Category: Free Essays

(“Professional Ethics”, n.d., para. 1) states, “Ethics are rules and values used in a professional setting. Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise because of the specialist knowledge that professionals attain, and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a service to the public”. (“Professional Ethics”, n.d., para. 1) further states “the professional carries additional moral responsibilities to those held by the population in general. This is because professionals are capable of making and acting on an informed decision in situations that the general public cannot, because they have not received the relevant training”.

Most professions use professional ethics, which, are encoded in their code of ethics to internally regulate themselves and preserve the integrity of the profession as well as preventing the exploitation of clients. The codes of ethics are broad guidelines that members are required to convert to the appropriate professional behaviour. Herlihy and Corey (as cited in Corey, Corey and Callanan 2007) suggests that “a code of ethics has the following objectives:

Educate the professional about sound ethical conduct

Provide a mechanism for professional accountability

Serve as a catalyst for improving practice”

Engels, Pope and Vasquez cited in Corey, Corey and Callanan (2007) highlighted that despite these code of ethics the professional will face limitations and problems in striving to be ethically responsible. Limitations cited included:

Ethic codes may lack clarity and precision which make assessment of ethical applications difficult

A practitioner’s personal values may conflict with a specific standard within an ethics code

The codes may not align with state laws or regulations regarding reporting requirements

Ethics codes should be understood and applied within the specific cultural framework)

Professional ethics can be subdivided into two levels, namely mandatory ethics and aspirational ethics. Mandatory ethics represents basic ethics, which comply with the minimal standards, while aspirational ethics are the highest standards of thinking and conduct to be sought by the professional (Corey, Corey and Callanan, 2007, p.13). Corey, Corey and Callanan (2007) states “Aspiration ethics means that the professional will seek to go further and reflect on the effects their interventions may have on the welfare of their clients”. Aspirational ethics have been captured by the American Psychological Association (APA) in the general principles of its codes of ethics. (APA General Guidelines , n.d., par 1) states that “compliance with these guidelines are not mandatory or enforceable however they are intended to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession”. The principles stated in the APA Ethical Principles Code of Conduct include the following:

Beneficence and Non-maleficence – This requires the psychologist to strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to ensure they do no harm. In addition, they are to seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact professionally and other affected persons.

Fidelity and Responsibility – Psychologists are expected to establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work. They should be aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. They should uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm.

Integrity-Psychologists should seek to promote accuracy, honesty and truthfulness in the science, teaching and practice of psychology. In these activities psychologists should not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of fact.

Justice -Psychologists should recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists.

Respect for people rights and dignity-Psychologists should respect the dignity and worth of all people and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality and self-determination. Psychologists should be are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision-making.

The other component of the APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct for psychologist is the Code of Conduct/ Ethical Standards, which are enforceable standards that should guide the actions of the psychologist in their professional lives. The APA has 10 ethical standards and, for the purpose of our discussion, we will focus on three of these namely, competence, human relations and privacy and confidentiality. The three standards cover a broad spectrum of issues, which will be discussed at a summary level.

The APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct competence standard requires the Counseling and Consulting Psychologist to “only provide services, teach or conduct research only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study or professional experience”. Additionally they are expected to continuously undertake efforts to maintain and improve their competence. Finally, they should exercise self-awareness that will reduce the likelihood that they will undertake an activity, which their personal problems could prevent them from performing in a competent manner. Possessing the relevant competencies, maintaining and improving these competences and taking steps to ensure that personal conflicts or problems do not prevent them from properly executing their job is tied into the general principle of beneficence and non maleficence which are aimed at doing what is best for the client. Seeking to prevent personal conflicts and problems affecting the working relationship is consistent with the recommendation that Counseling and Consulting Psychologist maintain notes of their feelings resulting from interactions with clients. The counseling psychologist in the therapeutic relationship would maintain process notes, which among other things includes the therapist thoughts, feelings and reactions to clients. The consulting psychologist should keep notes, such as a diary, which details feelings and reactions to members of the client organization system. This self-monitoring should help the psychologist to identify problems during the therapeutic/consultative process that can negatively affect the relationship and therefore take the requisite steps such as getting counseling or terminating to prevent harm to the client.

The APA ethical standard on human relations encompasses the avoidance of unfair discrimination of clients, avoiding harm, multiple relationships, use of informed consent, and managing conflict of interest among others. Discussions in this paper will be on avoiding harm, multiple relationships and informed consent. The standard requires the counseling and consulting psychologist to “take reasonable steps to avoid harm to clients, organisational client, supervisees and others with whom they work and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable”. Seeking to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable bears significance for the consulting psychologist as their interventions and the resulting changes may have an impact on persons unknown. This results from the nature of the consulting relationship, which usually involve three parties, the consultant, the consultee/client system and the client groups served by the consultee (Lowan, 2002, p. 733). Additionally, the APA standard states the Counseling and Consulting psychologist should “avoid multiple relationships with clients directly or thorough a person closely associated with or related to the client”. Lowman, (2002) defines multiple relationships as “those situations in which the psychologist functions in more than one professional relationship, as well as those in which the psychologist functions in a professional role and another definitive and intended role”. Specific risks associated with such relationships outlined in the code of ethics include loss of objectivity and exploitation of the client by the psychologist (Lowman, 2002, p. 739). The consulting psychologist needs to be aware of the potential harm that can result from their failing to effectively manage relationships within the organization and that it can affect not only those in the dual relationship but also others in the organization (Lowman, 2002, p. 740). The challenges facing consulting psychologists in this regard are special, as in most instances a dual relationship will exist. Dual relationships in and of themselves are not always bad and they can be considered inevitable however, they need to be managed carefully. If the consultant is hired based on a referral from a member of the consultee system with whom the consultant has a previous social or professional relationship, this can present several issues. These issues includes how the consultant’s perspective may be affected by information received from this person, expectations that the persons may have in terms of access to or influence on the consultant, how the dual relationship is perceived by other in the organization and is resultant impact on these persons interaction with the consultant.(Lowman, 2002, p.741). The presence of dual or multiple relationships in the therapeutic relationship can create situations in which the client feels they cannot be assertive or take care of themselves. This arises primarily due to the existence or previous existence of a therapeutic relationship that creates and uneven balance of power between the therapist and the client. These multiple relationships can include romantic involvement with a previous client after the 2 years stipulated by the standards or the therapist involvement in a business relationship with the client. The avoidance of these dual relationships are advocated for family member and close friends as the increased intimacy can reduce the therapist effectiveness as a professional. The psychologist objectivity and maintenance of professional distance is usually impaired if dual relationships are established.

Informed Consent is a particularly important area covered by this ethical standard. Freeman (cited in Lowan 2002) defined informed consent in terms of four essential elements “(1) the competence of participants to make rational decisions regarding whether or not to participate; (2) the voluntary nature of participation; (3) access to full information regarding the purposes, potential risks and benefits, and the likely outcomes of participation; and (4) the ability to comprehend relevant information”. The Consulting psychologist faces peculiar challenges in obtaining informed consent, as the client is more difficult to identify. The consulting psychologist will rightly identify the organization as the client but the organization is made up of groups of individuals organized in a hierarchical structure that intrinsically carries power differentials. While the consulting psychologist can say that the organization is represented by whom ever contracted them, and these persons may be supportive of the consultation, can the same be said of others in the lower levels of the organization. The organization hierarchical structure makes one question whether participation is truly voluntary (Lowman, 2002, p.737). Additionally, contrary to group therapy where all the individuals sign an informed consent, this may not be practical for all the persons that may be involved with the consultative process. A dilemma exists even if the contracting person (organisational representative) signs an informed consent, can it be said to be truly be on behalf of all the persons in the organization? In my opinion, the matter of persons having full information regarding the purposes, potential risks and benefits of the process can also be questioned. Again, full information may be available to top management, but not to all members of the organization.

The counseling psychologist is expected to obtaining informed consent from the individuals, families, couples or groups members in the early stages of establishing the therapeutic relationship. Corey, Corey and Callanan state, “The main purpose of the informed consent is to increase the chances that the client will become involved, educated and a willing participant in therapy”. Informed consent involves providing the client with sufficient information to make informed choices about entering into, and continuing the client/therapist relationship. Providing the client with information, is a way of protecting the client’s rights and teaching them about their rights, which encourages the developments of a healthy sense of self and personal power (Corey, Corey & Callanan, 2007, p.154). It is important, as it outlines the basis of the relationship and is one of the means of establishing boundaries within the relationship.

The APA Privacy and Confidentiality ethical standard states “Psychologists have a primary obligation to take reasonable precautions to protect confidential information obtained through or stored in any medium”. The importance of confidentiality is emphasized by Bersoff (cited in Lowan 2002) who states “except for the ultimate percept -above all, do no harm – there is probably no ethical value in psychology that is more inculcated than confidentiality”. The psychologist is required to protect the information and to disclose the limitation on that confidentiality as dictated by legal or other requirements. Confidentiality in the organizational setting, poses challenges, such as the number of persons who have legitimate access to the data collected, for example management personnel or committees (Lowman, 2002, p. 738). The consulting psychologist will have to address these limitations openly and seek to establish a collective responsibility with members of the consultee system, which will promote a collective approach to the handling of such matters (Lowman, 2002, p. 738). Unlike the counseling psychologist, who deals with clients one to one, by their choice or acts on behalf of a third party, in which case the client is informed and can chose what information to divulge. The consulting psychologist has to work to overcome the perception of possible victimization that less powerful persons within an organization may feel if they disclose certain information. This can prevent the psychologist from obtaining important information, and if it is received, he/she may be faced with an ethical dilemma of how to use the information, taking into consideration how it can affect the individual or the organization.

Based on the fore going discussions it is seen that the professional code of ethics is vital for the counseling and consulting psychologist. Professional ethics are a requirement for the profession of psychologist, just as a society cannot exist with rules and laws so psychological profession cannot exist without ethics. The counseling and consulting psychologist needs to know and practice these ethical requirements in their professional practice, failing which, they could be barred from the profession or face legal action. Compliance is required for the profession and for the individual to be economically viable, as the service provided must be of a quality that can be trusted. Professions are built on the trust that the public places in it and if that trust is eroded, it is doomed. Additionally, professional ethics protect the consumers of the service by the establishment of standards and removing some of the personal values or morals, which could be harmful. It has its limitations, as it does not provide ready-made answers for everything, only provide broad guidelines.

Attachment theory derives from psychoanalyic psychology, however it is used in social work to attempt to understand behaviour in infancy and childhood to show the way in which children develop emotionally WALKER 2009

This theory centres on the idea that children need to form secure relationships with other people, such as parents or guardians, as it is a significant contributer to their emotional development. Social bonds and relationships that are made in early childhood are believed to influence an individuals life and can impact upon their well-being to determine their emotional and social stability later in life. Consequently, attachment is seen as an integral component within infants and young childrens lives, as these experiences can shape a persons personality and identity in future years. (WALKER, J and K, CRAWFORD 2010). If these experiences of attachment are negative, and the child does not develop adequate relationships with their caregivers, then this can have detremental consequences on their psychological and emotional development. (WALKER, J 2009).

The Attachment theory originates from the ideas of John Bowlby who believes that humans are biological predispositioned to seek attachment from others. He proposes that survival is closely related to the ability to possess emotional bonds with other individuals (GREEN 2003). This is because by forming an attachment with an authority figure who is seen as the stronger of the species, this reduces the vulnerability of the individual as it provides increased security and protection from harm posed by potential predators (BOWLBY 1958, cited in LISHMAN 2007). The theory looks at the way that attachment relationships are formed, and the reasons behind their manifestation. Children are seen to form these relationships for reasons such as safety, comfort and to provide guidence. These attachment behaviours, according to learning theorists, are displayed in infancy through talking, laughing and crying. This enables them to persue their basic needs for survival, such as food for nurishment, by their attachment to their mother who is able to support them in fulfilling their needs (WALKER, J and K, CRAWFORD 2010). This initial attachment to caregivers also guides the individuals thoughts, feelings and expectations as they become aware of peoples responses towards them which help them recognise how to behave (WALKER 2009).

There are four assumptions of Bowlby’s attachment theory which attempt to explain his beliefs. The first, is that infants and young children develop emotional ties with individuals early in life, which acts as a biological function and plays an integral part to their survival. The second assumption is that the way a child is treated early in life has a major contributing factor to their future relationships and the way their personality is formed. The third assumption is that attachment behaviour can form an ‘internal working model’ which guide the child’s thoughts, feelings and expectations as a result of the reactions of others towards their behaviour. The final assumption of Bowlby’s attachment theory is that although it is difficult to alter attachment behaviour, it is not impossible, thereofre there is the possibility of alteration at any point in life, both in a positive and negative way (GREEN 2003).

Although infants and young children are able to have more than one attachment figure, they are still affected when they are exposed to seperation from their primary attachment figure. This can happen for many reasons, such as a child being removed from a family home and placed into care, or perhaps death. This can be a very distressing and confusing time for a child as they are unsure of who to turn to for security and protection. This is evident in social work practice in instances where an abused child wants to remain with its parents, even though it is not a stable or supportive attachment (LISHMAN 2006). Bowlby proposed that children who have experienced seperation from their main attachment figure will suffer in a process involving protest, dispair and detachment, in an attempt to overcome their loss (BOWLBY 1958, cited in LISHMAN 2006).

However, although Bowlby provided an important contribution to the idea of attachment, his research can be criticised in many ways. This is because Bowlby tends to focus his ideas on one primary figure of attachment, often the mother, when it is possible for children to form attachments with other people within their lives such as their father. Also, developing relationships with other people alongside the attachment figure is also important, this is because having to rely on the caregiving relationship of one person can be detrimental due to the fact it often results in dependency and does not allow other relationships to be formed with others, which can the hinder the social and emotional development of the child (WALKER, J and K, CRAWFORD 2010).

According to Lishman (2007), the attachment theory believes that when a child is stressed or afraid, they exhibit particular behaviour and emotions which can be perceived as attachment. This is because they seek protection from harm through the help and security of an adult who they see as stronger than themselves. This is closly linked to two types of behavioural systems: the exploratory behavioural system and the fear behavioural system. The exploratory behavioural system is based of the belief that when an infant or young child feels comfortable and safe, the attachment behaviour remains dormant and therefore the child will be willing to explore the people around them and their surroundings. However, if a child feels threatened or vulnerable, the fear behavioural system will become active, where the child will no longer seek exploration and instead they will seek protection from their attachment figure and exhibit behaviour related to that attachment.

However, the behaviour that they display is not intended to provoke affection from the attachment figure, instead it is to aˆ?regain a state of equilibriumaˆ? (p59). This means that infants and young children are not dependent upon the caregiving nature of the attachment figure, instead their aim is to diminish their fears.

There is a classification of attachment patterns which identifies four different types of attachment, which attempts to enanble professionals to assess young childrens behaviour and emotions (secure, ambivalent, avoident and disorganised). Secure attachment is based of the belief that children depend upon their caregiver as a base for exploration. The caregiver is available to the child and responds to the childs needs, therefore the child behaves in a positive manner. Ambivalent attachment looks at how children are unwilling to explore their surroundings as the caregiver is not consistent in their support. This can leave the child distressed, clingy and dependent. The third category is avoident patterns of attachment, and features an unresponsive caregiver, therefore the child feels rejected and they view themelves as dependent whilst actively avoiding or ignoring the caregivers presence. And finally, disorganised attachment is where children are fearful of their caregivers, and they themselves may feel confused or depressed. This type of attachment is most often seen in children who have suffered abuse (HOWE 2001, cited in LISHMAN 2007).

How a critical understanding of Attachment Theory can contribute to Social Work Practice.

Social workers are seen to have three roles to play when working within an attachment perspective: assessment, planning and direct work with children, parents and carers. Assessment looks at areas within attachment such as the needs of a child, the parenting that they receive, their emotional and behavioural development and the relationships which they have formed. There are also tests created specifically for measuring attachment, such as Ainsworth’s stranger test which provide an indication of the pattern and quality of their attachments.

The second role, planning, looks at how planning for new attachments when placing children with new families needs to be approached carefully. This is because they need finding the most suitable parenting figures where new attachments can be made.

The third role is direct work with children, parents and carers. This is because direct contact and communication is necessary to achieve the best possible outcome when working with children and families. For example, when a child has been removed from their home and is being placed with new carers, direct work can provide support to the child to prepare them for change. It can also be useful with the adoptive or foster family to provide guidence and support towards what to expect and to help with any problems they face (LISHMAN 2007)

Attachment theory has been used within social work practice as the basis for many child care policies. This is because the idea of a infant or child being ‘attached’ to their family, which can influence their development in many ways, has been used as the basis for many legislation (LISHMAN 2007). For example, Sure Start Children’s Centres have been introduced in response to the importancy of family support to enable them to build and maintain positive family relationships (LAMING REPORT 2009, cited in BRAMMER 2010). Attachment theory had also contributed to policies such as shared parental responsibility, as it has emhasised the need for emotional and social relationships with caregivers, whilst also suggesting possible consequences to a childs development and the negative impact later in life if these needs were not met effectively. (LISHMAN 2007).

Attachment theory also provides guidence to enable social workers to judge the quality of a relationship between a child and it’s parents. This can enable them to gain an understanding of at what point, if at any, intervention is necessary as it gives them the ability to evaluate the attachment that is present within the relationship. The attachment theory also gives a more comprehensive understanding of the loss experienced by an infant or child when they lose their main attachment figure. This means that people working within social work practice are aware of the common and typical behaviours of a child who is going through this process and can therefore support them to overcome it. A further way the attachment theory is used to benefit social work practice is that as it is known that attachment figures are necessary for children to develop adequately, individuals such as adoptive parents can be taught to exhibit behaviour which will encourage new attachmentment from the child which is needed for personal growth (WALKER, J and K, CRAWFORD 2010). However , care needs to be taken when placing a child with a new family as to prevent a repeating loss of attachment figures which can cause them to blame themeselves and produce feelings of worthlessness. This can mean ensuring that the child is appropriatly prepared and ready to form new bonds of attachment and that the new carers of the child receive sufficient support within their role. (LISHMAN 2007).

Attachment theory can also be linked to the way in which a mother bonds with her new born baby. However, these early bonds are not solely restricted to mothers, it is also possible for fathers. Although, this bond is typically formed within the first few hours after birth as the mother and baby connect both physically and emotionally. The initial bond that is made is thought to have a significant effect on their future relationship as it is the beginning of their ‘attachment’. This knowledge enables social workers to support mothers who are particularly vulnerable to poor parenting, although this is only effective if the support continues throughout the first few months after the baby is born.. However, it is important to note that just because a mother fails to achieve an initial bond with her baby, this does not mean that abuse is inevitable.

How are issues of ‘diversity’ relevant to human growth, behaviour and development?

GREEN, V. 2003. Emotional development in Psychoanalysis, Attachment Theory and Neuroscience: Creating Connections. East Sussex: Brunner-Routledge

LISHMAN, J. 2007. Handbook for Practice and Learning in Social Work and Social Care: Knowledge and Theory. London: Jessica Kingsley

WALKER, J and K, CRAWFORD. 2010. Social Work and Human Development. Exeter: Learning Matters

WALKER, J. 2008. Studying for Your Social Work Degree. Exeter: Learning Matters

BRAMMER, 2010. Social Work Law. London: Longman

Human existence is not static and people are developing constantly (Thompson and Thompson, 2008: 83). For this reason, an understanding of development is central to undertaking professional social work at a high level of competence (Ibid.: 99). This case study focuses on Tony and Jan, their adopted nine year old son Sam, new baby and Jan’s mother Dorothy. It is evident from reading this family’s background information that a social worker should consider theories of human growth and development in order to fully assess their circumstances and behaviour. Hence, this is where our attention will now turn but as time does not permit consideration of all family members, for the purpose of this assignment two will be concentrated on; Sam and Jan.

Sam

Sam was adopted by Tony and Jan at four years old, a move which, despite initial reservations, was successful. However, in recent months Sam’s behaviour has deteriorated and this, alongside other problems, has led to the family seeking support. has long been regarded as significant in children’s development (Aldgate, 2007: 57). Bowlby (1977: 203) described attachment behaviour as behaviour resulting in a person attaining or retaining proximity to another differentiated and preferred individual, usually considered stronger and/or wiser. He considered it integral to human nature, seen to varying extents in all human beings and performed the biological function of protection (Bowlby, 1988: 22). can be affected when separated from a main attachment figure; especially if this happens involuntarily such as when a child is removed from their parents care (Aldgate, 2007: 64). Irrespective of their previous attachment experiences, they will find this frightening because “they do not know who to turn to help them return to a state of equilibrium” (Ibid.). This explains why children who have experienced abuse may still want to be with their parents, even if they are insecurely attached to them (Ibid.) and could illustrate why Sam was recently protesting that he wanted to go back to his real mother. Daniel (2006: 193) asserts children between the ages six months and four years are most vulnerable when separated from attachment figures because:

“during these early years children lack the cognitive skills to comprehend the events leading to separation and this coupled with the propensity for magical thinking, means young children are highly likely to blame themselves for the loss”.

Sam was adopted at four years old and although we know little about the circumstances with his birth parents, importantly his attachment bond was broken at this point. Aldgate (2007: 65) notes children who have lost attachment figures through entering the care system are at risk of further harm by insensitive responses to their attachment needs. Furthermore, children beginning new placements with insecure attachment behaviour may test the parenting capacity of their carers (Ibid.) which could explain Sam’s recent deteriorating behaviour. Following two decades of research demonstrating that placement breakdown is an ongoing problem in the UK (Ibid.), practitioners working with this family should be especially careful to try to prevent this.

Attachment theory differs from traditional psychoanalytic theories because it rejects the model of development proposing an individual passes through a series of stages, in which they may become fixated or regress (Bowlby, 1988: 135). Instead, this model sees the individual as progressing along one of many potential developmental pathways, some of which are or are not compatible with healthy development (Ibid.). Yet, the role of parents in shaping a child’s personality has been critiqued by Harris (1999: xv; 359), who offers an alternative viewpoint in The Nurture Assumption and proposes it is experiences in childhood and adolescent peer groups that modify a child’s personality in ways that will be carried forward to adulthood. What’s more, O’Connor and Nilson (2007: 319) argue that amongst children in the foster care system, attachment is considered a powerful but diffuse source of behavioural and emotional problems. Almost any disruptive behaviour can be attributed to attachment difficulties in early relationships and the early experiences are often suggested as the only source of their problems, subsequently minimising the role of the current placement experiences (Ibid.). They contend following research demonstrating foster parents attachment and caregiving does influence the child’s attachment to them, it is crucial that the impact of early attachment experiences on later development should not be considered independently of current caregiving environments (Ibid.: 320). Finally, providing that new attachment figures for children can respond to children’s attachment needs sensitively and are committed to handle any behaviour that may test their staying power, it is believed early patterns can be modified or discontinued (Aldgate, 2007: 66).

Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecology of Human Development looks beyond the impact of attachment to caregivers on development and offers much in terms of aiding our understanding of this families situation and behaviour. Bronfenbrenner (Ibid.: 3) developed his broader prospective to development, providing new conceptions of the developing person, the environment and the evolving interaction between them. He focussed on:

“the progressive accommodation, throughout the life span, between the growing human organism and the changing environments in which it actually lives and grows. The latter include not only the immediate settings containing the developing person but also the larger social contexts, both formal and informal, in which these settings are embedded”. (Bronfenbrenner, 1977: 513).

According to Bronfenbrenner (1979.: 22), the ecological environment is comprised of a nested organisation of concentric structures with each one contained within the next. He labelled these the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem and each layer of a child’s environment affects their development.

When looking at the microsystem, the pattern of roles, interpersonal relations and activities experienced by the developing person in a given setting (Ibid.), there are ways this could have affected Sam’s development. For instance, within the family setting Jan has struggled to cope since the unexpected arrival of their baby, which subsequently could have affected Sam’s relationship with her. He now has to share his mothers attention with his sibling and may be feeling left out or jealous. Furthermore, the expense of IVF has resulted in Tony working more, rendering him absent from the household more frequently. This change may have influenced Sam’s relationship with Tony and he may be missing having his father around as in the past. Additionally, following his adoption, Dorothy felt uncertain whether to regard Sam as her real grandson, a tension which Sam may sensed himself.

Bronfenbrenner (Ibid.:7) also regarded the connections between other people in the setting of equal importance because of their indirect influence on the developing child through the effect they have on those who deal first hand with that person. Sam’s development could have been affected by strained relations between his parents as a result of Jan not receiving the support she needs from her husband due to his work commitments. Similarly, relations between Jan and Dorothy have become tense since the baby’s arrival with Jan expecting Dorothy’s assistance, which has not materialised. Beyond the microsystem, an exosystem refers to settings that the developing person is not involved in as an active participant but “in which events occur that affect, or are affected by, what happens in the setting containing the developing person” (Ibid.: 25). Bronfenbrenner (Ibid.) offered a child’s parents place of work as an example and with the need for Tony to work as much as possible, any stresses he experiences in the work environment could impinge upon Sam’s development even though Sam spends no time in this setting himself.

This theory recognises everyone exists within a context influencing who they are and how they respond to situations in life (Phelan, 2004: online). Whilst the building blocks in the environmental aspect of this theory were familiar concepts in the social and behavioural sciences, the way in which these entities relate to one another and to development was new (Bronfenbrenner, 1979: 8). Hence, before this theory, sociologists, psychologists and other specialists studied narrow aspect’s of children’s worlds (Brendtro, 2006: 163). However, Tudge et al.(2009: 6) evaluated the application of Bronfenbrenner’s theory in recently published work and found only 4 out of 25 papers claiming to be based on his theory had utilised it appropriately. They contend if theory is to play an important role in developmental studies it must be applied correctly because:
“a failure to do so means that it has not been tested appropriately; data apparently supporting the theory do no such thing if the theory has been incorrectly described, and… a misrepresented theory is impervious to attack from nonsupportive data” (Ibid.: 206).

Adoption is required when it is not possible for a child to return home, either because the parents are unable to care for them or change their lives in a way that would be safe for that child (Brent Council, 2010: online). Whilst we are uncertain of the circumstances leading to Sam’s adoption, we can speculate that the care provided by his birth parents was deficient. Infant brain research demonstrated that “if there is grossly inadequate care in infancy, the infant’s brain and other abilities that depend on brain development can be compromised” (Linke, 2000: online). The majority of the critical times for brain development occur before the age of six months and research indicated orphans adopted after this age made less progress than those adopted earlier (Ibid.). Furthermore, parts of the brain that regulate emotions and stress responses are organised early in a child’s life and may not be changeable later (Ibid.). Subsequently, parts of the body and brain that respond to stress may become over sensitive and ready to respond to threat even when a threat is not manifest if the infant is continually exposed to trauma and stress (Ibid.). If Sam experienced inadequate care in infancy it is possible that he has developed over sensitive stress responses and now regards the new baby as a threat, which could provide an explanation for his defiant behaviour and disinterest in his sibling.

Pollak and the University of Wisconsin Child Emotion Lab are active in researching how early life experiences affect brain development (see Child Emotion Lab, 2009: online). However, he and his colleagues stress that not all children experiencing neglect develop the same problems (Wismer-Fries et al., 2005: 17239). In their work on the role of early social experience in subsequent brain development they found children experiencing lower hormonal reactivity may go on to develop satisfactory interpersonal relationships and highlighted potentially significant individual differences operating across the control group and the previously neglected group of children (Ibid.). Furthermore, other research led by Pollak has demonstrated how adjustable the brain can be when in the right environment (University of Wisconsin News, 2003: online). Their study of 5-6 year old’s who lived in orphanages during their first seven to 41 months of life found that children performed better in many tests the longer they had lived with their adoptive families (Ibid.). Pollak (quoted in University of Wisconsin News, 2003: online) hopes these findings will encourage children to be placed in families rather than in institutional settings and “offer new avenues for designing more effective interventions that could help children who spent their early years in deprived environments reach their full potential”.

Jan

Erikson’s life cycle approach proposes at certain points in their lives, people encounter life crises creating a conflict within themselves as individuals and between themselves and other significant people in their lives (Gibson, 2007: 74). Each life crisis provides a conflict, characterised by a pull in different directions by two opposing dispositions, and if the individual achieves a favourable balance between these then they are as prepared as possible to move onto the next stage in the process (Ibid.). However, if one does not achieve this favourable ratio, this renders succeeding in subsequent life crises problematic (Ibid.). Generativity vs Stagnation is Erikson’s seventh and penultimate stage of psychosocial development covering middle adulthood and generativity “is primarily the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation” (Erikson, 1965: 258) and represents the major conflict in adulthood (Slater, 2003: 57). As Slater (Ibid.) asserts, everybody has to face the crisis of parenthood whereby:

“mmake a deliberate decision to become parents, but some become parents without conscious decision, others decide not to become parents, and still others want to become parents but cannot. The decision and its outcome provoke a crisis that calls for a re-examination of life roles”.

Successfully achieving this sense of generativity is important for both the individual and society and parents demonstrate it through caring for their children (Slater, 2003: 57). A failure to achieve this leads to a feeling of stagnation and unproductivity (Heffner, 2001: online). Jan spent a long time trying to become a mother to fulfil this stage in Erikson’s model and achieve a “favourable ratio” (Erikson, 1965: 262) of generativity over stagnation. After two years of trying to conceive, three unsuccessful attempts at IVF and two gruelling years of the adoption process, they adopted Sam and have since unexpectedly conceived naturally. However, as Erikson (Ibid.: 259) asserts “ the mere fact of having or even wanting children… does not ‘achieve’ generativity”. Blyth (1999: 730) writing about assisted conception, importantly highlights parenthood after such efforts will not necessarily match expectations and Jan’s feelings of being a useless mother and finding motherhood a struggle may be unexpected after trying for a family for such a long time. Furthermore, in this stage, the importance of adult mature dependency is implicitly inferred and suggests there are psychological rewards for those adults who can meet the needs of others and have other people dependent on them (Gibson, 2007: 83). Jan reports feeling unable to comfort her baby and meet their needs and this should be addressed by a social worker to prevent a “pervading sense of stagnation and impoverishment” (Erikson, 1965: 258) in this stage of the life cycle.

Slater (2003: 53) acknowledges Erikson’s work, whilst grounded in psychoanalytic theory, rejects Freud’s notion that personality is fixed by childhood experiences alone and provides an extension of the stages of development to cover adolescence, adulthood and old age. However, Rutter and Rutter (1993: 1-2) criticised theories such as Erikson’s viewing psychological growth as a systematic progression through a series of stages in a predetermined order, through which everyone moves, taking them closer to maturity represented by adult functioning. This reliance on the universals of development and the notion of one developmental pathway has ignored individual differences (Ibid.). They believe that whilst this theory made significant contributions to understanding the processes involved in development, Erikson’s approach does not fit with what is known about socio-emotional development and “it is likely that children take a variety of paths, and adult outcomes cannot sensibly be reduced to mere differences in levels of maturity” (Ibid.: 2).

Goffman (1963: preface- 3) employed the term stigma to refer to a deeply discrediting attribute of an individual that disqualifies them from full social acceptance. Their possession of this attribute that makes them different means they can be reduced in people’s minds from a whole person to a discounted and tainted one (Ibid.: 3). Furthermore, the wider societies standards mean the individual is aware of what others regard as their failing, which can inevitably cause them to believe they fall short of what they ought to be and subsequently shame becomes a central possibility (Ibid.: 7). His work offers insight into how Jan may be feeling about herself after being unable to conceive for such a long time because for many women, “infertility carries a hidden stigma born of shame and secrecy” (Whiteford &Gonzales, 1995: 27). Involuntary childlessness can adversely affect an individuals relationships, their feelings about themselves and their ability to function, develop and participate in society “may be compromised by their inability to undertake conventional roles associated with parenting” (Blyth, 1999: 729-730). Whiteford & Gonzalez’s (Ibid.: 27-35) research on 25 women who sought medical treatment for infertility, demonstrated the hidden burden of infertility reflected in the stigma, pain and spoiled identities of those interviewed. The women in their sample experienced the consequences of their social identity and suffered because they had:

“internalized the social norms expressed in dominant gender roles, and in so doing see themselves as defective. They suffer from being denied the opportunity proceed with their lives as others do” (Ibid.: 35).

Goffman (1963: 9) believed the stigmatised person often responds to their situation by making an attempt to correct their failing. This is evident in Whiteford &Gonzales (1995.: 35) study where the women attempted to remedy their problem and fix the broken part of them, giving all they could to become a ‘normal’ and ‘whole’ person and remove the stigma of being infertile. Unfortunately, failure is the most likely outcome of infertility treatment (Blyth, 1999: 729-730), as experienced by Tony and Jan, who had three unsuccessful attempts at IVF before withdrawing from the programme. Moreover, Goffman (1963: 9) emphasised that where such a repair is possible, this does not necessarily lead to the acquisition of fully normal status. Instead “a transformation of self from someone with a particular blemish into someone with a record of having corrected a particular blemish” (Ibid.) occurs, which Jan, who has successfully overcome her infertility and become a mother may be experiencing.

One significant criticism levelled at Goffman’s theory is of the apparently helpless role attributed to individuals with stigmatic qualities (Carnevale, 2007: 12). Furthermore, Nettleton (2006: 96) reiterates the importance of recognising stigma is not an attribute of the individual but a “thoroughly social concept which is generated, sustained and reproduced in the context of social inequalities” instead. Nonetheless, Goffman’s model remains dominant and highly respected and his representation of the social difficulties people with stigmatic qualities face is still considered highly valid (Carnevale, 2007: 12).

Whilst attachment behaviour is especially evident in childhood, it also characterises people from cradle to the grave (Bowlby, 1977: 203). Furthermore, the capacity to form intimate emotional bonds in both the care giving and care seeking role is considered a principal feature of effective personality functioning and mental health (Bowlby, 1988: 121). Bowlby (1977.: 206) proposed there was a strong relationship between a person’s experiences with their parents and their later ability to form affectional bonds and that:

“common variations in that capacity, manifesting themselves in marital problems and trouble with children as well as in neurotic symptoms and personality disorders, can be attributed to certain common variations in the ways that parents perform their roles” (Ibid.).

Subsequently, attachment theory advocates believe many forms of psychiatric disorders can be attributed to failure of the development of attachment behaviour (Bowlby, 1977: 201). This is supported by et al’s. (1996: 310) research which found insecure attachment appeared to impact upon self-esteem and self worth contingencies resulting in depressive symptoms in adulthood. Whilst we know little of Jan’s attachment behaviour as a child, her relationship with her mother is precarious at present and when looking at the symptoms that Jan is displaying they could infer she is experiencing postnatal depression. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was developed by Cox et al. (1987) to assist health care professionals recognise postnatal depression. Statements used to identify the condition include: “Things have been getting on top of me”; “I have been feeling sad or miserable”; “I have been anxious or worried for no good reason” and “I have blamed myself unnecessarily when things went wrong”, all of which could be applied to how Jan is feeling at present. Moreover, her constant low mood and feelings of inadequacy as a mother match some of the symptoms of postnatal depression described on NHS Direct’s (2008: online) website. Therefore, whilst this is only a tentative explanation of Jan’s feelings, it should be explored by the social worker working with this family.

Additionally, unresolved childhood attachment issues can leave adults vulnerable to experiencing difficulties in forming secure adult relationships (Evergreen Consultants in Human Behaviour, 2006: online). Attachment problems can be handed down transgenerationally unless the chain is broken and therefore, an insecurely attached adult may lack the ability to form a strong attachment with their own child (Ibid). Subsequently, uthis theory offers the possibility that poor formation of affectional bonds in Jan’s own childhood could explain why she is struggling to form an attachment bond with her own baby. Furthermore, new relations can be affected by expectations developed in previous relationships and there is a strong correlation between insecure adult attachment and marital dissatisfaction (Ibid.). This could offer an explanation for why Jan believes Tony does not provide the emotional support she requires.

Nonetheless, whilst trauma experienced in the early years can be associated with problems in the long term, it should not be assumed this is disastrous for a child’s physical, cognitive and emotional development and will automatically blight the rest of a their life (Daniel, 2006: 195). As Barth et al. (2005: 259) contend, while attachment problems may predispose a child towards later problems, these problems must be evaluated and treated within the context of their current environment. Social work practitioners providing appropriate interventions can make a long-term difference because adversity experienced in the early years can be compensated for and the worst effects ameliorated if support is given (Daniel, 2006: 195).

Evidently, an understanding of human development theory provides more than an interesting background topic and is indispensable to good social work practice (and Thompson, 2008: 139). Whilst no theories providing insights into development are foolproof, in combination they have much to offer to a practitioners understanding of those they work with. Thus, it is imperative a social worker should consider biological, psychological and sociological approaches in order to carry out a full and holistic assessment of this family’s needs. However,as Thompson and Thompson (Ibid.) assert, it is easy for practitioners to wrongly believe the knowledge base will offer off-the-peg, ready-made answers and simply apply theories to practice in a mechanical, blanket fashion. Therefore, it is important for skilled reflective practitioners to be competent at drawing out relevant aspects of the theory base and employ them in a way that is tailored to fit the situation instead (Ibid.).

Moreover, as Thompson (2009: 63) emphasises, there is a danger that when looking at development across the life course it can be used as a rigid framework that we expect everyone to fit into and then regard those who do not as abnormal or having a problem. Consequently, it must be recognised that this traditional approach taken to development across the the life course can be very oppressive and discriminate against those who do not conform to the trend (Ibid.). For this reason, the life course should be considered as a means of “beginning to understand common stages of development and is not a rigid framework for making judgements about abnormality” (Ibid.). To conclude, as Thompson and Thompson (2008: 99) remind us, understanding development is not making everyone fit into a stereotypical assumption about what is normal but rather to recognise there are significant patterns that underpin growth and development and to the attitudes and behaviours associated with these.

As a social care worker I have often learned through trial and error what works in the real world, basing my practice on common-sense and not on abstract theories. But I recognise my views are often based on opinion and prejudice rather than evidence-based, peer-reviewed knowledge and as Beckett suggests, “our own theories and ideas about why people are as they are and behave as they behave, are usually quite inconsistent and arbitrary, based on our own experience and on our own needs” (Beckett, 2002:8).

Human growth and development theory is concerned with understanding how people grow and change throughout their lives, from the vital early stages to old age, and therefore is essential for informing social work practice. The theory can be applied to a variety of areas within human life and conduct including social, cultural, emotional and psychological, and also, moral, intellectual, spiritual and biological viewpoints. In this assignment I will focus on the psychological and cultural significance of the stages of development in relation to a 12 year old in foster care.

Jake, a dual heritage British male, was taken into care 4 years ago following him being removed from his mother Maggie an African Caribbean female aged 32. Jake and Maggie lived in a 3rd floor, 2 bedroom flat in an area where drug dealing and drug related crime is common place. In Jake’s bedroom he had a plastic box for his clothes and mattress on the bare floor with a bucket for a toilet as Maggie would lock him in his room when she went out. Maggie had been using drugs for many years and her previous partner (Jake’s father) introduced her to heroin 5 years ago. She quickly became addicted and the relationship broke down shortly afterwards. Jake’s father has not had any contact or attempted to make contact since the break up. Jake and Maggie had been known to Social Services as Maggie was a victim of domestic violence and spent 4 months in a women’s refuge.

Jake has had a number of placement breakdowns and has been unable to form any attachments with any of the foster carers. Jake would often defecate around the house and his last placement broke-down because Jake defecated in the foster carers bed then went on to smear their bedroom walls. Jake displayed difficulties in using a knife and fork and would often get frustrated and either eat with a spoon or his hands. Maggie had been diagnosed as suffering from a severe depression, worsened by her drug addiction. It is thought that whilst Maggie was going through a depressive episode she would physically abuse Jake. Jake was often left on his own for long periods whilst Maggie would be out in search of drugs. When she returned home Jake was subjected to emotional abuse and was often blamed by Maggie for their situation.

Jake has been in the fostering system for a number of years and in that time he has not formed any meaningful attachments. Whilst in placement Jake disclosed events and thoughts which alerted foster carers to the fact that there may be some unresolved issues that need to be addressed before Jake can move on with his own growth and development. Jake would often revert to pulling his hair and banging his head on the wall if he felt he had done something wrong and was going to be blamed for it. For example, when he accidentally breaking a cup. Jake is being assessed by CAMHs as he has been displaying behaviour that indicates there may be an underlying depressive mental health problem. Theories of human development have produced explanations about the origins of mental disorder in the areas of psycho-analysis and child psychology, from the early grand theories of Freud and Bowlby and further developed by Klein and Ainsworth.

Freud saw psychodynamic theory as a more informative model in relating past psychological events to present day symptoms. Freud believed behaviour is not ruled by conscious processes but conflicting unconscious processes, he saw a person’s psychological processes involving counteracting forces competing in an ‘intra psychic conflict’, a concept shared by many theorists of human growth and development. In Freud’s model a child starts life with specific basic instinctual needs, such as for food or sexual gratification. Internally, the id continually seeks to meet these needs, while the ego mediates between the desires of the id and the restraints of the external world, particularly the demands of significant and powerful adults in the child’s life, such as his mother and teachers. According to Freud these adult figures are eventually internalised in the form of the superego, or adult conscience. The child’s ego attempts to negotiate the competing demands placed upon him, developing his own distinct personality and progressing to adulthood (Freud, 1949).

Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development have Freudian psychodynamic origins. The idea that unconscious processes cause conflict within humans is also central to Erikson’s theory. His staged development model is based on the idea that these ‘intra-psychic conflicts’ occur throughout our lives and need to be resolved satisfactorily if we are to avoid psychological distress and mental illness (Erikson, 1995). Erikson’s psychosocial theory of human development builds on Freud’s psychodynamic model, but while Erikson accepts ideas, such as the unconscious, he rejects concepts of the personality which are described exclusively in terms of sexuality. Again, like Freud, Erikson believed childhood was central in the development of personality, but that the personality continued to develop beyond the age of five (Erikson, 1995).

Erikson’s psychosocial model describes eight stages from infancy and adulthood. At each stage a person encounters new challenges. If they are not successful in meeting these challenges, they may reappear as problems in the future. However, while each stage presents new challenges, they also provide opportunities to deal with the unresolved issues. In Erikson’s model there is no assumption that one stage has to be fully completed or that the most favourable outcome has to be achieved before moving on. In fact, he acknowledges that it is likely that everyone will have unresolved issues from previous stages and there is a ‘favourable ratio’ between favourable and unfavourable outcomes (Erikson, 1987). However, the more unresolved issues carried forward, “will impede successful progressionaˆ¦an unfavourable outcome in one stage makes it more difficult to meet fully the challenge of the next stage” (Beckett, 2006:42).

Erikson’s model proposes a first stage that involves establishing a sense of trust (0 – 1 yrs.). If partly or completely unsuccessful at this stage, then it will be more difficult to achieve a sense of autonomy at the next stage (1 – 3 yrs.), and then more difficult still to develop a capacity for initiative in the next stage (3 – 5 yrs). The next stage in Erikson’s model (6 – 11 yrs) involves establishing “a sense of competence and achievement, confidence in one’s own ability to make and do things” (Beckett, 2006: 43). It is difficult to conclude how successful Jake was able to negotiate previous stages, however it has been suggested that “despite adversities some children are able to develop reasonably well-adjusted personalities demonstrating resilience and normal development under difficult circumstances” (Crawford & Walker, 2003: 48).

One of the weaknesses of Freud’s and Erikson’s theories of human growth and development using stages as the model, is the underlying assumption that everyone’s lives follow these particular linear lines, and that we all, more or less, achieve the same milestones at the same time. However, we know this is rarely the case. It appears, for instance, that these theories were based solely on a white, male Eurocentric model, and do not consider specifically customs from other cultures or perspective. Baltes (1987), for example, suggests human development is multidimensional, involving biological, cognitive and social dimensions, and multidirectional, not to be viewed as a single fixed route which represents the norm, but as periods of varying growth and differing paths.

Bowlby differs from Freud in that he saw an attachment between child, and mother or primary attachment figure (which may differ according to the social and cultural background of family), as an essential need in itself and not simply to meet basic needs, such as, food and sex: “Mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health” (Bowlby, 1953). Attachment theorists maintain that the way we relate to other people through our lives is influenced significantly by our first relationship with our mother or primary attachment figure (Howe, 1995; Howe et al, 1999). They suggest, like Erikson and Freud, that many problems in adulthood stem from unresolved issues in these early attachment relationships and these early relationships can shape an adults ability to form relationships, to parent, to deal with loss, and influence mental health in adulthood (Bowlby, 1990). While accepting much of his work, critics of Bowlby claim he placed too much emphasis on the child/mother relationship and suggest children may form several attachments which can be equally important (Rutter, 1981; Fahlberg 1991). However, children who experience trauma are sometimes unable to progress without repressing or closing down part of their conscious awareness of these events. We can imagine Jake needing to shut out his experiences of childhood neglect and, according to Freud, automatically and unconsciously repress the events of neglect and abuse. We can see how blocking out these unresolved issues could emerge in the form of depression at some point in the future. There is evidence of the social origins of depression in women, suggesting that specific life events, losses and major long term problems, such as childhood abuse, are significant causes of depression (Brown & Harris, 1978). I feel that this best reflects Maggie’s current situation.

We can imagine Jake experiencing a sense of loss or ‘maternal deprivation’ (Crawford & Walker, 2003) when faced with his mother’s depression. This is a common emotional reaction in carers of adults with depression, “the seemingly most central and common experience was the feeling that the person they had known who had become ill had gone away: they had become someone elseaˆ¦there is the loss of the person that was, and secondly, and more complexly, there is the experience of the loss of the previous possibilities” (Jones, 1996: 98-99). Although Maggie may have experienced depression continuously before Jake’s birth, it is more probable that she had periods of respite when her capacity for emotional warmth and attentiveness to her son’s needs was greater than during times of relapse. The difference in the consistency and intensity of a child’s attachment relationships is considered an important factor by a number of attachment theorists (Ainsworth, 1973).

The theories of human growth and development discussed above suggest that Jake’s experience of abuse as a child may prevent him from developing into a mentally healthy adult. He may have automatically and unconsciously repressed the trauma of these events, only to experience the mental distress of depression in the future. Jake may have experienced physical abuse from an early age and failed to successfully achieve a sense of trust or autonomy or develop a capacity for initiative while growing up. Even relatively short periods of physical abuse at crucial stages may have placed severe pressures on his relationship with his mother. Jake may have only known his mother as depressed, but their relationship may have determined Jake’s future capacity to form relationships, for instance, with foster carer’s or at school with friends and teachers.

The method of intervention in Jake’s life could be usefully informed by research that links mental distress with experiences of powerlessness. It has been suggested that mental distress may be seen as “extreme internalisations of powerlessness” placing “a paralysing power both over those who may experience such forms of distress, and those who share their lives” (Tew, 2005: 72). Using social models, Tew suggests two complementary ways to understand mental distress, “internalisation or acting out of stressful social experiences” and “a coping or survival strategyaˆ¦to deal with particular painful or stressful experiences” (Tew, 2005: 20).

A person’s mental health needs may, to a certain extent, be determined by their membership of certain social groups that experience systematic oppression (Fernando, 1995; Gomm, 1996). Oppression, exclusion and powerlessness are the central themes of many social models of mental health needs, related to structural inequalities in terms of age, gender, race and class and so on, and involving families in terms of abuse. As social workers we occupy a relatively powerful position and may collude with the systematic oppression of black people with mental health needs: “Factors such as oppression, injustice, social exclusion or abuse at the hands of powerful others may be implicated in the sequences of events that lead up to many people’s experiences of mental and emotional breakdown. Power issues may also shape the reactions that people receive from professionals and the wider community-for example, evidence suggests that African-Caribbean people may be more likely than many ‘white’ groups to be dealt with more coercively” (Tew, 2005: 71).

When coming to a stage where we may be better able to understand Jake’s current circumstances and making initial judgments about the type of intervention most effective in this case, we need to recognise the limitations of our insights and avoid the pitfalls of making uncritical assumptions. Tew suggests that empowerment can be an integral part in the process of Jake’s recovery. He outlines a model of power in terms of protection and co-operation and oppressive and collusive: “In its more negative forms (oppressive or collusive power) it may be seen to play a role in constructing social situations which contribute to distress or breakdownaˆ¦in its more positive forms (protective or co-operative power) it starts to define the territory for effective partnership working, anti-oppressive practice and the enabling of recovery and social inclusion” (Tew, 2005, p. 86).

According to the psychodynamic model of human growth, Jake may have grown up with many ‘intra-psychic conflicts’ which may be emerging in the form of a neurotic or reactive depression. He may have many conscious and unconscious needs which she has suppressed and repressed. In denying and blocking out the fulfilment of these needs, he may have shut down areas of his consciousness which allows him to: experience emotion; interact with others in a spontaneous way; or experience fulfilling close and intimate relationships with carer and their spouse. Depending on the extent of physical abuse he encountered during his upbringing, it would be reasonable to assume that he may have been completely or partly unsuccessful in: achieving a capacity for trust with his parent; achieving autonomy; or developing a capacity for taking initiative, as described in Erikson’s psychosocial model. For these reasons, it seems likely he will have failed to maintain a healthy, consistent and sustained relationship with his mother or other primary attachment figure in the abusive situation he found himself.

Intervention must aim to address issues of power and powerlessness, both in the foster carer/child relationship and outside it. As a man, as a person with mental health needs, and as a member of a black or minority ethnic group, Jake may experience oppression, abuse and social exclusion. To address these issues elements of empowerment and partnership should be part of the approach with an intervention designed to address Jake’s mental health needs should involve building on his efforts to achieve his own full potential. This will include his ability to form and maintain healthy relationships with others, that would lessen any dependence on formal agencies and develop an alternative source of positive support and increase social inclusion.

This study deals with the utility of human development theory in understanding practical social work issues. It takes up the case of the Murray family (provided in the appendix to this essay) and using the family as a base, attempts to apply different aspects of human development theory in a practical real life scenario.

The study is divided into five specific sections. The first section briefly describes the circumstances of the Murray family. This is followed by the application of two theories of human development, (a) Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Human Development, to understand child and adult development, (b) the ways in which political and social processes influence human development, (c) the role of inequalities in human development, and (d) the ways in which theories of human development underpin social work knowledge and values.

The Murray family scenario is elaborated in detail in the appendix to this study and is thus being taken up briefly here. Jack (43) and Evelyn (36) Murray stay with their daughter Lora (6) and Evelyn’s mother Doris (71). Jack has two other sons, Seb (17) and David (15), who live separately. Jack Murray was an adopted child. He was brought up by parents who were open about his adopted status and has never shown any inclination to trace his biological parents.

Jack has alcohol related problems and is prone towards domestic violence. Evelyn has been hurt and that too badly, in the recent past. Lora is doing well in school and is cared for by Doris, who is however becoming frail. She had to be placed in an emergency foster care environment during her summer holidays, even as her mother made use of a women’s shelter to escape the difficulties of her home. Doris worries about being separated from her granddaughter and family if she were to go to a care home. All family members have expressed their willingness to work with a social worker.

Application of Theories of Human Development

Erik Erikson’s theory of human development was first advanced in 1950 and has been significantly augmented in later years (Brenman-Gibson, 1997, p 329). Erikson’s psychosocial theory states that life can be segregated into 8 stages from birth to death, which comprise of (a) infancy (birth to 18 months), (b) early childhood (18 months to 3 years), (c) play age (3 to 5 years), (d) school age (5 to 12 years), (e) adolescence (12 to 18 years), (f) young adulthood (18 to 35 years), (g) middle adulthood (35 to 55 or 65 years) and (h) late adulthood (55 or 65 to death) (Brenman-Gibson, 1997, p 329).

Each of Erikson’s 8 stages involves a crisis that is characterised by two opposing emotional forces. Infancy, for instance, involves trust v mistrust and is characterised by the care of the mother for a child with an emphasis on touch and visual contact (Christiansen & Palkovitz, 1998, p 133). Successful transition through this period results in individuals learning to trust in life and to have confidence in the future, even as problems during this period can lead to feelings of worthlessness and mistrust (Christiansen & Palkovitz, 1998, p 133).

The school age of 6 to 12 years is similarly characterised by the opposing forces of industry and inferiority (Brenman-Gibson, 1997, p 331). Individuals are capable of learning, building and achieving numerous skills and knowledge during this period, thereby developing feelings of industry. This stage of development can also lead to the experiencing of feelings of inferiority and inadequacy with peers and result in problems of self esteem and competence (Brenman-Gibson, 1997, p 331).

Erikson’s philosophy rests on two important themes, namely (a) that the world enlarges as people go along, and (b) that failure is cumulative (Douvan, 1997, p 16). The first theme is indisputable. Whilst the second is debatable, it is true that children who have to perforce deal with difficult circumstances find it challenging to negotiate later stages in their lives in comparison with others (Douvan, 1997, p 16). Various studies have revealed that children who were not stroked as infants find it difficult to connect with others in their adulthood. Erikson’s theory of human development has gained wide acceptance and is often used as a framework for understanding the nature of issues that lead to current behaviour and to prepare for the coming stages (Douvan, 1997, p 16).

The analysis of the Murray family members reveal that Jack Murray could have suffered from lack of stroking in his infancy, especially up to his adoption at the age of 6 months. This could have resulted in entrenched feelings of worthlessness and tendencies to mistrust the world. Such feelings, along with his experience of growing up as an adopted child, may have inculcated feelings of low self esteem and be causal in his current drinking problems. Whilst Lora has grown up in the presence of affectionate parents and a loving grandmother, she is now entering the school age and the coming 6 years will enlarge her contact with the world, where parents whilst still important will not be the complete authorities they have been until death.

The application of Erikson’s theory of human development helps social workers in understanding the various influences that individuals experience in the course of their lives and the roles of such influences in guiding their current behaviour and their emotional and social attitudes (Raeff & Benson, 2003, p 61).

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model was first introduced in the early 1970s. His general ecological model is defined by 2 propositions (Brendtro, 2006, p 162). The first proposition states that human development, specifically in the early phases but also throughout life, occurs through processes that progressively become more complex and involve reciprocal interaction between active and evolving humans, who are bio-psychological in their approach, and the people, objects, and symbols in their immediate environment (Brendtro, 2006, p 162). Such interaction, when it occurs over extended time periods, on a regular basis are termed as proximal processes and can be found in activities between parent and children, children and children, and solitary or group play, as well as in reading, getting to know new skills and performing complex and difficult tasks (Brendtro, 2006, p 162).

The second proposition states that the power, content, form and direction of these proximal processes influence development in a varying manner on account of the characteristics of developing individuals (Brendtro, 2006, p 162). Such development is also influenced by the environment in which such processes take place and the nature of development outcomes that are under study. The mother infant interaction, (an important proximal process) emerges as an important predictor of developmental outcomes (Brendtro, 2006, p 162).

Bronfenbrenner’s theory defines 4 different types of systems, namely the Micro system, the Meso system, the Exo system and the Macro system, which shape human development (Austrian, 2002, p 43). The Micro system comprises of the family, classrooms and schools, and other systems in the proximal environment in which people operate. The Meso system represents the interaction of two micro systems, like the connection between the home and the school of a child (Austrian, 2002, p 43). The Exo system represents the environment that is external to the experience of an individual and in which his or her involvement is indirect, but which effects development, all the same. The workplace of the parents of a child is a relevant example of an Exo system. The Macro system represents the larger cultural context (Austrian, 2002, p 43).

Bronfenbrenner’s theory perceives the environment of a child in terms of quality and context and attempts to explain differences between the knowledge, development and skills of individuals through the structure, support and guidance of the societies in which they exist (Ahuja, 2006, p 3). He states that interaction between over lapping eco systems affect people significantly. Applying Bronfenbrenner’s theory to the Murray family, it can be seen that Lora’s family and classrooms can be called the micro systems, which directly influence her working and development (Ahuja, 2006, p 3). When these two micro systems start working together to educate Lora, such education occurs through the Meso system. The society and culture in which Lora is being raised provides the underlying influence to these systems and is termed the Macro system. The comprehension of interaction of these systems helps in understanding the way in which children develop and the factors that influence failure and success (Ahuja, 2006, p 3).

Analysis of various micro and macro systems can help social workers significantly in understanding the various influences that shape the development of children. Researchers have in fact specifically found the significance of macro systems to be causal to general depression and feelings of low self esteem in individuals (Ahuja, 2006, p 3).

The application of Bronfenbrenner’s theory in the Murray family scenario enables the development of greater understanding on the influences of different micro and Macro systems on the development of Lora in her school age and can help social workers to adopt appropriate intervention methods.

Role of Political and Social Processes on Human Development

Whilst there is little doubt that the development of individuals is largely shaped by their home and school environments, sociological theory also places significant stress on the influence of larger society on such development (Grusec & Hastings, 2008, p 42). All individuals grow up in specific political, cultural and social environments that shape their attitudes and behaviours and influence their development in specific ways. The particular societies in which people live are home to different types of religious, cultural and social attitudes, biases and beliefs (Grusec & Hastings, 2008, p 42). Such political and social processes provide individuals with the means to participate within their own society, which itself contains shared customs, norms, traditions, values and social roles (Grusec & Hastings, 2008, p 42). These processes are essentially life long, starting in childhood and continuing till death. Both Erikson and Bronfenbrenner’s theories deal with the process of socialisation but through different perspectives

Such socialisation occurs through the influence of the family, religion, schools and peer groups, workplaces and the larger community (Berns, 2009, p 131). These processes are also influenced by local media and political thought. Children and young adults are significantly influenced by their peers. Such influences can often be negative and result in substance abuse, premature sexual activity and the need to live up to wrong expectations (Berns, 2009, p 131). Mass media plays an immense role in influencing human development. The constant exposure of children to glamour, sexual satisfaction and violence can influence the development of children and young adults in various ways (Berns, 2009, p 131).

With regard to the Murray family, it can well be understood that the personal development of all concerned individuals is likely to be influenced by different political and social processes. The continuance of domestic violence at home can lead to feelings of distress in Lora, especially when she compares her domestic environment to that of her friends, and cause her to wish to shift to a more peaceful environment. Such socialisation processes can furthermore leads to feelings of shame about her background and low self esteem, lead her to shun her family and take solace in her peers and spark of truant and delinquent behaviour.

Impact of Inequalities on Human Development

Social work theory and knowledge primarily aims to diminish and eliminate the impact of inequalities on the lives of individuals (Neckerman, 2004, p 189). Inequalities can arise on account of various factors like income, education, gender and ethnic status. Such inequalities essentially serve to reduce excess of affected people to various facilities and reduce the prospects of their life outcomes and their chances to lead normal and enriching lives, inequalities in income can for example deprive the children of such families from various educational and other facilities and severely diminish their life outcomes (Neckerman, 2004, p 189). Such inequalities can also generate feelings of low esteem and result in suboptimal performance in and out of school during childhood and in the workplace in adult life. Numerous studies have revealed that children with poorly educated parents receive significantly lesser educational sustenance and support at home, which in turn affects their cognitive development and adversely influences their performance at school (Marger, 2004, p 86). Lora the 6 year old Murray child has until now done very well in school. The disturbed domestic situation in her house, especially the gender inequality between her parents and the domestic violence faced by her mother can well result in poorer educational support at home, especially when she is moving into the learning stage and needs it the most. Gender inequality has been widely accepted to be an important factor in the unequal life chances offered to men and women of societies across the world and has resulted in unequal development and life chances of the two sexes (Marger, 2004, p 86).

Influence of Human Development Theories on Social Work Knowledge and Values

Theories of human development help in shaping the ideas of readers on the essence of human behaviour (Austrian, 2002, p 56). It expands the understanding of individuals of the scope, the potential and complexity of human function. Whilst scholars of human development do not agree on or endorse a single theory, many of these theories provide new perspectives for the observation and interpretation of human behaviour (Austrian, 2002, p 56). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has resulted in a new appreciation for the ways in which children construct sense and meaning out of their experiences (Raeff & Benson, 2003, p 81). Erikson’s psychosocial theory highlights the concept of identity, even as the social learning theory of Bandura has resulted in the widespread use of modelling to simulate conditions under which children increase their learning by observing and imitating the behaviour of others (Raeff & Benson, 2003, p 81). The social work profession draws extensively on theories of human development for understanding the behaviour of individuals, with specific regard to the causal influences of such behaviour. An understanding of such theories not only enables social workers to understand the causes for human behaviour but also helps them to plan appropriate interventions to improve the social, emotional and economic conditions of people (Raeff & Benson, 2003, p 81). It helps social workers to understand the dynamic interaction that takes place among human beings and the impact of social systems upon the lives of people. A greater understanding of such theories also helps social workers in appreciating human diversity, as well as the impact of different actions in helping human beings to access opportunities and services that foster realisation of social and economic justice (Austrian, 2002, p 56).

Conclusions

Suzanna Pickering

Social Workers are increasingly referring to theories of the life cycle, life span development and human behaviours these theories indicate the relationship of particular biological ages of life to psychological, social and development changes.

From a theoretical perspective key theories of human growth and development will be discussed focusing on infants, highlighting the importance of professionals observing a child and making a judgment on their development and needs. Therefore, the theories will be applied to social work, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of taking a life span perspective, taking into account gender, culture and individuality. Attachment and the different theories associated with attachment will enable us to understand people in a more thorough manner and in particular the circumstances that service users may be faced with considering diversity, their individual cultural needs and beliefs. Whilst staying within the boundaries, values and Ethics set down by the GSCC.

It is widely accepted that parent and child relationship plays a central role in the psychological development. (Pg1 Attachment and Development) Goldburg, S. (2000) Attachment and Development, London: Arnold.

The term development refers to the process by which a child, or more generally an organism (human or animal) grows and changes through its lifespan. In humans the most dramatic developmental changes occur in infancy and childhood, as the newborn develops into a young adult capable of becoming a parent himself or herself. From its origins much of developmental psychology has thus been concerned with child psychology, and with the changes from infancy through to adolescence. Smith, P.K. and Cowie, H. (1996) Understanding Children’s Development (2nd ed.), Oxford: Blackwell.

The term ‘attachment’ is described in ‘Collins Dictionary of Social Work’ (Thomas, M. and Pierson, J. (1995), London: Harper Collins) as “a long lasting emotional bond between two individuals, involving their seeking proximity to each other and having pleasure in each other’s company. Typically attachment is developed by infants towards their principal care-givers, but it may also characterize feelings between other people, or between a person and some object.” Attachment is a strong emotional bond that develops between infant and caregiver, providing the infant with emotional security. By the second half of the first year, infants are said to become attached to familiar people who have responded to their need for physical care and stimulation. (Bowlby, J 1998) How these attachments develop and whether attachment theory provides a sound basis for advice on how to raise children have been intense topics of theoretical debate. Attachment refers to the interactive reciprocal relationship that infants and young children experience and develop with their primary caregiver(Bowlby, 1982).

Many times this caregiver is the infant’s biological mother. In recent times the population of working mothers has increased dramatically. Due to this demographic change, the primary caregiver for a child is sometimes the biological father and other relatives such as aunts, uncles, grandparents, older siblings, nannies or day care providers.There are also Children in our country who for various reasons find themselves in the care of foster or adoptive parents.

Following birth is a rapid area of learning for the child. A new born baby can see approximately 20 cm and follow a moving object, smell, hear and recognise voices. Checks are preformed on the newborn to ensure nothing obvious is wrong, these checks include Reflexes, Moro response (toes curling), Babinski (grasps fingers and hangs), ensuring that infant is rooting for the breast, sucking & swallowing, step and stepping. The new born is totally reliant on the caregiver as it is not equipped to survive without it. The caregiver provides food, warmth and protection, for example when a baby cries it is for a reason this is a form of communication. Babies know that when they cry somebody will come and will ensure to satisfy the babies needs. Chronologically, this is the period of infancy through the first one or two years of life. The child, well-handled, nurtured and loved, develops trust and security and a basic optimism. Badly handled, he becomes insecure and mistrustful.(Erikson E Trust Vs Mistrust 8 Stages of Development) cited Child Development Information (2009)

Children develop and grow from the moment they are conceived until early adulthood, showing many changes within their abilities. Whilst no two children will develop at exactly the same time, as Social Workers we use benchmarks to observe behaviours and development.

Understanding the stage and process of development can help a Social Worker identify the achievement of developmental milestones such as a Childs first step or first words and to acknowledge the child is developing normally within the benchmarks we work. Attachment theory is a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that forms relationships. One important principle of attachment theory is that a young child needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally. The theory was formulated by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby. The area of the infant is considered by Bowlby as sensitivity period.

Within attachment theory, infant behaviour associated with attachment is primarily the seeking of familiarity of an attachment figure in stressful situations. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive to their needs and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about six months to two years of age.

During the latter part of this period, children begin to use attachment figures as a secure base to explore from and return to with the knowledge that a parent will be where they left them in the case of a secure attachment. Separation anxiety or grief following the loss of an attachment figure is considered to be a normal and adaptive response for an attached infant. The child will show a clear preference for the primary caregiver on their return; this will help guide the individual’s feelings, thoughts and expectations in later relationships.

Attachment theorists point to data that favour the caregiver responsiveness hypothesis. For example, it has been found that an infant’s crying changes over the first year much more than the mother’s responsiveness to the crying does.

Moreover, the mother’s responsiveness over a 3-month period predicts the infants over the 3 months significantly better than the infants crying predicts the mother’s subsequent responsiveness to crying. In short, the mother appears to influence the infants crying more than the infant influences the mother’s responsiveness to crying (Bell & Ainsworth, 1972). As a social worker we need to gain an understanding of the ‘whole’ child, their development and their life course. It is important to take a range of theories and perspectives into account that support us in understanding childrens growth and development and individual experience, the role and the impact of their families and the influence of processes and systems in their lives. Through this you should be able to see beyond the description of the child, to give meaning to their lives and experiences. Thus we are recognising the child as an individual.

We need to acknowledge there are children with unique and specific needs that may impact on their individual development and behaviour, certainly on their experiences and how others view and respond to them, a good example would be the experience and views of a child with a disability. Pg 31 SW & humanA deve.

We need to recognise that communities raise children in diverse ways with each culture encouraging the kinds of habits and traits that help them to integrate and function within that culture, (pg 33 Social work and human development) however we need to be mindful of the laws and human rights that we have within the United Kingdom whilst being aware of cultural diversities and preferences.

Recognising the importance of culture within the child’s development is important for a number of reasons. Firstly we need to identify those aspects of development that impact on all children ,not just through theories and studies based on white, middle class children living with a western culture. Secondly we need to have an understanding of the child’s family culture and how that impacts on the child; we need to understand the impact of cultural beliefs as part of that environment. We need to consider how different cultural beliefs impact on how people experience their lives.

Attachment process for the parents seems to begin with the development of an initial emotional bond and then extends to more and more skilful attachment behaviours. For the infant, the process is said to begin with attachment behaviours and then progresses to the full characteristics of attachment somewhat later (Atkinson et al 2000).

Sigmund Freud however, also offered a view on the area of attachment and his view was later known as the “The Cupboard Theory”. This theory stated that the absence of the mother would frighten the baby into believing that it would not be nourished. This theory offered by Freud has received a great deal of criticism on the basis that there is no evidence to suggest that the infant associates the mother entirely with nourishment. Bowlby’s view supplemented these criticisms as he believed that babies have inborn tendencies towards the mother and are not attached by food or warmth.

Another key development which was argued disproved Freud’s theory and offered support towards the view of Bowlby was an experiment which was conducted by Harlow and Harlow in 1977. This experiment consisted of Rhesus monkeys been raised without their mothers. The Monkeys were housed is isolated cages with a model mother either made from wire or terry-towel cloth. The terry-towel cloth had no provision in which to feed the monkeys whereas the wire mother figure did in the form of milk yielding nipples. The study concluded that every time the monkeys were frightened they would seek support and comfort from the ‘warm’ non-food providing terry-towel cloth model as opposed to the ‘cold’ food providing wire model. These findings clearly disputed the view of Freud’s ‘Cupboard theory’. And it indicated, as Bowlby would argue, that a mother’s love is not for nourishing but for comforting and children, like the rhesus monkeys, use teddy bears for comfort if they feel in anyway threatened (Gleightman, H. et al 1999).A

Later criticisms of attachment theory relate to temperament, the complexity of social relationships, and the limitations of discrete patterns for classifications. Attachment theory has been significantly modified as a result of empirical research, but the concepts have become generally accepted, although we are no longer working with just a Euro centric base, we use these theories as a benchmark within Social Work taking into account individual cultures and beliefs.

Another disadvantage for a child is having a good attachment with a poor parent; this could cause lack of trust, mistrust and the child then as having to care for themselves and possibly siblings.

Although criticisms have been made of the ‘Theory of Attachment’ and certain aspects of the work of Bowlby, Ainsworth etc I feel that the theory of attachment has developed immensely through their work. It can certainly be argued that their work will and will continue to contributed to our understanding of how parent and child attachments develop and I feel that their work provides us with reasoning as to why children may develop in different ways. Although there are criticisms which exist of the theories, I feel that it can be clearly argued that they give us a solid information base as to why attachment is important in the development of infants and children.

The overall consensus surrounding attachment and the associated debates have in past suffered criticism from feminist groups too. For example, criticisms surrounding Bowlby’s work have been made highlighting that he maintains that the mother should be the main carer of the infant and that her continuous care should be present while the child is growing and developing (Gross, R. 1999). This has been argued to be sexist as the implication is that the mother will not work and will automatically undertake child rearing roles. It can be argued once again that this presumption is not only sexist but as highlighted previously, culturally unethical too. One major argument which has been offered by Gross R. in 1999 to support the feminist view is that a stable network of adults offers adequate care and in some cases can have advantages over a system where the mother has the meet all the infants needs (Gross, R. 1999).

A requirement for Social Work Training is to “ensure that the teaching of theoretical knowledge, skills and values is based on [students’] application to practice” (NHS, 2002 p.3). In response to the death of baby Peter, the Social Work Taskforce published fifteen recommendations including social work degrees requiring a “greater focus on linking theory to practice” (DCSF, 2009 p.18). This increased emphasis between theory and practice, will be considered in this essay, by discussing if theories of human growth and development obstruct or assist social workers practice.

It is important to recognise that there are a vast amount of human growth and development theories, which cover the life span, although one assumption is that they only relate to childhood. This essay, in considering how theories obstruct or assist practice, will draw on those relating to working with older people. To clarify, this essay will use the word ‘theory’ to mean both ‘grand theories’ (those borrowed from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology etc) and ‘middle range theories’ (those which combine the grand theories with practice experience) (Wilson et al, 2008 pp.106-107).

The history of social work is helpful in understanding how theory became relevant for practice. The nineteenth century industrial revolution impacted on the community structures, which led to concerns over social unrest and disorder. These concerns influenced the growth of the social sciences with the idea being to understand and change society. Howe states, “as new theories and explanations of human behaviour were generated by psychologists, so new social work theories and practices arose” (Howe, 2009 p.17).

The Charity Organisation Society (COS), founded in 1869, embraced the psychological theories in their charitable work. COS initially resisted any formal education for charity workers preferring supervision in the job. However, worries over the standard of staff and the impact of the job on them, together with the desire to be recognised as professionals in the social field initiated them to set up “formal social work education” (Howe, 2009; Payne, 2005b; Jones, 1996 p.191). The value of teaching human growth and development theories to social work students is still recognised today in university courses. Teaching on theory is included in the education as it is seen to legitimise social work, giving the social worker assurance, significance and understanding in their work “without any taint of meddling” (Jones, 1996 p.193). The use of theory helps the practitioner to feel that their views are knowledgeable and grounded (Milner and O’Byrne, 2002). Secker’s research on social workers students found that those who had a comprehensible understanding of theory were more likely to be approachable and responsive with their service users, sharing their theoretical suggestions with the person (Howe, 2009; Payne, 2005a).

Alongside this, is the professionalism a theoretical knowledge gives to social work (Howe, 2009). Thompson (2010) argues that other professionals and service users will be more confident in a social worker who is able to demonstrate that their work is based on a theoretical framework, thus showing skills to comprehend and make sense of the service users situation, rather than one who conjectures. Walker states, “it is important that social workers have an understanding of human development to work effectively with other disciplines and to demonstrate a professional literacy commensurate with their status” (2010, pp.xiv-xv). An example of this is a social worker working within a Community Mental Health Team alongside Psychiatrists and Community Psychiatric Nurses who advocate the medical model and “its emphasis on diagnostics and cures’ (Parrish, 2010 p.10). Working in this setting does not mean that the social worker needs to ignore a psychosocial perspective. To advocate for service users effectively, the social worker needs to understand both the medical and psychosocial perspectives, as Parrish states it “necessitate[s] the professional equivalent of being ‘bilingual’ in being able to understand both perspectives simultaneously” (Parrish, 2010 p.10).

In 1992, Hindmarsh’s research on social work graduates, showed that an understanding of theory did provide the graduates with confidence. However, Hindmarsh argued that this confidence did not continue in practice as graduates viewed the use of theory as just a tool to justify their actions or provide accountability to their management (Payne, 2005a). Thompson argues that the professionalism of the social worker is being impacted on by what he describes as ‘managerialism’ (2010, p.51). Thompson explains that government’s budgeting tactics through ‘performance indicators’ is pushing local government to meet targets. This is filtered down the management structure, so that middle managers are dictating what is required and should be implemented by social workers, in order to achieve the targets. Although social workers are dedicated to the use of theory in their practice, managerialism has led to them lacking ‘professional confidence’ (2010 p.51).

It is argued that theory is too complicated and restricts spontaneity, therefore it is pointless for practice. Instead a more realistic model of using facts about the person, an understanding of the law and practical skills (‘common sense’) is more effective for social work practice (Parrish, 2010; Walker and Crawford, 2010). This view has been strongly argued against, as Coulshed states, “theoryless practice does not exist; we cannot avoid looking for explanations to guide our actions, while research has shown that those agencies which profess not to use theory offer a non problem solving, woolly and directionless service” (1991, p.8). Some theories become so familiar and accepted that they become incorporated into everyday life and language, for example, Anna Freud’s defence mechanisms and Daniel Levinson’s mid-life crisis. By the fact that these theories become so socially accepted and embedded into everyday language (described as ‘informal theory’), it is difficult for a social worker to avoid using it in their practice. Thompson argues, “some sort of conceptual framework (and therefore theory) is therefore inevitable” (2010, p.7).

Our own life experience does not provide us with sufficient knowledge to be able to help others. It can cause us to filter assessments through our own experience, which may be prejudicial but we could be unaware of this. An advantage of having a theoretical understanding of human growth and development is that it gives us a broader view than our individual life experience and balances decision-making (Walker and Crawford, 2010).

Research has shown that social workers have found it difficult or are unaware of how they apply theory to practice (Tanner and Harris, 2008; Smid and Van Krieken, 1984). Therefore, work is a routine ‘procedure’ for social workers if they do not have an understanding of theory (Parton, 1996, p.92). Social worker education is blamed for this difficulty with universities either being too theoretical, or too practical, whichever emphasis taken, it results in making theory and practice appear as separate entities (Smid and Van Krieken, 1984).

The different theoretical approaches to human growth and development can appear confusing to the social worker, as each stress different areas as a reason for the person’s situation. An illustration of this is the process of ‘ageing’: a biological perspective is to focus on the physical impact of a person growing older; a psychological view however, will focus on the deterioration of cognitive functioning; and finally a sociological perception will look at the social structures and the older person’s place in that structure. As Hughes states, “The images created by the various theoretical perspectives – biological, psychological, sociological, political-economic – are intrinsically different and create quite distinct pictures of the experience and social condition of older people” (Hughes, 1995 p.18). Although each approach emphasises different areas, they all potentially provide something helpful and ‘equally true’ (Milner and O’Byrne, 2002 p.81). With each approach providing something useful in understanding the person’s situation the social worker needs to support the service user in finding which one with be most helpful to use (Milner and O’Byrne, 2002). However, rather than seeing this confusion as a hindrance to social work practice, this is what is central to social work. It is what gives it its value and importance “because it specialises in situations where there are no known solutions” (Statham and Kearney cited in Howe, 2009 p.190). It is the ability of the social worker to draw together the various theoretical perspectives in order to prepare a realistic and balanced care plan.

There are development theories that are in direct conflict and/or dismiss each other such as ‘Disengagement’ and ‘Activity’ theories (Hughes, 1995; Howe, 2009). Disengagement Theory proposes that as someone ages they naturally disengage from certain social roles and functions, which “ensures continuity of the system and equilibrium between different social groups” (Hughes, 1995 pp.25-26). Disengagement was viewed as fulfilling for the older person and providing well-being, as it freed them from certain roles and functions that they no longer were able to fulfill, such as retiring from work, thereby, helping people to age well (Hughes, 1995; Bond et al, 2007). Activity theory completely opposes this idea and proposes that remaining actively involved in the community, both physically and mentally, provided well-being and satisfaction for the person (Walker and Crawford, 2010). Both theories provide definite explanation for the difficulties in getting old.

The activity / disengagement debate has led to a number of further theories either trying to resolve the conflict, such as Gubrium’s socio-environmental approach, or challenge one theory to support the other, such as Cowgill’s modernisation approach (Lynott and Lynott, 1996). The practitioner’s dilemma is similar, should they align themselves with one or disregard both theories.

A danger for the social worker is that s/he uses theory as a way to discover ‘the truth’ or ultimate solution for the person (Thompson, 2010, pp.11-12). Lee argues against this, “theoretical statements are the general principles that give rise to hypotheses, or speculative facts” (1985, p.22). No person or situation is exactly the same which means neither can there be a universal solution or theory to fit all (Lees and Lees, 1975). A postmodern view is that truth cannot be found in one solitary theory, instead a plethora of truths for a particular situation can be found in using multiple theories (Milner and O’Byrne, 2002). As Pease and Fook cited in Howe state, “There are many perspectives and voices and it is now recognised that they all need to be heard if the complex nature of ‘truth’ is to be established” (2009, p.191).

Walker (2010) argues that a person’s growth and development cannot be clarified by one theory. Parrish takes this further by stating that if a social worker’s practice were based on one theory it would “prove woefully inadequate” (2010, p.6). An alignment to one specific theoretical viewpoint can be dangerous, as the social worker is unable to recognise important issues that do not correspond with that particular viewpoint. For example Erikson’s ‘eight stages of development’ although helpful in understanding age related activities, has been criticised for its male, patriarchal stance in lacking awareness of other factors that can impact on development, such as gender, race, social class etc. (Thompson, 2010; Parrish, 2010). This highlights the value of recognising and critically analysing a number of theories in a situation, rather than believing one is more superior to another. As Thompson illustrates, “the reflective practitioner being a tailor cutting the cloth of the knowledge base to produce a closely tailored solution to the practice challenges being faced, rather than looking for a ready-made, off-the-peg solution (2010, p.16).

A social worker may consider amalgamating a number of theories so to provide one combined theory, which Payne describes as ‘eclecticism’ (Thompson, 2010 and Payne, 2005a p.31). Eclecticism has been criticised as an inexperienced way to use theory (Payne, 2005a). Instead the current view is to take a critical, reflective approach, using the person’s history, behaviour and circumstances. Theories should be considered and weighed up as to their usefulness for each person (Adams et al, 2009; Thompson, 2010). “Using a range of theories allows a multi-dimensional understanding of situations … to develop and enables the limitations of one perspective to be offset by the advantages of another” (Tanner and Harris, 2008 p.37).

By taking a critical and reflective approach to theory and practice this can help the social worker make sense of the differences and disagreements between the various human growth and development theories (Payne, 2005a). A critical and reflective approach, allows the social worker to value and accept the variety of theories applicable for a particular situation (Adams, 2009). As Fook argues, “critical and postmodern practice therefore involves a recognition of different ways of knowing, in particular a reflexive ability to engage with changing situations” (2002, p.44).

According to Thompson (2010), the main significant purpose for applying theory to practice is that it defines our practice. Misca states, “knowledge of human growth and development plays an essential part in assessing, planning and intervening in a successful, positive way in people’s lives” (2009 p.116). Fook describes using theories, “as our intellectual tools, rather than as rule books” as they assist and direct practice (2002, p.69; Walker and Crawford, 2010). This means that a theoretical knowledge can provide a practitioner with the understanding and explanation of a person’s behaviour and situation. Consideration of Bowlby’s Attachment theory with aging and dementia will be used to illustrate this. Bowlby stated that typically within the first 9 months of a person’s life, they develop an attachment to their ‘primary caregiver’. Ainsworth, working alongside Bowlby, extended attachment theory. Through the ‘Strange Situation’ trials, she proposed three types of attachment behaviours: Anxious/Avoidant, Anxious/Resistant and Securely Attached (Parrish, 2010). Although Bowlby did not carry out any studies on older people, he did argue that, “attachment behaviour continues to play a necessary role into adulthood” (Browne and Shlosberg, 2006 p.135).

It has only been since the late 20th century, that Bowlby’s attachment theory has been applied throughout the human lifespan and in particular to dementia (Bond et al, 2007). Bowlby suggested that when adults are unwell or under stress then attachment behaviour is likely (Browne and Shlosberg, 2006). Miesen, an advocator for attachment theory, researched the general behaviours of people with dementia. He likened a demented state of ‘crying, clinging and calling’ as being in Ainsworth’s strange situation (Bond et al, 2007). Miesen researched ‘parent fixation’ which is when a person with dementia believes that his/her deceased parent is still alive. His study concluded that dementia triggers attachment behaviours (Browne and Shlosberg, 2006). De Vries and McChrystal state, “Bowlby’s attachment theory has provided a conceptual and empirical framework for examining some behaviours of people with dementia and provided a means of interpreting them in terms of responses to loss” (2010, p288).

A theoretical knowledge also provides solutions for approaches of intervention, to assist the service user and enables the practitioner to anticipate future issues (Parrish, 2010). Continuing to use the above example, two new ways of working within an attachment theory framework have recently been developed to assist working with people with dementia: simulated presence therapy (SPT) and ‘doll therapy’ (Browne and Shlosberg, 2006).

The difficulty for the social worker is that separate theories can lead to different approaches to practice, so that the social worker has to choose which is the right one (Walker and Crawford, 2010). Milner and O’Bryne (2002) argue that the theory, which provides the greatest insight and leads to an approach that meets the service user’s objectives, is the one to use. The problem with this is who decides which is the theory that gives the greatest insight, is it the social worker or managerial/government decision. If it is the latter then it disempowers the social worker. However, if it is the former it is dependent on the knowledge base of the social worker.

Beckett and Taylor explain, “Fortunately or unfortunately, no theory about human life can ever be completely objective or value free” (2010 p.4). Human growth and development theories have been criticised for reflecting the dominant beliefs of the theorist’s society. As Thompson states, “Theorising is by no means a ‘pure’ activity, detached from the reality of the social and political world” (1995, p.32). For example, Erikson, Levinson and Havighurst’s theories on adult stages of development have all been criticised

This essay has noted some theories of human growth and development in aging. However, it is also important for a Social Worker in his/her practice to acknowledge that service users will have their own ideas to explain their circumstances and behaviour. As Gubrium and Wallace explain, “We find that theory is not something exclusively engaged in by scientists. Rather, there seem to be two existing worlds of theory in human experience, one engaged by those who live the experiences under consideration, and one organised by those who make it their professional business systematically to examine experience” (cited in Tanner and Harris, 2008 p.36). Erickson emphasised the need to look at a person as an ‘individual’ and therefore, a social worker in his/her practice needs to take this into consideration, rather than trying to get a theory to fit the person’s situation (Milner and O’Byrne, 2002). It is important for the social worker to be aware of anti-oppressive practice in considering a theoretical framework by not taking into account the service user’s views. S/he needs to be aware of his/her professional power and also the need to empower the service user in making decisions and changes (McDonald, 2010; Thompson, 2010).

As shown, having a theoretical understanding of human growth and development can assist social work practice by legitimising the work done, giving the social worker confidence and providing a framework for the work. However, it is not the theoretical understanding itself that hinders practice but instead the application of the theory. Theory in practice is hindered by managerialism, the danger of anti-oppressive practice and limitations of social workers knowledge and experience .

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well being (International Federation of Social Workers). Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environment. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.

In doing their day-to-day work, a social worker is expected to be knowledgeable and skilful in a variety of roles. The role that is selected and used should ideally be the role that is most effective with a particular client, in the particular circumstances.

Social worker may be involved in a few or all of these roles depending on the nature of their job, and the approach to practice that they use.

The purpose of this essay is to identify the establishment, growth and development of social work in Britain, from its origins in the nineteenth century to its position in the twenty-first century.

The Elizabethan Poor Law or Old Poor Law was an Act of Parliament passed in 1601, which created a national poor law system for England and Wales. At the time of passing it was referred to as the 1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor. It formalised earlier practices of poor relief distribution in England and Wales and is generally considered a refinement. Johnson (2007) explains that The Old Poor Law was not one law but a collection of laws passed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The system’s administrative unit was the parish. It was not a centralised government policy but a law, which made individual parishes responsible for Poor Law legislation.

The impotent poor (people who can’t work) were to be cared for in almshouse or a poorhouse. The law offered relief to people who were unable to work: mainly those who were “lame, impotent, old, blind” The able-bodied poor were to be set to work in a House of Industry. Materials were to be provided for the poor to be set to work. The idle poor and vagrants were to be sent to a House of Correction or even prison. Pauper children would become apprentices.

The act was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Lord Melbourne that reformed the country’s poverty relief system. It was an Amendment Act that completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601. The Bill established a Poor Law Commission. This included the forming together of small parishes into Poor Law Unions and the building of workhouses in each union for the giving of poor relief. The Amendment Act did not ban all forms of outdoor relief, which was support without going into workhouses until the 1840s where the only method of relief for the poor was to enter a Workhouse. According to Barwell (1994) the workhouses were to be made little more than prisons and families were normally separated upon entering a Workhouse. The Act called for parishes to be put into Poor Law Unions so that relief could be provided more easily. Each union was to establish a workhouse, which met the principle of less eligibility.

In 19th-century England there was a range of occupations and voluntary positions, which had been established as part of the new Poor Law (1834), The Charity Organisation Society (COS), as well as by religious and voluntary societies. Relieving officers had responsibilities in relation to outdoor relief, which was assistance, in the form of money, food, clothing or goods, given to the poor without the requirement to enter an institution such as workhouses. This was an alternative to indoor relief, which required people to enter the workhouse (Rose, 1971). The COS supported the principles of the new Poor Law (1834), who’s aim was to co ordinate the work of charitable giving for the deserving poor.

The 1906 – 1914 Liberal Reforms were acts passed by the Whig government of Lord Melbourne that reformed the country’s poverty relief system. It was an Amendment Act that completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601.

The Bill established a Poor Law Commission. This included the forming together of small parishes into Poor Law Unions and the building of workhouses in each union for the giving of poor relief. The Amendment Act did not ban all forms of outdoor relief, which was support without going into workhouses until the 1840s where the only method of relief for the poor was to enter a Workhouse. The Workhouses were to be made little more than prisons and families were normally separated upon entering a Workhouse. The Act called for parishes to be put into Poor Law Unions so that relief could be provided more easily. Each union was to establish a workhouse, which met the principle of less eligibility.

The 1942 Beveridge Report was a government commissioned report into the ways that Britain should be rebuilt after World War Two; Beveridge was an obvious choice to take charge, Woodward (2009). He published his report in 1942 and recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the five ‘Giant Evils’ of ‘Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness’. The Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed a system of National Insurance, based on three ‘assumptions’: family allowances, a National Health Service, and full employment.

The 1944 Butler Education Act changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act was named after the Conservative politician R.A. Butler who introduced the Tripartite System of secondary education and made secondary education free for all pupils. The tripartite system consisted of three different types of secondary school, secondary technical schools and secondary modern schools.

The original structure of the NHS (1946) in England and Wales had three aspects, known as the tripartite system. Fourteen Regional Hospital Boards were created in England and Wales to administer the majority of hospital services. In primary care GPs were independent contractors (that is they were not salaried employees) and would be paid for each person on their list. Finally in community services, maternity and child welfare clinics, health visitors, midwives, health education, vaccination & immunisation and ambulance services together with environmental health services were the responsibility of local authorities.

During the Second World War the issue of black settlers in Britain became an issue, as a result of the war, black workers and soldiers arrived from the colonies to fight in the British army to help with the war effort. At that time there were concern about the social consequences of the arrival of new black migrants, however immigrants from the colonies that the government encouraged were recruited by the British state specifically to resolve labour shortages. Richmond (1954).

After the war, immigration in Britain was on the rise after families of the workers from the colonies came and settled. During the 1970s – 80s research studies on race and council housing were conducted in a number cities like Nottingham, Liverpool and Birmingham, Simpson (1981) concluded that black applicants for council housing waited longer then white people. The study identified that the average black family were larger in size and required larger housing then white people, the council rarely offered 4 bed roomed housing because it was considered to be encouraging large families and the poverty that usually comes with large working class families. This is institutionalised racism, McPherson (1999).

The Race Relations Act 1968 was a British Act of Parliament making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins. It also created the Community Relations Commission to promote ‘harmonious community relations’.

The Housing Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to buy their house from their local authority.

The first of four factors leading to The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act is the government at the time, from 1979 to 1997 the Conservative party wanted to shift British politics to the right from post war liberalism under Margaret Thatcher. According to Taylor (1972) The Conservatives believed in “self help” so they were in favour of the informal carer where people would care for their own friends and family at home. Margaret Thatcher preached “Laissez faire” An economic theory from the 18th century that is strongly opposed to any government intervention in business affairs, it literally means “leave things alone” Margaret Thatcher wanted to end the idea of the government taking care of you, for people to look after themselves and stop Britain being a “granny state”.

Demography is the study of population looking at things like births, deaths, marriages and immigration. Britain is in a demographic time bomb, its people are getting older as a result of the improvement of sanitation over the last century, which is the highest ever. This means people are living longer; there is a huge increase in life expectancy. As the population grows, the proportion of people aged under 16 has dropped below those over state pension age. Life expectancy at birth in the UK has risen (www.statistics.gov.uk). Pre 1990 Margaret Thatcher had to address questions such as how many more elderly can we home? Who is going to look after them? Who is going to pay for it? The issue of the old Victorian geriatric wards were far too expensive to run and maintain. The demographic issue was another factor that led to the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act.

Before 1990 The NHS and Social Services were considered too wasteful and expensive. Thatcher wanted a “mixed economy of welfare” where independent, private sectors and Social services look after and treat people; she wanted them to compete for business. This is called “Tendering for service” This would save the taxpayer money. Sociological evidence appears to indicate that demographic care would cost, politicians in the 80’s thought community care was a cheaper answer.

Before 1990 the issue that the old Victorian wards were too expensive to run and maintain proved too cost effective however according to Townsend (1961) the government couldn’t just “dump” people in these “warehouses” (p56) Townsend described this as the warehousing model of care where people were stored in these forms of warehouses, after seeing ex workhouses changed to residential homes, he was appalled at the bad conditions and dated buildings. A study of a mental hospital in America described it as a “total institution” which is a place of residence or work where a large number of people in the same situation is cut off from society.

There are many principles to the 1990 Community Care Act; the result of the act was the change from “service led delivery” which was if the government did not have any money to help then people would not receive it, the care providers determined what the client needed and would provide care if it was available to “needs led delivery” where a statutory obligation by the NHS and Social services was to assess and consult service users. The care user would be at the centre of care delivery. Care plans were introduced to monitor progression or worsening conditions. Home based care using domiciliary support services is where people receive in their own home was introduced, informal carers needs was to be recognised and included in assessments of need.

Multi-agency working has been shown to be an effective way of supporting children and young people with additional needs, and securing real improvements in their life outcomes. Wigfall & Moss (2001) define it as a “range of different services which have some overlapping or shared interests and objectives, brought together to work collaboratively towards some common purposes”.

Multi-agency working is easier where the aims of the various agencies coincide and where their targets are mutually consistent. It co-ordinates the work of those involved e.g. when conducting multi-agency assessments of children and young people and it should lead to better outcomes for children and young people as holistic needs are addressed.

In 2003, the government published a green paper called Every Child Matters alongside the formal response to the report into the death of Victoria Climbie. The piece of legislation was designed to strengthen preventive services by focusing on four key themes:

Increasing the focus on supporting families and carers.

Ensuring necessary intervention takes place before children reach crisis point and protecting children from falling through the net.

Addressing the underlying problems identified in the report into the death of Victoria Climbie – weak accountability and poor integration.

Ensuring that the people working with children are valued, rewarded and trained.

There was a wide consultation with people working in children’s services, and with parents, children and young people and following this, the government published Every Child Matters: the Next Steps, and passed the Children Act 2004, providing the legislative spine for developing more effective and accessible services focused around the needs of children, young people and families. Every Child Matters: Change for Children was published in November 2004 and it placed legal responsibilities on workers to work together to protect young people and children. Vulnerable adults are also protected under similar legislation.

According to Seed (1973), three strands in the development of social work exist. The first of these is the focus on individual casework, which originated in the work of the Charity Organisation Society (COS) Woodroofe, (1962). The second is the role of social work in social administration, involving various forms of relief from poverty, which originated from the Poor Law however it was also promoted in some of the work of the COS. The third is the focus on social action, which has been identified with the growth of the Settlement Movement in Britain and the United States.

This essay has addressed many issues and client groups within the social sector, how dealing with them started and how the role of social work has progressed in time.

Taylor, A.J. (1972) Laissez faire and State Intervention in nineteenth century Britain

Barwell, J. (1994) Victorian life. Cambridge

International Federation of Social Workers: http://www.ifsw.org/

Johnson, P (2007) 20th century Britain, economic, cultural and social change.

MacPherson report (1999) on Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager who was stabbed.

Social Trends 2009, National Statistics, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/socialtrends39/

Richmond, A. (1954) Colour prejudice in Britain: A study of West Indian workers in Liverpool.

Rose, M.E. (1971) The English Poor Law 1780-1930. Newton Abbot.

Seed, P. (1973) The Expansion of Social Work in Britain. London.

Simpson A. (1981) Stacking the Decks: A study of race, inequality and council housing in Nottingham.

Townsend, P. (1961) Seen in The Last Refuge by Pierson, C and Francis, G. London, Routledge

Wigfall, V & Moss, P. (2001), More than the sum of its parts? A study of a multi-agency child care network. London, National Children’s Bureau.

Woodroofe, K. (1962) From charity to Social Work in England and the United States. London.

Woodward, K. (2009) Social Sciences. London.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is an organization of professionals that “works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards” (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2008, About). Within this association there is a Code of Ethics that was created to help guide the behavior of both professional and student social workers. The NASW Code of Ethics provides ethical standards, values, and principles that all social workers are responsible to adhere to. The Code is presented in four sections detailing appropriate behavior for social workers. With these guidelines in mind social work students are expected to complete both assignments and practice in the field with the upmost highest integrity. While there are many topics covered within the Code, one that is essential for students to consider is plagiarism.

Plagiarism as defined by Columbia University School of Social Work’s Writing Center is “the use of another writer’s ideas or words as one’s own without citing that person” (CUSSW Writing Center, 2010). Without providing proper documentation of where the writer obtained the information included in an assignment the reader will automatically assume that these are the writer’s original thoughts and ideas. The fact that a social work student does not credit an author used in a writing assignment goes directly against the guideline of acknowledging credit depicted in section 4.08 of the NASW Code of Ethics, which states, “

a) Social workers should take responsibility and credit, including authorship credit, only work they have actually performed and to which they have contributed.

(b) Social workers should honestly acknowledge the work of and the contributions made by others” (NASW,2008, preamble).

All students in the School of Social Work are bound by the by the NASW Code of Ethics and by the policies of the Columbia University School of Social Work community. It is the student’s responsibility to be fully informed as to what constitutes plagiarism and to refrain from all activities that constitute plagiarism. Typically this information can be obtained by visiting the school’s website. As a social work student it is necessary to practice personal and academic honesty because it shows one’s character. By copying information and passing it as your own can be considered deceitful and misconstrued as portraying fraud or deception.

The Code of Ethics also provides students a method to check ourselves as social workers as we go forth and set an example to clients. In addition, as read in Section 4, Social Worker’s Ethical Responsibilities as Professionals, of the NASW Code of Ethics “Social Workers should not participate in , condone, or be associated with dishonesty, fraud or deception” (NASW, 2008, Section 4). This reinforces the concept that as social workers we have a commitment to be true to ourselves and recognize the work of others by crediting them.

After a close examination of the NASW Code of Ethics it is apparent that when one performs any act of plagiarism including cheating it is violating the code of many levels and aspects. Under the value of integrity stand the following ethical principles outlining “Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner” (NASW, 2008, Ethical Principles). The participation of plagiarism this value and ethical principle that are put upon social workers is disgraced. Additionally, under the value of competence, the ethical principle paired is, “Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise” (NASW, 2008, Ethical Principles). All of these are broken when partaking in plagiarism, as we use others words we are not valuing that individual’s worth of the person and more or less stealing their hard work and concepts. Not only do we lose trust of our colleagues but trust in ourselves and are overwhelmed with the feeling of being incompetent when one cannot honor another individual’s work. The core values provided by the NASW Code of Ethics are important because our profession is based on these morals.

Since “CUSSW students are expected to conduct themselves in all aspects of school activities in a manner consistent with the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers” participating in plagiarism directly violates these standards (CUSSW, Policies, 2010). As a matter of professional development social work students need to develop a respect for written communication and the process of presenting work. Academic communication is often a balance between the presentation of your original ideas, representation of information gained from other sources and the integration of both. It is one’s liability to account for the usage of other’s work, so we stay in line with our social work ethics and values presented in the code.

Furthermore, the Ethical Standards provided in the code include: social workers’ ethical responsibilities to colleagues, ethical responsibilities in practice settings, ethical responsibilities as professionals, social workers’ ethical responsibilities to the social work profession, and Social workers’ ethical responsibilities to the broader society. All of this is lost when not crediting someone else work. It is every social worker’s mission to follow and have their professional worth be embedded in the core values that the Code of Ethics is based upon and identifies. It is crucial for academic institutions to hold the responsibility of students of fostering and evaluating professional behavioral development for all students in the social work program is (Atlantic University Florida). The School of Social Work also bears a responsibility to the community at large to produce fully trained professional social workers who consciously exhibit the knowledge, values, and skills of the profession of social work. The values of the profession are codified in the NASW Code of Ethics. When a student does not adhere to these ethical principles, a dilemma arises that question if a student fully comprehends the NASW Code of Ethics and what responsibility it carries. It is clear that quality students fully prepared for the profession will adhere to all the guidelines provided in the NASW Code of Ethics and demonstrate knowledge of the meaning.

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ssw/faculty/policies/index.html#ethics
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ssw/write/handouts/AvoidPlagiarism.html
http://www.cosw.sc.edu/student/syllabi/sowk735.html
http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/Default.asp
http://www.fau.edu/ssw/expectations.html
www.socwork.jmu.edu/demos/partone.ppt
http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp
National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Preamble to the code of ethics. Retrieved May 4, 2008,from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/
Code/code.asp
Social work values and ethics Reamer, Frederic, G. Columbia University Press
New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright A© 1999 Columbia University Press

In most contemporary industrialised nations, women’s participation rates have been rising. Since the 1980s, women’s employment has become more continuous, even among mothers with children. (Lewis, 2009:27) However, despite of the optimistic rising employment rate among women, the career break due to motherhood still has a major impact on women’s careers. Some women opt for part-time jobs after giving birth to child/children while some might exit the labour till their children reach school ages. This essay aims to examine the impact of motherhood on women’s career in terms of women’s work and care decision and type of works mothers do under different contingencies. As Windebank (2001:269) points out that there are great variations in mother’s employment participation rates and career patterns across countries, this essay mainly focuses on mothers’ career choices and patterns in two countries, namely Sweden (a generous welfare country which striving for women’s equality) and the United Kingdom. The first part of the essay briefly talks about the general impacts of motherhood on women’s career followed by the descriptions of women’s career choices (e.g. work or care decision) and career patterns (e.g. full-time VS. part-time, types of work mothers do) in the two countries mentioned. In the final part, the possible explanations to the patterns found in both countries will be addressed, such as the economic incentive, social norms, institutional context, and women’s education level. And the essay will be concluded by summarizing the impacts of motherhood on women’s career and discussing its implications for policy makers.

Motherhood’s Impact on Women’s Career

The evidence (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006:335) shows that motherhood could have impacts on women’s participation rate both before and after the childbirth. In their article, the female participation rates in all three countries, namely the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, have declined since 12 months before the childbirth and never return to the original level 24 months after the childbirth. Hewlett (2005) also states that 37% of women take some kind of break from work to achieve appropriate work-life balance. Although 93% of those women who taken a break after give a birth to children want to re-enter the job market, only 74% are successful, among these only 40% return to full time work. The statistics suggests that motherhood does affect women’s career to a different degrees and it could last over a long period of time.

In general, motherhood itself presents four choices for women. First, women could remain in their full-time jobs after giving birth to their child/children. Second, they could choose a more flexible job or a part-time work to achieve work life balance after becoming a mother. Third, women could choose to exit the labour force permanently for their families. Forth, women could leave the labour market temporarily and return to work after a while (e.g. when their child/children reach school age) (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006:330). However, women who take the last option might find difficult to return to the labour market. As Joshi et al (1996) point out that losing of tie with the labour market due to the complete exit could depreciate women’s human capital and make future entrance difficult. Therefore, the longer a mother is out of the labour force, the harder it is for her to return to work.

Mother’s Career Choices and Patterns in Sweden

Being one of the most generous welfare states, Sweden is often regarded as a “role model” in terms of striving for equal women rights. In fact, most Swedish women work fulltime prior to give birth and the majority of women do return to paid work (either long part-time or full-time) after the maternity leave. According to the Statistics Sweden (a leading Swedish official statistics website), there are more than 80 percent of Swedish mothers in the labour market by the year of 1999. The high return rate is probably attributed to its long paid parental leave. According to the Swedish Law, all parents (employed prior to give birth) are entitled to 12 months leave with approximately 3,600 Pounds income replacement (up to 80% of their income before childbirth) plus 90 days of ‘Guaranteed days’ with 6 pounds per day. Besides, parents’ rights to return to labour market are guaranteed by Swedish labour regulations. (Bjornberg, 2002:34) These policies not only help women to reconcile the work and care balance during the most difficult period (with small child under 1 year old), but also encourage women to take part in workforce after maternity work by ensuring them better chances of being employed. As a result, child under 1 year is usually taken care at home by their parents (mainly mothers). And among children aged 1-6 years, institutional care instead of home care is commonly chosen by Swedish parents as that most mothers could return to their jobs afterwards. The statistics (Statistics Sweden, 2008) shows that 86% of children aged 1-6 years are in municipal day care in the year 2007. Based on the observations, Bjornberg (2002:39) suggests that the traditional male breadwinner model with mothers as housewives is not supported in Sweden rather a dual-earner model is more common and acceptable in Sweden.

The high return rate does not occur among mothers with one child but among mothers with more than one child as well. As the Swedish policy states that the parent is able to enjoy the same insured income level if the next child-birth is within 30 months of the previous child. Thus, it makes possible for mothers with more than one child to return to labour market after maternity leave without worrying about the costs and losing their working rights.

It is interesting to note that many returned mothers in Sweden choose to start work as part-timers. Traditionally, part-time work often associated with characteristics such as low pay, no benefits and low status, however, part-time work in Sweden has a different meaning. The long working hours (e.g. 30 hours per week) gives part-time a non-marginalized feature in Sweden. And part-time working mothers are generally treated similarly to their full-time colleagues and able to have more autonomy in their time (Sundstrom and Duvander, 2000). Fagan and Lallement (2000:45) indicate that part-time workers have integrated into Swedish labour market and received “equal treatment in labour law and wage structures”.

Mother’s Career Choices and Patterns in the United Kingdom

Pursuing to be a “liberal welfare state”, the U.K. government has also come up with explicit policies to reconcile paid work and family life in terms of childcare services, childcare leave and flexible working hours since 1997. (Lewis and Campbell, 2007:4) Evidence shows that the newly introduced “family-friendly” initiatives do have certain effects in changing the British labour market situations. The mother participation rate in the market has increased from 24% in 1979 to 67% in 1999 (Dench et al., 2002) although among returned mothers, many engage in part-time rather than full-time jobs. Statistics (Social Trends, 2005) shows that 40% of women aged sixteen to fifty-nine with children are in a part-time job. However, the part-time work has a different definition in UK compare to that of Sweden in terms of the working hours. Part-time mothers only work about 16 hours per week in U.K. (Bishop, 2004) which is much shorter than 30+ hours in Sweden. In the aspect of public childcare system, it is not as popular as that of Sweden due to the poor qualification of childcare staff in UK and a lack of funding. (Lewis and Campbell, 2007)

In general, instead of the traditional male breadwinner model or Swedish dual-earner model, Britain parents are taking a one-and-a-half earner model, which fathers work long hours (48+ hours per week) while mothers work short hours (about 16 hours). (Christine and Tang, 2004) Therefore, atypical job (e.g. part-time work) and shift parenting are common in UK. (Lavalle et al., 2002)

Explanations to the Patterns Found

Based on the findings of both Sweden and UK, it is clear that motherhood affects women’s career not only in the form of career breaks during childbirth but also in terms of the after-effects on balancing work and childcare. There are several similarities found among working mothers in both countries, for instance, both countries have a relatively high mother return rate. However, part-time mothers in Sweden are seemingly to enjoy a better benefit coverage, status and pay compared to mothers in U.K. In the following part of the essay, the reasons account for the different patterns observed will be discussed and whether the high return rate reflects women’s true preference between work and family will be explored.

According to Hakim (2000), the difference in work and care decision made by mothers is determined by each woman’s preference. However, many researchers criticize Hakim’s statement by showing other factors which restricting women’s decisions, such as the income level of the household, institutional context, social norm and women’s education level.

Household Income Level

Household income level directly limits mother’s decision on work and care. According to Vlasblom and Schippers (2006), mothers are more likely to go back to labour market if the benefit for participation is larger than its opportunity costs. For instance, most mothers in Sweden choose to work as women’s income in a household is as important as their partners’ in order to maintain a high living standard “as close as possible to those of households without children”.( Bjornberg, 2002:36)

In the case of U.K., the decrease in family subsidy in tax system during the 1990s has made childcare more costly, (Sainsbury, 1999) as a result, many British mothers chose to return to workforce during that time. However, unlike Sweden, high quality and affordable public childcare is not widely spread in U.K. According to Taylor’s survey (2003), there are only 8 % of organizations offering financial assistance with childcare costs and 3% organizations providing childcare for their employees. Thus, the lack of childcare service and the high costs associated with childcare outsourcing for working parents has explained the increasing number of part-time working mothers and the shifting childcare arrangement between parents in U.K.

Social Norms

Under the traditional male breadwinner model, mothers are expected to become housewives while fathers will be the only income source for the household. However, as time passes by, the social norm has been changed and working mothers are more acceptable in both countries (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006). And in Sweden, women to have a gainful employment before childbirth is essential as the replacement income during 12 months maternity leave is determined by women’s salary level prior to giving birth. Those mothers who were housewives do not receive any income benefit during the first year of child care (Bjornberg, 2002). Such policies, to a certain extent, have reinforced the women’s importance in the job market and increased the acceptance of women’s role as workers in general.

However, in both countries, the increasing in women participation rate and social acceptance of working mothers does not match the changes in their male spouses’ behaviours. Gershuny (2000) points out that men’s participation in unpaid work is much lower than women’s participation rate in paid work. According to Elvin-Nowak and Thomsson (2001:432), father’s work schedule is considered as fixed and unalterable and mothers concern about children’s well-being more than fathers do, as a result, “the negotiations come to rest between the woman and her conscience rather than between the mother and the father.” Uneven distribution of domestic chores, especially childcare is still prevalent nowadays. In U.K., the long working hours of men has left the childcare to mothers mainly. Without the help from their spouses, it is more difficult for mothers to combine the work and childcare and thus, full-time work is often not an available option for many British mothers. The situation in Sweden is relatively better than that in U.K. due to the introduction of compulsory “Daddy Month” policy. However, “Even in country like Sweden, fathers only spend just half the time in taking care of children as their partners do” (Gornick and Meyers, 2008:318).

Institutional Context

Institutional context is one of the most critical factor in shaping women’s work and care decision. Often, the change in mother’s behaviour is as a result of change in institutional policies, such as the reduced in family subsidy mentioned above. Both British government and Swedish government are aiming to promote waged labour through its policies, like extension of maternity leave, childcare provision or flexible working-hour practices, in order to attract mothers into workforce and to increase the labour supply and tax base (OECD, 2005). However, these two countries have varied degree of success in obtaining the goal.

The difference in institutional policies explains why the part-time mothers in Sweden could focus on their work better than those of U.K. First of all, the public childcare is well-developed and widely used in Sweden, therefore, most Swedish women are able to work long hour part-time or full-time job without worrying lack of proper care for their children. Besides, the introduction of “Daddy Month” in Sweden has increased the father’s participation in childcare task and thus, reduces the burden from mothers. According to the statistics, 77% of father in Sweden took up the whole month leave in 1995.

However, the formal childcare is either too expensive or poorly organized in U.K. which forces most British mothers to care children privately and restricts their career development. Besides, the long working hours for British fathers makes sharing private childcare more difficult and often mothers have to change their working hours in order to suit their partner’s more rigid schedules for childcare. Thus, mothers’ career in U.K. is more likely to be disturbed than their counterpart in Sweden.

Women’s Educational Level

Besides the differences in external factors, such as the policies, income and social norms, the educational level among women also affect the degree of motherhood’s impacts on their careers. The educational level here not only refers to the initial education (Portela, 2001), but also the working experiences and personal capabilities a woman possesses. Elvin-Nowak and Thomsson (2001:407) suggests that mothers with “different social background” have different motherhood experiences and interpreted the meaning of the motherhood differently.

In general, low-skilled female workers are more likely to exit the labour force for their children than those high-skilled workers (Cantillon at al., 2001). And Hofferth et al.’s (1996) study is consistent with Cantillon’s findings, showing that high-skilled women tend to use formal childcare while low-skilled women tend to provide childcare themselves. As a result, high-skilled women are more likely to commit themselves into their work without worrying about the childcare. At the same time, with the high earnings gained from work, they are able to afford the formal childcare while for the low-skilled women who cannot afford the formal childcare with the low earnings, staying at home to look after their children becomes the only option for them. In UK, 75 percent of highly educated women with children aged under 5 years old are actively participate in paid work while only 24 percent of women without qualifications are in workforce. (EOR, 2001) Similar results are found among Swedish women too.

Besides, Sundstrom and Duvander (2000) found that parents with higher educational level are more likely to share the domestic tasks including childcare than couples with lower educational level. Therefore, it confirms the view that women whose level of education is high is more likely to take part in work.

Conclusion

This essay has examined the motherhood impact on women’s career choice and patterns in Sweden and the U.K. The findings show that both countries have an increasing mother participation rate. But despite of the optimistic rising working mother numbers in both countries, working mothers’ careers are still affected by the motherhood. Not only that full-time work option is no longer available for many mothers due to the burden of childcare, part-time working mothers are generally more difficult to concentrate on their jobs, especially in the U.K where formal provision of formal childcare system is not well-developed. Besides, possible factors, such as household income level, social norms, institutional policies and women’s educational level, which restrict mother’s work and care decision, are explored in the essay. However, there are many other factors which could shape the motherhood’s impact on women’s career, for instance, the number of children. Women with smaller family size have less career breaks and spend less time on childcare, thus they have better opportunity to channel their energy into paid work (Gill et al., 2000). Besides, the rising divorce rate and high teenage pregnancy rate result an increase in singe-mother families. Motherhood’s impact on single mother family could be different from normal families.

After analyzing the possible factors which affect working mothers’ careers, how their accessibility to the labour market and status could be increased is the key challenge that should be addressed. Based on Sweden and the U.K. cases, it is clear that institutional policies could a powerful tool for creating a better environment for working mothers. For instance, the “Daddy Month” introduced by Swedish government has been successful in tackling the unequal division of work among men and women and this policy could be learnt by other countries too. In sum, in order to increase working mother’s full-time participation rate and achieve better work-life balance in the society, governments should invest more on the institutional policies. In another word, following the concept of “diversity/mainstreaming”, government should change the focus from trying to fit working mothers into the society to changing the society/organization/culture to embrace differences by making working mothers’ issue central to every aspect of the policy.

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