Social Workers are only human

 

I find that when people have had no personal experience of Social Work that they don’t really have any understanding of what it is other than what the media has portrayed it to be. The issue with that I think is that the media does not give a realistic picture of what Social Work is.

It focuses on one specific area of Social Work and only when something negative has happened. I find that the only positive information you hear about Social Work is in Social Work circles such as webinars or the awards which someone who is not in the field is unlikely to attend.

I think this is due to the nature of Social Work. It’s split into adults and children’s and within that there are many different teams working with specific demographics so it would be impossible to be able to explain them all to someone but the fact that they exist would be nice. I find that having a Social Worker is seen by people in one of two ways it is in a child protection sense, so nobody wants to talk about it because they are embarrassed that they are involved. In this situation there has generally been some concerns that have caused the Social Worker to become involved so people can be more resistant to that involvement. I have found from working with more older people at the other end of the spectrum that they can be quite appreciative of the support because it has got a point where they feel they need it and they have agreed for the referral to come to us.

When you look at news articles relating to Social Work they are predominantly Children’s Social Workers following a tragedy. I understand that people want someone to blame but the thing that frustrates me is that the Social Worker is only human. There are occasions when tragedy strikes and it is the first time that person has been aggressive towards that child. If they did not know that is what they were going to do, how are we expected to know? We are not mind readers, although sometimes it feels like we should be. We are expected to know every single thing that goes on in someone’s house or life every second of the day and that is not realistic. Even Child Protection Social Workers who are expected to visit the people on their case load every week may only see that child for 1 hour out of the 168 hours in that week. That is in my opinion is the same as thinking you know everything about someone's life by what they post on social media. You only see a snapshot and it is the same when you are working with or supporting someone.

I get really frustrated when I see the posts about a child death because we do not want tragedies such as these to occur, but I find myself more frustrated by the comments made below them. The amount of blame that is placed on the Social Work is insane, if someone had previously been convicted of assault and then went on to murder someone nobody would be screaming and shouting at the policeman, but people feel that it can be done to Social Workers. We are not superhuman, we can’t read minds and we don’t know everything that happens. Sometimes this is intentionally done by manipulative parents to stop us seeing the truth. This was demonstrated in the Peter Connelly case (known by most as Baby P). He was covered in chocolate so that his wounds wouldn’t be seen. However, many people seem to think that we can just go into a house, request for a child to be stripped down so we can see any injuries and that we can just take them away none of that is true. We do not catalogue injuries or ask to see a child undressed because this would generally be done by a medical professional who would be able to explain where those injuries could potentially have come from or what they suggest. Social Workers do not have the ability to go in and remove children, the only people given the responsibility to immediately remove a child where there are concerns are the police. They can remove them for 72 hours and then take them to a Social Worker to find them a place to live whilst they establish next steps, but they are not the ones to remove that child.

A lot of the time I only know what either the person or the family choose to tell me. The rest comes from what I observe for myself. A lot of what goes on for the people I am supporting is when cares are happening and usually my visits are planned around that so I don’t interrupt something that they need that potentially may already be difficult for them. I find there are numerous things about Social Work or the processes that I find myself explaining to families on a regular basis. I am lucky that I studied in a place that gave me this knowledge and I have had many experiences to expand my skills. This means that I can explain to someone what I do and how varied Social Work is. One of the main things I find myself explaining on a regular basis is how capacity works. I have heard so many people say “they don’t have capacity” which is not how it works. It is time and decision specific, and I have explained this to people so many times but if you haven’t learn it then you don’t know.

I am happy to explain what I do to people so that they have a further understanding and that could potentially help someone they know in the future because they know where they can go for help and support.

The most important thing to remember when hearing about Social Workers is that we are only human.