Category: Free Essays

Introduction

Work life balance has become the hot issue around the world. In the United Kingdom, a high level of support has been given to work life balance. Employers think people can only give best performance when they can strike a balance of work and life. In the United States, more importance has been given to work life balance, it has accounted for more than two-thirds of work characteristics that has been rated by surveyed companies which they think to be “absolutely essential” to attract and retain the talent. (Michaels, Handfield- Jones & Axelrod, 2001)

In Hong Kong, a survey is conducted on work life balance has indicated that more than 80% of employees being interviewed and they have considered work life balance as important to them and only less then 50% of them said that they were able to achieve it.

Literature Review

Over the past decades, balance between work and other factors of life has been made much difficult which happened due to changes in technology, demographic workforce and business environment. It is now become a challenge for modern employees to achieve work life balance without jeopardizing their well being and satisfaction with other aspect of the lives and overall quality of life. Technological advancements, like mobile phones, internet, have enabled people to conduct work anywhere and at anytime, whether they are on holidays or flying on planes. Furthermore the use of computers has changed their lives as people are taking their work to home. Long working hours now becomes a norm in many countries worldwide. Which have indirectly increased the workload, long hour’s culture and job insecurity?

Over the past decades, the employment of women has increased substantially. In some developed economies, women are occupied half or more of workforce (International Labor Office 2007). In 2005, about 88 million women whose ages lie between 20 to 64 were employed in the United States, which was the 50.8% of the total workforce (US Census Bureau, 2005) and 70.9% of the women were participated in labor force in 2005.

Work Life Balance

Work life balance was first used in the late 1970 that actually describes that the individual has a personal life too. Work and life balance is important and it should be manage in way that increases satisfaction. Individual’s personal life in which family, friends, love, play etc comes.

Work life balance is about people manage the difference between work and life. How they manage work and life. Work life balance is important only in the framework of what company does for the individual worker.

The work life balance however is a two pronged approach, it is achievement with enjoyment. If the employee is giving his best input to the organization but not really enjoying the same then happiness then satisfaction can not be achieved.

Work life balance does not mean only balancing the profession and family, it means balancing the mental and status quo and balancing the emotional intelligence. Organizations facilitate their employees via implementing work life balance and training.

There is a life at home and at work and life having space for leisure time. If the employee work life is imbalance then it effect comes on productivity means productivity is declining and efficiency level is also decreasing, the imbalance work life has a negative impact in professional and personal life. Imbalance work life results in absenteeism, turnover, less committed to organization.

Employee retention is seriously important for organizations. Now organizations are focusing on grooming their employees and treating them as human capital of the organization.

That’s why companies most of the companies are implementing work life balance by facilitating part time work, work at home, attend meeting via video conferencing, can do job sharing.

Work life and personal life are two sides of the same coin. According to various work life balance surveys, more then 60% respondents said they are not able to find the balance between them. They have to make difficult decision between work and personal life. But now it is close to equilibrium. Traditionally managing a balance between life and work was considered to be a woman’s issue but increasing work pressure, technological changes and globalization have made this issue for male and female, all professionals working across all countries. Achieving a balance work life is not simple as it seen.

Personal life and work life both are inter-connected and interdependent and doing long hours job, dealing with clients, deadlines in jobs can interfere and affect the personal life of an individual and sometimes it becomes difficult to maintain the relationship. On the other side, personal life can also be demanding such as kids, wife, parents and relatives, giving them time is very important. If not managing then it leads to absenteeism form work, stress level increases and concentration on work diminishes.

The work life balance conflict occurs when burden, obligations and responsibilities and family roles becomes incompatible.

Need and Benefits of Work Life Balance

Today the deadlines of work are getting tighter and it’s really much difficult for an individual to achieve it. Due to these deadlines it becomes difficult to maintain a family life. It is difficult to have engagement of min with the engagement of body. In every individual’s life there are four stakeholders- his or her personality, family, job and the society.

It is very important for an individual person to give equal importance to all stakeholders (personality, family, job and society) and then an individual can term as successful person. When a life is imbalance then happiness, peace and harmony of life vanishes and it has a negative impact on work life too. So it is very important to avoid imbalance of life. The transition of work life imbalance and work life balance has negative and positive impact on organization’s success.

On an individual level work life balance bring phenomenal changes in his life and also have impact on society. A balance work life results in good health, stress level decline due to health levels and can derive more value form work and life and which leads to satisfaction and self actualization.

At the organizational level, balance work life enables productivity and efficiency and employees becomes more creative and derive more satisfaction. Employee better communicate and do better teamwork in a working environment. Work life balance leads to fully enjoying the work and which increases passion for it, which results in employees commitment level increases and thus develops a strong value system.

Advantages of Work Life Balance

Many organizations such as IBM, Merrill Lynch, Pfizer and Accenture have introduced work life programme within their companies to help their employees to achieve effective balance between the work and personal life because they believe that it makes good business sense to provide such programmes to their employees due to financial and non-financial benefits that can be reaped.

Policies and practices of work life balance are good for business; there are many benefits for the business who have implemented it.

The one of the most important advantage of work life balance is that employee feel satisfaction because of managing the work and life.

Organizations implement work life balance in order to attract or retain talented employees.

This work life balance was implemented by organizations to decrease the labor turnover in the organizations.

It increases the productivity in the organizations because of the work life balance.

When people are satisfied with their life as well as work means they have kept the balance between work and personal life, which results in less absenteeism in the organization.

It increases the overall profit in the organization because of balance between work and personal life.

Organizations implemented work life balance then it increases overall profit in any organization as employees are working hard to increase productivity.

Employees are loyal where organizations have implemented work life balance.

An overall more enjoyable workplace as all employees are achieving and enjoying.

Employees give best input to organization as they are happy with their life and work balance.

Work life balance initiates an individual to give his best input to organization and work hard to achieve organizational goals and provides innovative ideas and thus organization rapidly grow in the direction of success.

When an individual has work life balance then he or she can better know how to spend the time.

Employees less miss the time as they have well manage the work and personal life.

Depression is a condition of mental disturbance and when employee’s work life is balance and he or she can perfectly manages everything.

Individual have other things to do in life then work which is as playing, giving time to family means spending time with the family, meeting with friends etc. So work life balance is very important in individual’s life.

There are many responsibilities of an individual such responsibility parents, wife, children and as well as of society so work life balance is very important in respect to managing these multiple responsibilities at a time.

Companies who have implemented work life balance programme, they have reduces the health cost as employee have to work less and that’s the reason they have good health.

According to the Corporate Executive Board’s Research, effective work life balance encourages workers to work harder and discourage them for leaving the job.

The worker can easily meet the need of family, personal obligations and the life responsibility.

Employees are more committed to organizations who have implemented it.

Employer can recruit outstanding or talented employees in the company.

Implementation, Effect and Results of work life balance in Pakistan

Implementation, Effect and Results of work life balance in Pakistan
The Unilever Pakistan Limited

The Unilever Pakistan Limited, formerly Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited was established in 1948. Unilever Pakistan is one of the largest fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in the Pakistan and has a multinational operational network.

The Unilever Pakistan Limited has implemented work life balance to facilitate their employees to enjoy and improve productivity in the organization.

Unilever, Pakistan has given employees the chance to work flexibly through different schemes which is as part time job, work at home and job sharing.

They have change the way they work in past. But now they avoid travelling to meetings which cost money and it also impacts the environment and takes the people far away from home. That’s why they have introduced effective ways to communicate through new generation video conferencing, virtual meetings, videophones and online collaboration environments.

In the result of work life balance implementation in Unilever, Pakistan; employees are more committed, highly satisfied and loyal to the company and have less turnover.

Procter & Gamble, Pakistan

Procter & Gamble, Pakistan was established in 1991 and is global consumer goods company which is locally operating in a Pakistan that provides premium quality product for their consumers.

Procter and Gamble has implemented work life balance. According to their view, they believe that work life balance is as important as the performance. They have fitness clubs, days-off to work from home programmes. They are giving special consideration to working mothers. In results of implementing the work life in Procter Gamble employees are more productive which translates to success.

Telenor Pakistan
Telenor Pakistan is owned by the Telenor Group and is an international provider of voice, data, and content and mobile communication service.
Telenor has implemented work life balance which they believe is critical to their business success. They have provided in-office facilities to their employees such as gyms, game rooms and cafes to get relax at work and enjoy these facilities.
The other organizations who have implemented work life balance in Pakistan are;
BankIslami Pakistan, Pakistan State Oil, Netsol – Pakistan, National Bank of Pakistan, Pfizer Pakistan, Nestle Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan, Daewoo Pakistan, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, Pakistan Steel Mills, Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan, Gourmet Foods (Pakistan), State Life Insurance Corporation Of Pakistan, PEPCO Pakistan, Qubee (Augere Pakistan), Citibank Pakistan, United Energy Pakistan Limited, OCS Pakistan, Tetra Pak Pakistan, Mobilink Pakistan, PepsiCo, Chartis Insurance Company, Pakistan Water and Power Supply Authority, Roche Pakistan Limited, Publicis Pakistan, Engro Foods, The Coca-Cola Company, World call Telecom, Nokia, Xavor
Conclusion
Work life balance remains an important issue that requires considerable attention from organizations. Nowadays many organizations operates 24/7 schedule and technological advancement has made it easy to connect all the time. Employers have found out that burnt-out employees are nearly useless while satisfied employees are the key to organization’s success in future. To this ends, many organization has implemented work life balance programs to facilitate employees in handling conflicts that may arise between work and life. The work life balance programs incorporated at organizations providing the flexibility and support that help employees manage the complexities of modern life.
Outcomes of imperfect Work life balance

Stress

The number of employees suffering from many ailments including hypertension, heart attack, diabetes has grown in recent years, which worst effected by long working hours and stressful working hours.

Relational Problems

If the employees spend more time in the workplace rather then spending time with the parents, spouses, children and family, can disturb the relationship as there is no longer time to give for these relations.

Unethical Practices

To handle the stress in the organizations as well as in the home, employees tend to adopt unethical practices such as smoking, drugs, improper relations etc.

Community care essentially aims to provide individuals in need with social, medical and health support in their own homes, as far as possible, rather than in residential establishments or in long-stay institutions. The enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act in 1990 marked a watershed in the evolution of community care practice in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71). Implemented after years of discussion on the social and financial viability of maintaining people in institutions and homes, the NHS and Community Care Act, initiated by Margaret Thatcher, showcased her desire to radically change the practice and delivery of social and health care in the UK (Means, et al, 2002, p 71).

The years following the passing of the Act have witnessed significant developments in the practice and delivery of social work in the country. This short essay attempts to investigate the basic reasons for the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act, its basic ideology and thrust, and its impact on the social work sector of the country. The essay also studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, with particular focus on direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care provisions for carers and the contemporary emphasis on personalisation.

NHS and Community Care Act 1990

Whilst the initiation of the policy of community care in the UK is by and large attributed to Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government, the concept of community care, even at that time, was not exactly new (Borzaga & Defourny, 2001, p 43). The need for community care existed from the beginning of the 1950s. It aimed to provide a better and more cost effective way to help individuals with mental health concerns and physical disabilities by removing them from impersonal, old, and often harsh institutional environments, and taking care of them in their home environments (Borzaga & Defourny, 2001, p 43). Although various governments, since the 1950s, supported the need to introduce community care and tried to bring in appropriate changes, lack of concrete action on the issue resulted in constant increase of the number of people in residential establishments and large institutions during the 1960s, 70s and 80s (Borzaga & Defourny, 2001, p 43).

With numerous negative stories coming out in the media on the difficult conditions in such establishments, Sir Roy Griffiths was invited by Margaret Thatcher to investigate the issue of community care for the residents of such establishments and make appropriate recommendations (Harris, 2002, p 11). The Griffiths, (1988), Report named “Community Care: Agenda for Action”, followed by the publication of a White Paper “Caring for People: Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond” in 1989 led to the enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 (Cass, 2007, p 241).

Apart from being a strong attempt to improve the lives of people in long term institutions and residential establishments, the law was also an outcome of the conservative government’s desire to bring market reforms into the public sector and stimulate the private sector to enter the social services, as well as its conviction that competitive markets would be better able to provide more economic services than a bureaucratised public sector (Harris, 2009, p 3). With social services being among the highest revenue spending departments at the local authority level and domiciliary and residential services for older people consuming the bulk of social service funds, community care for older people presented an obvious area for introduction and implementation of market principles (Harris, 2009, p 3).

The act split the role of local and health authorities by altering their internal structures, so that local authority departments were required to ascertain the needs of individuals and thereafter purchase required services from providers (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28). Health organisations, in order to become providers of such services, became NHS trusts that competed with each other. The act also required local social service and health authorities to jointly agree to community care plans for the local implementation of individual care plans for long term and vulnerable psychiatric patients (Lewis, et al, 1994, p 28).

The act has however come in for varying degrees of criticism from service users, observers and experts, with some observers claiming the altered care conditions to be unresponsive, inefficient and offering little choice or equity (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Other experts, who were not so pessimistic, stated that whilst the system was based upon an excellent idea, it was little better in practice than the previous systems of bureaucratic resource allocation and received little commitment from social services; the lead community care agency (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). The commitment of local authorities was diluted by the service legacies of the past and vested professional interest, even as social services and health services workers were unable to work well together (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17). Little collaboration took place between social and health services and the impact of the reforms was undermined by chronic government underfunding. The voluntary sector became the main beneficiary of this thrust for the development of a mixed economy of care (Malin, et al, 2002, p 17).

Developments after the Enactment of the NHS and Community Care Act

The assumption of government by the labour party in 1997 resulted in the progressive adoption of numerous forward looking policies in various areas of social care. The publication of a white paper in 1998 reinforced the government’s commitment to promotion of community based care and people’s independence (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The paper focused on assisting people to achieve and maintain independence through prevention and rehabilitation strategies, with specific grants being introduced to facilitate their implementation. The Health Act of 1999 removed obstacles to the joint working of health and social services departments through provisions for pooling of budgets and merging of services (Means, et al, 2002, p 79). The formulation of the NHS plan aimed to improve partnership between health and social care, the development of intermediate care and the construction of capacity for care through “cash for change” grants for development of capacity across social and health care systems (Means, et al, 2002, p 79).

Direct Payments for Individuals with Learning Disabilities

The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996, which came into operation in April 1997, marked a radical change in the provision of community care for people with disabilities, including those with learning difficulties (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). It was illegal, prior to the implementation of the act, for local authorities to support people with disabilities by making cash payments in lieu of providing community care services. Policymakers however realised that many local authorities were successfully supporting independent living schemes, centres for independent living and personal assistance schemes (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Such schemes handled community care payments for disabled people and provided them with help to organise assistance or support. The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act built on this situation, allowing direct payments to be made to replace care services, which otherwise would be given by social service departments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210).

Direct payments provide flexibility in the way services are provided to eligible people. The giving of money, in lieu of social care services, helps people to achieve greater control and choice over their lives and enables them to decide on the time and mode of delivery of services (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Direct payments can not only be used for services to satisfy the needs of children or their families but also enables carers to purchase the services they need to sustain them in their roles. Research conducted in 1997 in the utilisation of direct payments by people with learning difficulties revealed that whilst utilisation of direct payments by people with learning disabilities was increasing, such utilisation was low among women and individuals from minority or black ethnic groups (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 210). Research also revealed the presence of wide differences in the interpretation of the capacity of persons for consenting to direct payments by local authorities. Whilst some local authorities felt that direct payments could be sanctioned to all persons with learning difficulties who were able, with assistance, to successfully control and use direct payments, other authorities did not heed the fact that such people could indeed be assisted to communicate decisions and consequently assumed their inability to consent to direct payments. Such interpretations, it was felt, could debar many people in need from obtaining the facility for direct payments (Tucker, et al, 2008, p 211).

Assistance for Carers

Recent years have seen a number of social care initiatives for easing the condition of carers. Carers are people who provide assistance and support, without payment, to family members or friends, who are unable to manage without such assistance, on account of illness, frailty or disability (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1). Carers can include adults who care for other adults, parents who care for disabled or ill children, or young people who care for other family members. The government’s social care policies for carers include supporting people with caring responsibilities for (a) identifying themselves at early stages, (b) recognising the worth of their contribution, and (c) involving them from the beginning in designing and planning individual care (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 1).

Such policies aim to enable carers to (a) satisfy their educational needs and employment potential, and (b) provide personalised support, both for carers and the people they support, to enjoy family and community life and remain physically and mentally well. Whilst the NHS and community care Act 1990 looked at carers as valued resources because of their ability to provide support, it did not refer to their rights; relying instead on rhetoric to deliver the message of their value to society (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). Succeeding years have however witnessed greater focus on the needs of carers and to progressive introduction of suitable laws and appropriate policies. The passing of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 drew attention to the needs of carers. This was followed by the passing of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004 (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2). These acts entitle carers for (a) assessment of their needs, (b) services in their own right and support in accessing education training, employment and leisure opportunities. The proposed equality bill introduces four new opportunities for carers. It (a) requires public authorities to give due consideration to socio-economic disadvantages, whilst exercising strategic planning functions, (b) takes account of associative discrimination with regard to disabled people, (c) provides for prevention of indirect discrimination, and (d) calls upon public bodies to ensure that their policies are designed to eliminate harassment and discrimination and further equality of opportunity (Government Equalities Office, 2010, p 2).

Personalisation

The concept of personalisation in social care, whilst discussed for some years, was formally inducted into social care practice in the UK with the publication of Putting People First in 2007.

The concordat outlined the concept of a personalised adult social care system, where individuals will have extensive control and choice over the services received by them. The government committed that social services would progressively be tailored to meet the preferences of citizens, with person centred planning along with self directed support becoming mainstream activities, assisted by personal budgets for maximising control and choice (Aldred, 2008, p 31). Whilst personal budgets and direct payments form an important aspect of personalisation, the idea concerns fitting services to the needs of people, focusing on outcomes, and recognising the worth of the opinions of service users assessing their own needs, planning their service, and producing their outcomes (Aldred, 2008, p 31).

Conclusions and the Way Forward

This essay investigates the reasons behind the enactment of the NHS and the Community Care Act and studies the developments in social care that have occurred in the years following the act, especially in areas of direct payments for people with learning disabilities, social care for carers and personalisation. It is obvious from the results of the study that social care in the UK has experienced significant change and metamorphosis since the enactment of the 1990 act.

Whilst significant progress has been made a consensus s growing that the British social care system is facing a crisis because of drivers like increasing demographic pressures, alterations in family and social structures, rising public expectations, increasing desire for greater choice and control, and eligibility for services (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The need to move people out of local accommodation because of rising rents exemplifies the challenges faced by the social care system.

With the financial system becoming more challenging, the social care system will have to find ways of improving efficiencies without diluting the quality of care (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11). The next round of social reforms, whilst attempting to achieve better delivery efficiencies will have to renew its commitment to satisfying social expectations and basic human rights, reducing costs, preventing future needs, helping people to regain independence, freeing individuals to contribute, and supporting carers to care and contribute to society (Glasby, et al, 2010, p 11).

My setting is a small rural Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school with approximately 75 children and approximately 12 teaching staff including the head and teaching assistants. The staff work, on a part and full time basis. There are 3 mixed ability and mixed age classes. Class 1 consists of reception, year 1 and half of year 2 children. It is interesting to note that the half of year 2 children are all boys. Class 2 is the other half of year 2, year 3 and half of year 4, again mainly boys. Class 3 consists of the rest of year 4, 5 and 6. This is an old village school with modern additions. There are two separate play areas including hard surface and grass areas and play equipment.

In 2009 education league tables my setting was in the top third. The setting performed below national average in 2008 for year 6 Standard Attainment Tests (SATS) however in 2009 we were slightly above the national average. In 2009 30.8% of year 6 children were identified as having special needs, from a class of 13. (bbc.co.uk. Accessed 22 Id April 2010) In the last OFSTED report 2007 the setting achieved an overall score of 2- Good. The major feeder for the setting is the local pre-school.

I view my own role in the setting is to enable and support each child. It is of key importance that I, as it is for all practitioners to I view my own role in the setting is to enable and support each child. It is key importance that I, as it is for all practitioners to identify any need of a child be it physical or emotional or in way affects the holistic well being of the child.

“All early years’ staff are committed to putting children first: ‘the welfare of the child is paramount’ (Children Act 1989).” (Hobart and Frankel 2003:123)

All barriers to a child’s growth and life chances must be addressed. If a child has a need that may not be fully met by the practitioners alone within the setting the lead practitioner must be informed to alert and call in the team of outside agencies to meet with the parents and practitioners in the setting to provide the best service to ‘ meet the needs of that child. This is in line with the Governments vision of integrated front-line delivery of services to improve future outcomes of children and their families.

(It is crucial for practitioners to act as facilitators. To meet the needs of a child the role of a practitioner is to first identify the need and if necessary share the information with other specialists and other outside agencies to aid the process of better outcomes for that child. Individual Learning Plans and Common Assessment Forms are useful tools for collaborative working. Communication is the key to executing strategies and building positive working relationships. It is a vital role of my practice to develop and maintain relations to the other organisations. Relationships develop and change over time. It is through critical reflection and analysis that practitioners can think and improve their practice.

There are many different ways that the Setting communicates with the different groups. There are different levels of formality and speed required. For example in a child safeguarding situation, urgent action may need to be taken. Action could be initiated by a means of a telephone call followed by written statements. Other forms of communication include minuted meetings, for example parents and a Local Educational Authority and Practitioner meet to discuss an Action Plan for an individual child. Written reports form the core of an Individual Learning Plan for a child with additional needs. Other reports include OFSTED Action Plans agreed with the Head Practitioner and the Governors.

For example member A of the Behavioural Support Team called a meeting with the Head Practitioner and the two named Practitioner supporting a child with challenging behaviour. The reason for the meeting was to discuss the effectiveness of the latest action plan that they had created for a child in class 1.

The Head Practitioner had received the plan of new strategies but had not shared the information with the other practitioners therefore the new methods of dealing with certain behaviour had not been implemented due to the lack of communication between members at the Setting.

On reflection of this critical incident, I wonder why the child’s parents were had not invited to the meeting to share their views on how best to support their child in the Setting. This is an example of top-down management. In my role as an Early Years Works I need full access to the information necessary for individually supporting each child otherwise Every Child Matters will not work.

The power is most definitely with the specialist to instruct the setting to carry out a plan of action with different support mechanisms. This is as a direct result for government inclusion policy, but the practitioner cannot implement the plan if the setting does not have an open or transparent communication policy. It is probably a weakness in management skills and a lack of democratic leadership skills that the lead practitioner does not share information. Alternatively this could be as a result of an overloading of responsibilities on one Head Practitioner. Thirdly the Head Practitioner may not trust the confidentiality of the staff.

In his book, The Reflective Practitioner, Donald Schon talks about the benefits of reflection. (infed.org Last Accessed 16th April 2010) This allows practitioners to explore the interactive processes which have impact on practice and outcomes of children, their families and their community. Through reflection practitioners may gauge the effectiveness of action taken at the Setting. Through reflection practitioners may focus and think about their own values and beliefs.

Reflection is an important tool to evaluate and improve one’s practice. The process allows a deeper understanding of the impact of practice on a child’s development. Knowledge gained from the whole procedure should shape practice and the sharing of information and experiences with other practitioner will raise issues for discussion which will ultimately benefit both practitioners and children. This method should lead to improved practice and greater understanding of issues in the setting.

I have critically reflected on improving the communication links between the practitioner and behavioral unit. One way round this, could be for the behavioural team to feel sufficiently confident to send the information directly to the Early Years Practitioner who is working directly with the child. There may be an issue of power or positioning. Possibly the behavioral team perceive themselves as professional elite and recognise the Head Practitioner as equal in professional status

Another member of the behavioural support team, older, wiser and more experienced, took a different approach regarding the same child.

Met with behavioural support worker B regarding child possibly on the Autistic Spectrum. He asked for feedback on the child’s behaviour and well being. He specifically asked if the child was ‘happy’ and engaging with the other children. He asked my opinion on what I thought would be the best strategy in supporting learning as he said “you have built up a relationship with the child” and he understood that I worked closely with the child on a day to day basis. (Reflective Journal November 2009)

On reflection the practitioners including myself, would have been in a better position to comment if more information had been made available to me, in preparation to the meeting. I would like to have been fully informed and kept up to date with the latest information as I was one of the named persons for that child. This made the meeting a waste of time as I was unable to comment on how the child had responded to the new board and methods as I had not created the new teaching resources. The Head Practitioner had received the previous report and recommendation from the behavioural unit but this information was not shared with any of the other practitioners. Consequently no action had been taken by the practitioners supporting the child. (Reflective Journal October 2009)

My ability to reflect on failures and successes in the use of different communication styles between professionals will enable me to ask for information in order to do my job. So reflection is an important process which aids professional development and practice. The aim is to include and enable all children using specific plans for inclusion. A practitioner professional duty is to use critical thinking and critical action as a tool to improve life chances and promote a healthy quality of life for individual children. This will bring the government policy of Every Child Matters into reality within my Setting.

“The Government recognises the crucial role of parents, carers and families in improving outcomes for children and young people and the need to provide support for parents, carers and families in order for them to do so. The Government also recognises the important role of the local community.” (Last Accessed 30-04-10 at bbc. co. uk)

Through ‘joined up working’ and positive partnerships, the needs and holistic wellbeing of every child should be met to realise the Governments vision of Every Child Matters.

The issues involving power and position of practitioner are complex. The flow of power has a direct effect on how a child and their family are supported. Power itself is a very tricky idea. Finding out where the power is involves at least two manoeuvres. First, we ask ourselves: who is in a position to influence or control the lives of whom? Secondly, we ask ourselves: in whose interests is this influence or control exerted?” (Walmsley et al 1997:131-132)

The question of power and status has a direct effect on relationships. Those who are at a similar level of position may be more inclined to share information, than with a person that they perceive to have a lower social status. Unequal power in relationships and partnerships may have an immense impact on the processes needed for joined up working and could directly affect the outcome for children.

It is important to understand the relationship between personal and social construction. The flow of power is a two-directional process. Each person’s actions are influenced by their values and beliefs. These actions effect children, families and the wider community. Their values and beliefs are affected by the community in which they live, so these values are shaped by social structure. Our social identity may change depending on experiences, relationships and social interactions. (Wabsley 1997:235-237)

Different practitioners have different views on their role. Beliefs of others may differ from the beliefs of self. For example other peer practitioners do not believe that it is also their responsibility to support and interact heavily with parents and family. They are happy to deal with other education professionals but they see parents as an obstacle to their work. There are also parents who do not wish to engage with practitioner. There are numerous reasons as to why parents and carers may not work effectively with the Setting. The barriers may be physical or concerning difficulties in communication. (Hobert and Frankel 2003:136) For example a lack of time for developing relationships or if they have the opinion that the practitioners are interfering or making judgements on the way they live; or had a poor educational experience and may feel intimidated by the educational environment. They may also not understand the value of engaging with the Setting.

The Government policy aims to bring about change with emphasis on empowerment and community development. This needs good partnerships between families, practitioners and the groups in the wider community.

This is not possible if all the practitioners do not share the same vision or if parents do not want to participate in partnerships with the Setting. Some parents are hard to reach and it can be problematic in deciding the best course of action. A practitioner needs to attempt to engage with parents whilst maintaining a professional distance. Parents and family are crucial members of ‘the team around the child’.

For all of a child’s needs to be met all groups that can provide a service to benefit the child must participate and work together towards a common goal.

13?Values are therefore linked to wider ideas which are woven into the social fabric and are often mixed and contradictory. We therefore need to expose and examine our own assumptions as professional workers.” (Lea 2010 Including and Enabling professional practice and inclusion notes)

The Government provide the Schools, National Health Service, Police and other agencies to support the family. The Government also conduct research to develop social policies to regulate and shape children’s lives to ultimately improve each child’s social outcome. Policies and frameworks for example, the Early Years Foundation stage and Every Child Matters are designed to guide Setting, Social Workers and other Health Professional to give every child a fairer chance in life.

Communication is an important step to try to improve the chances and opportunities of all children. If a setting fails to communicate effectively with an agency there have been extreme consequences for the child and family.

“Three children a week are dying of abuse or neglect at the hands of parents or guardians,…. including some already on the child protection register.” Last Accessed 2nd May 2010 at dailymail.co.uk

There may be an impact on the child due to domestic violence. Practitioners need to be vigilant and in tune with the child’s usual behaviour to notice differences in the attitude, health and well being of the child.

15 The Setting is the core of the diagram. Setting practitioners spend the most time with children and families and in a position to have the closest relationships.

The next group have less time in contact with the child, but have regular input for the support of the children in the setting. They are a part of the local community as well as the setting.

The third including OFSTED and LEA professionals are called in by the school specialists may have intensive time with a limited number of children on a 1:1 basis.

The fourth include Emergency services and the wider community groups. The motivation for community contact is to be ‘proud’ and social cohesion.

Finally the Government has overarching policies and how they resource and affect children families and the Setting.

The long-term outcomes may include children engaged with their community and this may lead to a sense of belonging and an increase in health, positive behaviour and well being. inter-professional and inter-agency working has a huge positive impact on the welfare of children. Government funding, resources and how practitioners support children impact on their self-esteem, progression and multiple issues concerning their life chances. It is the practitioner’s responsibility to ensure that the resources always get through to the individual child

Early Year practitioners are agents of change. They have the responsibility to ensure high quality early year provision. Their duty to meet the Early Year Foundation Stage involves the aim to constantly improve practice and work in partnership with parents and the wider community.

The building of supportive relationships with children requires listening effectively to their voice and all the voices of other groups and organisations that interact with the Setting and can influence the child’s life chances ‘Through reflection in action and reflection on action’ a practitioner may use experiences to aid professional development and meet the expectations of the Government.

The EYFS process is designed to take down the barriers between professions. The ‘team around the child’ should have shared values and aims in terms of the outcome of the child and family and consequently the community bought together by the government initiative. The EYPS will allow a better understanding of how the different groups collaborate and this should improve every child’s life chances. (ECM para) This builds on the core aims of Every Child Matters which was designed to give a fairer chance to all children. Be Healthy, economic independence.

The long-term Government vision is to narrow the gap between the children who achieve and those who do not by providing services to children and their families which is focused on the following five outcomes.

aˆ? Being healthy

aˆ? Staying safe

aˆ? Enjoying and achieving

aˆ? Making a positive contribution

aˆ? Economic well-being (Pugh and Duffy 2006:10)

The children from certain groups such as looked after children, traveller children, children with disability and the Gifted and Talented are often considered to be vulnerable to not having all their needs met. The development of Children’s services aims to integrate health, social and educational teams. For true integration to a team and take collective responsibility of the child.

The sharing of information is often crucial to position resources to best meet the needs of children. This encourages the development of good quality partnerships should lead to improved services for the child and their family.

This is politically driven, and if the government changed will there be the priority on the funding and focus of EYFS and ECM.

Political opinions “It is the government’s aim to have EYPs in all Children’s Centres offering early years provision by 2010 and in every full day care setting by 2015.” (Children’s Workforce Development Council Introduction and information guide:5)

The Labour government has focussed on child poverty using many initiatives. These include Family Tax Credits and Sure Start provision. These are part of a concerted programme created because it was identified that your start in the early years is directly related to your life chances. It has been recognised that the quality of parental skills is of importance. Research suggests that the level of education of practitioners has a direct effect on the outcome of the children in their care.

This is why the Government is up skilling the Early Years Workforce and promoting good parenting skills. There is research evidence of the benefits of good attachment for a child’s whole development.

The process of critical self reflection allows for the improvement of my own performance and the performance of my Setting. Every team member needs to jointly reflect on the ways that we can improve out communication and management of our links with the multiple agencies and the wider community. As a team this should be a part of our continual professional development.

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Based on the information provided, what needs, risks and strengths can you identify in relation to the individual or family in the case study? How would you plan the assessment, including consideration of theneed for a multi disciplinary approach?

Case study E:

James Downing is 16 years old, white andlives at home with his mother, Sarah, her same sexpartner, Teresa, and his younger sister Joanne, who is 13 years. Jameshas no contact with his birth father, who left Sarah when she was pregnant withJoanne, but he does have a close relationship with his paternal grandparents,who live nearby. James has been in trouble with the police since he was 13years old, and has numerous convictions for care theft, possession of cannabisand ecstasy and for house burglaries.

Sarah has asked a social worker to visither, since she feels that she can no longer cope with the situation and feelsthat the whole family is in danger of `fallingapart’. Joanne is beginning to stay out at friends all the time and clearlydoes not want to be at home, where there are frequent arguments. Teresa worksin a very demanding job, involving a lot of travelling, and Sarah feels she isspending less and less time at home because of James’s behaviour.

Research published in Child Protection:Messages from Research (Department of Health, 1995 cited in Horwath, 2001)states that families often feel they lack control and autonomy when dealingwith social services departments. This becomes particularly problematic whenassessments focus on family weaknesses and disadvantages. Hence a holisticapproach utilising strengths and identifying need is required. This approachforms the crux of the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need andtheir Families.

Sarah has identified the family difficultiesand has requested support – this is encouraging, suggesting commitment to thewell being of the family, and to change. It is important to highlight thisstrength to the family and emphasise that together we will work to build uponthis. James has a close relationship with hispaternal grandparents, adding to the family resilience and acting as animportant resource during periods of difficultly. Hence grandparents should beengaged with the planning of the assessment.

The family’s economic status is not clear;however there is at least one family member in employment. Traditionally thisis interpreted as a familial resilience factor. Awareness of differingperspectives is essential – the nature of Teresa’s work and the effect of theemployment on the family as a whole is currently unknown and hence couldequally be viewed as a risk factor by the family.

James has established offending behaviourand has been involved with illegal drugs in some capacity. Family and professionals will generally view this as risky behaviour; however it must beconsidered that criminal activity could be viewed as a strength within somesocial groups, hence it is essential to ascertain all points of view, withoutprejudgement and then consider ways forward together.

There maybe risk linked to the lessening orloss of James’ attachment to Teresa as she is spending less and less time athome. Equally, there could be risk attached to the potential loss ofattachment between Joanne and James, as Joanne is stay(ing) out withfriends.and clearly does not want to be at home. The family is under a greatdeal of strain, and it seems Joanne and Teresa are coping with this by shiftingaway from the household. This gives some insight as to how the family functionsunder stress; this will need to be explored further with Sarah and Teresa to identify the processes that will ensure the family achieve theirdesired outcomes when faced with difficulties.

James has no contact with his father, raising concerns around paternal attachment and possible negative life events/experiences due to separation. The assessment will need to explore how James and his family view this separation; again each may hold conflictingviews and this must be sensitively addressed.

One must consider that the immediate family unit, the extended family and professionals may all have differing perceptions of families with same-sex caregivers; some view this as strength whereas others will see membership of a minority group as a risk. Family members themselves may negatively discriminate on the basis of sexuality. Prior awareness of the possibility of conflicting opinions will enable the worker to react thoughtfully and mediate effectively. The social worker should critically evaluate their own practice continuously, checking for assumptions, stereotyping and cultural bias.

Preparation for the assessment should begin with ensuring an appropriate social worker is allocated. The team manager should consider the field workers knowledge and understanding of the issues pertaining to this particular family (for example youth offending, discrimination/oppression based on sexuality/gender, attachment issues etc), as well as ensuring the worker is an appropriate match in terms of race and gender.

Once a suitable worker is allocated thecase, he/she will need to refer to all information gathered previously. This will prevent the family repeating sensitive information again, and will enable the social worker to identify gaps in information that need to be filled during the assessment.

Assessments and subsequent care plans are more effective if the child and family feel empowered and involved throughout the process (Department for Education and Skills, 2001). Indeed this is a duty of any professional working with children as outlined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

the child who is capable of forming his or her own views (has) the right to express those viewsfreely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being givendue weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child

The social worker must engage with James and his family at the outset, establishing how and where theassessment will be carried out, exactly what help is requested and identifying desired outcomes.

As outlined in the Framework for theAssessment of Children in Need and their Families, the social worker andfamily should identify the relevant agencies to be involved in the assessment and ensure it is clear to all professionals and the family the precise role andpurpose of each professional. Advice and information will be sought by identifying all key informants, recording their details and organising aschedule to collect information from these people or organisations. The following would be a minimum essential list of informants:

FamilyGP and other relevant health professionals

Youth Offending Team
James’school/college
Paternal grandparents
Joanne’s school

Prior to any interviews taking place, a list of essential questions should be drawn up to give structure and purpose to the meetings. Following these initial discussions, further interviews may beneeded with Connexions, local police, wider family, or other community groups, in order to build a comprehensive picture of the family.

In planning any assessment, there should be a clear statement of intent, outlining the purpose, limitations and timescales of the assessment. This must be shared with the child and their family. For all assessments this will include the main principles of the Children Act 1989. The particular focus for this assessment should only be decided upon after further consultation with the James and his family.

In what ways does the information provided in the case study raiseissues of power, disadvantage and oppression? You are asked to carry out an assessment of need? How would you attempt to work in an anti-oppressive way?

Case study C:

Razia Akhtar is a 26-year-old single woman, of South Asian Muslim origin, (although born is Britain) who is currently in hospital, following a rapid deterioration in her physical health. She has now been given a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Razia lives alone in a small terraced house, and is very keen to return home as soon as possible. Her older brother and his wife, Mohammed Khan and Shanaz Begum, who live on the next street, have suggested that she moves in with them, but she is very reluctant to do so. The hospital staff feel that Razia is being very unrealistic about her future, and that she needs to come to terms with the fact that she willbe dependent on others for the rest of her life. Her present condition is such that she will need quite a high level of personal assistance, with someone to get her up in the morning and help her to bed at night.

The hospital based social worker is asked to carry out an assessment to determine Razia’ needs once she is discharged from hospital.

Power describes the capacity to influence or control people, events, processes or resources (Thompson,2003, pg 152). If utilized in a negative fashion, power can be a significant barrier to equality and lead to oppression and disadvantage. Imbalances of power can manifest in a variety of social work situations; in this case study there are potentially a multitude of disparities of power, which require critically reflective practice to ensure equality and empowerment are promoted.

When debating issues of oppression and disadvantage, we must consider the process leading to it – negative discrimination. Negative discrimination is defined by the identification of negative attributes with regard to a person or group of people (Thompson 2003). Generally negative discrimination relates to social and biological constructs and can be based upon sexual orientation, gender, class, race, disability, age and so on. Negative discrimination creates the circumstances that give rise to oppression, which is defined by Thompson (2001) as:

inhuman or degrading treatment of individuals or groups; hardship and injustice brought about by one group or another; the negative and demeaning exercise of power (pg 34)

In relation to Miss Akhtar, we should consider the power that is implied through hospital staff having superior medical knowledge, skills and expertise in relation to Miss Akhtar. From the case notes provided, it appears that current thought relating to Miss Akhtar’s long-term care is based upon the medical model; the impairment is seen as the problem and her dependence is emphasized (Adams et al, 2002). Thompson(2001) says social work should take a demedicalised stance and look past thepathology, utilizing the social model of disability as described by Adams et al (2002). The social model suggests Miss Akhtar’s needs should be considered in a much wider context, ensuring her social and mental health are given equal consideration to her medical needs. Viewing societal constraints as the problem and not the individual creates the frame of mind to consider how to remove barriers to mainstream social, political and economic life. The social worker should liaise with Miss Akhtar and look towards an solution-focused (not impairment-focused) care plan where by within the assessment, barriers are identified and solutions sought collaboratively, utilizing Miss Akhtar’s strengths.

Miss Akhtar has an autoimmune degenerative disease and again, it is well documented that individuals with physical disabilities are more likely to be subjected to oppressive practices. Dehumanizing and medicalised language can result in a loss of esteem and a sense of disempowerment for the physically impaired service user. This can be prevented by avoiding jargon and providing lots of opportunities for questions and open discussion when working through the assessment with Miss Akhtar. Professionals should continually check themselves for use of infantilizing language andensure they engage in mature, adult discourse with Miss Akhtar.

Miss Akhtar’s religious and cultural needs should be explored and understood as central part of the assessment. These needs must be identified as quickly as possible, to ensure the worker can besensitive to Miss Akhtar’s Islamic or other customs, without making cultural assumptions. Karmi (1996) examines the Islamic emphasis on modesty; hence the worker should consider with Miss Akhtar the extent to which her modesty should be preserved throughout the assessment. It should be explored if Miss Akhtar would prefer female medical staff and social care professionals only to be involved in the assessment and clear guidelines should be established around preservation of modesty and the practice of physical examinations.

It is accepted in many Muslim communities that the most senior male of the family will take responsibility for a female relative’s care. Hence it is possible there may be an imbalance of power between Miss Akhtar and Mr. Begum, dependent on their personal beliefs and how far these correlate with each other’s religious and cultural ideals. If there is a difference in these ideals, the social worker should strive to empower Miss Akhtar by discussing choices and involving a culturally matched advocate if Miss Akhtar desires, in order to mediate within the family. This must be managed sensitively, as Miss Akhtar, Mr. Begum and the social worker may all hold very different views regarding patriarchal hierarchies. The diversity of these views should be acknowledged and respected within the assessment. It is important to be aware of ethnocentrism, as described by Thompson (2003), whereby situations are viewed from the norms of a majority culture and those values projected onto the minority. This can be countered by critically reflective practice, which will promote consciousness of power and oppression, leading to a decreased likelihood of the worker making inaccurate ideological inferences.

Discrimination and oppression can arise through an imbalance in the distribution of financial or other material resources. This is a concern in this case study as Miss Akhtar’s economic status prior to her illness is not clear. Miss Akhtar may experience barriers in accessing the same level of financial resources as previously. Hence the social worker and potentially Mr. Begum could be in positions of power as they are likely to have control over the allocation of resources. This should be countered by being very open with Miss Akhtar and avoiding closed decision-making and mystery. Again, this promotes equality as it avoids welfarism, whereby it is assumed the Miss Akhtar requires welfare services dueto her disability (Thompson, 2003).

Due thought must be given to use of language and culturally biased humour throughout the assessment. Miss Akhtaris an ethnic minority in the UK; as such Thompson (2003) states discriminationcan occur at personal and cultural levels. It is the role of the social workerto critically reflect on their personal prejudices, which could lead to discriminatory stereotyping. Personal discrimination is enveloped by inequity at a cultural level, whereby ethnic minorities, and hence Miss Akhtar, maybe subjected to a general felling of not belonging and polarization, by the use of culturally-specific language and humour.

A central theme throughout these case studies is the need to put the service user at the heart of all planning, decision-making and reviews. Care packages imposed upon users will be ineffective; users must be enabled to help themselves, whilst the social workertakes every opportunity to stand in the users shoes and see life from thetheir perspective.

References

Adams, Robert et al (eds) 2002 CriticalPractice in Social Work. Basingstoke, Palgrave.

Great Britain (1989) Children Act 1989(C41). London, Stationery Office

Department for Education and Skills (2001) Learningto Listen: Core principles for involvement of Children and Young People. Availablefrom: www.dfee.gov.uk/cypu

Department of Health (2000) Frameworkfor the assessment of children in need and their families London, TheStationary Office.

Horwath, Jan (eds) 2001 The Child’sWorld: Assessing Children in Need. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Karmi, Ghada (1996) The EthicalHandbook: A Factfile for Health Care Professionals. Oxford, BlackwellScience LTD

Thompson, Neil (2001) Anti-discriminatoryPractice 3^rd Ed. Basingstoke, Palgrave.

Thompson, Neil (2003) PromotingEquality: Challenging Discrimination and Oppression 2^nd Ed. NewYork, Palgrave

United Nations (1991) United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child (online). Available from:http://www.unicef.org/crc/fulltext.htm

There is a wealth of governmental documentation and policy reforms upholding the notion of agencies working in partnership to support vulnerable children. Previously to these reforms there had been a history of fragmentation between agencies and the therefore a inherent failure to share information resulting in catastrophic gaps in the support of vulnerable children. This was emphasised by Lord Laming (2002), and then the subsequent investigations and publication of the Climbie report (2003) post the preventable death of Victoria Climbie. The perceived importance of early identification and intervention as demonstrated in Every Child Matters. (2003, p3), DoH/DfES. (2004) ‘We have to do more both to protect children and ensure each child fulfils their potential’ and the need for ‘more co-located, multi-agency service in providing personalised support’.

The Children’s Act. (2004) was the culmination of the Green Paper DfES. (2003) Every Child Matters:Change for Children Agenda, which dictated that every local authority has power to administer grouped budgets and implement a Children’s Trust in order to pull together services to meet the specific needs of an individual child. Wilson, V. & Pirrie, A. (2000) states that although partnership working is upheld as extremely beneficial for all children, those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have formed the focus of much of the educational multi-agency activity. The aims of coordinating these services through a shared working practice across the health and education arena whilst providing a therefore seamless service of support and a one-stop shop for all provisions, supported with the collaboration of Multi-agency working, are strongly emphasised within a plethora of governmental literature DfES. (2003/2004). Joint working is therefore unequivocally viewed as the means of providing a more cohesive and therefore effective integrated approach to addressing the needs of the child and family, and in doing so, overcoming many additional stresses that are imposed on families through fragmented support and services and therefore giving the child the best possible start in life DoH. (2006). Although no one argues against the benefits of integrated services Stiff. (2007), and there is clear decisive backing and direction for local restructuring and reorganisation to shape services to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children more effectively, the detail surrounding the configuration and delivery of local services has not been prescribed Rutter, M. (2006). There is minimal research-based evidence regarding the efficiency of multi-agency practice or suggesting which activity carried out by those agencies is most useful, with no absolute model of the many factors influencing its success Salmon, G. (2004). However, the Government has demonstrated a substantial commitment to local authorities developing multi-agency partnerships, providing considerable flexibility for those local authorities and communities to develop their own multi-agency activities, tailored to meet specific needs of their individual areas. However it has often proved difficult to establish the exact impact of multi-agency working, mainly because of the difficulty of isolating why and how a particular outcome has been achieved. This is changing as major programmes are evaluated, Atkinson et al, (2002) states that other commonly identified outcomes of multi-agency work are an increase in access to services not previously available and therefore a wider range of services, easier or quicker access to services or expertise, improved educational attainment and better engagement in education by pupils, early identification and intervention, better support for parents, children’s needs addressed more appropriately, better quality services, a reduced need for more specialist services and benefits for staff within those services.

Introduction to the SEN Team (SENCo)

There are many teams working within the umbrella of education and child services, one particular team is that of the Special Educational Needs team, this case study will focus on the role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). The role of the SENCo has been formally established Cowne, E (2003) since the 1994 code of practice DFE (1994) when all schools in England and Wales were required to have a designated teacher in the role of special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). But many schools had SENCo’s before that date, as the role had been developing since the mid 1980’s when training of SENCo’s had begun in most LEAs. The 1994 code of practice DFE (1994) detailed the tasks that should be covered in the role of the SENCo. These tasks included liaising with external agencies including the educational psychology service and other support agencies, medical and social services and voluntary bodies DFE (1994, para 2.14). A revised code of practice Dfes (2001) added the responsibility of managing the SEN team of teachers and learning support assistants within the educational establishment where recently publications.parliament.uk (2006) it’s significance was re-affirmed. ‘SENCo’s play a key role in building schools’ capacity and skills in meeting children’s SEN because of their crucial role in advising other members of staff on SEN matters, linking with parents and working within the multi-agency arena.’ There is substantial literature related to SENCo’s authored by researchers, academics and practitioners, in particular, the nature, remit and working conditions of SENCo’s have been the subject of considerable interest. At school-level, the expectations on, activities of and working condition of SENCo’s remain highly variable.

Barriers – how are they overcome (Theory and practice)

The achievement of effective multi-agency working within the SEN arena has proved more difficult to achieve than was initially anticipated. In order to create a climate of change where SEN professionals and agencies can work effectively together it is needed that the participants understand what the barriers to change are. Some of the barriers to achieving more effective multi-agency working within the SEN environment that have been identified by DFes (2007) are professionalism; conflicting priorities of different agencies; dealing with risk and the need to change the culture of organisations. Working in collaboration with other professionals and agencies involves SEN and multi-agency workers moving out of their comfort zone and taking risks. Anning, A. (2001, p.8) highlights, ‘However, little attention has been given to two significant aspects of the operationalisation of integrated services. The first is the challenge for SEN workers of creating new professional identities in the ever changing communities of practice (who I am). The second is for workers to openly communicate and share their personal and professional knowledge in order to create a new version of knowledge (what I know) for a new multi-agency way of working.’ Lownsbrough, H. and O’Leary, D. (2005) states that ‘Despite the genuine support of Every Child Matters, all SEN professionals are faced with the constant challenge of not reverting back to their comfort zone of their organisational boundaries, their professional authority and life inside these traditional boundaries can be far less complex and threatening, and after years of working in a particular fashion they are not easily forgotten. Although no one argues against the benefits of integrated services of multi-agency working Stiff, R. (2007), and there is clear strategic backing and direction for local restructuring and reorganisation to configure SEN services to meet the needs of the most vulnerable children more effectively. There is still little research-based evidence regarding the efficiency of multi-agency strategies or suggesting which activity is most useful, with no comprehensive model of the issues influencing its success Salmon, G. (2004). However, Government has demonstrated substantial commitment to local authorities developing multi-agency partnerships of which SEN is part of, and also providing considerable flexibility for local authorities and communities to develop their own multi-agency activities, tailored to meet their own local needs.”Joined-up” working has deep implications for the professionals working within the SEN teams, and for the agencies that commission their services. In multi-agency team work, professional knowledge boundaries could have a tendency to become blurred, professional identity can become challenged as roles, and responsibilities change. Some SEN team members may struggle to cope with the fragmentation of one version of their professional identity before a new version can be built. Moreover, the rapid pace of SEN reform leaves little time for adjustment as SEN teams move (often within tight time scales) from strategic planning to operational implementation, with little time for joint training Birchall, E. & Hallett, C. (1995).

However, it could also be said Freeman, M, Miller & Ross, (2002); Harker, Dobel-Ober, Berridge & Sinclair, (2004) that SEN team members are more likely to deliver on their objectives with sufficient planning and support from partnering agencies that established the teams in the first place which inturn leads on to empower inter-professional collaboration which include not only enhancing coordination structurally, but also establishing a culture of ”commitment” at a strategic and operational plane to overcome professionally differentiated attitudes.

4. The Way Forward

It has been said Bowlby, J. (1988) that children need a secure base from which to explore the world. SEN practitioners also need a secure base in the knowledge that has been acquired though training and practice. Perhaps there is a need for an individual to value what they know and be confident about their knowledge. At the same time to be aware that their professionalism relies on constant updating of working practice and skills via work training and further education, and being aware that there is always something new to be learnt or shared. SEN Professionals now and in the future need to be able to draw on the professional skills that they have, but not to be dominated by them. If they are secure in what they know it could be said that this should enable them to have the confidence to challenge their own thinking and to be open to the different perspectives of other multi-agency professionals. Therefore it can be said that If SEN professionals are to challenge themselves and others through collaborative dialogue they would also need to be emotionally contained themselves Bion, W. (1962). This act requires good honest SENCo leadership and a culture where trusting relationships can be built. Harris, B. (2004) described trusting relationships as broadly taking place within three dimensions, based in conceptions of ’emotionality’. Effectively these dimensions add up to conditions in which staff first experience a sense of their own value within an organization, in which they feel comfortable about their own abilities and needs; second that through supportive relationships within the organization they reflect upon practice, in dialogue with colleagues, and thirdly they work together to create change and improvement in the setting, or organization, confident of support. Clearly, in order to build effective and trusting relationships SEN team members would need to understand themselves and to have the confidence to share more with others. This process of cultural change is essential if multi-agency working is going to be able to provide better services to children and their families alike.

‘… there appears to be a dearth of evidence to support the notion that multi-agency working in practice brings about actual benefits for children and families’ The local authority and government agencies have been working together for a long time and not entirely new practice. Jones and Leverett quote ‘However, the drive towards integrated working which includes the entire children’s workforce (that is, every individual who works, on an employed or voluntary basis, with children and their families across sectors such as health, education, early years and childcare, play work, social care, police, youth support and leisure services) under the ‘interagency’ umbrella is a more recent and ambitious innovation’ (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 123)

Multi-agency working can be analysed using three primary policy contexts. ‘First, the context of influence, where policy discourses are constructed and key policy concepts – for example, partnership or multi-agency working – are established. Second, the context of policy text production, or the documents that represent policy’ (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 125). ‘These are usually expressed in language which claims to be reasonable and for the ‘general public good’ (Bowe et al., 1992). They include texts such as the SEN Code of Practice (DfES, 2001) or the new Working Together to Safeguard Children guidelines (HM Government, 2010). ‘Such texts are then responded to within the context of practice, or what actually happens on the ground – for example, schools, childcare or health settings – as a result of a particular policy’. (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 125)

Jones (2000) added a sixth context, the ‘context of hidden values’. This means positive effect outcomes on policy; such as, legislation that promotes interagency cooperation in children’s services. They aim to protect children’s welfare and improve wellbeing. However, Jones suggests ‘that there may be a range of hidden meanings and outcomes. At a central level, policy can be cleverly constructed to disguise a particular set of intentions, values and beliefs. Intentionally or otherwise, policy may be a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ (Jones, 2000)

‘There is also evidence that practitioners construct their own meanings related to policy, whether these are intended or not. Commenting on the tendency of policy makers to centrally design forms, e-templates and assessment tools’. (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 126) Both, Garrett (2006) and Axford et al. (2006) ‘note how these are sometimes resisted by practitioners because they are perceived as exerting central control over hitherto fairly autonomous areas and suspected of being a cost-cutting device’ (Axford et al., 2006, p. 172). Consequently, policy could actually sustain or create circumstances that maintain or exacerbate problems. Rather than being a solution to the perceived problem, the interaction between policy and practice may cause a new set of problems. (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 126)

The key point is that policy is at three levels local, front line and central. At central level the ideas are made concrete and then articulated nationally and locally. At the time the policy enters the workforce such as schools, practitioners’ perceptions can consequently be affected. The question is:’ to what extent is the vision enshrined in central policy on multi-agency working likely to change as it travels on its journey from central government to individual practitioner?’ (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 126)

Governments have a tendency to construct their vision for policy as a statement of aims or intended outcomes. Sometimes the vision is embedded within a wider framework; for example, governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Jones and Leverett, 2008 pg 126)

‘In England, children’s wellbeing was defined as the five mutually reinforcing outcomes originally presented in the Every Child Matters Green Paper’ (DfES, 2003, p. 6):

‘SHEEP’ is an acronym that stands for:

S – Stay safe

H – Healthy

E – Enjoy and achieve

E – Economic wellbeing

P – Positive contribution

The next steps is to translate these visions into learning which can be implemented into practice by people working in such sectors.

‘The five outcomes were integrated into the development of the common core skills and knowledge for the children’s workforce’ (DfES, 2005) consisting of:

‘Effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families

Child and young person development

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child

Supporting transitions

Multi-agency working

Sharing information’. (DfES, 2005)

Despite variations, the UK government agreed that all children will benefit from closer working between practitioners and agencies.

The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a key part of delivering frontline services that are integrated and focused around the needs of children and young people. The ‘CAF will promote more effective, earlier identification of additional needs, particularly in universal services. It is intended to provide a simple process for a holistic assessment of a child’s needs and strengths, taking account of the role of parents, carers and environmental factors on their development’ (ECM, 2008).

The CAF form is designed to record and, where appropriate, share with others, assessments, plans and recommendations for support. ‘Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on key people and bodies to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children’. (HM Government, 2004)

The ECM states all agencies are required to have:

‘Senior management commitment to the importance of safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare

A clear statement of the agency’s responsibilities towards children, available for al staff

Safe recruitment procedures in place

Effective inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children

Effective information sharing’ (ECM, 2008)

‘The rationale for the CAF is to help practitioners develop a shared understanding of children, which avoids families repeating themselves to all other agencies. The CAF helps to develop a common understandings of what needs to be done and how. ‘Do not reassess when the information is already there’ (Parents in consultation about assessment, in Scottish Executive, 2005b, p. 23)

‘The argument is simple and on the surface persuasive, the impetus based on helping individual children. But the relationship between assessment procedures, their purpose and their outcomes is rarely straightforward’ (Jones, 2004). ‘Assessment is a lifelong process with social consequences and may be influenced by contextual factors and professional value positions. It is literally a point at which ‘certain children are judged to be different’ (Tomlinson, 1982, p. 82).

‘Some parents’ and children’s views of their services have highlighted their wanting ‘a coordinated service that is delivered through a single point of contact, a ‘key worker’, ‘named person’ or ‘link worker’ (Sloper, 2004, p. 572). Within the CAF, a similar role was produced, the lead professional (LP) who takes responsibility for coordinating the action identified as a result of the CAF process and will support the child and their family as necessary.

One of the daunting aspects of the CAF is the number of professionals that practitioners will engage with, such as health, education, social services and voluntary agencies. It can be also quite daunting in finding out who the support services are and their contact details. However, with the CAF process it can be away of overcoming tension previously encountered around multi agency working and sharing information.

‘Just as children and their families have a contribution to make to shape the services they receive through the various forms of partnership discussed in previous chapters, so they can contribute to the development of practice and practitioners. This can happen at many levels through evaluation, feedback, consultation and research, as well as direct involvement in training. Practitioners and the organisations they work for need to recognise that children and their families have specific knowledge that cannot be ‘learnt’ from anywhere else’. (Rixon, 2008) ‘Children are party to the subculture of childhood which gives them a unique ‘insider’ perspective that is critical to our understanding of children’s worlds’. (Kellett, 2005, p. 4)

‘Like many who regularly consult children and young people, we find that their views are always serious, concise, thoughtful and highly relevant – and cut through the pre-existing agendas and diplomatic avoidances that beset many consultations with ‘professional’ adults. We find that even very young children are more than able to analyse and give clear views on many issues within their experience’. (Morgan, 2005, pp. 181-182)

‘How is the success of more integrated ways of working to be judged? One element of evaluation might be to consider to what extent integrated teams or new initiatives or structures have overcome obstacles and enabled more positive ways of working’. (Stone and Rixon, 2008)

‘As we have discussed, government policy and the literature on children’s services all emphasise the importance of agencies working together and the value of partnership structures, yet: Despite such exhortations, there appears to be a dearth of evidence to support the notion that multi-agency working in practice brings about actual benefits for children and families. (Townsley et al., 2004, p. 6)

However, Michelle Warren quotes ‘According to Consultancy 4Children (Policy into practice, 4Children, 2009) ‘consistent evidence indicates that parents and children are best served if the support on offer is joined up and well coordinated’. It would be appropriate to recognise that although services may be provided in one setting, there is still a risk of services not being joined up, because of different agencies (and competing interests/perspectives) involved. (Warren, 2010)

However, Howell states ‘Previously we actually made it incredibly difficult by making children and parents and carers make their own way through the services all being assessed quite separately and getting very mixed messages. So multi-agency working is essential where a child needs it. We mustn’t get confused and think multi-agency working has got to be the only way of working. In some cases it’s actually the school that will make the difference and that’s the agency where the vast majority of children will achieve the best outcomes’. (Howell, 2008)

However, Townsley highlights the actual benefits for families and children. Howell states ‘There are tensions between agencies, some of them driven by the different starting point that different agencies have. So the nature of the targets that agencies are measured by are actually quite different. The health targets that health services are measured by are significantly different from the kind of targets that schools work to and particularly are quite distant from the outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’. (Howell, 2008)

As with any Multi agency working, it is crucial to assess whether any new projects or initiatives have been set targets against criteria that can be measured. This is particularly a reflection for evidence based interventions which have been associated with issues, such as value for money. In relation to this, many have targets which have been set and inevitably raise questions whether it is the correct one to be assigned with a particular target. ‘Practitioners recognise that targets can enable clarity and equity, and focus attention on important areas of practice’ (Banks, 2004).

However, Townsley et al. (2004) states ‘review a number of studies that reveal little evidence of improved outcomes of multi-agency working across a range of services and settings. Their review also makes clear that the task of evaluation itself is a complex one. Inherent problems include: difficulties in generalising from individual case studies; diverse views of different stakeholders as to what counts as success; the length of time needed to evaluate change; and causality and attribution’. (Glendinning, 2002, cited in Townsley, 2004, p. 6)

Consequently, Howell states ‘Children’s participation and engagement is fundamental to the redesign of services – particularly with a multi-agency perspective. It’s part of the learning about what makes a difference – the whole issue around personalisation puts the client, the person receiving the services, as the co-designer of their solutions’. (Howell, 2008)

To conclude, ‘A formative approach to evaluation that encourages dialogue and ongoing improvements to both policy and practice would appear to offer a positive way forward. However, this is not without its challenges and there are still issues to be addressed, not least training and clarification of roles and responsibilities. It is up to individual practitioners to promote an inclusive approach to professional difference and to develop a range of different models enabling collaboration, respect, reciprocity, realism and risk-taking. (Leverett and Jones, 2008)

Summary of Findings

This study explore the different type of motivations of Self Determination Theory, and its three key needs (competence, relatedness, autonomy) towards the social networking game. Therefore, the research question “What motivates college students to play social networking game?” is explained according to the results of the study. It was found that although more people play the game to spend their leisure time, but the major needs for them is the competence as we can see from the data collected, competence has the highest overall mean value. According to Ryan and Deci (2002) humans thrive to experience mastery and to get a sense of confidence. It is also the search for optimal challenge that motivates people to maintain their performance and to improve their skills so that they could reach another higher level. The need for competence is satisfied if an individual feels masterful, efficient, and confident towards the thing that they are doing for example in playing the game. So from this study, we found that competence needs is the major reason that they engaged in the social networking game.

In this study, we found that both needs competence and autonomy are partially related with each other as need of competence is satisfied if an individual feel masterful, efficient, and confident towards the thing that they are doing and when he/she successfully reached the goal after overcoming many obstacles, the sense of competence will formed (Takatalo, 2010). This is similar to the characteristic of the needs of autonomy as it is also mean that having a feeling of control over a particular performance and the way they are performed.

In Section A which is aimed to test the competence level of the players, we found that most respondent think that they are only have least motivation if their rank in the game has been dropped. Which mean the rank in the game will not affect much of the engagement of the players in game. Not only that, we can see that rank is not a very important element that why players engage in the game as they not necessary will continue to play the game even if they successfully maintain in the high ranking in the leader board. However, most of the players are still feeling quite happy when they successfully achieve their favourite position on the leader board in social networking game. As according to Sweetser and Wyeth (2005), positive feeling towards the game and sense of competence could be form when the players are feeling in control in the game, and thus, players are feeling happy when they completed the task and reach their favourable rank. We can also see that most of the players are very enjoy in playing those social networking game. Social networking successfully provides the happiness for the players to engage in them. Although many college students will not be motivated to play the game when their ranking is dropped, but if once they reach their rank and successfully in high rank, they will feel more motivated to play.

In Autonomy, from the study we can also see that most of the players seldom search for information before they play social networking game. They are also seldom spend the time to search for all the information or guideline such as blog, cheats and many others in order to win the games. This shows that they are barely play the game for their own sake without searching for the information. Peers play an important in influencing the people to play a particular social networking game. This can be proved by the results as more respondent are influenced by the friends to engage in the game. However, people do not spend much of their time to play social networking game in a day as they do not like to engage in the game for very long hour. Not only that, they also seldom send the help request to friends to overcome the difficult task. They might think that they are able to challenge the tasks by themselves in order to get the feeling of control over a particular game and this, they will feel autonomous. As mentioned by Ryan and Deci (2002), Autonomy is also means that having a feeling of control over a particular performance and the way they are performed. In order for an individual to feel autonomous, an individual need to feel satisfied or accepted with the actions that they select to engage in. We can also see that from the statistic they are prefer the game that are more challenging in order to get the sense of autonomous. They do not like to play the game which is easy as it may lead to boredom.

The need for relatedness is the need to feel meaningfully connected to important others (Ryan &Deci, 2002). In our results, we can see that people are seldom interacting with their friends or gaming partner in social networking game. According to Rigby and Ryan (2011), an individual’s sense of relatedness will be diminished if he or she is feeling isolated or having the indifference by the others. In this case, the need of relatedness will be reduced as they do not often engaging with the other players. Besides, they also seldom play the game that related to their daily life as they think that it is not important element to decide whether they should play a particular game or not. Most of the respondents also do not learn certain life skill by playing those social networking game as they are only play the game for their own sake. By the way, they do feel that by playing the games, their friendship among each other will become closer. It means the social networking game provide a good platform for the people to stay closely to their relationship. Lastly, they will feel sense of accomplishment when their friend ask them do help in the game which able to make them happy.

Implications of Findings

Implications of findings on this Self-Determination Theory and practice are discussed in this section.

Implication of theory

This study aimed to test the validity of the construct in the Self-Determination Theory especially with the three key needs on social networking gaming. This theory might be functional for researcher to develop the motivational theory based on the results that have done in this study. The three elements in Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) provide different results to study different needs of college student on social networking gaming and thus, this theory provided a guideline for the researcher to further investigate. The three constructs in this theory might give the inspiration for the scholars to develop their new theory based on the constructs.

Implication of practice

Our results can provide a guideline for the social networking gaming developer to create the game that can really motivate or engage those college students to play in. Based on the statistics with the result of three different needs (competence, autonomy, relatedness) of Self Determination Theory, social networking developers are able to evaluate it and develop the game according to these so that they will produce an interesting game to the people. From this study, major need is competence as most of the people are motivated to play the game which is challenging so that they can challenge themselves to overcome the difficult tasks. So, future game developers are able to refer this direction to create the games which are good enough to motivate the people to engage in it.

Limitations of Study

In of progress of this research, a few limitations were found. The research method that we used is non-probability sampling method. Samples selected to participate in the research but the result of the research could not represent what other population’s thought. Snowball sample is one type of non-probability sampling method, we used snowball sample in this research as we distributed our questionnaire to our peers who are engaging with the social networking game and ask them to send the survey to their peers who are gamers too. In this case, the first person we distribute is important as he or she might influence others answer and influence the final result. This is because the first person has the strong impact on the sample. In the other words, snowball sampling might lead to bias in result and thus, it affects the overall statistics. Thus, this result could not be generalized.

Suggestion for future research

Our study is based on the sample of college student collected in our country. In order to generalize the results, a future research should be carry out and adjust the model with different samples such as segmented by age or geography. This is to see whether the different age groups like children or adult have the similar motivations in social networking game or not.

Motivation of college students on social networking game is an interesting topic to study as it is very broad for researchers to discuss. But this aspect of research was seldom done by the researchers because more of the researches are focusing on the impact that social networking game bring to the teenagers or college students. So, more future studies are needed to examine the relationship between the motivation and teenager’s behaviour in order to figure out more significant and specific results. Local researchers needed to put more effort in studying this aspect, this is because there are a few number of researches have done the study about this kind of topic in other countries, but as the cultural background are different among the cultures, it is important to do a cross-culture student of social networking games so that we can determine the difference among cultures.

Besides that, there are a lot more theories that are suitable to use to study the motivation of people in engaging the game. Researchers are able to use different theories to study about the topic so that we will see different result which might be fresh in this industry. Self-Determination Theory is a broad theory which contains a lot of sub theories. These sub theories are also very useful in determining the motivations of the people towards the game. Perhaps a future research study can be done by using all these theories to get a new result and see whether the relationship of the theories that used in the study are functional or interesting or not. The examples of the mini theories under Self Determination Theory are Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, Causality Orientations Theory, Basic Psychological Needs Theory and many others.

Motivational Interviewing in a Multicultural Setting

Lawrence, Massachusetts is a city rich in cultural diversity and heritage. The Latino population alone boasts seventy three percent and continues to grow (Brown et al, 2013). This brings unique challenges to the therapeutic setting that relate directly to Latino cultural values. There are also challenges that Latinos face that are correlated to substance use. Literature states that Latinos are more likely to binge drink and use drugs more heavily (Franklin & Markarian, 2005). Lawrence also has a very young Latino population, resulting in the highest proportion of the population being under five and eighteen years old in Massachusetts (Jaysane & Center, 2002). This is imperative to note in a city that reports a high level of substance use among youth. Of many of the challenges that Latino’s face with substance use, they are one-third less likely to enter residential treatment in the state of Massachusetts (Caroll et al, 2009). This illustrates a community that has a great need for substance use treatment, yet is currently having that need unmet. As a social work intern, I will have the opportunity to practice with Latino clients and families within my community through in home therapy services. Therefore is vital, as a social worker, to better know the Latino clientele within Lawrence and the distinct factors that might set them apart from other clients within therapeutic settings.

Latinos in Therapeutic Settings

Latinos represent a very diverse group each having a unique history of social, political, and economic factors that have caused their migration into the United States, or their families migration. This diversity continues to manifest across ethnicity, race, generations, language, but especially nationality. Many Latinos identify first and foremost by their country of origin and will often differentiate, “I am Puerto Rican” over the official “I am Latino”. However, though individuals hold this diversity ascribed to their subgroup, many Latinos share core cultural values that are based on mutual experiences such as migration history, access to education and employment, as well as socioeconomic status. Due to acculturation and other psychosocial stressors, language, and poverty, Latinos may be particularly vulnerable within treatment and treatment organizations (Caroll et al, 2009). These shared experiences can impact communication styles such as the willingness to disclose sensitive information which in turn impacts the clinical setting as traditional therapy models often assume direct disclosure from the client. This creates a dysfunctional environment in which Latino clients, ones that do not follow Westernized norms, risk finding therapy to be invasive and opposing with their core cultural values. Therefore it is vital for social workers to consider cultural differences within the clinical setting. Mental health services among foreign-born, monolingual Spanish-speaking Latinos remains low when compared with bilingual Latinos born in the United States (Anez et al, 2008). This is because mental health providers are challenged to develop cultural and Spanish friendly services that will effectively address the needs of a diverse Latino community.

Substance Use Factors

Substance use is a significant problem among Latinos, who represent the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. However, treatment-related disparities have been identified as being relevant to Latinos. Specific factors that have been identified as contributing to these disparities include the following: cultural and language barriers, poverty, stigma, the lack of bilingual and bicultural staff, and the lack of treatments that are receptive to Latinos’ needs (Anez et al, 2008). The necessity for trained professionals who have the ability and empathy work with the distinct needs of Latinos is great within the therapeutic process. These noted discrepancies are of great concern because it is well documented that Latinos “… have increased morbidity and mortality rates, high incidences of suicide, school dropout, alcohol use, illicit substance use, and HIV infection (Anez et al, 2008).” Regardless of an apparent need for mental health services very few members of the Latino community actually seek professional help. It appears that these services are not considered to be a primary source of support. In fact, fewer than one in eleven Latinos contact mental health specialists, and often seek services from a primary care provider first (Anez et al, 2008). This illustrates a client group that is currently at an unmet need for alcohol and drug use treatment. Latino clients might have a reason; clients frequently complain that they feel abused, intimidated, and harassed by non-minority personnel (Sue, 2006). Latinos as a group are largely marginalized within greater society; it does not help to do so within the therapeutic setting. Many social work theories originate from a monocultural standpoint, when social workers unconsciously inflict these standards without regard for other cultures, they may be engaging in cultural oppression (Sue, 2006). Social workers must enter the therapeutic setting aware of their own prejudices in order to learn and grow from them.

Latino Youth in Therapy

Lawrence reports a high level of substance use among youth. In 2002, a survey was conducted within the city which collected the responses of 2,206 high school students resulting in respondents revealing that the majority of substances used are alcohol (52.9 percent), inhalants (39 percent), cigarettes (25.2 percent), and marijuana(19.9 percent) ( Jaysane & Center, 2002). The reported substance use rates among Lawrence youth can increase the risk of dropping out of school for many, as the drop-out rate of high school within the city has been very high in current years. Rates as much as fifty percent of high school classes dropping out between their freshmen and senior years have been reported ( Jaysane & Center, 2002). There have been a number of factors attributed to the drug use of Latino youth. For example, the role of the family has been identified as being the most important component of addiction treatment for the client. It has been shown that parent’s attitudes, and the use of drugs, play a key role in the drug use behavior of twelve-seventeen year old Latino youth ( Franklin & Markarian, 2005). Adolescents in particular have a potential ambivalence when it comes to quitting substances. However Latino youth also share an additional cultural ambivalence attributed with the Latino identity.

Motivational Interviewing in a Multicultural Setting

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centred counselling approach that uses certain techniques in order to produce motivation to change among ambivalent clients (Miller and Rollnick, 2013). Latinos can be considered ambivalent clients as a result of cultural and systemic factors that are experienced collectively as a group. Ambivalence in this sense can be defined as needing to make a change, but seeing little to no reason to do so (Miller and Rollnick, 2013). MI has been found to be highly effective in the treatment of substance use disorders. However, many Latino’s do not seek needed treatment for substance use. There have been a number of cultural values that have been reported to affect the therapeutic relationship to varying degrees; the three most prominent being personalismo (personal relationships), respeto (respect), and confianza (trust) (Anez et al, 2008). MI is a therapeutic model based upon respect and trust as it is a collaboration which honors the client’s experiences and individual perspectives. Latinos have also been reported to work towards engaging in pleasant conversational exchanges, and to avoid unpleasant ones, often trying to avoid conflict. MI permits the integration of these cultural values within the therapeutic setting, as it also avoids argumentation within the therapeutic relationship. This method differs from other more challenging styles that might advise a client about changes that need to be made, instead MI creates a more cooperative therapeutic setting where the Latino client’s internal motivation is drawn out and explored. This means that the counselor is not leading sessions or dictating the client in anyway. Instead the counselor’s role is to guide the client, listen to the client, and offer knowledge when needed. This method is ideal when working within the Latino community, especially when most therapeutic approaches have shown to cross with their core identity. Clients are experts on themselves; no professional can know them better than they know themselves (Miller and Rollnick, 2013). If the counselor has the ability to show the Latino client their support of the clients personal expertise, it can create a positive relationship and rapport within the therapeutic setting, and in turn creates a catalyst for change.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) has been proven to help individuals resolve ambivalence around engaging in treatment as well as stopping substance use. The approach persuades change quickly through motivational methods. Research found on MET methods suggests that its effects depend on the type of drug used by participants as well as on the goal of the intervention. For example, MET has been used successfully with people who are addicted to alcohol and who want to reduce their problem drinking (Caroll et al, 2009). Brief motivational interventions (BMIs) such as this have also been identified as being particularly effective methods when working with Latino adolescents who have substance use disorders, in fact, “Brief motivational interventions (BMIs) have been identified as particularly promising for use in efforts to reduce or eliminate adolescent [alcohol and other drug] use problems (Cordaro, 2012)”. The client-counselor relationship and the counselor’s ability to engage with the Latino adolescent, has also been found to be a key factor within the motivational therapeutic setting. First impressions count as the initial therapy session appears to be significantly correlated to the client’s dropout from the intervention (Cordaro, 2012). In summary, the ability for the counselor to build rapport with the client from the first session is one of the most important factors when working with the Latino community, in particular with youth.

Client Approach

This coming fall I will begin an internship providing in-home therapy services with Lahey Behavioral Health in Lawrence, Massachusetts. I will unquestionably have the opportunity to work with Latino clients and families within the community. When working in family systems, I might come across a situation in which a client within that system might have a substance use issue that needs to be addressed. When addressing the substance use issue with either an adult or an adolescent, the first impression and rapport is extremely important during the initial session, as it has been shown to be linked to successful client engagement. My focus for motivational interviewing would rely on building a positive and strong relationship with my Latino clients so as to build enough trust to persuade towards change talk. It is important for me to note that Latino clients hold an admiration for older adult’s that is attributed to the life experience and a general perception that their wisdom holds significant value, younger generations are taught to respect their elders and greet adults with a courteous “Senor” or “Senora” (Anez et al, 2008). Pretending my client is significantly older than I am I would approach therapy in the following way. First I would begin by asking the client how they would like to be addressed, this would provide the client the ability to structure a conversation around names or nicknames that their friends or family call them, or possible formal titles such as “Senor” or “Senorita”. It is also important for me as to be able to address the client respectfully, and to take a careful note of pronunciation. I would structure questions around cultural values, such as being a buena genta (likeable person), family values, respect, trust, and personal relationships (Anez et al, 2008). . In terms of being a likeable person, I could structure a question such as, “How important is it for you to be viewed as someone who is likeable?” this shows me the importance that the person holds on their image and how others view them. I would also be interested in knowing how the client interacts in interpersonal relationships outside of therapy; this can be achieved by asking, “When you are first getting to know someone, what helps you feel comfortable?” or “What does it take for you to develop trust with someone?”. This can help me gain an understanding of the client’s strengths, stressors and coping mechanisms. I would also ask, “How do you handle conflict?” or ““Can you tell me about a moment when your trust was broken?” This can give me an understanding of how the client handles and copes with hard situations, or if the client has a resistance to talking about hard situations within a therapeutic setting. I would further ask the client what their expectations of trust are within our therapeutic setting, summarizing the session with a shared agreement using the values of trust put forward by the client. This shows the client that I value trust and the client as an expert.

Over the course of many sessions I would continue to understand the client’s value system as well as where they stand in terms of change talk. Open-ended value questions would give me an insight into what really matters to the client. I would ask the client what they value the most in life, which can sometimes help to be a motivation for change. This can especially be motivating if the client values their family, a child, being employed or having an education. Once the client has reached the point of talking about their values, I would spend time using a number scale in order to help guide conversation around where my client is in terms of changing, making sure to have all documents used with the client translated if fits the clients need. The clients identified goal during this time might be to reduce the amount of the substance used. Once a goal has been identified and set with the client, I would continue to guide the client into conversation with questions such as how life was like before drug use; questions about the future, as well as what advantages and disadvantages are in terms of their current drug use patterns. I would summarize that session with a collaborative treatment plan that the client feels is realistic for them, and will continue to check up on how the client is doing with the treatment plan during each following session, making additional adjustments along the way and talking about the process.

Summary

The community of Lawrence, Massachusetts is home to a large proportion of Latinos and the population continues to grow, bringing with them unique challenges especially pertaining substance use and therapy. Latinos drink and use drugs more heavily, a trait that often cascades to younger generations. Latino clients are in need of substance use help, however they are less likely to enter treatment, leaving the need largely unmet. As a social work intern, who will be conducting in-home therapy for families within the city of Lawrence, it is my responsibility to ensure that the cultural values of my clients are integrated into the therapeutic setting. As a Latina social worker, clients might not be as resistant to my therapeutic methods as they might to a non-Latino social worker. As a Latina, I understand and share many core cultural values with Latino clients. Because of this, I might have the ability to build a stronger rapport, one that is essential during the beginning stages of the client-counselor relationship. However, I do not speak fluent Spanish. In fact I only have the ability to speak a limited amount of words, and a few phrases. This largely limits my ability to work with clients who are predominantly in Spanish speaking households, as I am not bilingual. There is also the possibility that I might be looked down upon because I do not speak Spanish, as if I have betrayed my culture and heritage. It is important for me to be aware that these opinions exist, and to notice that they might come up during counseling sessions. If they do I would do my best to redirect the questions back onto my client in a calm and collected manner. In general, MI is the best approach when working with Latino clients as it has been proven to work with ambivalent clients as well as clients with substance use disorders. MI also fosters an environment that is inclusive towards the cultural values of Latinos, and fosters the collaborative therapeutic process between the client and counselor. When the cultural values of the Latino community are taken into consideration, it fosters change, and retains client engagement within therapy.

References

Anez, L. M., Silva, M. A., Paris Jr., M., & Bedregal, L. E. (2008). Engaging Latinos Through the Integration of Cultural Values and Motivational Interviewing Principles.Professional Psychology: Research & Practice,39(2), 153-159.

Brown, N., Chesbro, T., Lee, D. H., & Puza, H. (2013). Lawrence, Massachusetts Greenway Plan. University of Massacusetts, 1-50.

Carroll, K. M., Martino, S., Ball, S. A., Nich, C., Frankforter, T., Anez, L. M., et al. (2009). A Multisite Randomized Effectiveness Trial of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Spanish-Speaking Substance Users.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,77(5), 993-999.

Cordaro, M., Tubman, J. G., Wagner, E. F., & Morris, S. L. (2012). Treatment Process Predictors of Program Completion or Dropout Among Minority Adolescents Enrolled in a Brief Motivational Substance Abuse Intervention.Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse,21(1), 51-68.

Franklin, J., & Markarian, M. (2005). Substance Abuse in Minority Populations.Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders, 321-339.

Jaysane, A. P., & Center, M. P. (2002). The Community Context of Health in Lawrence, Massachusetts.Lawrence, MA: Merrimack College.

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). The Spirit of Motivational Interviewing.Motivational Interviewing:Helping People Change(3rd ed., ). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Sue, D. W. (2006). Principles and Assumptions of Multicultural Social Work Practice.Multicultural Social Work Practice. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

In this day and age the rapid development of the word and the growing assimilation of countries can hardly fail to affect the development of new theories which attempt to explain the relationship between countries and the existing inequality between developed countries and countries of the third world. Two theories which analyze the development in third world countries are the modernization theory and the dependence theory. These two theories, while being rather different, still have several similarities in their views on the modern world and relationships between developed and developing countries.

As Alvin So explained, there are three chief and historical essentials which were constructive to the foundation of the modernization theory of development after the Second World War.First, the United States rose as a superpower.While other Western nations, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, were undermined by World War II, the United States came out of the war stronger then before, and became a world leader with the execution of the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Western Europe.[2]Second, the idea of communist began to move throughout the world.What was once the Soviet Union spread its influence to Eastern Europe, China, and Korea.Third, there was the breakdown ofEuropean colonial empires in Asia, Africa and Latin America, creating numerous new nation-states in the Third World.These budding nation-states began searching for a form of development to support their economy and to improve their political independence. The modernization theory’s intellectual lineage has been traced back to Aristotle. Aristotle first recommended that states, just as plants, went through a natural pattern of growth. Just like Aristotle, Americans in the early Republic assumed that if societies grow in a natural manner, they must also perish. The thought that the progression of human development could be understood and controlled dates to the early nineteenth century, when France and Britain were struggling to bring back their trade empires. Since then it has tended to reappear at times and places where systems of dominance required explanation and rationalization.

The modernization theory looks at the internal factors of a country with the assumption that, with aid, “traditional” countries can be developed in the same way more developed countries have. The modernization theory tries to recognize the social variables which cause social growth and development of societies, and then tries to explain the social evolution. In order for a country to have a profitable, sophisticated, modern economy the country must follow a pattern of development. This is a very systematic theory as it means do one thing and another will happen. In order for this to happen, there need to be prerequisites for takeoff that will lead to takeoff in which will lead to mass-consumption(Mahler 45). A missing component of this theory is that the modernization theory assumes all countries will follow the set path to development. There are actually numerous variables in which will affect a states’ ability to in fact develop. An example of this is the fact that Mexico is geographically designed in a way that will cause it to have a weak economy due to the deserts, forests, and mountains. This makes it so that only 12% of the land is arable. The fact that there are no major rivers doesn’t help either. These issues all help to making it tricky for Mexico to develop because it restrains transportation, which in turn weakens the possibility of exporting and importing goods in a proficient manner.Another problem with the modernization theory is that it assumes that all states have the necessary preconditions to develop. This is not true as many states do not have proper leaders and government. The explanation for this is that if a state is controlled by weak leadership, it will in turn influence its ability to develop. For example, Saddam Hussein, made it so that his country could not develop because he took all of the wealth for himself. Perhaps, if Hussein had spread the wealth throughout his country, this will have helped education and increased invention. This could have made it so that his country developed in a more efficient manner.

One policy implication the modernization theory suggests is that the third world countries should look up to the developed western nations, while the Western countries should pass on more modern values, institutions, technology, and financial investment to the Third World countries. Another implication is that in order for the third worlds to develop, they should be moving along the path that the United States has traveled, hence move away from the ideas of communism. (READING)

A theory in which is opposed to the Modernization model which was created largely as a response to it is the Dependency theory. Dependency theories developed in opposition to the optimistic claims of modernizationtheory which saw the less developed countries being able to catch up with the West. They stressed that Western societies had an interest in maintaining their advantaged position in relation to the LDCs and had the financial and technical wherewithal to do so. A variety of different accounts of the relationship between the advanced and less developed states evolved within the broad framework of dependency theory, ranging from the stagnationism and ‘surplus drain’ theory of Andre Gunder Frank (which predicted erroneously that the Third World would be unable to achieve significant levels ofindustrialization), to the more cautious pessimism of those who envisaged a measure of growth based on ‘associated dependent’ relations with the West.

The major contribution to dependency theory was undoubtedly that of Frank, a German economist of development who devised and popularized the phrase ‘the development of underdevelopment’, describing what he saw as the deformed and dependent economies of the peripheral states-in his terminology the ‘satellites’ of the more advanced ‘metropolises’. InCapitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America(1969), he argued that the Third World was doomed to stagnation because the surplus it produced was appropriated by the advanced capitalist countries, through agencies such as transnational corporations. Frank himself insisted that growth could only be achieved by severing ties with capitalism and pursuing autocentric socialist development strategies.

According to the dependency theory, the Global North exploits the Global South. One reason for this is that the south is highly dependent on the wealth of the north; therefore unable to advance themselves because of the vicious cycle that then ensues. An example of this vicious cycle can begin with a country being very poor and/or economically unstable. They then allow a multinational corporation to set up camp in one of their cities. This leads to many new jobs for this city, but the people are hired for very poor wages. Then the products that are produced get siphoned off by the Global North, in turn preventing that states “mass-consumption” abilities which is a generalized way that the south gets exploited by the north and the multinational corporation comes out making huge profits at the expense of desperate people just trying to survive and willing to work for pennies.

The depencde theory has several implications. First, Promotion of domestic industry and manufactured goods. By imposing subsidies to protect domestic industries, poor countries can be enabled to sell their own products rather than simply exporting raw materials. Second, Import limitations. By limiting the importation ofluxury goodsandmanufactured goodsthat can be produced within the country, the country can reduce its loss of capital and resources. Thrid, Forbidding foreign investment. Some governments took steps to keep foreign companies and individuals from owning or operating property that draws on the resources of the country.

In conclusion, both theories admit the leadership of western countries and their currently dominant position in the modern world, while undeveloped countries are characterized by socio-economic and political backwardness. At the same time, the two theories agree that the cooperation between western countries and developing countries is constantly growing and leads to their integration. However, it is necessary to underline that Modernization theory views such cooperation and integration as a conscious and voluntary act from the part of developing countries, for which modernization in the western style is the only way to overcome the existing backwardness, while supporters of Dependency theory argue that such cooperation and integration is imposed to developing countries by more advanced western countries, which simply attempt to benefit from their cooperation with developing countries and their westernization becomes a way of the establishment of control over and growing dependence of developing countries on developed ones. Regardless, the existing differences, both theories still raise a very important problem of relationships between developed and developing countries and the dominance of western countries and western civilization in the modern world.

Assessment is a vital function of social work acting as the starting point of the process and if not carried correctly can impact on the social workers relationship with the service user. There are no universal definitions for assessment however Whittington (2007) suggests the process is a meeting between a social worker and someone seeking help or services, which maybe held with an individual, family or a group of people. Sutton sees assessment as an ongoing cycle and describes it using the acronym ASPIRE, Assessment, Planning, Intervention, Review and Evaluate. Models for assessment include ecological, strength based, person centred which are often used when assessing a child. The Ecological model focusses on the service user’s environment including close family circle and their wider community, placing the service user firmly in the centre. Bronfenbrenner (1979) states there are 4 layer of environment which effects a service user, microsystem which considers immediate family, the mesosystem looks at relationships with extended family, neighbours, friends, work and school, the exosystem includes both the micro and mesosystem but also contains social infrastructure of the labour market, education systems, health and Social services, the final layer macrosystem includes systems including government policy, legislation and culture. Ecogram’s are illustrations often used to demonstrate these layers which can benefit to everyone involved to enable them to see everyone who is involve in his life.

Parker and Bradley state the strength based model focusses on the positives in a service user’s life, focussing on increasing motivation, capacity and potential for making real and informed life choices. This model also requires an extensive knowledge of the service users’ environment, living system and wider system to be able to work with them using their strengths. Within this model the power imbalance between the social worker and service user is reduced as the service users is seen as the person with the knowledge of the issues. The person centred model has a similar function as the Ecological and strength based model which places the service user at the centre of any assessment and decisions made during this process.

As well as assessment models the social workers also use a variety of approaches including questioning, procedural and exchange. The Questioning approach uses a set of questions to obtain information, the social worker can have preconceived ideas about the service user which could lead the questioning in a direction which may not identify the issues which the service user may see as their main concern, this approach can be seen as a power imbalance in favour of the social worker. The Procedural approach is a systematic process set out by an organisation or framework, with set criteria which identifies eligibility, follows the rules and policies which dictates what the service user is entitled to, this approach also leaves a power imbalance as the social worker dictates what services the service user is entitled to. The Exchange process ensures partnership working where the service users is seen as the expert with an understanding of any issues, information gathered within this process is used to enable the service user to see their potential and resources available to meet this potential.

There are specific pieces of legislation and policies which have an impact on the child assessment process, The Children Act 1989 states the welfare of the child is paramount, with an overarching system for safeguarding children, it indicates roles different agencies play and introduced the concept of parental responsibility rather than parental rights. A key principle is that Local Authorities have a duty to provide services for children and their families and all children should have access to the same range of services. The Children Act 2004 updates not supersede Children Act 1989. The aim is to encourage integrated planning, commissioning and delivery of services as well as improve multi-disciplinary working, remove duplication, increase accountability and improve the coordination of individual and joint inspections in local authorities. The Children’s act does not specifically state children referred automatically have an assessment, however if a child is deemed in need then the child must have an assessment, a decision which must be made within 24 hrs., once this decision has been made an assessment needs to take place within 7 days. The decision is based on Children’s act 1989 (section 17 subsection 10) outlines the criteria for a child in need, which states:

(10) a child shall be taken to be in need if—

(a) He is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him of services by a local authority under this Part;

(b) His health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him of such services;

Stefan can be seen as a child in need due to his current behavioural issues at school and the ongoing issues with in his family home, both could have an impact on his health and development. If Stefan is displaying behaviours within school this is having a significant effect on his education and therefore development.

The social worker will carry out an assessment based on the Framework for the Assessment and Children in Need and their Families 2001 which is based on three areas, often viewed as a triangle, Child developmental needs including education, Emotional & Behavioural Development, Family & Social Relationships, Stefan is displaying behaviours while at school which is having an impact on his ability to learn. There have also been domestic violence situations within the home, it is not documented if he witnessed this, however the UN convention of the child states that hearing a domestic violence attack is just as detrimental to the child as witnessing the act and therefore has the same affects, this may be a factor for Stefan. Stefan and his mother are receiving support from her sister, but Stefan may have a role in the care for his mother or younger sister. Parenting capacity including Ensuring Safety, it has been highlighted Rhian, Stefan’s mother has physical and mental health issues which resulted in Stefan and his sister being left in a local park questioning Stefan’s safety. Family and Environmental Factors including Resources, Income, Employment, Housing, Wider Family & Functioning. Stefan’s mother is unable to work due to her physical and mental health which may have financial implications on the family.

As well as the children’s act 1989 and 2004 and the Framework for the Assessment and Children in Need and their Families 2001, wales has a Children’s & families measure 2010 which was published to tackle child poverty. Section 67 of the measure looks at children’s needs arising from community care needs of their parents and applies to any child whose parents may be in receipt of care from the local authority or arranged by the local authority, or they may be in need of such services the authority must decide what services they can provide to the child and / or their family. Section 68 of the measure addresses the child’s need arising from the health conditions, including mental health, of their parents and applies when health services are provided to or funded by the NHS, the NHS must consider the effects of the medical condition on the child and if the child requires support from the local authority. Both sections relate to Stefan’s current situation, Stefan’s mother has physical and mental health issues which also may have impacted on the family.

The Human right convention of the child (1989) also has an impact on the assessment process, the convention was agree by international governments and stated all children had rights as individual’s not just objects which are cared for. The convention is made up of a 45 articles which outline the rights of a child, Stefan’s rights include a child must not be separated from their parents unless it is in their best interest, every child is able to have a say about what affects them and they must be taken seriously, each child has the right to live somewhere which is able to meet their physical, social and mental needs. If they do not then the government must support families who cannot afford to provide this, Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them. Another pieces of legislation which needs to be complied with is the Welsh language act, Stefan currently attends a welsh school and his mother is a welsh speaker, Stefan may feel more comfortable if the assessment was carried out in welsh which Stefan is entitled to under the act.

When working with a child the social worker needs to use a variety of skills, adapt their approaches and values which include ensuring the process is child centred, at the child’s level of understanding and abilities, advocate on behalf of the child, use observational skills to observe interactions with any significate people. Parker and Bradley state research shows children prefer to be listen to, professionals to be available and accessible, non-judgemental and non-directive, have a sense of humour, straight talking, to be able to trust and, where appropriate, to have confidentiality respected. The social worker must also ensure the process is collaborative working with people involved in the service user’s life including professionals. By using these skills the social worker also complies with the Care council of wales Code of practice which states the social worker must promote the independence of Service Users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. By using the fore mentioned skills the social worker using anti-oppressive practise to ensure the service user is empowered in their continued support.

Before and during the assessment process the social worker needs to ensure the issues are not pre-judged, Stefan’s behavioural issues may not be due to the issues at home he may have a learning disability, being bullied at school or finding the work hard which is causing him difficulties, Stefan may be a carer for his mother or sibling which is the issue, often what is perceived as the main issues are not necessarily the same for the person being assessed, if any of the above issues have been highlighted then appropriate assessment would be requested. Other issues which need to be considered would be where to hold the assessment, Stefan may feel unable to speak openly if carried out in front of his parents or within the family home, by carrying out any assessment meetings within his school environment either setting could make him more vulnerable, careful thought needs to be given to where assessment is carried out.

While working with a child there are many ethical issues which can arise, when there is evidence a child is being neglected and their safety at risk the social worker has a decision to make, Stefan has been left in a local park due to his mother forgetting him the ethical dilemma may be if Stefan is providing a caring role for his mother and sister removing him from the situation may cause his sister to become more vulnerable and take away a support system from his mother. Another ethical issue could be within the current economic climate carrying out an assessment but being unable to offer the services required by the child and their family, when dealing with a child such as Stefan the social worker needs to gain as much information as possible however the more people who know about the situation could cause Stefan to be more vulnerable, Stefan is also entitled to privacy and the more people who know about the situation could make Stefan vulnerable amongst his peers. The final issue could be Stefan’s parents are currently refusing support, the rights of the parents to refuse services verses the right of the child to have adequate service provision.