Introduction This unit describes some of the effects of drinking alcohol. It looks at alcohol's journey through the body and its effect on the liver. It also discusses some possible beneficial effects. This is an important health issue and should be of wide interest. This unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course Introducing health sciences: a case study approach
(SDK125)
Acknowledgements Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:
7.7 References for Extract 6 Barclay, R. (1982) Social Workers: Their Role and Tasks, London, NISW, Bedford
Square Press. De Long, P. and Berg, I.K. (2001) ‘Co-constructing Cooperation with Mandated Clients’, Social Work, 46(4), pp. 361–74. Department of Health (DoH) (1998) Modernising Social Services, London, HMSO. Harris, R. (1997) ‘Power’ in Davies, M. (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Social Work, Oxford, Blackwell. Hugman, R. (1991) Power in the Caring
7.6 Conclusion This extract has emphasised the importance of becoming familiar with the framework of learning outcomes within which your progress would be assessed. It is imperative for you to be an active learner and take responsibility for what you want and need to get out of your studies. You willl achieve this through reflection on the process of your practice learning experiences and feedback from those involved in assessing your progress.
7.5.1 The statement of expectations A social work degree places an increased emphasis on service users' perspectives. This was first outlined in the White Paper Modernising Social Services (DoH, 1998) that introduced legislation to set up the new qualification along with the regulatory and registration mechanisms discussed above within the devolved nations of the UK. This emphasis on the perspectives of service users is illustrated through the results of extensive consultation exercises carried out with them, their carer
7.3 Key roles of social work The internationally agreed key purpose is, as we have seen, a broad statement that is open to debate. It encapsulates a wide brief for social work. You may well want at this stage to focus in more detail on what it is you will need to do to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to become a qualified social worker in the UK. The key purpose of social work was used as a basis for the development of a number of roles for social workers in the UK and these form part of the overall frameworks used
7.2 The key purpose of social work The starting point for the development of these standards is the identification of the key purpose of social work, for which the international definition of social work has been adopted: a profession which promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at t 6.2 References for Extract 5 Barnes, M. and Walker, A. (1996) ‘Consumerism versus Empowerment: a principled approach to the involvement of older service users’, Policy and Politics, 24 (4) pp. 375–93. International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) (2001) ‘International Definition of Social Work’. Available from: [accessed 11 January 2008]. Leadbet 5.7 References for Extract 4 Barn, R. (1999) Working with Black Children and Adolescents in Need, London, BAAF. Butler-Sloss, E. (1988) Report of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland, London, HMSO. Department of Health (2000) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, London, Department of Health. Gardner, R. (2003) Supporting Families: Child Protection in the Community, Chichester, John Wiley. James, A. and Prout, A. (1997) Constructin 5.6 Final words While social work knowledge, skill and experience can make a difference to a family, the contexts in which we practise create the processes which, more than anything else, determine the life chances of us all. Whether social work always contributes to the solution of problems or sometimes actually adds to the problems that some families face is a debate which has existed as long as social work itself. On a more optimistic note, in the end, the vast majority of parents will want to do their be 5.4 Involving children The other key person to be consulted is the child herself. Although Jade's ability or willingness to communicate may vary in different contexts, her understanding will remain and for most children this understanding is well in advance of what they are able to communicate verbally. This has important implications and Jade should therefore be included in conversations, even if she does not appear to be participating. A greater understanding of ways in which to communicate effectively, eve 5.2 The developmental needs of the child The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (DH, 2000) emphasises the need for a thorough understanding of child development. There has been extensive and sometimes contradictory research into how children develop and the factors that influence their development. Aldgate (2004) outlines the development-ecological model for understanding child development, which recognises the importance of comprehending both the genetic and the ecological factors that influence dev 5.1 Children's rights The story of the Palmer family is presented in the audio below, and it provides material about working with families. The case study is a dramatic presentation of a reconstituted family consisting of three generations living in the same household. During th 4.4 An international definition of social work The function of social work is not only defined by the philosophies and beliefs of individual nations' governments or assemblies. The following definition of social work was issued jointly by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and by the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) in 2001: The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and th 4.3 What about communities? The last activity looked at the key roles from the perspective of Lynne and Arthur as individuals, but in fact it also says that working with ‘families, carers, groups and communities’ is necessary. Do you think that Dev should also be taking account of the Durrants as a family, as carers and as members of a community? Dev's role in assessing Arthur's needs means that he should also take account of his family circumstances, in other words, Lynne and perhaps her sister. Lynne also has a ca 4.2 Social work roles in practice You will already have taken a look at the Framework documents for your nation, all of which contain broadly the same key roles, but you may like to review them now. It can sometimes be difficult to see how these roles actually translate into working with real people in actual social work settings. It is important that you are able to do this as it will be something that you need to do in order to produce evidence on your practice learning opportunities. The following activity takes just one o 4.1 Introduction: the social context of social work Extract 1 discussed the four components of good practice: Knowledge, Skills, Values and Process. From Extract 2 you will now have an understanding of ‘individual people’ in soci 3.7.1 Spoiled identities: stigma In his classic book Stigma (1963) the sociologist Erving Goffman argues that stigma is a relationship of devaluation in which an individual is disqualified from full social acceptance. Society establishes ways of categorising persons and what are felt to be the ‘natural’ or ‘normal’ attributes for each category. Stigma, then, is essentially a pejorative label that sticks, one that is applied to an individual's ‘differentness’, their perceived non-conformity, deviance 3.5 Identity and identities So far in this extract we have considered the importance of people's individual biographies to an understanding of who they are. Such biographies play an important part in making us who we are and we will now explore some of the ideas that have contributed to social workers' understanding of the concept and importance of ‘identity’. These ideas are all examples of the kind of ‘knowledge’ or ‘theory’ that informs social workers' practice.
3.3 Case study 1 For much of the last century, many children who would today be regarded as being in need were caught up in the long-running child migration scheme. This scheme had been running throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century and its role was to export children to the outposts of the Empire. In all, it is estimated that 150,000 children were exported in this way (Bean and Melville, 1989). The scheme continued to run throughout the post-war years, which saw a rapid expansion of children's
Initial information about the Palmer family
