understanding professional social work

Assessment Information:
Academic Essay: 3000 Words
Please choose one case, from any placement where you have or will be undertaking the range of social work related activities stipulated below. Describe what you did in the case briefly but the main focus is on the underpinning knowledge of the activities you undertook. The case should be sufficiently complex and / or comprehensive for you to be able to use it to demonstrate capability in learning outcomes one to four. There is no set format in how you structure the case study. However, you need to make sure that you include all of the following:
1. Brief and relevant information about the case and outline of the reason for involvement.
2. Demonstrate a critical and analytical understanding of the processes involved in undertaking assessments and interventions in the case (LO 1).
3. Critical and academic understanding of the evidence-informed approach to your practice (LO 2).
4. Critically evaluating the notions of judgement and decision-making in professional social work practice that you went through in this case (LO 3).
5. Critically understanding the notions of risk and safeguarding that you may have come across and how you took into account an anti-discriminatory practice and anti-oppressive approach (LO 4).

In writing this essay you should consider the following:
1. Remember this is an academic final year Masters assignment. It is testing your knowledge and understanding and intellectual skills. Therefore, to do well, you need to adopt the conventions of academic discussions by being critical and analytical rather than descriptive. Evidence your discussion with appropriate referencing.

Safeguarding Case study
The case study is based on Safeguarding. The case study is based on reflection that I worked on previously. The reflection might help you to come up with a proper case study and be able to follow the guidelines mentioned above.

I will seek to reflect on a home visit that I had with my colleague. The purpose of the home visit was to speak to the family and to see the child in person as part of the school safeguarding policy. The policy says if a child is missing in school within a period of 5days, either a virtual or home visit should be arranged. The purpose of the visit was triggered by the non-attendance of the child. Regarding this visit I had to shadow my colleague. As a professional to be, I was requested to watch, listen, record, and observe the proceedings of the visit.

I can reflect again on the safety and wellbeing of children as it is important when meeting the services that schools, and workplaces provide. Throughout, I will have to reflect on the emphasis placed on PCF as a yardstick to establish if any of the nine domains were met.
I can recall a task that I was given by my team to schedule a safe and wellbeing home visit appointment. To maintain my professionalism, I called the family to arrange a home visit (PCF 1). My reflection pre-visit centred around the importance of safety in people’s homes, showing respect to one another, and making sure I maintain the professional integrity of my job (SWEPS 5). Throughout the session, I practiced a listening skill by writing and listening simultaneously. This allowed me to use the information for my reflection and report back to my supervisor, PCF4. As my colleague asked questions about the child’s wellbeing, I listened carefully. The first thing I observed from my team before visiting the child was that they insisted on seeing the child. This was even though the family had stated that the child was fast asleep.
In my opinion, home visits should never be completed without evidence of seeing the child. This is because in the past, children suffered harm and abuse even when professionals saw the family but failed to gain access to the child. As I reflected upon the visit, it was obvious that mom was trying to put the child to sleep by covering him with a throw blanket on the couch. When the mother was asked why her child hadn’t been attending school, her reply led me to think she didn’t care about the child’s sleeping pattern. This allows him to sleep during the day and stay awake all night.
When I consider the six children the mother had, her full-time job, the child being tired throughout the day due to exhaustion and having no one to help, it made me consider how in the future this boy could attend school regularly. To promote greater equity of power, I would advocate for policies which promote greater social justice and equity. I can use empowerment theory to guide the family toward achieving a sense of control.

In addition, I reflected on the terms of abuse. In my opinion, the child was neglected by his parents for not promoting sleep patterns that would ensure school attendance. Despite UNICEF and the UK Department of Education stating that, “Every child has a right to an education, regardless of their background, gender or ethnicity,” I believe certain procedures could have been applied earlier, such as communicating more between the school and family, since it appears the child was absent for a very long time. This sends an incorrect message to other children about supporting children’s welfare. It appears the mother put the needs of her five other children ahead of those of the concerned child. Nevertheless, my colleague suggested that the family get in touch with the doctor so that they can be referred to Sleeping Solutions.

In PCF 5, I reflected on the use of knowledge. I incorporate system theory when social work professionals examine how the systems in which clients live affect their behaviour (SWLM,2022). It has been shown that living in a society that encourages certain behaviours can greatly influence how people make decisions. I thought behavioural interventions would be enforced and placed in place. I was made to think that social workers could have used their power to overcome. In my opinion, the social worker is an advocate for human rights, civil rights, and children’s rights; he or she is always willing to go the extra mile to protect them.

Reflecting on professional ethics, it protects one’s well-being. (SWEPS1). In Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018, the government outlined the ways in which individuals and organizations can work together to protect and promote children’s wellbeing. During my education, I learned that everyone is accountable for safeguarding and protecting a vulnerable population.