4.2 Essential shared capabilities for mental health While professional groups will be expected to retain their distinctive roles to some extent, the demand for change is increasingly strong. Professionals are increasingly expected to focus on the range of elements of good practice which they share, many of which have been historically associated with social work. One important example of the demand for change in this direction can be found in the introduction in England of The Ten Essential Shared Capabilities: A Framework for the Whole of
3.2 Racism in mental health services Research has shown that people from particular minority ethnic groups are over-represented in some psychiatric diagnostic categories compared with others. One of the most hotly debated issues concerns what appears to be the relatively high number of African-Caribbean men who receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia, compared with white or other minority ethnic groups. Given what you have seen about the difficulties in defining mental health and illness, it will be no surprise to learn that
3.1 Understanding stigma In the first half of Section 3, the focus is on the nature of the stigmatisation and discrimination which can be experienced by people with mental health problems. The section then turns to consider racism in mental health services and the impact this has on black service users. The ‘stigma’ of mental illness and distress refers to the idea that such experiences are a disgrace or an embarrassment, not only to the person concerned, but also to those around them. To be mentally distre
6.1 Empowerment and advocacy Qualified social workers are expected to have the necessary skills to empower service users to participate in assessments and decision making and also to ensure that service users have access to advocacy services if they are unable to represent their own views. The requirement for these skills can be found in the key role ‘Support, representation and advocacy’. Both empowerment and advocacy are concerned with power and the ways in which it is distributed between people. Empowerment and ad
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
5.3 Involving parents Petrie (2003, p. 168) suggests that child development is a good topic of discussion when working in partnership with adults. Even if the significance of their child's development is not fully understood, adults are aware of how the child behaves and this helps them focus on the needs of the child. Gathering and sharing information with families also allows the recording of different perspectives. It could be, for example, that Jade's speech varies when she is with different people. Dawn has n
3.1 Your life story To begin our exploration of the four components of good practice we will be considering a very specific kind of knowledge, the kind of knowledge that for most of us remains private and is individual to each of us: our personal history or biography. First of all, we invite you to think about the person whose life story you know best: yourself! 2.8 References for Extract 1 Banks, S. (2001) Ethics and Values in Social Work, 2nd edn, London, BASW/Macmillan. British Association of Social Workers (BASW) (2002) Code of Ethics for Social Work, BASW, Dalrymple, J. and Burke, B. (1995) Anti Oppressive Practice and the Law, Buckingham, Open University Press. Howe, D. (1999) ‘Values in Social Work’ in Davies, M., Howe, D. and Kohli, R. Assessing Competence and 2.3.3 Law Another very broad area of knowledge is law. Social workers’ roles are bound by the law, even those who do not work for statutory organisations like social services. The law sets out what social workers’ duties and powers are, what they must do (a duty) and what they are permitted to do (a power). For example, social workers employed by statutory and voluntary agencies are bound by law relating to human rights and discrimination. You will find many other pieces of legislation in add 2.3.1 Aspects of knowledge in social work In the Aids to Practice cards you will see that there are 18 Knowledge cards presented in alphabetical order. Most of the cards relate to a specific approach to social work or theory about how to practise. While these cards are very useful prompts and reminders, they are not intended to provide a template of what you need to know without additional reading and support. For example, some of the information is extremely broad, such as the cards on Social Policy, Sociology and Psychology; these 2.3 Component 1: Knowledge What exactly is meant by knowledge and theory and how can it inform practice? This question cannot be fully answered here, but the following section maps out the kinds of knowledge that are relevant to practice. 2.2 The four components of good practice
Developing a knowledge base is only one aspect of learning. The knowledge you acquire will be assessed by the way in which you apply it to practice situations through your written work. Your practice and your reflections upon knowledge will be guided by your understanding and application of the four components of good practice: knowledge, skills, values and ethics, and the social work process. The Aids to Practice cards in this unit are organised under the headings of the four componen 2.1.1 Case studies All the characters in the case studies are fictional but based on real life scenarios. The identities of the contributors have been anonymised and all participants gave their permission for their voices to be used. 2.1 Introduction The four components of good practice are introduced here and you will find references to them throughout your practice learning. The four components are: Knowledge Skills Values and Ethics The Social Work Process. 1. Approaches to social work
This unit introduces you to social work practice, and you will consider the meaning of ‘social work values’ as well as the different approaches to social work and the skills involved.
It is expected that your learning will involve reflection on what you have learnt, including time spent thinking about how knowledge, skills and values relate to social work practice.
This unit provides opportunities to apply theoretical learning to practice which makes the difference between Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: develop awareness of the underpinning knowledge relating to the key roles of social work; illustrate the application of knowledge, skills, values and processes through case study examples; demonstrate awareness of the skills required to build relationships with service users, colleagues and others through effective communication; introduce the social work service standards and codes of p Introduction Ever wondered what social workers do? This brief introduction gives you some insight into social work practice and the theory which informs the practice. This unit is made up of a series of six extracts. You are introduced to the four components to good practice and will look at the importance of the following approaches to social work practice: Biography The social context of social work Responding to children’s needs 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 1.2 Boundaries of exclusion The first idea to come under critical consideration is that of boundaries. Boundaries can be helpful and, indeed, we use them here as a means of exploring different, and competing, explanations of mental health and distress. However, they can also be limiting and excluding, emphasising the differences between people, some of which run very deep. At their simplest, boundaries put limits on tasks so that they appear manageable. They help to mark out personal space in a shared office, or indicat 3.10 Difficulties in applying conventional bioethics to the CAM relationship Much of the literature in bioethics views the doctor/patient relationship as the paradigmatic example of a health care encounter. Various assumptions are made about the roles of ‘good’ doctors and ‘good’ patients, gender, dominant cultural values, patient expectations and a shared (western) understanding of health and disease. These assumptions may not be shared by many CAM practitioners or, indeed, CAM patients. Can
Author(s):
Unit image
