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WEEK 3 READING 1 - The Beginning Phase: - Coggle Diagram
WEEK 3 READING 1 - The Beginning Phase:
ENGAGEMENT:
The process of establishing and maintaining a meaningful working relationship between the worker and the family.
It includes developing a convincing rationale for a family approach, establishing positive working relationships, conveying personal competence, maintaining a productive worker-family relationship, and establishing hope.
It's important to recognise that social workers do not "do" interventions "to" families.
Families are neither passive nor helpless, they have a reservoir of strengths and abilities that can be tapped to allow them to take an active and productive role in the process.
Most families will feel defensive regardless of how agreeable they may appear on the surface.
Indicators of successful engagement might include:
Good attendance, completion of homework assignments, emotional investment in sessions, making progress towards meeting goals of intervention, family members continuing to talk in depth to you.
Engagement problems might be revealed by:
Difficulty scheduling appointments, missed appointments, intervention plans not being followed, goals containing less substance, uneven progress, family members lying about important issues and avoiding talking about anything in depth to you.
Tips for successful engagement:
Using empathy, gift-giving, normalisation of problems, anxiety or guilt reduction, increased hope.
Conditions to be met prior to engagement:
The family has to agree as a family that a particular problem requires outside intervention
The family must connect with an appropriate agency
The agency must determine whether the family's issues fits its mandate
SOCIAL WORKER'S ROLE:
Rather than exclusively examining one person's role in the family, the social worker must actively connect with all family members.
Create a safe environment where people can talk about themselves and about each other - this will diminish anxiety and increase confidence.
Address feelings of helplessness and self-blaming by reframing the situation into a more positive conceptualisation, positively reinforcing the family's courage, and highlighting family strengths to deal with their situation.
It's important not to expect the family to trust you or your work immediately, as automatic trust in another person is not a typical feeling when embarking into new and scary territory. When workers sense a lack of trust, it should be discussed and validated when appropriate.
FEELINGS OF BLAME / SHAME:
Parents often report that intervention is stressful and that they feel blamed.
Many parents expect to be blamed for the problems that exist and may feel isolated, unsupported, and dejected after having tried to solve their issue for a long time before formal help involvement.
The family members may feel that their need to involve a social worker is a sign of personal incompetence or failure.
The person with the "presenting problem" (typically a child) may feel blamed and ganged up on for causing the family distress.
TASKS OF THE FIRST FEW SESSIONS:
1. Make contact with every family member:
Introductions are made and every family member is personally greeted
It's a good way to observe the family and get a sense of the mood, relationships, behaviours and attitudes about receiving services.
The engagement process is sometimes referred to as "joining", as the social worker conveys to the family, "I am with you". This helps bridge the social distance between the two parties.
Actively seek unique info about each member.
Starting introductions with the "problem child" may single them out and put more pressure on them.
Introduce you and your role
2. Define the Problem to Include Perceptions of All Members of the family:
You must speak to each family member to obtain their unique perspective on the problem.
You should allow each member to offer an opinion of the problem without interference or influence from other members.
You can determine what family members have attempted previously to address the problem and what hopes they hold for the future.
It's your job to ensure that no one is scapegoated for the conflict
You need to teach the family to view any problems from a family context - describing the problem as something that affects everyone and needs to be changed sets the stage for the mutual work that lies ahead.
3. Encourage family members to interact with each other:
At some point you would move from being the centre of the interview to being an observer and director of family conversation.
4. Establish goals and clarify an intervention process:
Clear, achievable, realistic and measurable goals (this can be dependent on the family's commitment and resources).
Goals must be agreed upon by all members.
The goals must be consistent with the family's beliefs and interests
The goals can be itemised in a contract
At this time, the importance of regular attendance should be reinforced
Recognise that family members are most receptive to chance during times of crisis
Help the family identify goals that they would like to achieve first
Assist members to negotiate with each other regarding behavioural changes
Identify strengths and skills of the family
Obtain a commitment from the family
5. Contract with the Family:
The social worker and family must arrived at an agreement about concrete issues/goals.
The contract can include things such as: How often the sessions will be, who needs to be present, the motivation of members, the goals that need to be accomplished, the input required from members, and the criteria for judging when goals have been achieved.
The contract should include a definition of the problem as well as what every member can do to address it.
Basic features of the contract:
It's to be negotiated, not declared, by both the worker and family
It will be understandable to all involved parties
An oral or written commitment to it will be obtained
The contract will be reviewed as the worker progresses, and if necessary the contract will be revised.
ROADBLOCKS TO SUCCESSFUL ENGAGEMENT:
Parent experiencing substance abuse, mental health problems, limited intellectual ability, discomfort about being involved in a service, and low expectations about self-efficacy.
Poor parent-child bonding
Marital discord
Unemployment
Poverty
Lack of social support
History of coercive interactions with workers
WORKER FACTORS INTERFERING WITH ENGAGEMENT:
Colluding with one family member
Excessive self-disclosure
Poorly conceptualised client problems
Stress, burnout
Being child-centred vs family centred
Discomfort about addressing certain issues
Lack of understanding of client cultural backgrounds or value systems.
Parental involvement and cooperation is particularly important to resolve problems associated with family difficulties because parents are the core of the family and parents are positioned to be primary contributors to the positive functioning of their children.
NECESSARY SKILLS FOR WORKERS:
Listening carefully to expressed meanings of individuals and the family as a unit
Being sensitive to verbal and nonverbal communication about the meaning, desires, and goals from each family member.
Recognising family difficulties related to effective problem solving.
Promoting skills, knowledge, attitudes, and environmental conditions that enhance family functioning.
INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL BACKGROUND:
Their experience of emotional pain
What they label as a symptom
How they communicate about their pain or symptoms
Their beliefs about its cause
Their attitudes towards the social worker
The intervention they expect
Personal, familial, cultural, and social background affect behaviour, and thus are factors that need to be taken into account when interpreting nonverbal or verbal behaviour.
SELF-AWARENESS:
Social workers need to assess and adjust personal biases that interfere with effective family social work.
Having self-awareness encourages ethical use of the professional relationship.
It's through self-awareness that the worker will understand when personal problems, unmet emotional needs and critical life events interfere with effective work with clients.
CORE QUALITIES FOR FAMILY SOCIAL WORKERS:
Empathy
Non-possessive Warmth
Genuineness
COMMON PITFALLS OF NEW WORKERS:
Seeing the one with difficulties as the primary focus
Overemphasising history at the expense of what is going on in the here and now
Waiting until you get a massive pile of info before intervening
Colluding with certain family members
Giving false reassurance or agreement where inappropriate
Judgemental responding
Inappropriate use of humour
Over-reliance on chitchat
Getting trapped by talking about someone not in the room