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Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) are amongst the discriminated and oppressed social groups in the UK .They are vulnerable but this is not always well matched with their access to services (Kohli and Mitchell, 2007) and they are just children in need (Howarth 2001).This essay shall explore some aspects of discrimination that affect them, the legislative and policy context in which discrimination is located and how organised systems in policy and law attempt to address this reality. Reference shall be made to direct experiences from unaccompanied asylum seeking children and also link their experiences to those of the broader asylum seekers category in order to establish the prospects of equality in the context of social services support.

One of the core elements in the effective support of vulnerable people is to treat every person /child/adult as an individual. In this case, each child has their own narrative which must be looked at holistically in order to create necessary support structures which would trigger the necessary welfare provisions for the individual to be safeguarded and supported through their crisis. Hynes (2011) argues that asylum seekers are far removed from the perception of being ordinary people.

‘Instead, they continue to experience extraordinary circumstances in the UK, with the common experience of being socially excluded and with little opportunity for these experiences to be understood’ (Hynes 2011:p.42).

Kohli (2007) reiterates that in guidance for working with this vulnerable group, the dominant theme must be one of seeing them as ‘children in need first’ and as asylum claimants later. UASC’s extraordinary experiences cut across all facets of life, across time, across continents, access to services, through detention, lack of adequate supportive information, language barriers, tough procedures and negative social labels.

The term ‘unaccompanied asylum-seeking children’ is used to describe individuals who arrive in the UK under the age of 18, without a parent or other adult relative or guardian who is prepared to take responsibility for them, and who make an application for asylum in their own right (United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR,1994)

Home Office (2012) figures issued show that ‘In 2011, 6% (1,277) of main applicants were UASC. Almost a third (30%) of UASC applications were made by male nationals of Afghanistan; and overall 82% (1,049) of applications were from male applicants. UASC annual applications continue to fall and fell by 26% between 2010 (1,717 applications) and 2011. This decreasing trend has been influenced by falling applications from nationals of Afghanistan’. There are direct drivers of the migration of unaccompanied minors like war and civil unrest, rape and torture which rise beyond the economic argument that is often painted by the media.

Where UK born children are treated and understood as innocent, UASC are defined by their immigration status and suspicion (Kvittingen, 2012, Sales, 2007). It’s extremely difficult for UASC to navigate through the system of immigration to welfare. In the same environment there are two forces at work, social work practice versus political and economic environment. The initial hurdle is the immigration process which is restrictive and controlling. An example would be that of the age assessment process. Cemlyn & Briskman (2003) argue that there are limited resources for social work teams which inevitably shrink the resources with which the social workers have at their disposal. The unfair outcome includes high % of age disputes that often exclude UASC from the welfare provision under the Children Act 1989, Section 20 for looked after children. From such processes, difference in treatment emerges and discrimination and oppression are experienced.

Discrimination and oppression

Thompson (2012) characterises discrimination as a process where difference is identified and the difference becomes the basis ‘of unfair treatment’ (Thompson 2012:7) Experiences resulting from such treatment locate the individual in a disadvantaged position. Thompson adds that this ‘discrimination then becomes a source of oppression. The process of identifying some people as ‘different’ and when they receive inhuman or degrading treatment’ is that key moment which social work practice must stand and challenge (Thompson 2012). Discrimination is therefore understood in its sociological, political and psychological contexts (Thompson 2012) by centrally considering inherent power dynamics between the vulnerable asylum seeking child and the service provider located at the centre of welfare distribution and care.

From arrival, UASC must be understood as children in search of safety, as individuals with positive ambitions and as individuals in need of support (Kohli 2007). The social work intervention process has been implicated for being oppressive by Humphries (2004);

Social work has been drawn into implementing racist policy initiatives whilst maintaining its unreflective, self deceiving ‘anti-oppressive ‘belief systems (p95)

It is always important to realise that whilst there is great emphasis on good practice as anti-discriminatory practice, ‘The relationship is a double edged one, consisting of elements of care and control. It is double edged in the sense that it can lead to either empowerment or potential oppression. The state through its machinery can control people to the extent that they become discriminated and oppressed. ‘Social work interventions can help or hinder, empower or oppress’ (Thompson 2012:8). There are inherent power dynamics in operation, with the UASC occupying the weak needy position versus the state and its range of oppressive machinery. Moral obligations rather than differences must take precedence in the provision of services. There are numerous levels at which the difference of UASC are treated differently. Khohli (2007) argues that there have been numerous concerns raised regarding shortfalls in the areas of education, health provision and immigration practices and how social work policies reinforce these disparities.

There are socially constructed perceptions and structural determinants in the discrimination and oppression of UASC worth looking at .Thompson’s model of understanding how inequalities and discrimination feature in people’s lives within their interactions by way of a PCS model (Thompson 2012) which emphasises on the Personal, Cultural and Structural determinants and levels at which discrimination operates. From the moment that the children arrive in UK they are bombarded with administrative processes that are complex, processes that include age assessment, and face a restrictive immigration system which stands as an enormous wall potentially blocking their access to welfare. Crawley (2007) argues that all these processes are more focussed on border control than on welfare provision.

Part of the key procedure on entry for welfare provision is the age assessment, this is carried out by social workers and the determination on the assessment can determine the UASC’s life. Age assessments are not always accurate and there are medical error margins of up to 5 years either side (Lenvenson& Sharma 2004). Suspicion, doubt, lack of trust and general prejudice about asylum seekers is a reality that the media has successfully propelled. Thomas, (Guardian, 2012) British Red Cross head of external relations proved that the public perception of asylum seekers is primarily painted as ‘scroungers’. Professionals must support UASC without such prejudices and the social constructions which hinder the diversity agenda and structural tools which are designed to fail these children must be abandoned and these children must be seen as children first.Collett (2004) argues that ‘social workers are increasingly drawn into the dirty work of social policy, where we reinforce the oppressions that we should be challenging’ (2004;88).Humphries (2004)adds that the role of social work has shifted towards control, restriction, surveillance and ultimately exclusion. There has been a gravitational shift of social workers into pseudo immigration officials. The cost of which has been the loss of the humanistic, companionship and welfare element which are core in cultural tolerance and diversity in social work practice.

Besides the systems’ restrictive nature, the asylum process is stressful for children who have just escaped a traumatic past in the hope of finding help and support (Kohli, 2007). There is sufficient evidence examined regarding the ever shifting ‘goal posts’ system for asylum seekers intended to squeeze them out and deter application influxes. An example is UASC’s housing needs processing which reinforces the differences between UK born children where some UASC are being housed in hostels where there is evidence of low level support and detachment. UASC are often sacrificed through fast track housing provisions as demonstrated in Solihull where Wellman (2011) argues that teenage asylum seekers were to be treated ‘less favourably’ than local children under plans by Solihull Council to fast-track them from foster care into supported housing.

Watters (2008) examines the position of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK tracing their experiences from ports of entry and highlights that safety and security are key aspirations for these children in an environment that is not hostile, a place to call home and enjoy life as a child. There is a ‘aˆ¦pervasive culture of disbelief among immigration and welfare institutions in receiving countries’ (Watters 2008:71) of UASC. It is important to understand their pre-departure experiences. Against this background of aspirations reality is often different, the welcoming description at pre-departure often vanished as children faced a stark reality of having no food, no money and oftentimes unable to speak the language. More so, there is often lack of support during the early parts of the asylum screening interview, yet this later forms the basis of whether the application is successful or not (Watters 2008).

Being a foreigner in the UK must be understood as a package that has a host of attachments to it, some often face multiple discriminations e.g. black asylum seeking children could lead to being racially maltreated in communities/context of where they are accommodated after care. This perpetuates the cycle of social exclusion and discrimination. Thompson’s PCS model would here be referred to in the context of how community’s social construction and media perceive UASC and resultant repulsive treatment.

According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC 2012), UASC often find the situations exacerbating their social category of oppression and discrimination in that the conditions in immigration screening centres are not child-friendly. Oftentimes there is very little or no knowledge and a lack of understanding about the specific issues relating to child-specific forms of persecution because of the remoteness of where they are coming from. An Independent Guardian in this case would help in establishing support bases for the young people and to be a disclosure point. It is difficult for young people to share their innermost life story to strangers, communication depends highly on relationship and having this support relationship helps the young people’s presentation of their case (NSPCC).

UASC’s transition into adulthood has another host of challenges in which they need support to be ready enough for life on their own .The NSPCC argues that ‘the National Asylum Support System (NASS) prevents vulnerable children from falling through the net (NSPCC). If there is lack of support, then the outcome can either be their disappearance or exploitation. This means that it is of paramount importance to extend the support so that the system cushions the young people rather than leaving them to fall into uncertainty where poverty, social exclusion, discrimination and oppression can take over. Any failing by the state through its range of support machinery for young people would perpetuate the cycle of poverty and the oppression of UASC.

In cases where age assessment determines the UASC as over 18, this leads to detention where their treatment transforms to that of an adult and welfare support deficit is experienced. NSPCC has an example in the stories of two boys in contact with one Young People’s Centres. ‘The boys had their age disputed for more than a year. One of these boys was placed in National Asylum Support Service (NASS) accommodation. He was a vulnerable child, yet he was placed in unsupported accommodation with adults. Neither of the boys was able to receive support from the local authority and as such their safeguarding and emotional wellbeing needs were not met’ (NSPCC). Such an experience affects the child, and as this essay has argued, it’s because of structural reasons, tools and processes that not always accurately capture the reality of children and their lives, this affects service provision. Fast tracking this contested age category for housing can be counterproductive and oppressive as it fails to account for the individual child’s needs.

The dispersal model applied in the UK for asylum seekers extends the idea of what Carter and El-Hassan (2003:10-11) term ‘institutionalised seclusion’. Hynes (2011) describes the dispersal situation as ‘betwixt and between’, in a country but outside mainstream society. The incremental exclusion of asylum seekers through this method has been patterned through the service allocation system saliently eroding the individual rights of asylum seekers who receive support as a homogenous group in chosen isolated locations.Overall, the system is a deterrent immigration strategy. Hynes (2011) adds that ,’The exclusion of asylum seekers from ordinary living patterns through exclusionary practices and the inability to restore normal routines during the dispersal process meant that they occupied luminal spaces’ (p.178). The same can be applied to children who are allocated accommodation in areas where there are few or no support services for them. Dispersal without considering the welfare and interests of the child is administratively and structurally discriminatory; safeguarding the children should still remain a core element in the child’s service provision considerations as part of aftercare support.

Part of the systemic discrimination is a result of limited training for social workers which makes it appear as if UASC are difficult to reach, when in actual fact it is a group that is easy to ignore! At community level UASC are viewed with disgust, racist abuse and educational underperformance. At school, Rutter argues that ‘central government needs to acknowledge school children’s under-achievement also has causes that lie outside the school’ (Rutter 2006:208)

Legal Framework for UASC

In order to protect the rights of the UASC and be professionally consistent, they must be treated as children first and foremost and the Children’s Act 1989 becomes relevant. Of importance from The Children Act 1989 are clauses stating that the welfare of children must be the paramount consideration when the courts are making decisions about them and local authorities are charged with duties to identify children in need and to safeguard and promote their welfare. Also importantly stated is the fact that delays in deciding questions concerning children are likely to prejudice their welfare. Local authority must provide welfare by seeing UASC as children first. This law provides a safety net for all children within the UK borders. The conflict emerges where Immigration law meets children’s rights legislation and a radical shift emerges emphasising more on controlling borders than welfare provision (Fell, Hayes, 2007).

UASC must be assessed by the Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families and accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (NSPCC). As a result of lack of clarity on children’s available support, some children have been placed in bed and breakfast accommodation without support, mixing with adults whose criminal history is often not held. This exposes the vulnerable children to abuse and exploitation. Such a system again demonstrates how structural procedures discriminate and oppress UASC. The semi-independent living option is also not a better option for those just over 16. Their vulnerability levels are high and support is highly needed to safeguard them in their development and transition into adulthood.

The Human Rights Act is a guiding legal framework applied in the UK and is core to how UASC in particular and refugees in general are supported. Asylum seekers are to be treated as individuals with rights namely the Right to life, Freedom from torture, Freedom from slavery, Right to a fair trial, Freedom of speech and Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

The Human Rights law is a universal safeguard and UASC can be protected from discrimination by its application. In a study carried out by the Independent Asylum Commission, Sir Waite said,

“The overuse of detention, the scale of destitution and the severity of removals are all areas which need attention before the system can be described as fit for purpose. The detention of asylum seekers is overused, oppressive and an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer, and the detention of children wholly unjustified”. Dawar (2008) [The guardian]

Its only by appealing to law that such progressive challenges can be made.

The NSPCC (2012) campaigns and supports these children on the basis of equality arguing that the protection and welfare of asylum-seeking and refugee children is the same as that afforded to other children. The Children’s rights must be considered as core elements in the planning, assessment and service provision for this vulnerable group considering the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child particularly instruments for the right to maximum survival and development ,the right to identity ,the right to family unity and the right to participate .The right to protection from all forms of violence, injury, abuse, neglect or exploitation as well as the right to special assistance if the child is deprived of their family .The right to be protected from economic exploitation and the right to protection from violence, abuse, exploitation, trafficking is only realisable where the UASC are supported fully without falling through the safety net. Issues around the limitation of detention as a measure of last resort are important in working with UASC. The duty of the government to take measures to ensure that child victims of armed conflict, torture, neglect or exploitation receive treatment for recovery and social integration is important as part of the therapeutic support necessary for their wellbeing.

Policy and Practice guidance’s on working with UASC

By use of legislation and practice guidance’s, UASC can be safeguarded and supported. Instead of describing them as UASC’s these young people view themselves as (and rightly so) ‘footballers’ ‘doctors’ ‘teachers’ ‘president’. They are ambitious and determined to live outside this discriminatory environment and label. Payne (2005) argues that, ‘Some people dislike being called minority or oppressed groups, or being associated with any groups at all. Sometime because it might imply being seen as a victim of categorisation, which the person does not accept’ (2005:289).

Conclusion

Practical, political and procedural realities are scattered on the social worker’s professional pathway. Kohli (2007) rightly paints the complexity of being an UASC and being a social worker in the UK. The needs of vulnerable UASC remain a stark reality, leaves the social worker on the margins by either not being good enough or being too harsh (Kohli 2007). A young person from Glasgow said “Home is home – if it was better there I would have stayed”. Understanding UASC past, building relationships with them in humane ways and safeguarding them by use of law can enhance anti-oppressive practice. This can be the basis for challenging discrimination of this vulnerable child group. Social workers cannot achieve this alone, voluntary sector agencies like the Refugee Council and NSPCC can work in partnership with the UKBA to set intervention strategies for this vulnerable group with the care and sensitivity due for any child in need in UK.

Human Services Worker is a generic term for people who hold professional and paraprofessional jobs in such divers settings as group homes and hallway houses; correctional, mental retardation, and community mental health centers; family, child, and youth service agencies, and programs concerned with alcoholism, drug abuse, family violence, and aging (Harris, Maloney, and Rother, pg. 205). Human services have helped lots of people to manage their life or get them back on their feet. Human services are broad, and contain a lot of job titles. One thing that human service workers all have in common is their desire to help others. The primary purpose of human service worker is to assist individual and communities to function as effectively as possible in the major domains of living (NOHS, 2012). They are people who have the patience, understanding, and caring in their dealings with others is highly valued by employers (NOSH, 2012). Case worker refers to an individual who possesses a degree in social work from a school or program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (NASW, 2010). Case worker, is a primary method of social work that is concerned with the change and improvement of helping people towards a satisfying human relation.

Case worker are employed by large number of organizations. In America, most government agencies that provide social services to children in poor or troubled families have a staff of caseworkers, each of whom is assigned a proportion of the cases under review at any given time (Enwikipedia, 2012). Case worker does a lot each day depending on where the work and their level of expertise. The kind of services that they provide varies widely. They can work with people who are without shelter or home, ill, or with family that has issues. Case worker provides resources to the people who are in need of them. An example would be like, providing families a parenting class that can help fix their family difficulties. They set up programs that will provide some sort of help. There are many case workers who give out counseling help. Case worker (social work profession) has increasingly highlighted the importance of racial diversity and cultural competency training in social work education and practice (Freeman, 2010). There are two types of case worker (social worker): direct-service social worker who help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives, and clinical social workers, who diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012).

Direct-service case workers usually help address everyday problems from finding work or applying for government aid. Direct-case social workers typically do the following (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012):

Identify people who need help

Assess clients’ needs, situations, strengths, and support networks to determine their goals

Develop plans to improve their clients’ well-being

Help clients adjust to changes and challenges in their lives, such as illness, divorce, or unemployment

Research and refer clients to community resources, such as food stamps, child care, and healthcare

Help clients work with government agencies to apply for and receive benefits such as Medicare

Respond to crisis situations, such as natural disasters or child abuse

Advocate for and help clients get resources that would improve their well-being

Follow up with clients to ensure that their situations have improved

Evaluate services provided to ensure that they are effective

Direct-service workers and clinical case workers both help out people to improve their living situation in some ways, but the services they provide can be different as well. Clinical case workers generally help address mental health problems. Clinical case workers typically do the following (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012):

Diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders, including anxiety and depression

Provide individual, group, family, and couples therapy

Assess clients’ histories, backgrounds, and situations to understand their needs, as well as their strengths and weaknesses

Develop a treatment plan with the client, doctors, and other healthcare professionals

Encourage clients to discuss their emotions and experiences to develop a better understanding of themselves and their relationships

Help clients adjust to changes in their life, such as a divorce or being laid-off

Work with clients to develop strategies to change behavior or cope with difficult situations

Refer clients to other resources or services, such as support groups or other mental health professionals

Evaluate their clients’ progress and, if necessary, adjust the treatment plan

They both can be employed in a variety of settings like in the government agencies, nonprofit agencies, school or the hospitals. Case workers are employed to help people direct the social services that are available to them. They both work as an encouraging help for people to become emotionally and financially stable so they can support themselves. In order to build a good relationship with their client, there are specific needs that clients would need to know.

The principles of building a good relationship with a client are crucial. According to Diane Depanfilis and Marsha K. Salus (2003):

The client has a need to be treated as a unique individual rather than a case, a type, or a category. Clients need to express both negative and positive feelings.

Clients need sympathetic understanding of and response to the feelings expressed. There is a delicate balance between being personally and emotionally involved with a client and maintaining a degree of professional objectivity.

Clients need to be accepted as people of worth and inherent dignity regardless of personal problems and past failures.

Clients have a need to be neither condemned nor judged for the difficulties in which they find themselves.

Clients have a need to make their own choices and decisions.

Clients have a need to keep personal information as secret as possible.

It is important to have this kind of relations with their client as their case worker. Before we can fully understand what case worker’s do, we need to know the history of case worker (social worker) in the United States and its roots in the struggle of society to deal with problems that are associated with them.

Case worker developed in the United States reflected on an ongoing mixture of ideas derived from different kind of cultures throughout history. Just as social workers appreciate the necessity of viewing individuals within context- be they social, cultural, or physical- so social work as a practice and a profession must be viewed within its sociohistorical context (Pozzuto & Arnd-Caddigan, 2008). Even before the American Revolution, services to the poor, to children, and to the mentally ill had been established in North America, many used the poor laws that were established in England to define who should receive services and the content of those services (SagePub.com, 2012). By the early 19th century, it was said that the states had begun providing relief through towns and counties. Their efforts were often poor and were self-help organizations that began to add-on to their efforts. There were lots of social welfare policies and programs that were taken for granted that occur within United States history. Since the first social work class was offered in the summer of 1898 at Columbia University, social workers have led the way developing private and charitable organizations to serve people in need (NAWS, 2012). Social workers continue to address the needs of society and bring our nation’s social problems to the public’s attention. The case worker profession devised standards and training and advocates social research and scientific methods. Their profession lead to a more consistent and focused on care for individual who are in need and a desire for social change. Our states take in responsibilities for distributing relief from towns and counties. Many of the benefits were taken for granted came about because social worker working with families and institutions spoke out against abuse and neglect (NASW, 2012):

The civil rights of all people regardless of gender, race, faith, or sexual orientation are protected.

Workers enjoy unemployment insurance, disability pay, worker’s compensation and Social Security.

People with mental illness and developmental disabilities are now afforded humane treatment.

Medicaid and Medicare give poor, disabled and elderly people access to health care.

Society seeks to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Treatment for mental illness and substance abuse is gradually losing its stigma

Case worker falls under the human services that are broadly define in maintaining to improve the quality of life services to the populations has standards that must be followed or met through the National Organization for Human Service Education (NOHSE).

The National Organization for Human Service Education (NOHSE) developed the Ethical Standards of Human Services Professionals. Case worker functions in many ways, carries many roles and responsibilities. Case workers have a long tradition with the concern of ethical dilemmas. There are several methods for dealing with ethical dilemmas. One of the most common and accepted method is the development and implementation of a professional code of ethics. The development of a code of ethics for the purpose of ethical dilemmas is involved in the development and recognition of a profession by society. Professional ethics are concerned with the correct course of professional actions when dealing with ethical dilemmas. Human Services ethics are designed to help case workers decide whether two or more challenging goals are the correct one for the given situational background. Case worker makes decisions that may affect only a few but in some case their decisions may also affect a crowd of people. There is no sure way of resolving ethical dilemmas but by knowing and honoring the ethical standards will help the case worker in making decisions that will be of the greatest benefit for the client. The ethical standards of the human services professional are a set of fifty-four guidelines developed by NOSHE to outline the human service professional responsibility to clients (NOSHE, 2012). There are lots of ethical issues and dilemmas that case worker will face, such as confidentiality.

Case worker must have a capacity to handle any situation. As a case worker, they need to make sure that their clients are aware of their rights and responsibilities, such as confidentiality. By maintaining confidentiality of information is very important. The rights and responsibilities are often laid down in legislation, codes of practices and policy documents. Case worker should always think carefully before talking to their colleagues and clients, and always ask whether a person really needs to know about your client. The confidentiality must be kept within certain borderlines, and can be broken when other service user’s rights come into conflict. Case worker should respect their client’s right to keep any information private. There may be certain information that may need to be passed to a senior member of the staff when there is someone who might be in danger. Clients can expect that you do not discuss their details with anyone else without their permission. Trust is very important.

Case worker does provide a variety of resources and help to the people who need it. Human service profession is one that promotes improved service delivery systems by addressing not only the quality of direct services, but by also seeking to improve accessibility, accountability, and coordination among professionals and agencies in service delivery (Harris, Maloney, & Rother, pg. 205). Case worker is here to assist people towards a better life as possible. They are there to help people overcome problems and make their lives better. They might work with people who are homeless, sick, or having family problems. They should be prepared to challenge attempts to undermine the profession’s traditional values through case work that will withstand commitment to vulnerable and worried people. They can work within government agencies, non-profit agencies, to school and to the hospitals. They must attempt to anticipate the emergence of ethical issues that, while perhaps unimaginable today, are likely to arise in the future as a function of societal and other changes. Maybe perhaps as a result of technological developments that may have ethical implications.

The aim of this essay is to use knowledge of human growth and development to critically discuss the theories a social worker might employ to assess a family and better understand their behaviour. A family profile will be provided and two family members selected for further discussion and the application of appropriate theories. These theories will be critiqued in terms of how they might assist social workers in making informed assessments, as well as where the theories are limited in their application.

Family Profile

The family within this case study comprises five members, all of whom live together in Elsie’s home. Table 1 presents the name, age, family position, and nationality of each family member.

Sylvie and Greg met when they were 19-years of age. They had been together for 5-years when their daughter Molly was born. They split up when Molly was 1-years old, but got back together 6-years later when Molly was 7-years of age. Greg said that they split up because he was unable to handle Sylvie’s total lack of trust in him. This caused huge arguments between them, with Sylvie constantly questioning where he was and his commitment to his family. Sylvie said that she was devastated when Greg left, but knew that it was going to happen. During their time apart Sylvie turned to alcohol and drugs, but sought counselling and support for this and the issues in her past. As a result, she has been drug and alcohol free for over 4-years.

Greg always maintained a good relationship with Molly during the 6-year separation and she lived with him and her paternal Grandparents at different points when Sylvie was not coping. Molly said that she was happy that her parents got back together.

Mason was planned and both Sylvie and Greg felt they had resolved historic issues and were committed as a family unit to having another child. Mason was born with Global Developmental Delay, which is a condition that occurs between birth to 18-years of age and is usually characterised by lower intellectual functioning and significant limitations in communication and other developmental skills. Sylvie blames herself for Mason’s condition, believing that it must somehow be linked to her ‘wild’ years of drinking and drug binges. Despite being reassured to the contrary by medical professionals and a social worker, she remains low in mood and feels that she has let everyone down. Sylvie has found bonding with Mason difficult and she feels frustrated by him not meeting his developmental milestones. Mason is in nappies, he is not yet talking, he is very unsteady on his feet and he lacks co-ordination. As a result, he still requires feeding at mealtimes and has not begun to develop independent skills. Sylvie has said that she feels like ‘sending him somewhere.’ Greg, on the other hand, feels very attached and protective towards Mason and Sylvie feels that he ‘lets him get away with anything.’ Conflict has developed between Sylvie and Greg, resulting in Greg staying at work longer and meeting up with his friends more in an effort to avoid the arguments and tension at home.

Elsie, mother to Greg, owns the large family home in which they all live. Sylvie and Greg decided that they would move in with her shortly after they got back together, as Greg’s father died very unexpectedly. The plan was that they would all support one another financially, practically and emotionally. Elsie is very involved with the children as both parents work. However, recently Elsie has been forgetting things, such as collecting Mason from the specialist childminder and this has caused tension between the adults.

There have been some difficulties with Molly at school. Sylvie was called in to Molly’s school last week as a result of Molly using racist language towards another student. The school state that Molly is very close to being excluded, as a result of her angry and disruptive behaviour. Sylvie broke down upon hearing this and explained about her low mood, feelings of despair and worries about Greg’s mum. Sylvie cannot understand the change in Molly’s behaviour and said that she and Greg need help.

Applying Human Growth and Development to Social Work

As part of this essay, there will be a focus on two members of this family: Molly and Elsie. The two theories of human growth and development to be applied to Molly are Attachment Theory and Life Course Theory. The two theories of human growth and development to be applied to Elsie are Ecological Theory and Disengagement Theory.

Anti-oppressive practice will underlie the critique and has been defined as “a form of social work practice which addresses social divisions and structural inequalities in the work that is done with ‘clients’ (users) and workers” (Dominelli, 1993, p. 24). Anti-oppressive practice is a person-centred approach synonymous with Carl Rogers (1980) philosophy of person-centred practice. It is designed to empower individuals by reducing the negative effects of hierarchy, with the emphasis being on a holistic approach to assessment. Practising in an anti-oppressive way requires valuing differences lifestyles and personal identities. This goes against common sense socialisation which portrays differences as inferior or pathological and which excludes individuals from the social world and denies them their rights.

MOLLY
Attachment Theory

Attachment Theory is a psychological theory based on the premise that young children require an attachment relationship with at least one consistent caregiver within their lives for normal social and emotional development (Bowlby, 1958). Attachment is an emotional bond between an individual and an attachment figure, usually the person who cares for them. Psychologically, attachment provides a child with security. Biologically, it provides a child with survival. Ainsworth et al. (1978) formulated four types of attachment that provide a tool for social workers to assess and understand children’s emotional experiences and psychosocial functioning: secure; insecure, ambivalent; insecure, avoiding; and disorganised.

Molly appears demonstrates insecure, ambivalent attachments, where parental care is inconsistent and unpredictable. This type of attachment is characterised by parents who fail to empathise with their children’s moods, needs and feelings. Indeed, Sylvie cannot understand the change in Molly’s behaviour, indicating an inability to empathise with Molly.

Children with insecure and ambivalent attachments often become increasingly confused and frustrated. They can become demanding, attention seeking, angry and needful, creating trouble in order to keep other people involved and interested. Feelings are acted out, as Molly has been doing at school. This is because insensitive and inconsistent care is interpreted by the child to mean that they are unworthy of love and unlovable. Such painful feelings undermine self-esteem and self-confidence and an understanding of this can ensure that social workers resist stereotypes of the moody, anti-social teenager, and instead explore the underlying reasons for changes in mood.

For Molly, the development of an attachment figure was likely to have been compromised during her early developmental years. In particular, when Molly was between the ages of 1 and 7-years old, her mother was addicted to drugs and alcohol and thus was emotionally and physically unavailable. Despite living with her father and paternal grandparents for a period of time, the overall insecurity within her family unit is likely to have impacted her ability to attach to others. If Molly did develop an attachment figure it is most likely to have been with her father or maternal grandparents, who were not unavailable due to drug or alcohol abuse during this vital developmental phase of Molly’s childhood.

Taking this into consideration, there are a number of significant changes that have occurred in Molly’s life and that involve potential attachment figures who have provided Molly with much-needed security and safety. For example, Molly’s father, whom Molly has remained close to throughout drama within the family, is no longer at home as much in an effort to avoid arguments with Sylvie. When he is at home, the tension is likely to impact the duration and quality of time spent with Molly. Indeed, marital conflict has been found to influence adolescents’ attachment security by reducing the responsiveness and effectiveness of parenting (Markiewicz, Doyle, and Brendgen, 2001). Strained marital relationships can also lead to increased marginalisation of the father who can become distanced from their children, as has been the case within this family (Markiewicz, Doyle, and Brendgen, 2001).

In addition, Molly has recently lost her grandfather, which her grandmother is also trying to come to terms with. Not only has Molly lost her grandfather, but her grandmother’s behaviour is likely to have changed as she comes to terms with her own loss. All of the key attachment figures in Molly’s life are either emotionally or physically unavailable at present. It is important to consider this within the context of Molly’s current developmental stage, which is that of adolescence.

Attachments to peers tend to emerge in adolescence, but the role of parents remains vital in teenagers successfully achieving attachments outside of the home. It is a time when parents are required to be available if needed, while the teenager makes their first independent steps into the outside world (Allen and Land, 1999). Molly’s recent problems at school could be the result of this lack of availability from adults in her life. She might also be anxious about losing her father again, creating anticipation and fear about separation from an attachment figures. The anger she expresses at school could be transference of the anger and fear created by her unstable circumstances at home. The fact that she has become racially abusive might suggest that her anger lies with her mother, who is of dual nationality.

The main critique of Attachment Theory has been in the guise of the nature versus nurture debate, the former being genetic factors and the latter being the way a child is parented. Harris (1998) argues that parents do not shape their child’s personality or character, but that a child’s peers have more influence on them than their parents. She cites that children are more influenced by their peers because they are eager to fit in. This argument is supported by twin studies showing that identical twins reared apart often develop the same hobbies, habits, and character traits; the same has been found with fraternal twins reared together (Loehlin et al., 1985; Tellegen et al., 1988; Jang et al., 1998). It is likely that nurture plays a greater role in the younger years, when parents and caregivers are the child’s primary point of contact. On the other hand, when a child enters adolescents and engages with society more, nature might take over.

Another limitation in Attachment Theory is the fact that model attachment is based on behaviours that occur during stressful separations rather than during non-stressful situations. Field (1996) astutely argues that a broader understanding of attachment requires observation of how the caregiver and child interact during natural, non-stressful situations. It is agreed that behaviours directed towards the attachment figure during separation and reunion cannot be the only factors used to define attachment.

Despite these limitations, the theory does provide valuable information regarding relationship dynamics and bonds, which social workers can use to better understanding the individual being assessed. It is, however, important to remember that what is seen as healthy attachment will vary culturally. Consideration of this is crucial to anti-oppressive practice.

Life Course Theory

Life Course Theory has been defined as a “sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time” (Giele and Elder, 1998, p. 22). Within this theory, the family is perceived as a micro social group within a macro social context (Bengston and Allen, 1993). According to Erikson’s 8 stages of human development, Molly is in stage five, which is characterised by a conflict between identity versus role confusion. Being of dual heritage might cause issues within this stage and within Molly’s search for identity. Evidence within the literature has shown that adolescents of dual heritage report more ethnic exploration, discrimination, and behavioural problems than those of single heritage (Ward, 2005). Indeed, this could explain why Molly is being racially abusive, in an effort to determine her own thoughts and feelings on ethnicity and the confusion it can cause. The racial abuse directed at other children might even be representative of her own anger at being of dual heritage.

Adolescence is difficult to define, but it is traditionally assumed to be between 12-18 years of age and characterised by puberty (i.e. the transformation from a child to a young person). During this time, hormones strongly influence mood swings and extremes of emotion, which might explain Molly’s difficulty controlling her anger at school. Adolescence is also when an individual starts to develop socially, increasing their independence and becoming more influenced by peers. During this time, according to Piaget’s (1964) theory of cognitive development, an individual enters the ‘formal operational stage’ and starts to understand abstract concepts, develop moral philosophies, establish and maintain satisfying personal relationships, and gain a greater sense of personal identity and purpose (Santrock, 2008). Risks to social and cognitive development include poor parental supervision and discipline, as well as family conflict (Beinart et al., 2002), showing this to be an important time to intervene with Molly.

It is these biological and social changes during adolescents that can create the stereotype of the moody, anti-social teenager. It is important that social workers do not allow negative stereotypes to influence their expectations of Molly. Instead, they need to take a holistic approach and examine where she is on the life course as well as what the character and quality of Molly’s behaviours and relationships tell them about her internal working model, defensive inclinations, emotional states and personality. This ant-oppressive approach will also allow social workers to identify links between past and present relationship experiences.

ELSIE
Ecological Theory

Bronfenbrenner’s (1977) Ecological Model of human development posits that in order to understand human development, an individual’s ecological system needs to be taken into consideration. According to the theory, an individual’s ecological system comprises five social subsystems:

Micro-system – comprising activities and social roles within the immediate environment.

Mesosystem – processes taking place between two or more different social settings.

Exosystem – processes taking place between two or more different social systems, at least one of which does not involve the individual but indirectly affects them.

Macrosystem – includes ideology, attitudes, customs, traditions, values and culture.

Chronosystem – change or consistency over time in individual characteristics and environmental characteristics.

Ecological Theory is, overall, a model of how the social environment affects the individual, with these five systems interacting and thus influencing human growth and development.

Elsie’s ecological system has been continually changing for many years. At one point she was living with her husband, son, and her granddaughter. This was followed by living alone with her husband. On losing her husband, Elsie’s son moved in with his wife and two children, one of whom has a disability. There has been very little environmental stability within Elsie’s life, at least over the last 7-years or more. It is perhaps understandable that her health has started to deteriorate. She has recently lost her husband, experienced continually fluctuating environmental conditions, and is now living in a tense atmosphere due to issues within her son’s marriage. It is also important to note that, children’s behaviour and personality can also affect the behaviour of adults; Elsie’s behaviour might be negatively affected by her granddaughters struggle through adolescence and her grandson’s disability. Taking into consideration Elsie’s ecological system highlights the importance of not making assumptions that Elsie’s increased forgetting is a sign of dementia; her symptoms may be the result of stress within her ecological system.

Despite the relevance of this theory to understanding Elsie’s situation, the critique does highlight limitations in its operationalisation (Wakefield, 1996). In particular, since past experiences and future anticipations can impact an individual’s current well-being, lack of inclusion of this element of human growth and development within the Ecological Model is a serious limitation. In addition, the emphasis of the model is on adaptation and thus it has been argued that the theory can be abused and used to encourage individuals to accept oppressive circumstances (Coady and Lehman, 2008). Social workers using this theory in their assessments ideally need to be aware that oppression and injustice are part of the environment that needs to be considered in an ecological analysis. With this consideration, the theory offers social workers a way of thinking about and assessing the relatedness of individuals and their environments; the person is assessed holistically and within the context of their social circumstances.

Disengagement Theory

Disengagement has been described by Cumming and Henry (1961) as “an inevitable mutual withdrawal . . . resulting in decreased interaction between the ageing person and others in the social systems he belongs to” (p. 227). Within their theory, they argue that older people do not contribute to society with the same efficiency as the younger population and thus become a societal burden. In order to function, therefore, society requires a process for disengaging older people. By internalising the norms of society, older people become socialised and take disengage from society due to a sense of obligation. The theory further purports that the extent to which an individual disengages determines how well they adjust to older age. In other words, continued withdrawal from society in later life has been deemed the hallmark of successful and happy ageing.

Applying this theory to Elsie’s situation, it could be that the problems surrounding her forgetfulness in collecting her grandson from school is a step towards social disengagement. Furthermore, it could be theorised that this disengagement was prompted by her husband taking the most extreme form of disengagement, which is death.

There has, however, been much critique of this theory, including the fact that many older people do not conform to this image and remain actively involved in life and in society. Hochschild (1976) has criticised the theory with what has been termed the ‘omnibus variable.’ Hochschild points out that while an older person might experience disengagement from certain social activities, such as retiring from work, they are likely to replace this with something else that is socially engaging such as being more involved in the community or becoming more family-oriented. Indeed, Hochschild’s biggest challenge to Disengagement Theory was the presentation of evidence from Cumming and Henry’s own data showing that many older people do not withdraw from society.

Disengagement Theory creates a picture of older people as lacking freedom to act on their own, thus ignoring individual ageing experiences and describing the ageing process in a purely social context (Gouldner, 1970). Indeed, Estes et al. (1982) argues that disengagement is often forced upon older people, which supports the notion that old age is just as much a social construction as it is a biological process. Older people are, in many ways, socialised into acting ‘old.’ Thus, older age is strongly related to Labelling Theory (Rosenthal and Jacobson, 1968). For example, making assumptions about old age and having low expectations of older people can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This again raises the importance of not assuming that Elsie’s forgetting is a sign of dementia; despite being seen as a natural consequence of ageing, only a minority of people develop dementia (Stuart-Hamilton, 2006).

In many ways, Disengagement Theory serves to legitimise the marginalisation of older people and is, it could be argued, ageist and discriminative. Ageism is the application of negative stereotypes and includes actions such as categorising older people separately from ‘adults.’ This has created immense debate within social work practice, with it being believed by some that distinguishing older people from adults is oppressive and can exacerbate social isolation. Tackling social isolation is being encouraged in efforts to prevent deteriorating health in older age, suggesting that disengagement is far from the ideology purported by Cumming’s and Henry (DH, 2010). The introduction of the Equality Act 2010, which replaces the existing duties on the public sector to promote race, disability and gender equality, now comprises a single duty to promote equality across eight ‘protected’ characteristics, one of which is age. The Act also includes provisions allowing the government to make age discrimination in service planning and delivery unlawful. This is likely to be implemented in 2012 and thus it is crucial that social workers make anti-oppressive practice in the form of tackling ageism a priority. There needs to be a move away from viewing older people as an homogenous group characterised by passivity, failing health, and dependency, as highlighted within Activity Theory.

Activity Theory (Leont’ev, 1978) is a direct challenge to Disengagement Theory in that it suggests that life satisfaction is related to social interaction and level of activity. Nevertheless, as with all theories discussed within this essay, Disengagement Theory can be applied to understanding Elsie’s situation without being oppressive and without taking the extreme position that originally inspired the theory. More modern approaches to human growth and development clearly show the benefits of social engagement versus disengagement; however, disengagement remains a key factor to consider due to ageist attitudes and the socialisation of old age.

Conclusion

This essay has utilised theory and knowledge of human growth and development to demonstrate how social workers can make an informed assessment of a complex family situation. The strengths and limitations of these theories have been discussed, drawing in particular on their application within anti-oppressive practice. All theories offer a better understanding of human growth and development, with some requiring specific adaptation to encompass the core values of social work practice. Such adaptation is not necessarily a disadvantage if the key strengths of each theory are utilised alongside the knowledge and expertise of the social worker.

Discuss how oppression related to your chosen area can manifest itself in institutions and societies, and how it can impact on the lives of individuals and communities. Consider and make specific reference to the social policy response.

The term oppression is not simple to define. It is complex and can take many different forms. Sometimes it is clearly visible and at other times more subtle and difficult to identify. The purpose of this research will be to explore oppression and how it can manifest itself in institutions and societies and how it can impact on the lives of individuals and communities. In order to explore oppression this research will use people with a learning disability at its focus. Firstly this research will look at what oppression is and how oppression of people with learning disabilities has come to manifest itself in institutions and societies. This research will then explore the oppression faced by people with a learning disability and the legislation that challenges oppression. Theory such as Thompson’s (2006) PCS model will be explored in order to aid an understanding of how oppression and discrimination operate within society. Finally this research will explore vales and ethics necessary to promote anti-oppressive practice. Throughout the assignment a social policy response to oppression will be considered.

Thompson (2006) describes oppression as the inhuman or degrading treatment of individuals or groups. It is the unjust and unfair treatment of these individuals or groups of people through the negative and degrading exercise of power, both individually and structurally (Thomas and Wood: 46). “Power is used to implement unfair judgements, often widely, over specific people or groups within society” (Thomas and Wood: 46). At a personal level oppression can lead to demoralisation and a lack of self-esteem, while at a structural level it can lead to the denial of rights and citizenship (Dalrymple ad Burke 2006: 121). Any factors which may perceive a person as being different from the majority increase the possibility of oppression.

Discrimination and oppression are often found when considering people with learning disabilities. This could be due to the confusion between mental illness and learning disability and also the way people with a learning disability have been perceived over time (Thomas and Woods 2003: 49). Thompson suggests a four part models that can be used to inform institutional and societal views and provide an understanding of how people with learning disabilities are viewed (Thompson 1997: 151). The four models include the threat to society model, the medical model, the subnormality model and the special needs model. Thompson (1997) highlights that the first model illustrates the majority view of society at the beginning of the 20th century. “Social and cultural constructs manifest themselves in a fear of abnormality in relation to disability” (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 17). This societal view believed that people with physical or learning disabilities should be contained in special institutions as they were a threat to society. This model led to the medical model which believed in using a scientific approach to manage people and control and contain what society saw as abnormal behaviour (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 14). The medical model became predominant in health and social care and conflicts between the medical model and social model are still apparent in social policy for vulnerable groups (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 14). The third model Thompson suggests which can be used to inform institutional and societal views which provide an understanding of how people with learning disabilities are viewed is the subnormality model. This model is the measurement of medical impairment and the ability to achieve academically (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). An IQ test was invented to be used to diagnose a learning disability and to identify whether the IQ level was below normal (70), if it was below normal subnormality was diagnosed highlighting differences leading to oppression (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). The final model Thompson used in gaining an understanding of how people with a learning disability are viewed is the special needs model. This model considers integration into society but relies on the identification of the special needs of the individual (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). By using this model, similar to the subnormality model, people’s differences are highlighted, making integration into society more difficult. Integration into society is difficult due to the fact that “people are fitted into society and society does not adapt or change to accommodate them” (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). Thomson suggests that elements of each of these models may affect current societal attitudes. Each could play its part in explaining the reason for discrimination and oppression towards people with a learning disability. “What all these models have in common is a tendency to marginalise and disempower, to a greater or lesser extent, people with a medical impairment” (Thomson 1997: 152).

As mentioned earlier the medical model and social model for understanding people with learning disabilities is still in conflict. Historically perspectives on cure, research and treatment have heavily influenced how disabled people are viewed and treated within society (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 59). The focus on the medical model rather than the social model can be seen in language up until very recently. Terms such as ‘spastic’ and ‘retard’ can be seen in policy and medical procedures throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries implying lack of function and therefore lack of worth (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 259). The medical model seems to focus mainly on the impairment and ignore how society reinforces barriers for disabled people and so the social model of disability emerged (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 260). From the social model perspective it is society and structures that are the more significant problem rather than the illness or disability itself (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). The media is a powerful institution for shaping societal views and continues to portray people with learning disabilities negatively which majorly contributes to structural inequalities and oppression (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262). The Marxist perspective on sociology saw the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism as increasing widespread social oppression. With labour power at this time seen as such a huge commodity and “as society is about the relationship between capital and labour, the disabled person is of no use or value” (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262). Learning disability made it difficult to work which led to institutionalisation and segregation. Statistics show that fewer than 5,000 disabled people in England were confined to asylums but by the 1900’s this had increased to 74,000 (http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=702). Oppression from this perspective must be challenged by looking at key structural issues such as political or economic organisations, the media and areas such as employment (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). It is these barriers to participation in society rather than the disability itself that leads to societal and institutional widespread oppression of individuals and communities (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). The social model of disability rejects the medical model stating that it is society that causes disability not impairment (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262).

Having explored how oppression of people with learning disabilities has sociologically developed over time and the types of oppression faced by people with learning disabilities, this research will now explore legislation which challenges oppression and attempts to promote anti-oppressive practice and empowerment. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was introduced to alleviate discrimination on the grounds of disability. Disability in this Act is defined as “physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on ability to carry out normal day to day activities” (Brayne and Martin 1997: 416). This Act creates legislation which deems discrimination on grounds of disability in employment unlawful except for certain circumstances such as the police or armed forces and highlights guidelines of how disabled people should be treated at work or in places of education (Thomas and Wood 2003: 52). The Human Rights Act 1998 was created to attempt to promote individual rights. For people with learning disabilities this means that the Act may help them to live fully and freely, on equal terms with non-disabled people (Thomas and Wood 2003: 52). In terms of economics The Independent Living Fund and the Community Care Act 1996 aim to help disabled people to control and organise their own care and budgets (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 259). Disabled people have become more politicised and campaigned for change, an example being the Disability Rights Commission which advocates for a rights to independent living (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 264). The Adults with Incapacity Act 2000 introduces a new way of supporting adults who do not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves due to impairment (Thomas and Woods 2003: 53). This Act realises that although some complex decisions may not be able to be made other more simple and straightforward choices can be. The Act enables adults with incapacity to maximise their own ability, encourage the development of new skills and ensure that whichever intervention is provided is the least intrusive possible (Thomas and Woods 2003: 54). There is much limitation within legislation through weaknesses of wording and restricted implementation which does not always reflect anti-oppressive practice towards people with a learning disability, however when used positively the law can be used to promote self-determination, equality and rights, key aspects of deconstructing a socially and culturally oppressive society. (Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 91).

Thompson (2006) saw anti-discrimination and anti-oppressive practice as occurring on three levels: personal, cultural and societal and developed a PCS model to challenge oppression. He believed that in order to both understand and tackle oppression looking at the individual alone is not enough, a consideration of the individual, cultural and structural factors is necessary (Thompson 2006: 30). The personal level is the individual level of thought, feelings, attitudes and actions (Thomson 1997: 20). As individuals we have our own beliefs and values which are “heavily influenced both by our past experiences and our current understanding of ourselves and the society in which we live” (Parrott 2006: 13). Individual values and beliefs are learnt from a variety of sources including family, school, culture and religion as well as the society in which we live, political influence and the media (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). Personal values are intrinsic to the culture in which we live and in each culture certain social and cultural values will be exercised (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). These cultural values influence our individual ideas of what is acceptable behaviour and how to treat people who are different and so cultural values can underpin how we act towards people with a learning disabilities which may lead to discrimination and oppressive attitudes (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). The structural level of oppression refers to the network of social divisions and relates to the ways in which oppression is institutionalised and ‘sewn in’ to the fabric of society (Thomson 1997: 20). People with learning disabilities can be affected through social division and the power of society in deciding what is acceptable behaviour and which groups of society require and deserve support (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). By showing how “society influences cultural views, which may in turn impact upon personal values and beliefs” Thomson highlights the importance of recognising all three levels at which discrimination and oppression operate (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). In order to challenge and combat oppression it is essential to have an awareness of the types and ways oppression can occur. At a personal level it is important for social workers to critically reflect on the different values they may hold in order to facilitate a greater ability to challenge oppression and re-evaluate practice (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). At a cultural level the ability to change attitudes becomes harder however it is essential for practitioners to attempt to promote anti-oppressive practice at this level as well as structurally. Thomson (1997) states that in order to promote anti-oppressive practice on all three levels individuals must collectively challenge the “dominant discriminatory culture and ideology and, in doing so, playing at least a part in the undermining of the structures which support and are supported by that culture” (Thomson 1997: 23).

As mentioned previously, values are intrinsic to practitioners being able to practise and promote anti-oppressive practice. Guidelines for professional behaviour have been developed through professional values into a code of ethics which describe behaviours in the form of standards and multi-disciplinary reference points for social care practitioners. The values associated with social work are incorporated within the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) code of Ethics and Codes of Conduct for Social Care Workers and their Employers published by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) in 2002 (Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 87). According to Brayne and Carr (2005) “Practitioners have statutory duties, underpinned by professional codes and personal values to support the most vulnerable members of society” (Brayne and Carr 2005 cited in Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 97). Through these various codes of ethics the promotion of rights, choice, positive education and awareness in society are highlighted which challenge oppression with people with learning disabilities as well as many oppressed groups within society (Thomas and Woods 2002: 61).

Social work promotes social change, problem solving within human relationships and empowers and liberates service user’s to enhance their well-being. Social work practice takes place where service users interact within their environments and involve employing theories of behaviour and social systems; essentially social work concerns itself with service users and wider society. This requires social workers to engage with vulnerable people who are finding difficulties in participating fully in society.

“Social work practice seeks to promote human well-being and to redress human suffering and injusticeaˆ¦..Such practice maintains a particular concern for those who are most excluded from social, economic or cultural processes and structuresaˆ¦.Consequently, social work practice is a political activity and tensions between rights to care and control and self-determination are very much a professional concern” (O’Connor et al, 2006, p.1)

In summary, Social workers in effect walk a thin line between supporting on behalf of a service user who has been marginalised, whilst being employed by both the social and political environment that may have played a key role in that marginalisation (aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦.).

The Brown family case study will be referred to throughout the essay in an attempt to explore and discuss the lived experiences of service users. With such an array of difficulties faced by the family, in order to be able to provide analysis and critique, some of these difficulties and their correlation within social work practice will not be explored. The essay will begin with examining the political background from Margaret Thatcher to the current Coalition government and emphasize their continued functionalist ideologies. It will also discuss sociological constructions of the family, and refer to some of the factors that impact upon the Brown family’s day to day life.

Functionalist Perspective

There are many different perspectives in which to analyse society but this essay does not provide enough scope to discuss each perspective and will therefore view society from a functionalist perspective. This views society as a large system that is sustained by the institutions and individuals that belong to that system. In order to keep the system sustained Durkeim (aˆ¦..) suggested that a key issue was social order and that that this can be established when there is a mutual set of rules values and beliefs (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2008).

The Neo-Liberal ideology of both Margaret Thatcher and New Labour undoubtedly support this functionalist perspective.

This ideology could have a detrimental impact upon the Brown family. The Coalition government have increasingly remained vocal concerning the public functionalist rhetoric. Therefore, the Brown family become a target for scrutiny and negative attention that is only exacerbated by media perceptions of the deserving and undeserving.

Shipman (2011) refers to Iain Duncan Smiths view that the institution of ‘family’ is fundamental to maintaining a stable society.

It is important to also consider how this Neo-Liberal Functionalism can have an effect on social work practice. The rhetoric that is consistently provided can unknowingly influence or change an assessment or alter the type of interventions that may be offered to a family. When simply browsing through the case study, certain issues that the family have attract attention and perceptions of these issues may start to cloud the a professionals judgement of the family before face to face contact has even been made

Social policy has long been associated with an interest in politician’s efforts to try to change the behaviours of complex and troublesome populations and welfare has remained the method for promoting the desired changes in behaviour (Deacon, 2002). The 2011 Welfare Reform Bill guarantees robust measures to make certain that work pays and terminate welfare dependency. In order implement this, the government will be increasing penalties and introducing new restrictions for people who do not abide by the measures (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010). Despite the fact that politicians imply that work is the responsibility of individual, they also place noticeable importance on the fact that work can produce rewards that are not just concerned with remuneration. These include significant enhancements in mental health and well-being, physical health and improve opportunities for children (Department for work and Pensions, 2008). Essentially, they advocate that ‘work is the best form of welfare’ and this expression is accepted by both the New Labour and the Coalition. Facilitating people back into work is considered by the Coalition to be a key factor in attempting to fix ‘Broken Britain’.

The prolific cases of the deaths of Victoria Climbie and Baby P led to such media scrutiny and a downward turn in public perception of social workers. As a result, this has led to changes in social work practice with children and families.

Due to the current austerity measures, social workers gatekeeping of resources and having to meet stringent thresholds often result in limitations being put on families and creating what aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦..describes as a revolving door syndrome. The Brown case study refers to there being intermittent involvement from social services over several years, which supports the suggestion of a revolving door syndrome. Although the case study is not explicit, I think it would be safe to assume that issues faced by the Brown family may have suggested that they meet the section 47 threshold set out in the Children Act which would have triggered social work involvement with the family. However, if the involvement has been intermittent, this would suggest that once significant risk had diminished the involvement with the family was stopped which suggest risk led practice was employed rather than a needs led (Axford, 2010).

Munro’s recent review of child protection (2011) included 15 recommendations. There is not scope to discuss each recommendation but she urges the government to accept that there will inevitably be an element of uncertainty, to allow professionals to have a greater freedom to use their professional judgement and expertise, and to reduce bureaucracy. The response from government is to accept 9 out of the 15 recommendations (DfE, 2011)

Poverty

The case study highlights that the Brown family are dependent on welfare benefits and that they find it difficult to manage their finances. Therefore, they are essentially living in poverty. Poverty can be described as a complex occurrence that can be caused by a range of issues which can result in inadequate resources. It impacts on childhoods, life chances and imposes costs on society

“Child poverty costs the country at least ?25 billion a year, including ?17 billion that could accrue to the Exchequer if child poverty were eradicated. Moving all families above the poverty line would not instantly produce this sum. But in the long term, huge amounts would be saved from not having to pick up the pieces of child poverty and associated social ills.” (Hirsch, 2008: Joseph Rowntree Foundation,p.1)

Cross national studies have suggested that child poverty is not a natural occurrence. Moreover it is a political occurrence, the product of decisions and actions made by the government and society. Attention concerning a dependency culture has filtered through different political parties and have been utilised with renewed enthusiasm since the formation of the coalition government in 2010. These assertions of dependency create propaganda about the attitudes of the workless and they give the wrong impression of the previous efforts of the Labour government to tackle child poverty who focus was to direct increased welfare payments towards those people who are working in low paid jobs. The coalition is currently reducing benefit payments to families in work. As a result of these cuts, many children will evidently be thrust back into child poverty (aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦).

A possible contention is that the coalition government argue that they seek to treat the symptoms of poverty, rather than the causes. However, their analyses of the causes are at best partial or incomplete. While in-work poverty is acknowledged, it is often buried beneath the rhetoric of welfare dependency (ESRC, 2011). The suggestion that previous methods to tackle child poverty have inevitably robbed people of their own responsibility and therefore led them to become dependent on the welfare state that simply hands out cash is absurd (Minujin & Nandy, 2012).

Work is frequently referred to as the favoured route out of poverty. Although the government have introduced numerous policies to ‘make work pay’ there are countless families that still do not earn enough money to attempt to lift their family out of poverty (Barnardos, 2009). More than half of all children currently living in poverty have a parent in paid work (DWP, 2009). The Brown family have both parents out of work, with Anne having never been in paid work and Craig struggling to find regular employment since leaving the Army 8 years ago. Both parents have literacy difficulties and so require a complex package of support to enable them to improve their life chances of gaining employment that pays above the minimum wage in order for their family to no longer be living in poverty.

According to the code of practice (HCPC, 2012) social workers are required toaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦

As mentioned previously, successive Neo Liberal governments uphold a functionalist ideology that frequently locates poverty in terms of personal responsibility and deficits.

Managerialism

As mentioned previously, services have changes over the past 20 years and this can be explained by the emergence of a managerial approach to how services are being delivered. Intrinsically, managerialism is a basic set of ideas that transpired from the New Right criticisms of welfare and is founded on the notion that public services need to be managed in the same way as profit-making organisations (Harris & Unwin, 2009). In the UK there has been a rise in managerialism which can often lead to weakening the role and autonomy of social work practice. In the pursuit of becoming accountable and impartial, managers are attempting to control or prescribe practice in increasing detail which inexorably leads to reducing the opportunity for practitioners to implement individual reasoning (Rogowski, 2011). As a result, this leads to policies that represent rules that can often be described as inept and insensitive for the service user. Therefore, the tussle between the managerial and the professional control in social work practice is often a contested issue (Munro, 2008). As managerialism takes more control, then a shift towards defensive practice develops which results in procedures that are insensitive to the needs of families. In essence, the professional role of a social worker can be progressively reduced to a bureaucrat with no possibility for expertise or personalised responses

In addition, a managerial approach causes conflict, as it emphasises the need for targets that will assess performance and the delivery of services (Brotherton et al, 20120). Furthermore, there is a correlation with an apparent distrust or autonomy of professionals. This has led to an upsurge in scrutiny by a variety of inspection bodies such as Ofsted and this has been extremely significant in the area of child protection following the high-profile cases of the deaths of Victoria Climbie and Peter Connolly.

Housing

The case study draws attention to the socially deprived area in a large city where the Brown family are currently residing and that they are living in private rented accommodation. Recent statistics indicate that increasingly high costs of renting can thrust households and in particular families with children, into poverty or further into poverty. In comparison with other tenures, and with the cost of housing taken into consideration, approximately 54% of children who live in private rented houses are currently living below the poverty line (Harker, 2006).

“Fundamental to all of this is the need for Government to fully recognise the importance of housing as the foundation of people’s lives. Housing must move up the parties’ political priority lists, and become a key part of all policy debates on poverty, standards of living and future economic prosperity. Without this happening, we run the risk that we will damage the fabric of society, and create a bleak future for many.” (Turffrey, 2010, p.25)

According to Shelter, living in poor or insufficient housing can have an immense and possible lasting effect on children’s chances in life. There is also an related shared cost amongst a wide selection of policy areas. In spite of this, policy has afforded little thought to the influence that housing can have on a family. The Every Child Matters agenda offers a unique prospect to improve children’s services, nonetheless it is crucial that housing is incorporated at the core of this agenda. By attempting to tackle unfit or inadequate housing conditions, the government will support children to thrive and it will additionally play a part in the target for the government to end child poverty by 2020.

Education

As previously mentioned, the Brown family live in a socially deprived area of a large city and research has shown that children from deprived areas are often left with modest access to resources and less experienced teachers, as staff with more expendable income chose to relocate to more affluent areas. Therefore, the location in which the Brown children live could have a detrimental influence on their educational opportunities (Barnard, 2011). The case study states that both parents have literacy problems which raise issues about the educational opportunities that they had access to as a child and whether or not the area in which they lived may have contributed to their opportunities. Finally, the case study also highlights the erratic attendance of Holly, Ben and Kirsty at primary school. One could suggest that this may be as a result of their parents own personal scepticism about the educational system and what their children have to gain.

This paper looks at the various theories that explain social interactions within the society, such as the gaze model. Other theories are the social model, the medical model and the stigma theory. These theories provide guidance into understanding the various interactions between the disabled and normal individuals within the community.

Another name for the Down syndrome phenomenon is trisomy 21. This condition occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome number 21 in the body system of an individual. Shildrick (2009) denotes that this condition causes a change in the body make of a child, and this leads to facial disfigurement. This article takes a closer look at the impact of the Down syndrome phenomenon. It analyzes the issues that affect the social construction of people with disabilities, and in this case, children with the Down syndrome phenomenon.

This paper analyzes a variety of theoretical frameworks that explain the behavior of people in regard to the disabled. It synthesis these theories, into various ideologies of inclusion, and helps in answering the question on whether children whose face are disfigured due to the Down syndrome condition are included in the affairs of the society. This paper defines, and critically examines issues surrounding the social constructions of the disabled. Amongst the issues identified are, social identity, facial disfigurement, disability and the notion of the Down syndrome.

DePoy et al (2011) denotes that facial disfigurement occurs when the face of a child takes another form, which is against the normal. It changes the appearance of a person, and the condition has a direct influence on an individual’s perception in the society. Social identity refers to the attitude, or perception that a group in the society, views another person or themselves. Social identity emanates from an individual self-conception. DePoy et al further denotes that this perception of self, results to an individual placing him or herself to a specific social group (2011). John Turner and Henri Tajfel developed the theory of social identity, and they did this after studying the behavior of the society towards the disabled people (Tajfel, 1982).

The theory denotes that social identity is a process that provides guidance on how people behave, within a group or in relation to others. Frances (2004) observes that people within a social group interact by looking at their status in the society. Frances further denotes that the rich tend to interact with the rich, and the disabled tend to interact with the disabled (2004). Their condition in the society gives them the legitimacy to belong to a particular group. According to the social identity theory, the social environment forces the disabled to withdraw from the various social activities within the community (Frances, 2004).

This is because of stigma and discrimination. For instance, children with facial disfigurements will be unable to engage effectively with their peers, either in games or classes. DePoy et al (2011) observes that this is because of the various social groups formed within the society, and these children are unable to fit amongst them.

Selikowitz (1997) denotes that disability arises out of the emotional, physical or mental impairment of an individual’s body condition. Facial disfigurement amongst children with the Down syndrome phenomenon is an example of a physical disability. Selikowitz further denotes that Down syndrome is the main cause of disability amongst children (1997). Pueschel (2006) observes that during the 20th century, children with the element of the Down syndrome were housed in special institutions, and special houses. This is because of the various discriminative policies followed by the government or the society. This had an impact on their exclusion in the society. This changed in the 1960s with the emergence of the Civil rights movements, whose purpose was to advocate for the rights of children with the Down syndrome condition.

To rectify this problem in United States of America, Kathryn McGee formed the National Association of Down Syndrome (Marini et al, 2012). The main goal of the institution was to advocate for the various rights of children with the Down syndrome problem, and ensure their inclusion in the society (Marini et al, 2012). The formation of these associations is an element of the social model theory.

The theory denotes that problems that arise out of the disability of an individual are created by the society. The society is characterized by the presence of social groups, which enhance the notion of self-identity. To help disfigured children, it is essential to use social mechanisms such as peer groups, and civil associations to advocate for the rights of the disabled. The surrounding community must initiate environmental procedures that will protect children suffering from the Down syndrome condition.

This will ensure their participation in all events of their social lives, minimizing the rate of stigma and discrimination that these children suffer from. This theory makes it possible for a change in the perception of the society towards these children. These changes occur in the cultural beliefs, and ideological perceptions. Davis (2006) denotes that the theory recognizes the specific rights of disabled children, and advocates for various measures that will ensure these children are well protected, and included within the society.

Lansdown (1997) denotes that the social model theory advocates for the abolishment of negative stereotyping. It does this through lobbying and holding sensitization conferences to educate people on the various misconceptions about the disabled children. By doing this, they aim to influence their inclusion in the various social affairs of the community. However, medical model theorists argue that disability arises out of the medical malfunctioning of an individual’s body. To these theorists, the facial disfigurement of a child is a medical problem, and it requires a medical solution.

The medical theorists advocate for surgery, and psychological treatment to improve the facial conditions of these children. The theory lobby’s for a health care policy that will address issues that arise because of problems faced by children whose faces are disfigured due to the Down syndrome condition (Marinelli et al, 1991). A good example of such a policy is the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists guidance on the procedures of screening pregnant women. This is to identify whether the children they carry will suffer from the Down syndrome condition.

According to this model, for children with abnormal facial characteristics to participate effectively in the social environment, they must undergo surgery. This will correct their facial defects. Mojo et al, (2010) denotes that surgery plays an important role in reducing the facial features of a child with the Down syndrome condition. He further denotes that this leads to a reduction in discrimination, and social stigma because their faces are corrected to the normal (Mojo et al, 2010). The use of plastic surgery to correct the facial condition of disabled children is controversial. The European Down Syndrome society advocates against its use. According to the society, children with the Down syndrome condition must find acceptance in the society despite their abnormality. In as much as surgery is important, it is essential to enact social policies that will make these children gain acceptance in the society. This is because not every people can afford to the high costs associated with surgery.

On this note, it is a moral responsibility for the society to implement measures that will lead to the inclusion of the disabled in the society. This includes enacting policies that will ensure they get better and quality education that compare to their peers. The policies should create special sports and recreational facilities whose main objective is to enable these children to participate in the various social activities of the society.

The European Down syndrome society denotes that through surgery, the medical institutions accelerate discrimination and the stigma that these children suffer from. Bluhm et al (2009) denotes that these children will became aware of their medical problems, and this will result to their withdrawal from the community. On this note, instead of accelerating the inclusion of these people into the society, surgery has made them to suffer exclusion. Stigma is an issue that arises in this article. Stigma is a disapproval or discontentment of an individual by observing the various characteristics upon the person that makes them different from other members of the society. Stigma emanates from the opinions of other people towards people with disability, and these opinions can either be right or wrong.

By critically analyzing the medical model, children with facial disfigurement suffer from stigma. Rennie (2001) denotes that this is the reason as to why the medical model advocates for surgery, in order to correct their facial conditions. Correcting their conditions will make them integrate within the community, and rectify their low self-esteem. They will manage to involve themselves in various social activities, and these results to their inclusion in the society. According to Erving Goffman, stigma is a behavior and reaction of people, towards another person who does not possess the same identity as theirs. Erving Goffman denotes that there are three different kinds of social stigma, and he names them as (Tremain, 2005);

Deviation that occurs due to an individual’s behavior, such as alcohol addiction and drug use.

Stigma arising from negative ethnicity, and stereotyping. This may either emanate from religion, and or cultural influences.

Stigma may arise out of medical conditions that cause external deformations. In this category are people suffering from the Down syndrome phenomenon.

Due to stigma, children suffering from the Down syndrome phenomenon are unable to interact freely within the society. This is because of the facial disfigurements, which cause their peers to view them as outsiders.

Due to stigma, the notion of negative labeling arises. It creates a sense of us vs. them; as a result, these children cannot fully interact within the society. Their condition makes it impossible for the society to fully accept them, and include them in all aspects of their affairs. These activities can either be social, political, religious or even economic. Tremain (2005) denotes that the gaze theory depicts these children as either worthy or unworthy of societal support.

These supports may take the form of home care treatments, special privileges such as the enactment of affirmative actions in employment and school facilities, etc. The gaze theory measures the ability of children with facial disfigurements by their level of interaction in the society (Tremain, 2005). After measuring the abilities of individuals with the Down syndrome problem, the gaze theory then offers a solution to their problems. This solution is based on the acceptance of a disabled person that he or she is unable to survive without the assistance of the community (Mojo et al, 2010).

Tremain (2005) observes that when a disabled person insists on his ability to conduct his own affairs, the society leaves him alone. Tremain further denotes that these people will struggle to get the services they are entitled to, because of discrimination and stigma arising out of their refusal to give some of their rights for purposes of gaining acceptance (2005). Bluhm et al denotes that this situation leads to the exclusion of the concerned disabled person in the social affairs of the community (2009). Gaze theory can also refer to the manner in which an individual looks at images of a person, in a visual medium, and thereafter make a comparison to the same individual on a visual text. Under the gaze theory, there are social codes that regulate the way in which a person ought to look like (Bluhm et al, 2009).

These codes are strictly regulated by culture. For instance, if a person avoids another person’s gaze, it might reflect a sign of nervousness, fear or lack of confidence. Children whose faces are disfigured cannot properly maintain a gaze (Bluhm et al, 2009). The society looks at them as weaklings, and individuals who lack self-esteem and confidence. Basing on this, they are unable to interact fully within a society, and this affects their inclusion in the affairs of the society.

Despite these challenges faced by people with the Down syndrome condition, there are a number of renowned persons who have defied stigma, and discrimination to make it in the society. Most of them are in the media, and particularly in the movie industry. An example is Andrea Friedman and Paula Sage. Paula Sage is a Scottish actress who won fame for her role in the movie After life. She won the BAFTA awards, as the best female actress of the season 2003 (Kulesz, 2011). She also won the title of the best actress in 2004 during the Bratislava International film festival. Andrea Friedman is also an actress, and has starred in movies such as Life Goes On; and the television series known as Family Guy.

In 1996, Stephen Ginnz was the first actor with a Down syndrome problem to lead a motion picture production. As a result of this, Stephen Ginnz won numerous awards, among them includes, the Wasserman award for the best cinematography, the Warner Bros picture best film award, and the Martin Scorsese best film award. Stephen won all this awards in 1996 (Kulesz, 2011). Another actor is Tommy Jessop, who starred in the BBC drama known as Coming Down the Mountain. In 2008, Tommy won the Radar people of the year, human rights media award. He has also appeared in Holby city, Casualty, Doctors and Monroe. All this are British television series programs. In 2010, Tommy starred in the BBC television program, the Stone. Another notable figure is Pablo Pineda. He is a Spanish actor, who starred in the film, Yo Tambien (Kulesz, 2011). In the film, he takes the role of a university graduate, with the Down syndrome condition. Due to his role in the film, Pineda won the 2009 Silver Shell award. These actors won these awards because of the recognition of their talents by their various viewers. This recognition denotes no matter how disable a person is, with talent, and hard work, he will gain acceptance within the society.

To conclude on this paper, children with the Down syndrome condition face a lot of stigma and discrimination in the societal set up. Their peers view them as outsiders, as a result of this; they are unable to effectively participate in the various activities that their fellow children engage in. This leads to an element of exclusion, and not inclusion. Things are changing in the current century. Movements such as the European Down Syndrome association have emerged, and their main objective is to sensitize people on the various misconceptions they have regarding children with the Down syndrome phenomenon.

PERSONAL REFLECTION ON DISABILITY THAT ARIZES FROM THE DOWN SYNDROME CONDITION:

The notion that people who are disable cannot make it in society is false. These people are human beings, and need to live a normal life, just like normal people, who do not possess any form of malfunctioning in their body system. To help this people lead a normal life, it is important for the government and the society to work hand in hand in ensuring that the disabled manage to acquire social services, such as education, health services, etc.

It is the discriminative tendencies, and the stigma that the society faces that make these children to feel as if they are no longer needed in the society. It is important for the government to enact policies that are effective in tackling the mentioned problems. On this note, to help these children feel as if they are part of the society, the government and all social groups in the community must work hand in hand for purposes of making life better for these children.

Domestic Violence is a widespread problem both internationally and nationally (Tjaden and Tjaden, 2000; WHO, 2000; 2002). In the United Kingdom alone it has been reported that one in four women have experienced domestic abuse, at some point in their lives (BMA 1998; Bacchus et al. 2002 and BCS 2006). These statistics found do not represent the true context of the problem encountered by many professionals who may be in contact with these individuals and families. It has been widely reported that with this being a sensitive topic and the nature of the subject, it has been under reported and therefore not truly representative of how serious the problem is (REF).

To define what domestic violence is it may be helpful to understand what kind of behaviours it may entail. The Home Office’s definition of domestic violence is; ‘Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.’

The issue of domestic violence has no boundaries in regards to gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity, disability or socio economic status. Having said this, it has to be acknowledged that indeed some research does suggest equal prevalence of both male and female perpetrated violence (Straus et al. 1980; Mirrless-Black, 1999 and Morse, 1995). Research has suggested this has failed to account for other kinds of abuse and focused largely on physical assaults. A large error in such studies is in their use of self-completion questionnaires. The use of this tool has been criticised for the heavy emphasis on physical acts that have been taken out of context (Yllo, 1988; Dobash and Dobash, 1992). Thus between acts of self-defence or attack, there is no discrimination nor in the level of impact of the abuse or violence encountered. Mirrlees-Black (1999) however has recognised that the initial findings of her study that showed similar rates for men and women as victims of a violent relationship may not mean that men are equally victimised in the same manner as women. After close examination she found that men interpreted and managed their experiences in a different way to women. In fact men were considerably less frightened, much less injured, and least likely to seek professional help. There are cases of domestic abuse present in same sex relationships, or women as the aggressor towards men but historically, numerically and geographically the most occurring pattern is one of men and their violence towards women (Dobash and Dobash, 1992; and Mullender, 1996). Research has also found that for women the impact of domestic abuse is greater emotionally, psychologically as well as physically (Walby and Allen, 2004; Watson and Parsons, 2005; Women’s Aid and the Women Abuse Studies Unit, London 2001). In addition it has also found steadily that as many as one in three women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives (McGibbon et al. 1988; Mooney, 1994; Dominy and Radford, 1996).

The presence of children in a household has also shown an association with twice the risk of domestic violence for women (Walby and Allen, 2004). In this sense children cannot help but be affected by their experiences of abuse. Hence, while the focus of study and understanding has mostly been achieved in eliciting women and their views, of shelter workers and of other professionals, it has also pursued a line of investigation directly into children’s experience of contact to domestic violence (Buckley, Whelan and Holt, 2006; Hague and Mullender, 2006; Mullender et al., 2002 and McGee, 2000). A substantial amount of literature in this area exists which concentrates on the effects on children (Hague and Mullender, 2006; Hazen et al. 2006). Edleson (1999) has in fact found more than eighty studies in this area.

Childhood is regarded as an important and significant period in anyone’s lifetime. It is a time that should be guarded. Development and learning during this period should be nurtured and supported in the given environment. If the environment is tainted by fear and violence, the act itself of growing up becomes an arduous task. Osofsky (1995) found that exposure to violence can lead to reverting back to childhood, also known as ‘regressive’ symptoms such as bedwetting, delayed language development and anxiousness over separation from parents. Other researchers have also found links between domestic violence within a household and children having learning and behavioural problems which can affect their health, emotional and behavioural well-being (Wolfe et al. 1988 and Margolin, 1998).

It is important to iterate that no researchers in this area have stated that domestic violence causes these maladaptive behaviours. Often where domestic violence occurs, other social problems have been known to also exist. Devaney (2008) found that domestic violence was present when parental substance and alcohol misuse also existed. As you can see this starts to formulate a slightly less straight-forward area of research where many complexities are involved; though serves to highlight other risk factors which may be helpful to look at.

Research in the area has also indicated that there are links between domestic violence and child abuse. Bancroft and Miller (2002) have found that there is a greater chance of a child experiencing physical or sexual abuse whilst living in a household where domestic violence occurs. Indication of how grave the issue is can be seen in a study by Walby (2004) who found that in 40% of child abuse cases there was also co-occurrence of domestic violence. This is further supported by Hester et al. (1998) who suggested that domestic violence is contributory factor in half of all serious case reviews and 75% for those cases placed on the child protection register. This raises domestic violence as a child protection concern in the field of social work and thus has serious implications for practice.

The high prevalence of domestic violence in child protection cases is not reflected in the same way in terms of health care professionals who have discovered a much lower proportion of domestic violence (Naumann et al. 1999; Mooney, 1993). The low rate of detection by professionals can perhaps be attributable to many factors. So far enquiry in this area has suggested that the level of knowledge a practitioner may hold with regards to domestic violence and abuse may be a crucial factor. Peckover (2003) goes further to highlight that professional’s improper attitudes alongside a general absence of understanding and training regarding domestic violence may also explain the low statistics in uncovering abuse. This highlights a significant gap in an area where research and early intervention should be at its most robust. This could be explained that perhaps there is no infallible distinction or separation in both policy and practice of child abuse from woman abuse (Humphreys and Mullender, YEAR).

A reason why the issue exists in such a context i.e. Children’s services, it may be that there is less emphasis on the use of monitoring domestic violence and is not seen as a child protection concern. The services that are available to children living with domestic violence are based on the presumption that is the women’s responsibility to protect the child from experiencing harm, which characteristically involves forcing the partner to leave or leaving the household with her children herself. This also signifies the narrow understanding of domestic violence in a multi-professional manner but also its response to it. Lack of early intervention and strategies in place to identify children who may be at a risk of harm may also lead to increased social exclusion and increased financial strain on the state (REF).

By addressing such themes in the literature review I will aim to demonstrate how the relationship between domestic violence and abuse is such that, where one is existing enquiries should consistently be made about the other. This will help to form safer, more sensitive assessments and well placed interventions.

In light of research shown it may raises questions as to how far the impact of domestic violence is on children who are exposed to it, what possible interventions exist for such a large social problem.

Methodology – I will use to address the problem

Whilst it has been acknowledged that a fully systematic review cannot be undertaken due to the time constraints of my MSc course I intend to use a systematic approach when reviewing literature.

I will use a literature review to highlight key themes and issues brought to light by using a systematic approach when conducting and forming my search. I have also recognised that a non-systematic approach can lead to misleading conclusions in research which is not accurately verified. In addition a non-systematic review does not undertake critique of the literature which is needed to form a balanced judgement. Whereas a systematic approach will facilitate my research question/ rationale with a well-focused searching strategy to enhance appraisal and fusion of the literature I will be researching.

However, I have realised that whilst a literature review is less time consuming and the least expensive research method. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The benefit to employing this method is that it will allow me to be rigorous when synthesising relevant data found, and examine the evidence found. Though the weakness is that it will be not me conducting primary research which would be more beneficial to make the social science discipline more evidence based.

In conducting a search so far I have already recognised the implications in using the terms domestic abuse, domestic violence and intimate partner violence. I have so far found that some of these terms only take into account certain aspects such as physical assaults. Therefore I will continue to use these terms when searching for relevant literature as it is used quite inter-changeably.

To help find literature that addresses the research question I will intend to use established search engines and databases such as Google Scholar; DISCOVER; PsychInfo; and CINAHL. These databases will mostly be used to search for primary sources of research conducted. In addition Dawson Era the online university library will also be utilised for secondary sources such as books and other texts.

Through this I will aim to discuss possible themes that have impacted children’s development in relation to domestic abuse and the risk factors associated. I will also aim to look at intervention strategies in place that recognise domestic violence as a co-occurring factor to potential child protection and safeguarding aspects of social work practice.

To exactly utilise a systematic approach when conducting a literature review it may be important to have an inclusion and exclusion criteria to help in analysing relevant data. For inclusion I will keep a time frame in mind that is in line with current policy and research. As it is only as recent as the last three decades that children and young people have been directly investigated and researched when concerned with the impact of violence to them. Therefore, I have decided to limit data found in the past two decades to address the question.

Therefore in light of research found in this area, it has raised key research questions. The question I have decided to focus my review on which is; what are the impacts of domestic violence on children and what are the implications of this for social work practice.

Expected contribution to knowledge

I will aim to further analyse my findings by utilising theories useful to underpin data found. Theories which I will use will be the Crisis intervention theory, Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, and person-centred theory. These will help to identify further recommendations that could help child care services to better meet the needs of children affected by domestic violence.

To keep from going off topic, I will aim to meet with my dissertation supervisor on a regular basis to uncover and discuss issues in more detail with work presented.

Residential services for people with disabilities are a nationwide and found all over Ireland and abroad. The Health Information and Quality Authority understands the significance “of increasing the quality and safety of care and support for people with disabilities” (www.hiqa.ie) in residential care. HIQA is informed by the Health Act 2007; it was set up to provide the registration and inspections of “designated centres” (www.hiqa.ie) and ensures that standards and policies are complying with the Health Act 2007. They promise that each service will provide a safe, efficient and supportive care to people with disabilities.

This essay aims to critically review the residential services available for people with disabilities in Ireland and abroad. It will look at how these services are delivered, what these services promise to provide, if they are implementing what they have promised and the standards of the service. It will also explain what residential care is and what the residential services used to be like in the past and how people with disabilities were treated.

Residential care for people with disabilities is a service to provide a safe and caring environment for both adults and children who are unable to live at home. According to the Health Service Executive or the HSE residential care “aims to meet in a planned way the physical, educational, emotional, spiritual, health and social needs” of each person (http://www.hse.ie).

Unfortunately it was not always like this, in the past people with disabilities were often sent into residential institutions and treated with abuse. They were not cared for and because very institutionalised as they were often made do the same thing day in and day out, they had no rights and were not allowed make any decisions for themselves (http://www.community-living.info).

There are many different residential settings, as I said above back in the past many residential services were institutions or asylums based care, however as the country has developed most have been changed to homes that are based within the communities, this is where between 3-5 service users live within a home with staff members how care for them when needed. These are better suited as it allows a better quality of life for each service user and gives them a sense of community and of home and most importantly it allows the service user have independence in their own lives.

Residential services for people with disabilities are there to help support people with disabilities in Ireland. Residential services in Ireland are expected to provide people with disabilities with a good quality of life, safety, to uphold rights, to be anti-discrimination, provide support the person to live a life as an equal, enable community integration and to give a responsive service (www.hiqa.ie).

Quality of life is a key element when providing residential services, making sure that people with disabilities have their privacy and dignity are maintained and respected, that they feel their residential service is home, they are not excluded from been given opportunities or been part of the community and that they are supported by staff and that their needs are provided. Equally important is ensuring that each person with a disability in the service has a sense of safety, that they do not receive any mistreatment such as abuse, bullying or neglect. They also need to be reassured that they will not be subjected to favouritism or personalised criticism (www.hiqa.ie).

These areas are both very important and it vital they be included in residential service practice as ensuring that people who have a disability know they are equals and that they will not be treated with insult and that their dignity will be maintained will take away the feeling of being vulnerable to each service user.

Another point stated about is that residential services are to ensure that a person with a disability has all their rights maintained and that they will be treated as equals. They have promised that each person will have the same rights in making decisions and choices about the service they receive such as if they wish to leave the service and live independently the residential service promises to support the person’s right to this. Following this the residential services in Ireland promise to ensure that no person is exposed to discrimination and that the same service and rights is given to each service users and that if discrimination arises they support the person by advocacy (www.hiqa.ie).

Additionally, having these points included in residential care services is significant as we must remember some if the services users are away from home and need to be assured that they will not be harmed and will be supported in all of their decisions. To not have these included would mean that many service users would be open to maltreatment and discrimination which is not a fair way to live.

The Health Information and Quality Authority also informs us that residential services are they not only provide people with disabilities with a good quality of life and upheld rights but they also promote person-centeredness which is a concept that the service builds their particular service to an individual which centres around their characteristics (www.hiqa.ie). They also encourage each service user to be involved in the community and to have their own social network. Finally, they state that the residential services are to be managed in a way that each service user will have good experiences.

Guaranteeing that each service user has a voice if not their own but given to them to ensure they can have the same rights and opportunities as every other person in the country and within the service is also important to have contained within the residential services. Furthermore, not excluding people with disabilities from society is a positive standard which works as it will encourage changes in attitudes in communities.

This next section of the essay will focus on the standards that Irish residential service are to follow, these are also used when looking at the various centres to see if they are meeting these standards or not.

Furthermore, these expectations are part of the development of standards for residential services, they also impact the way a service is delivered. The Health Information and Quality Authority have set up some standards that each centre and service use to inform their practice. These standards consist of seven sections which are quality of life, staffing, protection, governance and management, the physical environment, rights and health and development.

Each section adds up to 19 standards; they are developed with the help of those that work in the sector as well as families and people with disability. Each section is important, as I have already discussed quality of life I will give an example of the Staffing standard. This standard explains how each service user needs members of staff that are qualified, have experience are competent to achieve the goals they wish too with the support from these staff members (www.hiqa.ie). Another vitally important standard is under the heading Protection, this discusses how both staff and service users are safeguarded from mistreatment this includes finances.

Following on from this we need to see if the residential services in Ireland do their job and if they provide the service they are suggesting they do. The one thing that makes these effective are that the HIQA establishes that inspections will be regularly to ensure they each service and its staff are applying these correctly. This makes certain that the safety and precise care are provided to each service user. However one subject that could be added is, it does not state how often and extensive these inspections will be.

After reading through these standards, they are very clear and easy to understand. They are appropriate guidelines for workers to use to ensure the best care for their clients. They seem to cover most areas of care and various situations that may arise such as discrimination. It explains who the Health Information and Quality Authority are and what Acts they were guided under. The aims of what the Health Information and Quality Authority were clearly stated and it also included what their responsibilities are.

The section set out under complies of whether the various services and centres in Ireland follow these standards and if they provide what they have said they do. It will focus on one service in Ireland called Brothers of Charity.

To get a better understanding of how they are implemented and if they work we can apply it to a services like the Brothers of Charity. Brother of Charity state in their mission statement that they “value the uniqueness, and respect the rights of each person in our community” (Brothers of Charity 2012). They are known for been one of the most respected organisations for working with adults and children with disabilities. This services aims are similar to that of the standards in the Health Information and Quality Authority. This is a positive thing as it shows they have the intention to comply with these standards and to follow the Health Act 2007.

Brothers of Charity manages each of their centres and provides each service user with appropriate care while maintaining each individuals dignity, they manage each client well and have the correct documentations and professionalism when working with both clients and other staff members. They create a safe, healthy, caring environment through-out the service centres.

Subsequently, this section will compare the Irish residential services to those in Europe. It will focus on the differences between them and the similarities. It will also discuss the various changes and the reasons behind them.

Comparing the Health Information and Quality Authority to other residential services outside of Ireland, other countries focus more on having people within residential care be more interactive in their daily living as well as being more involved within the community. The reason for this is because in the past many people with disabilities were not respected in residential services and were mistreated.

The final section will look at how the service to best practice in social care and also concentrates on how the service contributes to professionalism.

Having reviewed the residential service in Ireland I have learnt some key elements of social care. There are many practice methods that social care practitioners use when working within residential services for people with disabilities. There are various approaches that social care practitioner’s use however one in particular that work best for residential care are person-centred practice.

Person-centred practice is an approach that allows a service user to be involved in their own care i.e. “treatment and care provision by health providers that place the person at the centre of their own care and considers the needs of the person as carer” (Lane, R 2012) It works best with residential services as it has a positive outlook on people with disabilities, it also works with the service user to develop goals that both service users and key-worker share, it is an empowering practice as it gets the person with a disability involved with their agencies and the wider community.

Additionally, it involves the family as well which is important in residential service as many of the service users miss family members therefore having them involved helps with this. It also is set within the standards of the Health Information and Quality Authority which implies they also agree it is the best practice. We see through the standards how they include this mention several times to respect the service user’s ideas, choices and needs. Person-centred practice also is about getting the service user involved in the community; this is also expressed several times in the standards.

Furthermore, P.O.Ms which stands for Personal Outcome Measures, this offers “people an opportunity to define their own quality of life outcomes and exert choice and self-determination” (Lane, R 2012). This has a beneficial effect on the service user involved, similarly to person-centred practice is focuses on the person, however the difference is when the program is being reviewed it is the service users critique that is taken into account. Likewise it is all about supporting the client and ensuring the quality of life of the client is defined by them and only them (Lane, R 2012).

This is a suitable practice for a residential services it benefits both the service users and the service, this is because of the feedback given from the service users which ensure that the service delivers a better quality of service and that the service users receive a high quality of service (Lane, R 2012). It also informs staff how best to support each individual service user. Moreover, it forms a better relationship between service user and staff member as it involved the key member to learn and listen more attentively to the needs of the service user.

Finally, by placing policies within the residential services for recruitment to ensure that each staff member knows these standards and upholds a professional manner both with staff and with their client. Keeping a professional manner is vital as you will be working with a large number of people that may be vulnerable. When working with other professionals and team members professional behaviour needs to be maintain to assure that you are capable of working within a team, if a problem arise is it necessary to sustain a professional conduct as it is important so show you are able to deal with conflict. In addition, when working in residential care it will be require from time to time to advocate on behalf of your service users, obtaining and preserving a professional demeanour is key to make certain you are speaking correctly and clearly in getting the best solution for your service users.

In conclusion, the Health Information and Quality Authority are vital for people with disabilities. Without it many people would be made exposed to risks and other are open to been subjected to abuse. With frequent inspections it assures that these do not arise and that service users are receiving the best possible care that can be given.

International countries are very similar to Ireland, they aim to help people with disabilities obtain their rights and make sure they are being fulfilled. Overall Europe is striving to continue changing the way of life for people with disabilities for the better.

Finally, certifying professionalism and best practice are implemented aids residential services. They advise staff on how to best facility each service user.

Introduction: –

The term community has various meaning. We can define community is a place where people living in the particular geographical area and they shares their common values, interests and they follows a particular way of living. The term community may refer to the national community or international community. In biology a community is a group of interacting people sharing a populated environment. Apart from a geographical area a community is a group or society, helping each other. In human communities belief, resources, needs, interest and a number of other conditions may be present in common, which also affects the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. In every society various types of communities may take place. Some categorizations are as follows:-

Geographic communities: It ranges from the local neighborhood, suburb, village, town or city, region, nation or even the planet as a whole. These refer to communities of location.

Communities of culture: It ranges from the local clique, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious, multicultural or pluralistic civilization, or the global community cultures of today. They may be included as communities of need or identity, such as disabled persons, or frail aged people.

Communities are nested; one community can contain another-for example a geographic community may contain a number of ethnic communities.

Identity is also one of the important factor to assess the type of community. For example if a group of people shares the common identity other than the location, we can call that as community based on their common interest.

Likewise, in present scenario we can see that various communities exist in society based on the certain profession. A professional community is a group of people where they are with the same or related occupations.

Not on the basis of above things, There are different things that bound people together to their different communities or that they may have in common with the other people living around them, which includes beliefs and values, traditions, common interest, language, territory, religion, culture and occupations.

Community Mobilization:

A strong community feeling one can identifies at the time of crisis and occasions like change for families, such as marriage and death. In a community people shared their ‘we feeling’ with each other. As we know that proper management and utilization of resources is the best possible way for the development of the community. Therefore community mobilization is always prominent for the development and upliftment of any community. For mobilizing the community people make their plans and then do the things accordingly. They take charge, transforming, developing their community and their lives as well. Community mobilization is a process which allows people in the community to identify their needs and problems and bring them together for a social action and their community development.

Communities can mobilize to work for changes that will fulfill the social, emotional, financial and physical needs of people. Community mobilization is an organized process through which people can aware regarding the present situation of their community also how to bring positive changes within the community by using various resources. Nutshell, community mobilization is one of the strategic method which helps the people to attain maximum community development. For community mobilization communication is one of the important tool to achieve it. Through proper and effective communication various methods of mobilizing the community can be implemented. Here we are discussing the various methods for community mobilization by given actors as per the fig 1.1.

Mobilizing the community

Political Parties

Social Movements

Individual groups

Political Parties

The use of social networking sites by political parties and other politically active groups has been increased in these days. All these political and other groups realized that by suing of social networking sites many people can be mobilized. The internet has become the strongest communication tool even at the global level. Even various politicians also used Twitter, Flicker, You Tube, and Facebook among people to communicate and mobilize people. As political parties using of social networking sites is one of the effective method to mobilize the people.

In the present scenario, the use of social media is really important to mobilize the people and communities for collective action. We know that today millions of people are connected in one way or another to the internet. People are easily accessible on internet. It is another way of reaching large numbers of people to mobilize them for a group effort. Facebook, Mixit, Twitter can also be effective for the above. To generate awareness among people and to mobilize them in large number to make a community independent. Newspapers, radio stations and the TV have the authority to inform thousands more people about various campaigns for mobilizing any community.

By writing a press release, a political party can highlight the facts, people’s demands, and what people want the media to talk about regarding the development and continuous empowerment of their community. Parties can also organize a press conference. So they can invite the reporters to come to a meeting where spokespeople from the community organization speak out publicly about the problem and the solution of the problems of community.

Apart from above, Political rallies and the use of local languages are instrumental in the mobilization of groups for social action.

Social Movements

Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues for their development. In other words, they carry out, resist or undo a social change in the society. Social movement campaigns play a critical role in mobilizing and maintaining the submerged networks of social movement communities. A social movement refers to collective effort organizing from the people for their development and to bring social change in the society. Community mobilization is often used by grassroots-based social movements, which includes revolutionary movements.

Through Social movement for mobilizing the people in community we can apply various methods like large public gatherings such as mass meetings, marches, parades, processions and demonstrations. These gatherings usually are part of a protest action. These are the different ways by which a community can be mobilized and can raise voice for the demand of development of the community. In other words, community mobilization seeks to facilitate change within the community for its development.

Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature), and increased mobility of labor due to the industrialization and urbanization of 19th century societies. Social movements have been and continued to be closely connected with democratic political systems. Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they have developed after democratization. Modern movements often utilize technology and the internet to mobilize people globally. Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements. Research is beginning to explore how advocacy organizations linked to social movements use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

Social movements are any broad social alliances of people who are connected through their shared interest in blocking or affecting social change. Although social movements do not have to be formally organized. Social movement is always an important tool to bring the change in society and as well as to mobilize the communities for their own development.

By arranging people in mass meetings, parades, marches, discussions on various issues, movements for stressing the education of people, bringing the concept of democratization in light communities can mobilize through theses social movements. Social movements are always a part of society, and people may compare their options and make rational choices about which movements to follow. As long as social movements wish to be success, they must find resources (such as money, people, and plans) for how to meet their goals.

Furthermore, for organizing successful social movements and mobilizing the people there should be strong and effective networking with other organizations especially the organization which are exist in the local community. There has to be proper networking and strong communication even on the grass roots organization which are working locally in the community such as Church groups, clubs, special interest organization, local schools, hospitals , recreational groups and other community groups can support the social movement and through effective and strong networking with the above organizations we can mobilize the communities.

Physical concentration is also necessary for organizing successful social movement and for mobilizing people. We should bring people into closer proximities in cities, factories, local university campuses which help the social movement to get into the right direction for mobilizing people for their betterment in society. Also a co-optable communications network should be there to speed up the social movements for mobilizing the people and to spread awareness among the people. As we know that the greater the number and excessive participation of people builds a strong network which leads to mobilizing the greatest number of people. Also for maintaining the above and to get a fuller participation of people and to mobilize them we need to able ourselves to maintain the resources within and outside the community. We should also provide the equal opportunity to each and every unit of the community. We cannot let the youth and other units to go. We need to encourage every individual with no matter of his / her own personal identity. We need to motivate people to participate actively in the social movement and consider the point of availability in our mind. As

People with full time jobs, marriage and family responsibilities are less likely to participate in social movement activity. Autonomous individuals with few personal responsibilities such as college students and single professionals are much more likely participants. On the other hand, for mobilizing people without considering them as particular unit of society, we need to encourage them for their maximum participation. Through motivation and encouragement we can mobilize people and can make them ready for their community development.

Individual groups

It is always easy to start a fire and involve a number of people. Community members need to choose certain people whose role will be to keep the fire of community mobilization burning. In this guide these people will be called ‘motivators’. People in the community know each other very well. Take time to carefully choose honest people who are respected by others, and who can encourage others to work well together. They need to have some time and energy available, have a desire to bring change and be willing to work free of charge. Each community should select two or three motivators. The people chosen will need equipping and support in their role. Each local area has a number of different kinds of resources. People use these resources to keep alive and to cope with changing seasons, political change and cultural pressures. Helping people to understand and to value the different resources they have is very important. These are the main kinds of resources:

_ Natural resources include land, trees, forests and water.

_ Human resources include the skills, knowledge, understanding and labour of local people.

_ Financial resources include money, access to credit and loans, credit unions and government support.

_ Social resources include the culture, traditions, organizations, friends and extended family.

_ Physical resources include buildings, tools, roads, water pumps and transport.

_ Spiritual resources are the strength and encouragement that people gain from their faith.

Local people already know more than any outsider about their community and the people living there. Many people assume they know everything about their local area, but there is always more to learn and understand before making new plans. Take plenty of time to help people in the ‘community’ to tell their story together. One very effective way of doing this is to draw maps, either using clear ground with sticks, leaves and stones, or if available, large sheets of paper and pens. Encourage small groups to draw different maps to show:

– the natural and physical resources in the area (hills, forests, roads and rivers, for example)

-where people live, noting important people and organisations

-how the area looked 50 or 20 years ago (only for older people).

So for mobilizing communities, individual groups can do the social mapping of the community so that the people can aware about the present problems in the community.

Another helpful way to focus on key issues within the local area is to encourage people to prepare a role-play to express their concerns. As people discuss what subjects to use, they will often focus on important issues. However, they are also likely to share these in funny ways. Laughter has a way of taking the pressure out of a situation, helping people to discuss sensitive issues, sometimes for the first time. Again, encouraging people to work in small groups is another way to mobilize the communities.

Having chosen their first priority for action, local people need to decide whether they have enough information to take action. For example, if education is identified as the priority, people may need more information about the problems and whether they are at primary or secondary level. The problem may be poor attendance and, if so, there is a need to find out why.

Considering electing teams of local people to gather relevant information is another way to mobilize the communities. Choose people who can be trusted and who know their community well. Before sending teams out to gather information, take plenty of time to decide exactly what kind of information is needed. Apart from this, conducting role plays- street plays in the community is always a good strategy to mobilize the maximum number of people and to preparing them for a social action.

By Arranging a community meeting to share all the information gathered is showing information clearly to the people. A large number of people can mobilize for the collective action after getting all the facts and problems of the community.

Also, motivation plays an important role in this activity. As keep motivating the people in right direction is always worthy and will be fruitful for attaining maximum development of the community.

Initial contact with the community is another way to mobilize people. Understanding community practices and traditions prior to establishing contact can help identify the appropriate approach for engaging with different groups and members of the community. It is important to focus on learning from the community, especially during the initial contact. Taking every opportunity to meet informally with diverse members of the community (at the health post, during registration, at distribution points, in the queue for water). Also utilizing community leaders also increases the chances of reaching a cross-section of the population and not just a narrow representation. It is essential that all members of the community receive word about mobilization and how they can be involved. Outreaching to those who are isolated, vulnerable or considered. If they cannot personally attend a meeting, it is important that they be represented in some way. So as per the above discussion, motivating people, arranging meetings, initial contacting with the communities, utilizing the community leaders, conducting role-plays, street plays, community outreaching are different ways to mobilize the maximum people of community by individual groups.

Also, identifying an existing committee or a community-based organization which can give individual groups access to the community and facilitate distribution of messages. Meeting the host community and the authorities is important to reach out the goals for community development and mobilization. Messages might only reach certain groups, such as community leaders, and not all members of the community. Developing outreach strategies with the leaders and others to ensure that everyone is informed, including women, girls and boys, minority groups, and people with mental and physical challenges. Making sure that information is delivered in a language everyone can understand, is culturally sensitive and is correctly perceived and understood. As always communication should be effective and strong for the mobilization. Arranging meetings at mutually convenient times. As far the mobilization concern, for development of any community individual groups should make positive rapport building among the community with key people- like facilitator, leaders, service providers etc. and whole community as well. A good rapport building is effective strategy to mobilizing the people. Transparency, respect and consistency are essential for building trust, confidence and collaboration between organizations and partners, including members of the community. Also individual groups have to make ensure that after the first contact immediate follow-up action is taken or not.

Orienting the Community is another way to mobilize the people. The first step in mobilizing the community is to orient them to the process. This can be done in a number of ways, including written communication, television, radio, or an organized meeting. Meetings are more personal and conducive to building relationships. They also facilitate two-way communication where questions can be answered efficiently. As groups can motivate community people for their maximum participation in every discussion as they should feel that they are the key part of it. Also to start these meetings as soon as possible, so that trust and a positive working relationship can be built between parties. Having the meeting sponsored or hosted by a respected individual or group within the community can add credibility to its agenda. This may happen through a church, school, tribe, or other local group. Utilizing community leaders also increases the chances of reaching a cross-section of the population and not just a narrow representation. It is essential that all members of the community receive word about mobilization and how they can be involved. Outreach is prominent to those who are isolated, vulnerable or considered marginal is critical. If they cannot personally attend a meeting, it is important that they be represented in some way. Individual groups should take care of these things before conducting any activity as part of the community or within the community. An only arranging meeting is not as sufficient. The goals of the meeting must be carefully considered and reflected in the agenda. Community leaders can provide assistance presenting the information in a culturally appropriate manner. Some of the community leaders may be chosen to convey topics with which they are familiar. During this meeting, it is important to invoke the input of the community. Identify their needs and begin to priorities how those needs will be met. Individual groups should know that this meeting will be an opportunity to develop an awareness of what the contributing organizations can provide, and also an opportunity to learn about the strengths and resources of the community. It will be important to define mutual goals and develop a plan as to how to reach these goals. This will include organizing individuals to work together and coordinate services. Proper organization of every resources and management is necessary to mobilize the people. Also individual groups should develop ongoing ways to communicate for mobilizing the people. Once goals have been defined and a plan has been developed, it will be important to identify ongoing ways to communicate. Rather than having large meetings, cluster meetings of project staff, community leaders and community members working on similar tasks are more manageable and efficient. The groups should begin team building with all team members (international and national staff, community leaders and community members). It is vital that marginalized and vulnerable people are included in these teams. Intervention with the community may be required for them to ‘allow’ marginalized or isolated members of their community to participate in a team. Working in small teams that include affected people as well as outside helpers. Team leaders should meet daily for sharing of information, planning and coordination. Not all teams will be required for all emergency response projects. Some people may be a member of more than one team.

Conclusion: – It is to be concluded that for continuous community development mass awareness, people mobilization is very important. In our society there are different resources which can perform to mobilize the community. But one should only need to generate these resources within the community or outside the community. Maximum resource utilization and mobilization of people are key things for developing any community.

Community development emphasizes participation, initiative and self-help by local communities but should be sponsored by national governments as part of a national plan.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the historical and political perspective of social work provision in relation to people with dementia. It will explore how the development of social work practice has transformed these groups, the impact of social exclusion they experienced that lead to discrimination and/or oppression and the benefit of listening to service users’ views.

The primary mission of social work profession ‘is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty’ (Baker 1999 Pg 55). Social work has an important role to play in coordinating efforts to support people with dementia who may often have negative experiences of mental health services. As a result, it will be a challenge to provide effective social support to these groups in an environment where their views are being seen as significant and where they do not receive services fairly and uniformly (SCIE July 2008).

The medical terms ‘dementia’ has developed since the 19th century and was used to describe people whose mental disabilities were secondary to acquired brain damage, usually degenerative and often associated with old age (Tibbs 2001). Before the 19th century, a person with dementia would probably have been confined to the workhouses. (Marshall et al 2006). During this period, many sufferers were taken away to a Workhouse Infirmary with medical care on hand and given outdoor relief (Denney 1998). Whereas charities began to emerge during this era however there were no good measures in place to deliver social work services; no criteria to determine who the ‘deserving and ‘undeserving’ poor were, therefore help provided were viewed as indiscriminate (Howe 2009).

As the 1940s progressed, there were new developments and approaches in the treatment of people with mental disorders. Poor houses for destitute elderly people were slowly replaced by old people’s homes (Marshall et al 2006). The period after the Second World War saw the development of the welfare state. There was a national agreement that the state has an obligation to provide full services in order to respond to problems of poverty, mental health, old age etc (Tibbs 2001).

The implementation of Beverage report published in 1942 directed at abolition of squalor, want, ignorance, disease and idleness. The National Assistant Act 1948 laid a foundation upon which future social work was built and created departments to meet the needs of different client groups (Tibbs 2001). During the late 20th century, both conservative and New Labour legislation have an impact on Mental Health reformation. The establishment of Social Service Departments introduced in 1970 reviewed in Seebohm reports (1969), enabled Local Authorities to promote welfare services for the elderly which had not already been included within the framework of some other statutory body. (Tibbs 2001).

The 1983 Mental Health Act introduced during the conservative regime mark a further move towards legislation to improve matters with statutory requirements and procedures for social workers to be properly trained in order to carry out professional assessments. The Act ensures professionals who work with elderly people with dementia and indeed those who suffer from mental disorder have a basic understanding of the Mental Health Act, even if they do not act as Approved Social Workers (Tibbs 2001).

The role of carers have also been crucial in the field of dementia care through the introduction of The Carers Act 1995 & 2000, which gave statutory recognition and right to carers, and funding through provision of Direct Payment (Marshall et al 2006). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is also a relevant Act to people with dementia and their carers. It includes the provision of independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCA) to protect vulnerable people and dementia sufferers to gain more control over their lives, plan for the future and have their retained abilities recognised.

It is important to address the impact of discrimination on these service groups as they suffer disability and as a result are subject to degrading treatment from the relatively powerful groups within the society. (Tibbs 2001). Research shows that the society’s fear towards dementia causes them to avoid people with the condition making them feeling isolated and stigmatised (BBC 2010). According to Thompson (2006), discrimination is a process through which a difference is identified, and can be positive or negative. He suggests that negative discrimination also involves making a negative attribution and attaching devalued label to a person.

Dementia is one of the major causes of disability in the elderly, affecting personal care, everyday cognitive activities and social behaviour. To be diagnosed as having dementia involves a great deal of stigma, often resulting in disadvantage and loss of life chances by the sufferers. (Kitwood 1997). Although, dementia is strongly associated to elderly but research shows that increase number of people diagnosed with the ill-health are under 65 years of age and are referred to as ‘young onset dementia’ (SCIE not dated). These service users are likely to experience inequality because society and professionals fail to recognise that dementia exists in this age group and they can continue to integrate within the society (SCIE not dated). They will have different circumstances in life from older people with dementia because they are more likely to be in paid employment, have young children and have financial commitments.

They will have to discontinue employment as most services are not able to cope with their condition which means promotion prospect and pension entitlements are lost. (Marshall et al 2006). Feelings of discrimination and oppression may also be a barrier to people asking for support (Downs et al 2008). From experience, some people from black minority ethnic groups (Asian and Black Community) diagnosed with the ill-health would rather keep it in the family than to get help because they see it as being shameful (BBC 2010). Furthermore, accessing services can be complicated because there are no age-specific services available as most of the developed services are for older people with dementia (Tibbs 2001). Lack of access to services could result in extra burden being placed on families when the care needs exceed the ability to provide (Downs et al 2008).

Emotional impact is one of the significant factors experienced by dementia sufferers. There is also a prejudice with sufferers because of the association with madness and psychiatric disorder that the label creates. (Brooker 2007). They also experience social isolation due to withdrawal of friends which diminishes their social networks and inability to meet a perceived societal expectation. (Crawford 2004). From experience with elderly, people sometimes hold ageist view against them by the way they talk to them e.g. name calling as ‘sweet old lady’. According to the Alzheimer Society publication, ageist societal attitudes compound the experience of elderly people with dementia who already appear to be prejudiced because of their age and intellectual decline. (Crawford 2004).

Health professionals often consciously or otherwise oppress elderly with dementia because of their position of authority which could prevent them from making their own choice thereby disempowering them (Crawford 2004). From experience, professionals sometimes in their attitudes assumed elderly people with dementia are incapable of providing valid information or making decision for themselves, by constantly focusing their attention to their carers instead of the service users. They are often seen as being a burden to the state economy resources and are subjected to considerable pity as they are deemed to be ‘out of their mind’ Crawford (2004).

Research shows that it is often assumed that people with dementia are not articulated enough to express their opinion or views on any aspect of their lives because of problems with communication through speech (Brooker 2007). As a result, practitioners inclined to rely on alternative views, usually provided by family carers, rather than their view. However, the needs, experience and perception of the carer might be different from that of the person they are caring.

Empowerment and giving voices to people with dementia is a vital part of anti discriminatory/oppressive practice. (Tibbs 2001). The needs for communicating and empowering dementia sufferers by involving them in decision making became major considerations within social works field. It is anticipated that the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 will address some of these issues. Begum (2006, P.3) defined user involvement as ‘participation of users of services in decisions that affect their lives’. People with dementia voices can be valued by promoting active participation within care relationship regardless of their age or cognitive impairment rooting out discriminatory practice. (Marthorpe et al 2003). Involving service users in decision making often leads to increased self-esteem and confidence. (Chaston et al, 2004, P.19) quotes that ‘It is good to feel valued and to be somebody, not just anybody’

Effective service therefore must be provided to change the needs of people with dementia (Cantley 2001). One of the main principles to consider in social work code of practice as stipulated by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) is the right of service users to be treated with dignity and respect in order for them to make informed choices about the services they received. Practitioners must therefore acknowledge who they are, listen to their circumstances; treat them as a unique person with worthy of dignity and respect. It is therefore imperative that during intervention with service users with dementia, health practitioners should go beyond safety to promote their choice, maintain independence, autonomy and their self determination Cantley (2001).

It is essential to encourage these service user groups to express their views and preferences in order to build their personal strengths and confidence. Listening to them will provide them the opportunity to express their views on how dementia affects them, what they consider important in their lives, including how services should meet their health and social care needs (Tibbs 2001). People with dementia, either independently or in small groups, should be given the right to participate directly in service planning and development processes (Warren 2007). Practitioners can provide a range of methods and approaches which will enable them to make a choice that will influence future service provisions. They can be engaged to make decision through direct observation and communicating using specific tools or systems (Warren 2007).

This will enabled the practitioners to have a better understanding of individual needs particularly, of people diagnosed with dementia that have complex needs and communication impairment. Research shows that these service users’ groups can still articulate their opinions about their well-being and quality of care even though they are severely cognitively impaired (Mozley et al 1999). For example, Talking Mat is an innovative method of allowing their views to be heard in order to make decision about managing different aspect of their life (SCIE not dated). They can also be involved in activities through collective approach which will provide them the opportunity to be in control by acting collectively to influence services and the broader communities. Such activities are often combined with elements of peer support and empower them through collective involvement (Cantley 2001).

It is also important to devise services that will fulfil their needs by obtaining the necessary information from them, which could be by occasionally adjusting services that were designed to meet their needs as perceived by others. Information about their routines, choices, preferences, culture before, during and after they are diagnosed with the ill-health, which is important to their well-being and at their best interest must be documented in their care plan in order to meet their needs and to organise their care support effectively. (Cantley 2001). Organisations such Alzheimer Society and Social Care Institute of Excellence provide support to carers and health professionals to improve the quality of life of people affected with Dementia through web resources, free e-learning programmes etc in order for their voice to be heard (Alzheimer’s Society). Also, The National Dementia Declaration for England has made a pledge to improve services for service users and carers by ensuring that they have choice and control over the decisions that affect them and live in a supportive environment (Community Care 2010).

Overall, it can be concluded that over the years, there have been changes in development of social work provision which has brought about important legislations to tackle the issues of discrimination and oppression on people with dementia. It has been evaluated that public and professional attitudes towards ageing and the ill-health are now changing rapidly. It was also recognised that through good social work practice, involving dementia sufferers in decision making would enhance empowerment; promote their choices and self determination while maintaining independence. This provided me with understanding of how services’ views are essential in improving social service provisions. It is therefore imperative to encourage further learning within social work provision to ensure good practice is sustained.