams, 2009).

It can be argued that the aims of social work and the aims of counselling are both focusing on individuals and their interaction with the society, problems they face and how they solve them. As Egan (2006) puts it and complimented by Coulshed and Orme (2006) social workers adopt skills that compliment counselling skills such as empathy or understanding, respect, self knowledge and acceptance and honest. Although there are criticisms on Egan’s work as being ignorant of psychodynamic ideas meaning it has limited application and effectiveness. A reflective practitioner would seek to promote social justice, anti -oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice based on knowledge to promote inclusive practice. Both professions are being challenged by increasing literature developing and need to engage in best, critical and anti discriminatory practice to reach all individuals and communities Morley (2003).

My privilege in practice working with clients is that I have acquired knowledge and on values of social work issues and intervention. I also have a black African background which has some conflicting values to social work. I will focus on the social work values to overcome any prejudices and biases which may jeopardise my work. I also have the law on my side which would give me power to intervene and practice. In my experience as a caseworker at Refugee Action (RA) I used counselling as a technique to working with clients. Clients from different background accessed the service to resolve their immigration matters. Mostly the approach we used was the integrative approach which meant that the outcomes met the needs of individual circumstances. I did not allow my own values and prejudices to influence my practice.

The advantage of having my own values and knowledge made it easy for me to overcome any prejudices and stereotypes towards my clients. As a person from an African background with different values from those of the British society, it was easy for me to understand how it is to be in the client’s shoes. I also observed that Muslim women preferred to work with female caseworkers and male Muslims preferred male caseworkers. They appeared not comfortable working with people from the opposite sex and tended to withhold information if that was the case. I therefore ensured Muslim clients were assisted by a person of preferred gender. Above all I applied the Narrative approach which solicits encouragement to clients to tell their stories. This enabled me to explore client’s situation at their own pace and actively listened to assess and establish the real problem in the situation.

Carniola (2005) observed that social workers are in the right direction of developing critical consciousness about the psychological impact of oppression on individuals. He further expressed that there is concern on the degree of awareness among social workers on the impact of privilege or dominant status on individual’s subjectivities and world views. Rossitter (2000) concurs that the position/ impact and ways in which professionals engage with clients is overlooked and underestimated as they possess a certain class in the form of gender, race, and sexual privilege.

Having explored critical social work practice and theories underpinning it, it is important to acknowledge that there is continuous transformation and contest within the academic field and socio-political arena. This is greatly impacting on vulnerable people and how they are treated and marginalised in issues affecting their lives. If the values of critical social work could be fulfilled and the theories underpinning it are integrated social work and counselling would be forces for change to promote social justice.

Self-assessment is always a challengeable task because people always attempt to conduct a self-assessment but they do not always succeed in this regard. The main reason for the failure of the self-assessment is the inadequate self-esteem or self-awareness. At the same time, it is necessary to conduct the self-assessment in order to define clearly the progress an individual has made in the course of his or her development and the identification of problems in the personal development along with goals of the further development. At any rate, while conducting my self-assessment, I focused on my current development both personal and professional, and, on the ground of this information, I attempted to define skills and areas which need consistent improvement and what I should work on.

Initially, I supposed to conduct my self-assessment for myself. In fact, it was just interesting for me to know what a sort of person I am, how I assess and view myself and what I actually want to improve in my personality. However, on a profound reflection, I arrived to the idea that I need to share my self-assessment and I extended my target audience from myself to my peers and people interested in psychology because it is always interesting to get acquainted with oneaˆ™s self-assessment to be able to avoid pitfalls of self-assessment made by others in the course of their self-assessment. Frankly speaking, I do not want to be didactic but still I just want to share my experience of self-assessment which may be useful to other people, especially my peers, who may have the same problems as I have.

While conducting my self-assessment, I focused on my current personal and professional development mainly and, on the ground of my current development, I attempted to define what I really need to improve in myself and my development to become a better person. On analyzing my current development, I arrived to the conclusion that I have already reached positive outcomes in my personal and professional development. For instance, I have always been successful in my learning and my academic successes always encouraged me to carry on my professional development. At the same time, the more I learned the better I felt because I felt and still feel that my knowledge, my skills and abilities are very useful in my personal life. They contribute to my personal development, extend my eyesight and make me spiritually rich because my knowledge and experience are my personal wealth.

At the same time, I would like to dwell upon skills and abilities I have already developed and which I consider to be very important in my life. For instance, my organizational skills are of the utmost importance for me but, as far as I remember, I always had problems with my organizational skills which stay a bit under-developed. At any rate, I cannot say that my regular life is well-organized. Naturally, I can do the routine actions I do day after day but sometimes I feel that I am running of time badly and I need more time to do everything I want and I have to do. I do not have a schedule of to dos for every day, although I attempt to plan my actions. For instance, when I have vacations I plan how I am going to spend my vacation and basically I fulfill my plans successfully. On the other hand, in my daily life, I face some problems with the organization of my working day because I can have an unexpected encounter with a friend of mine that may take a lot of time. As a result, I may fail to do something important I have planned at the beginning of the day.

Furthermore, my organizational skills often into clashes with my leadership ambitions because, as I fail to organize effectively my own work or learning, for instance, than I cannot always organize a work of a group or team. As a result, my leadership ambitions cannot be implemented because people I want to lead are not confident in my ability to lead them. Nevertheless, I was always concerned with being the first, being the leader.

In such a situation, I attempt to compensate my lack of organizational skills by my communication skills. I have a lot of friends and I do like the communication with interesting people. I have a few, if any, problems in the communication with any person. I can start communication easily and I make a lot of friends. In this regard, my high self-awareness and self-esteem may be factors which help me to communicate and lead people. frankly speaking, a feel being a bit too self-assured but this quality helps me a lot in my life, although sometimes it provokes conflicts with some people.

On analyzing my current development, I focused on my target development. Taking into consideration the drawbacks I have identified in the course of self-assessment, I would like to focus on the improvement of organizational and leadership skills. In fact, I have to learn to organize and plan my daily life carefully because I believe this will help me to realize my full potential and to become a true leader. The latter is very important for me because I do need to be a leader, who guides people and help them to reach their goals, while working in a team. In this regard, the development of social relations may be very helpful. At any rate, I have good communication skills and I can develop social relations effectively but I believe that I need to change the direction in which I develop my social relations. What I mean is that, at the moment, I develop my social relations for pleasure, to make friends, to spend a good time, and so on. Now, I believe it is a high time to change my life a little bit. In actuality, I need to feel being useful to my community. In this regard, I would like to do some volunteer job to develop my organizational and leadership skills. In addition, I will learn how to be helpful and useful to other people.

Thus, I believe that my self-assessment can be helpful to those people, who are interested in psychology and who attempt to conduct their own self-assessment. I attempted to be as sincere and critical as possible. I identified my drawbacks as well as positive traits of character. Naturally, I understand that I may be subjective but people, who read my self-assessment, can identify strong and weak points in my self-assessment and avoid those weak points in their own self-assessment.

The purpose of this essay is to Critically examine an area of Community Care provision in mental health services. ideological, political and legislative frameworks will be taken into account, it will also examine the complex relationships between service user movements, professional bodies and the statutory, voluntary and independent sector services in the delivery of community care it will also identify and justify evidence of good practice in the provision of community care

The system of community care was aimed to maintain the stability of the social order and to address the disparities and inconsistencies within the existing community care discourse. Mental health services became a part of the community care system early in the 17th century. With time, mental health in community care became an effective element of regulating the state of mental health across different population groups. Today, mental health community care is a two-tier system of community services, comprising health care and mental care provided to vulnerable populations in need for treating and monitoring various types of mental health conditions.

The history of community care in the UK dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, when the Poor Law was adopted to make every parish responsible for supporting those who could not look after themselves (Mind 2010). Yet, it was not before the beginning of the 19th century (or 1808, to be more exact) that the County Asylums Act permitted county justices to build asylums supported by the local authorities to” replace psychiatric annexes to voluntary general hospitals” (Mind 2010). In 1879, the UK established the Mental Aftercare Association which worked on a comparatively small scale and focused on personal and residential care of the limited amount of mental ex-patients (Yip 2007). The association was further supplemented with three more voluntary associations that worked on a national scale and provided community care to mental outpatients (Yip 2007). Those organisations included the Central Association for Mental Welfare, the Child Guidance Council, and the National Council for Mental Hygiene (Yip 2007). Later in 1939 the Feversham Committee proposed amalgamation of all four voluntary organizations into “a single system of mental health community care” (Yip 2007). In 1890, the first general hospital clinic for psychiatric patients

Was created at St. Thomas Hospital, while the World War I became the turning point in the improvement of health care facilities in the UK, giving rise to an unprecedented number of asylums and hospital facilities for mentally ill people (Yip 2007).

It should be noted, that the first stages of mental health community care development was marked with the growing public commitment toward institutionalized care: throughout the 18th and the 19th centuries, cure and containment of mental illnesses in the U.K. and in Europe was provided in accordance with the principles of institutionalized care (Wright et al. 2008). The mental health care went in line in the development and proliferation of other institutional solutions, including houses of correction, schools, and prisons (Wight et al. 2008). “The asylums’ rationale, first and foremost, lay in the belief that separation was in the interests of dangerous lunatics, giving them security and maximizing the prospects for cure” (Wright et al 2008). Yet, those who ever appeared within such asylums had only one chance out of three to come out; the majority of mental health patients, regardless of the diagnosis, were destined to stay behind the asylum walls for the rest of their lives (Yip 2007). Medical professionals considered asylums as an effective means to isolate potentially dangerous patients from the rest of the community: asylums and isolation often served an effective way of investigating the reasons and consequences of mental health disturbances (Wright et al 2008). Many doctors viewed asylums and isolation as the sources of effective moral treatment for mentally ill (Wright et al 2008). Only by the beginning of the 19th century did professionals in medicine and social care come to recognize insanity as a mental illness and not as a product of sinful human nature; yet, years would pass before asylum residents would be given a slight hope to release themselves from the burden of isolation and torture (Wright et al. 2008).

With the development of psychoanalysis in the 19th century, mental health became one of the issues of the national concern – supported by the active development of psychopharmacology in the 20th century mental illness was finally explained in somatic terms (Wright et al. 2008). Psychopharmacology promised a relatively safe method of treating and alleviating mental health suffering, while the identity of psychiatry within the medical profession was finally restored (Wright et al 2008). Nevertheless, for many years and centuries, mental health community care remained a by-product of industrialized society development, which, under the pressure of the growing urban populations, sought effective means to maintain the stability of the social order. Because in conditions of the newly emerging economies lunatics and individuals with mental health disturbances were less able to conform to the labor market discipline and more apt to create disorder and disturbance in society, asylums were an effective response to the growing urban mass and the basic for maintain peace and stability in the new industrialized community (Goodwin 2007). The need for maintaining social order was an essential component of the community care ideology, with institutionalization and local provision support as the two basic elements of mental health care provision. Today, the provision of mental health community care services is associated with several issues and inconsistencies; many of the community care complexities that emerged early in the 19th century have not been resolved until today. Nevertheless, it would fair to say that under the influence of the social and scientific development, the provision of mental health community services has undergone a profound shift and currently represents a complex combination of health care and social care aimed to treat and support individuals with diagnosed mental health disturbances.

In present day community care environments, mental health care provision exemplifies a complex combination of health care and social care. The former is the responsibility of the NHS, while the latter is arranged by local authority social services (Mind 2010). It should be noted, that the division of duties between medical establishments, local authorities, and social care professionals has always been one of the basic complexities in the development of mental health care in the U.K. (Wright et al. 2008). In 1954, the House of Commons was the first to emphasis inadequate resorting of mental health community services and to vote for the development of a community-based rather than a closed system of mental health institutions (Wright et al. 2008). Community services proposed by the House of Commons had to be available to everyone who could potentially benefit from them (Wright et al. 2008). As a result, deinstitutionalization became and remains one of the central policy debates within the mental health service provision discourse. “Central to the argument for deinstitutionalization and the development of community-based services is the contention that the prognosis of patients is likely to improve as a result of discharge from mental hospitals, and that people with mental health problems already in community will benefit from remaining there rather than being institutionalized” (Goodwin 2007). Social care providers in England claim that deinstitutionalization represents a new style of service provision and approach to mental illness which is better and more acceptable than traditional remote mental hospitals (Goodwin 2007). Since the beginning of the 1970s, mental health community care was associated with the treatment of mentally ill patients outside the asylums but, unfortunately, deinstitutionalization did not always lead to the anticipated results and is still one of the major policy debates.

The ideology of deinstitutionalization in mental health community care failed and did not improve the provision of mental health services for several reasons. First, deinstitutionalization does not provide mental health patients with an opportunity to reintegrate with their community: being discharged from asylums, many mentally ill patients were transferred to general medical establishments and other facilities, including residential homes – as a result, instead of community living, deinstitutionalization for these patients turned out to be a complex form of deinstitutionalization, while adequate funding of community services was constantly lacking (Wright et al. 2008). For this reason, the practical side of the deinstitutionalization policy proved to be less advantageous for the prevailing majority of asylums residents than it was claimed to be (Goodwin 2007).

Second, the ideology of deinstitutionalization does not improve health outcomes for patients with mental problems. The current state of research suggests that the process of transferring mental health patients from one hospital to another results in negative health consequences and adverse mental health reactions, including significant deterioration of behaviors and greater problems with social activity (Goodwin 2007). The more complex are the issues with transferring mentally ill patients from and into prisons – according to Fawcett and Karban (2007) the process, later called transinstitutionalisation, results in prison overcrowding and the loss of effective psychiatric care for those who are imprisoned. Today, deinstitutionalization as the ideological underpinning of mental health delivery does not work for patients but works against them. It does not improve the state of care provision and reflects in additional costs and adverse health outcomes. Nevertheless, the prevention of unwanted institutionalization is acknowledged as one of the basic principles of care provision (Gladman et al. 2007) and must become one of the basic elements of policy development and provision in community mental health.

The third problem is the lack of outpatient monitoring: the ideology of deinstitutionalization in mental health delivery will not be effective and productive, unless policymakers and social workers have a possibility to monitor the destination of the discharged patients and their live in communities. Throughout the period between 1954 and 1994, the number of mental health hospital beds in the U.K. was reduced from 152000 to 43000 which, according to Wright et al. (2008) did not result in a reduction in the number of people treated. Not with standing that since 1997 the Government is the one solely responsible for the development and implementation of programmes of supervision and control regarding mentally ill patients, the quality of their discharge and monitoring leaves much room for improvement (Lehman 2007). The discharge process itself and the destination of the discharged patients represent the two most problematic areas of community care provision: the discharge process is often poorly planned, while a very little effort is put into monitoring their quality of life beyond asylums (Goodwin 2007). Discharged patients are believed to live and operate in the community, with their families and friends, but the real outcomes of the discharge into community is highly variable (Ritchie & Spencer 2007). Of all patients discharged from mental hospitals, over 45 percent find themselves in residential homes, 7 percent are in locked facilities, and only 22 percent live independently or with their families (Goodwin 2007). The remainder are either homeless or untreated (Morse et al 2007).

Deinstitutionalization in its current form and in the way the government implements it does not make outpatients automatically eligible for social care. In present day community care environments, the four basic measures predetermine the quality of outpatients with mental illnesses lives: sufficient material support, emotional support, sufficient care, and the presence of a well-performing social network within which they must be accepted (Goodwin 2007). These are the basic prerequisites for the successful outpatient reintegration with their

Community. The only problem to be resolved is the need to develop a clear set of criteria, which will define and determine each patient’s right for social care services. Today, according to the basic provisions of the National Service Framework for Mental Health, all mentally ill individuals should have 24-hour access to local social and medical services to meet their needs (Mind 2009). These patients and individuals have the right for their needs to be assessed – based on the results of the needs assessment social care providers will decide whether an individual is eligible for this particular type of social services (Mind 2009).

Finally, deinstitutionalization of care does not provide any opportunity to properly and objectively assess the needs of patients. When developed, the deinstitutionalization ideology in mental health community care implied that all mental health patients would have similar community needs, but the idealistic interpretation of deinstitutionalization is far from reality. Today, needs assessment was and in one of the most problematic aspects of the social care provision for mentally ill. Despite the fact that needs assessment represents and reflects the major policy shift toward better quality of social care provision, social services do not always provide or have an opportunity to fully utilize their service potential and to meet the needs of the mentally ill individuals. According to Mind (2009), needs assessment compromise’s community care assessment, care programme approach assessment, mental health assessment, and carer’s assessment. Yet, there is still the lack of consensus on what constitutes need: social care providers tend to define need as “the requirement of individuals to enable them to achieve acceptable quality of life” and as “a problem which can benefit from an existing intervention” (Thornicroft 2007). It is not clear whether acceptable quality of life is the notion comprehensible to guarantee that all community needs of mentally ill patients are met (Barry & Crosby 2007). More importantly, it is not clear who, when, and in what conditions should engage in the process of needs assessment: do social care providers possess enough education, training, and knowledge to conduct regular assessments? These are the issues which must be resolved to enhance the quality and efficiency of community care in the context of mental health services.

Mental health and deinstitutionalization: still effective

Despite the problems and failures of deinstitutionalization, community care for mentally ill individuals is effective and reliable, given that it leads to reduced social withdrawal, better social functioning, and increased participation in various pro-social activities (McGuire et al 2007). That, however, does not mean that mentally ill outpatients have better opportunities to find a job; rather, they either participate in specially designed workshops or return to the function of a house wife (Prot-Klinger & Pawlowska 2009). Yet, some population groups require additional attention on the side of care providers. For example, in older populations, more than 55 percent of people with diagnosed schizophrenia were never offered appropriate psychological therapies and do not even have any out-of-hours contact number (Parish 2009). As a result, there must be a profound shift toward providing community care based on the need rather than based on the patient age (Parish 2009). People with learning disabilities represent the opposite end of the current problem continuum, and social care providers often either omit or neglect the needs of these patients (Thronicroft 2007). Several essential steps should be made to develop the quality of community care provision for the mentally ill.

Conclusion

First, community care providers must develop a single set of measures as a part of their needs assessment strategy – to make sure that all community care providers operate as one, and use the same criteria of needs assessment in different socioeconomic groups. Second, special attention must be paid to the vulnerable populations that are often overlooked by the community care system, including older patients with mental health problems. Third, the principles of deinstitutionalisation require detailed consideration:

more often than not, patients who are discharged from closed mental health facilities are transferred to other mental health hospitals or smaller mental health departments and wards, while the government’s striving to reduce the number of mental health beds and specialists do not leave these patients any single chance to meet their health and social needs. The groups of patients, who will benefit most from the closure of the mental health institutions, have in many cases fared worst (Goodwin 2007). Finally and, probably, the most important, is that patients who are discharged from mental health institutions should be closely monitored and constantly supported. One of the main goals of the community care is to help out patients successfully reintegrate with their community. The destination of the discharged patients must become one of the social care priorities, and community care providers must engage outpatients in their social network, to ensure that all social and health needs of these individuals are met.

In this paper, I will examine an interesting case study that I found important to discuss. On one hand, I will scrutinize the details of this case study and the vital culture information of the participants. On the second hand, I will analyze the incident from the perspectives of the ethnicity, White American culture, and language differences.

Description of the Critical Incident

Sequence of events

This event took place in a primary school in Indiana State a year ago. H was introduced to a school psychologist by his teacher. He was the worst-behaved white kid in school. He was aggressive, fights with other peers, and argues with his teacher all the time. The teacher wanted to improve H’s behaviors and reported it to his mother. Therefore, the teacher and the school psychologist agreed to work with H, since he was the most challenging child in the classroom. H was in the 4th grade and had maintained high grades. He continued o have good grades throughout the school year. He sometimes had difficulties in following directions and completing in-class assignments in writing activity, yet his academic standing is in the average; however, it is higher in the math area.

In order to know more about H, an interview was conducted by a school psychologist with his teacher; the reported that H is from a divorced family and living with his mother who is a special education teacher in high school.

During the first session, H was observed to be a Caucasian male of average height and weight with blonde hair, blue eyes, and was dressed casually in a black sweat suit and sneakers. H was sitting silently at his desk and working on his own.

The following session, H was observed to be more aggressive and started to make noises, yelling, arguing with teacher and talking back in the classroom. I interviewed H about his behavior that the teacher and principal told me about his behavior that was erratic; I started the first session with him by playing a game to help him identify his feeling and behavior.

Throughout the sessions, the student was talking to the school psychologist, and he was telling her that he was having some problems in the new place. He was having a hard time socialing and making friends. The student was also talking about the absence of his father, and how bad he was feeling to be raised by a single mother. He also addressed the bad relationship he had with his peers and teacher and he was telling through the sessions that no one could understand him. During this session, there were some misunderstandings between the client and the therapist in terms of language and some cultural things, such as talking about cartoons and movies characters, favorite Cereal, and kinds of dogs.

As a professional, I examined how I would help Hunter to change his behavior issues in the classroom. Therefore, a meeting was conducted with H’s mother in order to know more about his behavior at home and to get her involved. Unfortunately, the conference ended negatively. Added to this, the frustration of Hunter’s mother over my cultural differences led the consultation process to a negative outcome on H’s concerns.

During the meeting, H’s mother argued that her son will be will be attracting attention since they live in a small rural community and everybody knows each other. This was the major problem the mother was thinking about and was frustrated because she would have to face her neighbors’ staring and comments. The mom was also thinking of her kid in the future and how people will treat and look at him as an aggressive and misbehaved kid in the town. She stated as well that she is a single mom that raised her child by herself and she had faced enough from these people in the town. She mentioned that her kid would have some problems working with an international school psychologist who speaks better in another language than English and had a different cultural background. The student was willing to keep working with him, but his mom was refusing to complete our sessions; he seemed to change gradually and wanted to be different. He was mad, because his mother stopped everything and he told the school psychologist that his mother had not let him come to her. He stated that he did not have friends before and the school psychologist was his friend around that time.

Culture of the client The client is H’s mother, 38-year-old, and Caucasian female. She has one child who is 10 years old and step-elder son (age 17) and one younger step daughter (age 5) who does not currently live with her in the same house. The client is divorced, living with her son since she got divorced six years ago. She is working as a special education teacher in high school and mentioned she is from the superior middle class background.

Culture of therapist The therapist in this case was me. I am a 26 year old, Muslim international female student. I am from a middle-class background, and grew up in a home with my father, step-mother, and my sisters and half brothers. My family has been an important part in my life. I had a lot of social and emotional support. My mother had a heart attack and died when I was six. I hardly remember her face and how she was acting. Education was a stressful part of my life; living alone far away, and within a different culture was not an easy thing to deal with.

Handling of situation The team contained the teacher, the school psychologist, and the principle tried to intervene and help Hunter to stop his negative behaviors and start acting like a normal kid. The team conducted a meeting to target the behavior and plan an intervention. They called H’s mother to get her involved. As the team was working through this case, the mom came to school and asked the principle to discontinue working with her child. She said they are living in a small town and it is a sin in her area to be in trouble in school, especially in terms of behavior issues, and she did not want any kind of services from an international school psychologist. There was no way to convince the mother to get her involved and persuade convinced her to finish the case. This was one of my cultural incompetencies and biases that I experienced. I felt so mad and under micro-aggression, because I am not an American school psychologist. They do not want me to work with this kid; especially then the teacher refused to continue consulting with me about the student and the principle asked me to stay away from him. I felt like an outsider and helpless.

The team implemented an intervention to work with H in classroom, but everything was canceled. The problem of this case was unfortunately, was held at the end of the school year. So, I had to stop meeting the child and do what the mom was asking for. I felt so unhelpful and I realized the problems that can occur within school settings and how incompetent people would be in order to intervene. I tried to convince the teacher and the principle to re-set a meeting with the mother to discuss with her H’s academic concerns first, instead of his behavior issues. Explain to her how important it is to work with him before they become major issues in the future, get the mom more involved, and create a connection between home and school. Unfortunately, it was inappropriate to force people to attend sessions or receive help.

It was difficult to present a final consultation report for my project. As a final point, the teacher and school psychologist indicated using time-out and ignoring as methods of discipline. Lots of feedback also was suggested to reduce H’s frustration, but there was no way to handle the mother’s case expectation through her son. Therefore, I found it very important to address this case study to be more aware if it happened again in the future another time.

The Analysis

Cross-cultural issues and value differences

The following are the cross-cultural issues and value differences that may have existed between therapist and client: Gender, age, socioeconomic status, education, ethnicity, religion, and language differences.

Age: The client is 38 years old. The school psychologist is 26 years old.

Socioeconomic status: the client is from superior middle class background and the therapist is from middle class background.

Education: the client is a special education teacher at a high school. The therapist is a student in an EdS program.

Religion: the client is a Christian, while the therapist is a Muslim.

Ethnicity: the client is White European American and the therapist is an international Arab student.

Language: The client speaks English as the first language. The therapist speaks Arabic as the first language.

Out of these issues, I will specifically address ethnicity and language differences in the analysis part of this paper.

Ethnicity

Sue and Sue (2007, chap.1), Hence and Boyd-Franklin (2005), and Fuller (1995) discuss the significance of being aware of our own culture, and each culture has limitations. As an international school psychologist, I was very aware of the ethnic differences during our sessions which made me feel like an outsider. The client in this case was a female white American. She seemed to be categorized deeply within her ethnicity, and she appeared to enjoy being white. In working with her, I believe that it seemed to be heavily associated with how she distinguished and reacted to racial stimuli. Therefore, the race-related reality of whites symbolizes major dissimilarities in how she viewed the world (Sue & Sue 2007). The client was not at ease in the beginning, and she noticed my accent and realized that I am not an American professional; she kept asking the “what are you?” and the “where are you from?” questions, which I believed now how rude and insensitive this questions were. I felt that she was judging me, and it was unclear what she was trying to mention with those questions. I believe that she is one of the people who think that it was fine to scrutinize and query people with dissimilar accents. This unsure idea is surely not to make the individual feel unwanted or insulted when asking about their ethnicity (Sue and Sue, chap.18),

According to my own interpretations and what I congregated from the readings through this class, my client showed her own privilege (Sue & Sue, chap. 11). It was clear for my client to notice that I am from another country, especially after our following sessions and appeared to see school psychologist students in general as incompetent people who wanted only to practice their skills.

While I was reading the Parker and Schwartz (2002) article, I assumed “how did ‘White’ come to be the majority and the oppressor?” certainly, I agree that, in the United States, white is the foremost community that has become more pale into the statistical unit beside the other ethnicities that are classified as “minority” categories.

Through my little experience on the practicum at this school, I also noticed some strange things happening at this school; I did not notice that it was discrimination until now. In this school, all the school staff and students were whites and there was an ignorance of the culture strengths and the school staff blames the students and their parents for their problem; this reminded me of cultural blindness agencies. I did not notice all the time working in this school any other different ethnicities besides white Americans. In this stage, the school works with students as they are all the same, ignoring their unique needs and cultural differences (Sue & Sue 2007)

Goal: the goal of this difference would be to make an equal relationship, free from any racism. Racism found to be evident in all aspects of white community in our daily lives (such as in television, radio, and educational materials, etc.) (Sue & Sue 2007) My client is a white American and I should be aware of her own racial background and the persistence of racism in the United States just by being white (Parker & Schwartz). As was discussed in McGoldrick outlines (2005) “Ethnocultural factors are often the hidden dimension in family therapy with white ethnics, and exploring them may be a key component of successful treatment.” Create a therapeutic rapport will be the main goal of this scenario.

Course of action: After working with this client, I would collaborate with her with respect to determine her feelings in working with a therapist who is from a different culture as hers. I would also work on her confidentiality since there is a clear feeling of mistrust which is a reaction to being discriminated against and abhor for the dominant communities in an approximately global anti-White demonstration and feeling (Sue & Sue, p.200). As a professional, I should know the presence of distrust and work to get my client’s trust. My client is white American; I should be aware that white privilege is invisible (McIntosh, 1988) to her I was unwelcome. It will very effective to reduce the anxiety and the upset feelings of the client and the school psychologist as well in this scenario.

Rationale: My rationale for choosing this goal and course of action was to address the dissimilarities that exist between the school psychologist and the client in order to understand and reduce the relationship of dominant and minority. Collaborating with my client in the future will focus on her salient issues in order to get her more involved and trust the school psychologist. I would also teach my client some therapeutic techniques in order to help her comprehend and increase her feelings of trust and comfort.

Language

Strong emotions such as anger, sadness, and defensiveness were displayed when talking about experiences of race, culture, and other socio demographic variables (McIntosh, chap.1). These feelings may improve or negate a full meaning to comprehend the worldviews of culturally varied clients. As professional, working with a multicultural population, I need to know that I am different and how to deal with it in an appropriate way. In this case study, I worked with a client who is from a diverse culture and that leads to have some hard times to understand each other in the beginning, especially in terms of the language, eye contact, and sometimes body language. The client in this case is an American English speaker using high Standard English and emphasizing verbal communication (Sue & Sue, chap. 6). The client was talking normally, but with attention that she was not satisfied. She sometimes talked very fast.

As a school psychologist, English is my third language and as most of non English first language speaker, I have an accent. Sometimes my accent may sound familiar, but usually most people mentioned that it is understood and has a French flavor, which most of people likes. From time to time, I feel uncomfortable if my client misunderstood me. I think that was because of my accent and she did not used to talk with foreigners she is having troubles to understand me; as Sue and Sue stated (2007, Chap. 21) “Communication due to language difficulties” as I stated above, my client may sometimes talk fast and use some slang statements that I could not comprehend. We were having a problem to connect and link up together, but the main problem was to be unable to work with her child that made me feel very embarrassed and sometimes unfruitful. In this case, I feel very depressed and sometimes I could not handle situations. I know that I have a productive background, but language issues make me very upset. It made me feel utterly unwelcomed in my client’s community and this country, especially with these kinds of clients who do not like me to work with their children, just because they do not trust international people. This idea of the inferiority of me in addition to the belief that my client has the power to impose her standards upon my culture was also presented (Sue & Sue, chap. 4). These also made feel both astound and shocked, especially when I experienced such things directly in this case.

Communication is an appealing part of communicative interaction; it is an instrument that helps the therapists to comprehend their clients and provides him or her needed services. (Sue & Sue, chap.6) In our field, we need to be able to exchange communication in appropriate way for both verbal and nonverbal messages. Coding and decoding messages from others is the key to understand both the language and the message that is transmitted through the use of the language.

Goal: as a goal to resolve this scenario is to be familiar with American culture and speak English perfectly, and also be familiar with their slangs and have self confidence that I am trying to do well. American speakers if they attempt to speak Arabic for an example they will have an accent as well. Through working with this client, I will discuss the language especially the accent barrier openly with her; I bet that this may be beneficial.

Course of action: I think it is very vital to talk with the clients in the initial interview before starting any assessment. Informed her that I am an international school psychologist and they may not fully understand my accent. I will let her know that I am open to answer her questions and repeat if it needed. Discussing the foreign language accents and refer that is normal to have an accent within another language learned as well. I again felt the stinging confidence to improve English with the aim of being a more effective and diverse professional.

Rational: My rationale for choosing this goal and course of action was to talk about the accent issues that may help me relax and work comfortably. Educating the client that her kid’s case is going to be confidential and no one will know about it in the town. It may lead to ignore other issues like language, I will also ask my client to ask for clarifications if the she did not understand me and the problem will be resolved.

Conclusion

After analyzing this case study, I recognized how significant it is to be sensitive of our cultural difference in order to be competent and sensitive to other cultures. This experience helped me to comprehend how dissimilar we are as people and how this affect the interpersonal communications. This will help me be to be aware and work on myself to be more an effective and successful professional in the future.

The moment of learning that has grabbed my attention in this supervision session is that I need to research and identify my practice framework when working bi-culturally with tangata whenua and cross-culturally.

During my sixth supervision session my supervisor assessed me using the second direct practice observation relating to my second learning outcome”to demonstrate competency when working with young people cross-culturally”. This assessment led to discussions around my practice cross-culturally as I have been closely working with young people and their families who are of a different culture from my own. Also in my practice at the alterative education centre where I am placed two days a week I am the only pakeha person there. My supervisor stated in the assessment that “Working in the school setting as the only female and pakeha person, has enabled her to identify the differences in culture but also helped her to work cross-culturally with other staff and clients. Family visitation has also helped her to identify areas that need more training in”.

When my supervisor asked me to identify how I work bi-culturally with tangata whenua and cross-culturally with clients I was unable to articulate easily how I practice in this setting. My response was that in the alternative education setting because I am the only pakeha person there, I work biculturally and cross-culturally:

By respecting the Maori culture of the centre

Removing my shoes when I enter

I have had to learn the words in order to participate in the morning waiata and karakia

I eat my lunch with the young men and the other tutors each day as sharing food together is part of the Maori culture

Following on from this I have stated that during home visits with clients and their families I respect the different cultures; by removing my shoes and accepting food and beverages from cultures where the sharing of food is important.

These responses were very vague and did not give a clear answer as to how I practice bi-culturally and cross-culturally. I am aware that I have been trained at university to practice from a bi-cultural and multi-cultural perspective but I have found it hard to articulate how I do this. As my supervisor has noted I have identified through this supervision session that I need to critically reflect on my practice cross-culturally and identify the areas that I need more training in order to become a competent bi-cultural and cross-cultural practitioner. For the benefit of cross-cultural practice and working with tangata whenua I as a social worker need to recognise that:

“As a professional helper, one can feel uneasy when challenged by striking difference is the first step towards self-reflection. This attitude has a better chance of leading to genuine accommodation of the client than pretending to be politically correct. The creation of collegial support structures and the cultivation of a climate of trust and open sharing within the service setting might encourage this attitude, to be affective in cross-cultural practice” (Tsang &George, 1998, p.87).

Looking backward

The assumptions and biases that are present in this moment of learning is my own cultural awareness;

In Tatum (2000) she discuses the concept of identity and what it means for the individual and how the roles of the dominant over the subordinate can influence a persons view of themselves:

This “looking glass self” is not a flat one-dimensional reflection, but multidimensional. How one’s identity is experienced will be mediated by dimensions of one self: male or female; young or old, wealthy or poor, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or heterosexual; able-bodied or with disabilities: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or atheistaˆ¦ (Tatum, 2000).

The role and the devaluation associated with it will differ in relation to the socio-cultural context that the subordinate person/s and the dominant groups are part of (Wolfensberger, 1972, as cited in (Wills, 2008b).

Discourses are systemic ways of talking, discussing something of significance. They are the consequence of a combination of social, political even economic factors and often have ‘voices of authority’. Discourses are often informed by beliefs, ideas and understandings that are implicit; taken for grantedaˆ¦even ideologicalaˆ¦Some forms of discourse are legitimated and validated – but still one cannot be confident, and assume that such discourses have become established as a result of well-rationalised, carefully researched, developed and rigorous argument/debate (Wills, 2008a).

Looking inward
Looking outward
Looking forward

I identify to the families that although I am from a different culture to them I have been university trained to work cross-culturally and I am happy to enter into discussions around what this means for our social work relation

Question construction 300
Literature300

In defining competence one must also consider the meaning of culture. “Essentially, culture is understood to relate to some shared elements which connect people in a common way of experiencing and seeing the world. These perceptions of the world guide day-to-day living, influence how decisions are made and by whom, and determine what is perceived to be appropriate and inappropriate behaviour within any given context” (Connolly, Crichton-Hill &Ward, 2005 p.17, as cited in SWRB, 2007, p.5)

To work with Maori clients the social worker must competently understand what Te Ao Maori means, the same goes with working with other cultural and ethnic groups. Using Tsang and George’s conceptual framework of attitude knowledge and skills the SWRB created its competence standards of practice. To understand what competent practice for Maori and other cultural and ethnic groups means for social workers in New Zealand I will be critically discussing in this essay; what the ANZASW’s standards of practice are that inform competence and what it means for social work practice in New Zealand, I will identify and describe the constituent elements of Te Ao Maori – the Maori world view, critically examine Tsang and Georges conceptual framework and apply their framework to an aspect of Te Ao Maori in a practice setting.

Members of the ANZASW are accountable to the association and expected to abide by their policies and procedures, competent social work practice being one of them, the following ten standards for social work practice in Aotearoa New Zealand were set and ratified by the National Executive of NZASW (now ANZASW) in June 1990:

The social worker establishes an appropriate and purposeful working relationship with clients taking into account individual differences and the cultural and social context of the client’s situation.

The social worker acts to secure the client’s participation in the whole process of the working relationship with them.

The social worker’s practice assists clients to gain control over her/his own circumstances.

The social worker has knowledge about social work methods, social policy, social services, resources and opportunities.

In working with clients, the social worker is aware of and uses her/his own personal attributes appropriately.

The social worker only works where systems of accountability are in place in respect of his/her agency, clients and the social work profession.

The social worker constantly works to make the organisation and systems, which are part of the social work effort, responsive to the needs of those who use them.

The social worker acts to ensure the client’s access to the Code of Ethics and objects of the New Zealand Association of Social Workers.

The social worker uses membership of the New Zealand Association of Social Workers to influence and reinforce competent social practice.

The social worker uses membership of the New Zealand Association of Social Workers to influence and reinforce competent practice (NZASW, 1993).

To illustrate how these standards for practice work in professional social work practice I will select one standard and show how two aspects of the standard apply. For standard four: the social worker has knowledge about social work methods, social policy and social services, this standard can be shown in practice with how Child, Youth and Family services work within a bicultural framework and the Treaty of Waitangi:

Child, Youth and Family acknowledges its duties and obligations to the tangata whenua as a Crown partner to New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi. We are committed to ensuring that services we deliver and purchase are fully responsive to the needs and aspirations of Maori, and that our actions are consistent with the Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi. Our commitment is reflected in a key result area – improved outcomes for Maori, the alliances and partnerships we have built and continue to foster with iwi and Maori social services groups and communities, our human resource policies, and in our work programme (especially the development and implementation of a strategy for improving outcomes for Maori children, young people and their families) (CYF, 2008).

In relation to the social policy part of this standard the CYF’s social workers are aware of the legislations of Aotearoa New Zealand and how other aspects of the law:

Child, Youth and Family’s statutory role is defined by the following legislation:

The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989

The Adoption Act 1955

The Adult Adoption Information Act 1985

The Adoption (Inter-country) Act 1997(CYF, 2008).

Child, Youth and Family services are an excellent example of how an agency has set guidelines and policies around the standards set out by the SWRB and ANZASW to implement competent practice by their social workers.

In the next part of this essay I will identify and describe the constituent elements of Te Ao Maori – the Maori world view. To understand the Maori world view we must examine what are the Maori behaviour and conduct in social relationships or korero tawhito are; then what the Maori social structures of whanau, hapu, iwi mean and what the three classes of Maori society are, and what mana and tapu mean for Maori people who are the tangata whenua of Aotearoa. Korero tawhito are they ways in which Maori behave and conduct themselves in social relationships:

Korero tawhito reflected the thought concepts, philosophies, ideals, norms and underlying values of Maori societyaˆ¦ The values represent ideals, which were not necessarily achievable but something to aspire to (Ministry of Justice, 2001, p.1).

These underlying values of Maori society are the ways in which Maori people socially interact with each other. The next step in understanding what the Maori world view is, is to understand Maori social structures:

The Maori social structure was based on decent, seniority and the kinship groupings. Maori recognised four kin groups:

Whanau – the basic unit of Maori society into which an individual was born and socialised.

Hapu – the basic political init within Maori society, concerned with ordinary social and economic affairs and making basic day-to-day decisions.

Iwi – the largest independent, politico-economic unit in Maori society. An iwi would be identified by its territorial boundaries, which were of great social, cultural and economic importance (Ministry of Justice, 2001, p.2).

The kin group a person belongs to affects their world view because it influences their place within society. The fundamental concepts of mana and tapu are those which govern the framework of Maori society:

Mana was inherited at birth, and the more senior the descent of a person, the greater the mana. Tapu invariably accompanied mana. The more prestigious the event, person or object, the more it was surrounded by the protection of tapu. The complex notions of mana and tapu reflect the ideals and values of social control and responsibility. The analysis of mana endeavours to identify the role of mana in relation to responsibility, leadership and birthright. The examination of tapu illustrated how tapu operated and affected the everyday lives of Maori (Ministry of Justice, 2001, p.6).

In examining the elements of Te Ao Maori I have examine the different concepts of Maori behaviour and conduct korero tawhito, the Maori social structures of kin and class and what mana and tapu mean.

Theory 300
CRITERION FOR CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE THEORY/MODEL OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

Identifies and is based upon beliefs and values of Pacific Islands culture.

Explains problems and concerns in a manner that is relevant to Pacific Islands understanding.

Uses Pacific Islands helping traditions and practices.

Incorporates a Pacific Islands understanding to change the process.

Can differentiate aspects of the behaviour which are associated with Pacific Islands cultural patterns from those resultant

in dominant palagi cultural interpretations.

Avoids cultural pathological stereotyping.

Encompass macro and micro levels of explanations and interventions.

Incorporates the experiences of the community and individuals in New Zealand Society.

Can guide the selection of appropriate knowledge and practice skills from other cultures.

(Adapted from Meemeduma, P. (1994). Cross cultural social work: New models for new practice, Advances in social work welfare education, Montash University.)

Ethics 300
Skills 300

The Social Work Registration Board of Aotearoa New Zealand released in 2007 a policy statement in regard to the competence of registered social workers to practise social work with Maori and different ethnic and cultural groups in New Zealand. The release of this document was to set the levels of competency that are needed for social workers to work effectively in a positive way to empower those who are disadvantaged by society. As Mason Durie comments, cultural competence about the acquiring of skills to achieve a better understanding of members of other cultures (SWRB, 2007, p.5). To be competent when working with other cultures one must understand the differences and similarities between other cultures and know what is culturally appropriate and inappropriate; the social worker needs to respect the client’s culture and use recourses available to them to effectively work with the client to achieve the best possible outcome

Bicultural code of Ethics

In the next part of this essay I will critically examine Tsang and George’s (1998) – Integrated Conceptual Framework for Cross-cultural Practice of attitude, knowledge and skills. I will do this by describing the three elements and examining these elements by assessing their significance and importance in social work practice with mana whenua. To understand what the significance and importance of Tsang and George’s conceptual framework in relation to mana whenua we must first examine what mana whenua are:

Mana whenua(noun):territorial rights, power from the land – power associated with possession and occupation of tribal land. The tribe’s history and legends are based in the lands they have occupied over generations and the land provides the sustenance for the people and to provide hospitality for guests (Maori Dictionary, 2008).

Now we know what mana whenua means the next apart is to describe the three elements of the framework:

Attitude Commitment to justice and equity

Valuing difference

Other-directed: Openness to cultural difference

Self directed: Critical self-reflection

Knowledge Specific cultural content

Systemic context of culture

Acculturation and internalized culture

Dynamics of cross-cultural communication and understanding

Skills Management of own emotional response

Professional intervention within institutional contexts

Communication, engagement, and relationship skills

Specific change strategies (Tsang and George, 1998, p.84).

The concept of attitude relates to the social worker’s own behaviour and their use of self as a tool when working with clients, the concept of knowledge relates to the knowledge theories behind cross-cultural practice and knowledge learnt from a practitioners own experiences. The concept of skills relates to the practical aspect of working with clients. To use the element of attitude when working with mana whenua, one needs to be aware of their own limitations, lack of knowledge and understanding of other cultures:

This awareness has both self-directed and other-directed implications. The other-directed expression of this awareness is an openness to cultural difference and a readiness to learn form a client. Such openness is based on acknowledgement and positive regard for the cultural differences that exist between the client and the practitioner, respect for client cultures, and readiness to accommodate alternative world views or ways of life. The self-directed expression of this awareness is a readiness to engage in self-reflection, including the examination of possible cultural biases, assumptions, values, and one’s emotional experience and comfort level when challenged with difference (Tsang and George, 1998, p.84).

For a social worker to be aware of their own limitations and lack of knowledge is the first step in establishing a working relationship with mana whenua, their own ability to acknowledge the differences and similarities between their own culture and their client’s culture is a huge component of their attitude when working with their clients. Supervision is needed in this context for the social worker to be able to discuss with others their own reflections and feelings associated when working cross-culturally, for personal and professional growth. Knowledge is the next element in which the cross-cultural practice framework discusses the four elements of knowledge:

We can identify four areas of cross-cultural knowledge. First is the knowledge of specific cultural content as captured by the cultural literacy model. In agreement with Dyche and Zayas (1995), it is probably not realistic to expect cros0cultural practitioners to be knowledgeable in a large number of cultural systems. It may be more practical for practitioners to focus on the other three kinds of knowledge: the systemic context of culture, acculturation and internalized culture, and the dynamics of cross-cultural communication and understanding. Consistent with an ecological perspective adopted by many social workers, cross-cultural clinical practice is understood within the broader systemic context of current structural inequalities, racial politics, histories of colonization, slavery, and other forms of racial oppression (Tsang and George, 1998, p.85).

For a worker to work effectively cross-culturally they must understand and have knowledge of other cultures, historically, ethnically, their value and belief systems, their customs and day-to-day living. To have a comprehensive understanding of a client’s total living and life experience a practitioner must have an appreciation of the effects of their socio-political systems. In this context in New Zealand it would be effective for social workers working with mana whenua to have knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi and what it means for Maori people and the political aspects that go with it. The final element of Skills in Tsang and George’s model related to the specific skills a social worker needs when working biculturally with the mana whenua and cross-culturally:

Social work skills are specific courses of action taken by practitioner to achieve positive changes needed by their clients aˆ¦ Appropriate attitude and knowledge in cross-cultural practice, therefore, must be translated into specific professional behaviour which addresses practitioner, client, institutional and contextual realities. A variety of skills have been recommended by authors in cross-cultural practice, covering professional behaviour within institutional contexts; communication skills, specific interviewing skills such as ethnographic interview, relationship-building skills, and change strategies (Tsang and George, 1998, p.85-86).

Practice skills can not be effective without the social worker having a sound understanding of knowledge and the appropriate attitude when working with mana whenua. Skills are the practical component on Tsang and George’s model, and when working with mana whenua the practitioner must use the appropriate skills from their knowledge base for their work to be effective. Their interactions with their clients are an important part of their role as a social worker. Mana whenua need social workers with the specialist cross-cultural skills. In this part of the essay I have examined Tsang and George’s model of attitude, knowledge and skills by describing the three elements and examining the elements by assessing their significance and importance in social work practice with mana whenua and other cultures.

Evidence 300

It is important to have a set service standards and programs that ensure provision of high quality services in our health service system so as to achieve health care that is of high standard and beneficial to the people. It is for this reason that in 1996, the government of Australia developed the National Standards for Mental Health Services (Fenna, 2001, p.80). Ensuring that the standards were fully implemented provided an important chance for the improvement of the value of mental health care. The standards were intended to be used as a guideline in order to develop new services in mental health care or to improve the existing mental services ensuring they attained to recommended quality standards (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1997, p.68).

Additionally, the consumers of mental health services or their carers can use these standards to have a clue on their expectations from the health service (Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, 1995, p.78). These standards were developed to meet the National Mental Health Policy that the Australian government had formulated in order to enhance the treatment and care of all the people who were suffering from any mental health problem (Althaus, Bridgman & Davis, 2007, p.23). The standards lay a greater weight on the outcome of the patients with mental health problems and their carers in order to uphold their human rights and provide empowerment to them. The standards were set in agreement with the United Nationaa‚¬a„?s Principles on the Protection of People with Mental Illness (Australian Health Ministers, 1991, p.67).

Among these principles are as follows; encouragement of the people with mental disorders to attain the highest quality of life as compared with healthy individuals, the positive outcomes for the patients of mental illness and their carers was to be the center of attention for the standards and the recognition of all the perspectives of the patients, that is, their spiritual, emotional and physical needs. These standards have served to improve the quality of care to the consumers of mental health services (Rosen, Miller & Parker, 1993, p.23). This essay critically analyses a mental health service on how well it meets the standards in their day to day activities.

Mental health service

CRS Australia is an organization whose presence is being felt in many communities in Australia. Presently, there is high competition for the limited job opportunities that our economy is able to support. This has led to a huge backlog of learned people in wait for job opportunities. Many college leavers are finding it quite difficult to secure that dream job that you have been anticipating for throughout your educational life (Meagher, 1995, p. 73). As a result, stress builds up and at times this has led to various mental disorders. CRS has come in place to provide a contact between the job seekers and the employers. It helps job seekers who may be having any disability or health conditions to acquire some job positions and also provide guidelines that ensure the job is maintained.

The job seekers are guided to break any barriers they may encounter in finding employment. The organization also works together with employers in finding qualified candidates for the vacant posts in their workplaces. Also, they offer technical advice on the safety measures to be observed in the workplaces and give assistance in the management of any worker injured on duty. It offers its services to any person who has the will and is able to acquire guidance from it. For the job seekers it has over 170 offices distributed across Australia where any person can contact them and he/she will be offered with the appropriate guidelines on what to do and how to get that needed job. It has helped a lot of people who are full of praise for it. For the employers it offers a wide package including guiding them to select the qualified employers and offering expertise in areas like risk and hazard reduction to reduce work place injuries. This saves their institutions from the high compensation charges that they may be forced to pay the workers in case they get injured during the work service (Allan, Briskman, Pease, 2009, p.77). Any company is welcome to CRS to seek its services which are offered without discrimination.

National Standards for Mental Health Services

These standards are grouped into three sections where the first seven standards are concerned with issues that are accepted universally concerning human dignity, the human rights of the people with mental illness and their acceptance in our societies. The next three standards focus on the organizational structure of the mental health service with an emphasis on the connections existing between different departments of the mental health sector (United Nations General Assembly, 1992, p.12). Finally, the 11th standard illustrates the care delivery process beginning with initial contact with mental health services to their final contact. We now focus on the first and third standard in relation to CRS Australia to determine how well the organization has worked in meeting the standards.

The first standard is concerned with protection of the rights of people who have mental disorders or mental health problems by the mental health services which they are offered (Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care, 1997, p.16). Compliance with the legislations and all the regulations by the staff of mental health service to ensure the rights are upheld is of importance and therefore given the first consideration. Application of this standard ensures that the mentally disabled people are not discriminated against in being offered essential services so long as they are in a capacity to work efficiently (United Nations, 1991, p.56). CRS on its behalf is entitled in ensuring equal opportunities are offered to job seekers when accessing job opportunities. According to CRS Australia (2010, para. 2-4), 20% of the population have an exposure to a mental health problem during their life time.

As an organization, CRS has experts staff that guides people in managing their mental health conditions in order for them to acquire a job or if they are in one maintain their positions. They have helped many people with mental health problems which are at often accompanied by various injuries some of which are physical and hence have caused a disability in them. With an inner understanding of the hard and tiring process of dealing with mental health problems, CRS has programs on disability management which are suited to job seekers. They work together to ensure that their clients are able to secure that job which they desire thus making it a reality for many job seekers who have mental problems a reality (Mendes, 2008, p.56). Once a person has acquired a job, there are sometimes psychological injuries that come as a result of the type of work that a person is doing. This result into work related stress which often cause low productivity by the employees, ever rising rates of absenteeism or job absconding, bad relations between the staff and the employees in the work places among others (Swain, & Rice, 2009, p.76). This causes a high employee turnover which is detrimental to an institutions reputation. CRS Australia has come in to solve these problems through its experienced psychologists, counselors and the social workers. The organization assesses the situation to find out the kind of assistance needed and determines the appropriate changes to be made in order to minimize the psychological problems or injuries.

In addition, CRS do take into account the goals and ambitions of the people with mental disorders in relation to their jobs. They are able to offer private and confidential information to the consumers of their services concerning their rights and privileges in their work places so as to retain their jobs. This is offered in a language that is freely understood by the concerned parties. In any case a legislative action is sought to resolve any tussle the consumers and their carersaa‚¬a„? written consent is freely sought (Myers, 1995, p.19). By so doing CRS has served and supported the welfare of people with mental conditions and illnesses and thus improving their wellness in the society. It also monitors their progress in their areas of work identifying any work related problems they are encountering and giving appropriate solutions and guidelines on how to tackle them. The act of seeking employment for them or the endeavors to sustain their employment ensures they are empowered to take care of themselves and this gives them morale. It also serves to curtail any form of discrimination that may exist in job acquisition process and thus upholding the rights of the consumers as described by the UN principles for the protection of people who are mentally handicapped.

The third standard for mental health services is concerned with ensuring the consumer of mental health services and their carers are involved in the processes of planning of the mental health service being provided (Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care, 1997, p. 19). Also, it ensures that they actively participate in the implementation and evaluation of the services provided. CRS Australia is tasked with provision of interventional measures both at the early stages and later after the injuries have occurred. It provides a platform where the consumers are involved giving their views on where they think should be improved so as to reduce their levels of mental stress (Wade, & Weir, 1995, p.99). The job seekers are taken through counseling sessions where their views are sought so as to help them find solutions to their problems. In the work places, the people under these services are also asked to provide their opinions on how to reduce the mental injuries that they are suffering from. They give their opinions which are then incorporated with policy guidelines to come up with in born solutions to the health problems. The consumers are in a position to feel as part of the solution to their problems and hence are able to adhere to the recommendations that come up (Andrews, Peters & Teesson, 1994, p.30). The MHS offered by the CRS is inclusive and supports a number of activities for both the consumers and the cares. It has evaluation criteria for the consumers to determine the level of support that they are able to acquire and what is needed to improve their conditions in a much better way (Rapp, 1998, p.79).

In addition to these, CRS is able to provide trainings to the consumers on how to improve their workplaces in order to reduce physical mental injuries which can heighten their problems. Employers do seek the services of CRS in promoting work safety measures through the trainings they offer. CRS is also able to monitor the progress it has made in ensuring equal opportunities for all in employment. In its efforts it is able to make workplace visits to assess the progress of the employees they are able to send to the various institutions (Rapp & Goscha, 2006, p.101). In case any deviation from the principles is noticed it offers appropriate guidelines in order to protect the rights of people with mental disabilities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, CRS Australia has been instrumental in assisting people with mental disabilities or injuries to secure a place in employment and consequently be in a position to maintain their places. The organization has been able to attain the specifications of the Australian government and the private sector in providing mental injury management, assessment and any other measures intended for prevention of mental injuries (Australian Council on Healthcare Standardsaa‚¬a„? Care Evaluation Program, 1995, p.50). CRS has been able to be in a position to attain the standards set for mental health services. With an emphasis to standard one which is concerned with ensuring equal rights to people with mental disorders and problems. By offering employment chances to the mentally handicapped, CRS is able to ensure the mentally handicapped are not discriminated when it comes to employment. This has served to empower the mentally ill patients. They thus are able to care for themselves and reduce their over reliance on their carers for financial and wellbeing help. CRS is also able to attain the standard number three of ensuring that the consumers and their carers are involved in the mental health service. CRS is therefore effective in provision of mental health service especially in offering employment.