power imbalance between social worker and client

Yet they also feel obliged to treat clients sensitively and as persons to try and cancel out the indignity of treating them as mere assessment objects. As time passed, Roberta became more cooperative with professionals and was seen in a very positive light by the independent social worker. WebSocial workers often grapple with difficult professional and systemic power dynamics with both service users and the other professionals they encounter in multi-agency working. Verbal aggression and threats have been found to be commonplace and have detrimental consequences (Robson et al., Citation2014), while significant numbers of workers have felt that the impact of the violence and parental hostility on them was minimised and mismanaged by their managers and this adversely affected their practice and the quality of protection that children received (Hunt et al., Citation2016). This little speech is not likely to achieve a warm or co-operative relationship with a parent. power These are the suspended feelings social workers were not getting help to deal with, which because they remain repressed can easily be unconsciously acted out against service users in retaliatory ways and that ultimately traumatise workers and burn them out. But ? The effect of this is to try and curb violent behavior and graffiti. Such pressures made giving children and families the full attention they needed and maintaining a capacity to think clearly about them and the dynamics of the relationship enormously difficult. After the birth of the baby social work visits lasted between 18 and 33minutes, which given the high level of concern was short. The latter two powers are drawn on by the social worker in interactions dependent upon whether the other person is prepared to show (3) or (4). Hypervigilant people constantly monitor for threats and brace for worst-case scenarios. In Being and Time,Heidegger explained that human existence constitutes the open-ness where beings can be revealed. (In brief, "transference" is the displacement and redirection of feelings usually arising in childhood, and most often held for one's parents, onto one's therapist). One thinks of oppression and dominance. The dynamics of how hostile relationships occurred and their implications will now be drawn together on two levels: practice experience and the organisational, and we will focus further on the Dixon case in particular for what it reveals about the impact of trying to sustain hostile relationships over time. Rebecca in particular seems really angry with Angela and Ron, she doesnt hold back as she notes Rons presence and the complete lack of engagement with the Child Protection Plan. Sex differences in marriage and single life: Still debating after 50 years. WebThe use of power to discipline clients is made legitimate precisely because of the unity of 'professionalism' and training of the social worker. Audit requirements and the pressure for performance data over-rode the need for attention to what was occurring emotionally and viscerally for the workers, mother and baby, alongside analysis of what was going on in the relationship, especially below the surface. Yvonne Roberts argues that if joint working is. This short article is entitled 'The Politics of Social Work' and some may anticipate that I am going to look at how central and local government affects social work and social services departments, and sometimes visa versa. Lundy (2004), basing her views on the work of Moreau (1989), highlights the Social and professional status confers power, but it is primarily the knowledge, experience, and tools with which a social worker acts that empower him or her. Olivia was observed in supervision that week with her senior manager, who recognised that she was upset but did not pursue this with her, instead moving on to address other high risk cases and staff performance issues in the team Olivia managed. Webpower imbalance between the worker and the client resulting in client vulnerability and the undermining of freedom to consent. The emotional impact of hostile relationships paralysed workers and organisations, restricting their minds and actions, confining them in highly constricted spaces where they and parents effectively enacted pathological relationships, taunting and punishing one another. I have therefore sifted through the abundance of literature on the problem of power in the context of social work, edited it and thus narrowed it down. Of course there are clients who are skilled in dealing with social workers and are very good at 'working the system'. Sudland (Citation2020) shows how working with high-conflict parents and families is enormously emotionally and practically challenging. social workers negotiating with other workers or professionals, the use of disciplinary strategies is not so evident. Social workers at times raised their voices, argued with and talked over the parents. The practice encounters between practitioners and service users were observed and audio-recorded. The presence of the object has an aura of insistence of its own reality. In the 12months there were 68 face to face encounters between social care and the family. Fiedler speaks of "dialogues free of domination", of " selfless help", thinking "thus of areas in which power actually has no place" (Fiedler 2002, p. 1). Drawing on a range of psycho-social theories, the paper adds to the literature on relationship-based practice by developing the concept of a hostile relationship. Most of this work was done in the second half of the year. Human beings exist as this open-ness in an inauthentic or authentic way (see the translation by Joan Stambaugh, 1996). This often results in the perception of a power differential in the relationship such that the therapist is seen as having more psychological strength, control, and leverage than they do. Practice Matters - NLCSW Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. WebWhat is a power imbalance? This can be the state, which socially legitimizes the power, or directly the client, who gives power through his order. The decision was that it was highly unlikely that she would be allowed to keep her baby and Roberta stormed out before the end of the meeting. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. Nor did it seem thinkable that sometimes these involuntary clients could be seen somewhere other than in their home, whereas this did happen in some cases we observed that involved cooperative relationships as parents and children were seen in community centres, parks, cafes, or in cars (Jeyasingham, Citation2018). The dynamics of sexual intimacy after conflicts. It is the latter kind of work and hostile relationship that is the focus of this paper, which has two aims: to draw on case-studies of long-term casework with involuntary clients to show what it looks like, feels like and involves for both social workers and service users; and secondly, to add to the literature on relationship-based practice by developing the concept of a hostile relationship. The effects of the Pindown system on the children who experienced it were traumatic and in some cases devastating. hb```X.V!1MiZ'ef:Q.$r)DROG,gV6+ ID# nfE@ZE00ps2d`)Ojx;/Av!S%7 20%iF ^ ` / S/he's got the clients cards marked. She sort of laughs dismissively when she looks at things. Postmodern feminist social work theories reject the notion of egalitarian power relations as a fantasy that does not engage with the power dynamics that always exist between social workers and clients, a point also made in earlier work ( Wise, 1990 ). When interviewed during month seven of the research Mrs Jones was scathing: it was uncomfortable and it has got worse and worse the longer it has gone on. It is argued that, in most I also indicate in the last section of the article that the politics of social work is caught up in our definitions and constitution of subjectivity and what counts as valid subjective experience. In dealing with power, we must also consider its counterpart, powerlessness. Strengthening Social Worker-Client Relationships in All these aspects can lead to an imbalance of power within the helping relationship, between social worker and client, at least initially (cf. This can also be seen in the case of the Lewis family. - It only takes five minutes WebThe imbalance of power in the CPS-parent relationship is a central aspect of the relationship. Evenings and weekends: 2. The question of whether power and social work are not a contradiction in terms may seem justified at first glance. They were often helpful to children and parents and many families confirmed this in research interviews. This paper examines the sources of power of workers and clients, and, by using a power-dependence perspective, it explores the consequences of power on social work practice. In the above discussion it was indicated that there are two basic notions of power: power as capacity - one's ability to produce change; and power as exercised - one's doing or saying something, and changing or trying to change a situation. Furthermore, both definitions assume that at least two subjects belong to the power relationship; the one who possesses power and his counterpart, on whom power is exercised. Many of the parents in the study began by disliking, fearing and even hating social workers. In her final research interview at the end of the research fieldwork (month 12) Roberta still had custody of her daughter but expressed how she regarded the attempt to remove her as a persecutory, punitive response. The basis for this was pragmatic in that feelings were suppressed and suspended self-preservation practiced due to the need to keep going to ensure the work got done; and it was psychological, unconscious and defensive arising from the need for organisations as well as individuals to defend the self from unbearable feelings (Cooper & Lousada, Citation2005; Whittaker, Citation2011). Different types of judgement motivate varying ways of using power in the treatment of people. Seven minutes into the visit Roberta taps the pen in her hand against her pad of paper irritably while she talks; it feels like she is very angry. This leads to another point which is that the recording process acts as a 'structural' repository of power. The object, in this case the record of a meeting, indicates that work has been done. Angela obviously does not see the problem with having Ron in the home. 2.3.1 Power in the self-image of the social worker Ron leans back, puts his arm behind his head and splays his legs. Practice Matters - NLCSW WebThe power imbalance can become exploitative when practitioners who are members of a dominant culture devalue the client's own values and perceptions. 9:00 p.m. WebA social workers ethical responsibilities to clients is addressed in value 1: Respect for the Inherent Dignity and Worth of Persons, value 3: Service to Humanity and value 4: earthquakes, is at root a human capacity and a form of power. Senior manager supervisor: I was thinking wed spoken about it earlier in the week and she had got upset then and Id heard the story, you know. 3. She did not want colleagues to see her crying and this avoidance of showing the impact of traumatic experience was compounded by her senior manager not enabling her to express her emotions, so that the managerial goals of improving staff performance in compliance with targets and audits could be achieved. But this is not my view, I believe that the myriad of human relationships, many of them being shaped by a host of other relationships and social practices, form a structural network, the most important totalising forces of which are the ever changing power relationships. As the social worker Susan explained at the end of the year of research, this was the first baby she had worked with in several years as a social worker who she had never got close to, touched or held as part of forming a relationship. Roberta is cooking. One must remember that for an exercise of power to be such, does not require that it is successful in its ultimate aims. While this lack of contact could have been a relief to Roberta, it may also have triggered feelings of abandonment and meant that the opportunity to intervene early to try and build a relationship was squandered. In forcefully challenging the parents, the social worker did not disguise her annoyance with the lack of progress and ongoing risk to the children and she just about maintains her composure in the face of the fathers behaviour. This is exemplified by a social worker we shadowed on several occasions who, as he talked about the deep emotional effects the work had on him, cried, shook and sweated so profusely that his shirt became soaking wet. Washington, DC 20002. Ethical dilemmas in power and authority: a social work student Connect with your NASW Chapter to find local action groups leading the way on achieving equity. a victim of abuse, her family. This splitting into love and hate was also evident in Robertas narratives when interviewed for the research as she expressed her complete admiration for the independent social worker and her intense dislike of the statutory social workers, Olivia in particular. When such splitting occurs, relationships and the work suffers because sound assessments and decision-making require practitioners and the whole system to be in touch with as many dimensions of the emotional dynamics as possible and connected to the complexity of being human the good and the bad in us all (Cooper, Citation2018, p. 32). The policing of conventions is in the hands of institutional power holders such as social workers, lawyers and teachers. They seem very aggressive, and very argumentative and sometimes patronizing From our point of view it seems like they are trying to pull the whole family apart. There is a remarkable contrast between Rebecca, who sits rigidly and tensely upright on the sofa, and Ron and Angela who give off an air of not caring. Roberta questions the history of drug use [even though she did agree earlier that she had a history of drug use]. This will be done by focussing on one case-study, which makes possible the kind of in-depth analysis necessary to show how the casework was done, the dynamics of hostile relationships and the ebbs and flows of the social worker service user encounters and organisational life over the course of the year. Well, no, youre not because youre just causing problems and making everything a lot worse and worrying people and stressing people out rather than actually doing anything to help anyone. Angela continues to have her feet up, snuggling into the sofa. We might call the first potential power and the second actual power. Fairclough (1989) focuses on two aspects of the power/discourse relationship; power in discourse and power behind discourse. A better way to explain this might be to characterize power in relation to discourse. Social workers always undertook joint visits and the 11 encounters we observed were characterised by anger, acrimony and frustration. Over time, social work theorists have developed sophisticated processes to address the power imbalances and instances of exploitation and discrimination that may arise in relationships with clients. There are numerous contested terms (client, service user, consumer) used to describe the people with whom social workers work. So, yeah, its hard and theres, you know, a limit to how much you can get involved in the in-depth of one case when you know youve got another 60 to, to make sure get covered and so on too, really. But many clients who live in poverty, lack education and high verbal abilities and feel threatened by the presence of a social worker, may go along with anything that is suggested however much they dislike it, or may show frustration and then anger, i.e. members, to create and maintain professional standards for social Olivia scratches her face absent-mindedly and then moves her hair out of her face. Susan moves to her right to allow this and suggests they move to another room. Anxious surveillance infused with persecutory anxiety is clearly not an effective way to deal with the primitive fears such work and relationships bring up. Faking it till you make it can be very powerful in behavioral health treatment. Meeting emotional needs and enabling critical thinking is more likely to happen if the reflective, analytical aspects of supervisory practice (clinical supervision) is provided separately from administrative supervision in which managers address performance and audit issues and targets. Looked at in this way we can see that so many aspects of our lives are the result of this type of power and are not, as we uncritically tend to say, simply a matter of normal behavior. Sr. Public Relations Specialist Unfortunately, because some people suffer from issues related to excessive dependency and have deep-seated rejection and abandonment anxiety, they are ripe for exploitation if they end up under the care of unethical (if not criminal) clinicians. Strengthening Social WorkerClient Relationships in Child One student stated: Working in partnership with the client, the social worker can rely on his or her professional power to influence the organization/agency in the best interest of the client. Professional power can be used to connect the client to support structures and networks outside of the client's current resources. Underlying this is the modern mode of the activity of confessing what one has done as a basic strategy of identification and the valuing of oneself. Olivia still seems nervous, she talks quietly. (Lest I come across as "blaming the victim," let me be clear that there are some cases wherein a vulnerable client who has little or no experience with therapy can suffer grievous boundary violations without "willingly" relinquishing power.) This example points to power that is expressed by knowledge bases, techniques and education which is an important condition of professional identity, authority and practice. (1985) Michel Foucault: The Freedom of Philosophy Columbia University Press, New York. Power thus pre-figures our relationships with clients, at both an inter-personal and structural level. Children in residential homes had been badly mistreated by social workers who used crude behavioral methods, namely tight negative reinforcement regimes, to control them and make them behave 'properly'. So it was seven weeks after the initial referral that face to face contact was made with Roberta on a home visit. Amy is in a car seat under the sink in the gap where a dishwasher or washing machine usually goes. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. Social work also has a major role to play in creating an antiracist society. In less formally unequal situations, e.g. The more opportunities workers have to reflect on and analyse their feelings and relationships with involuntary clients, the less chance there is they will become hostile relationships and the surer they can be that their work and major decisions (including to remove children) will be done ethically and free from hate and retaliation. Furthermore, forms of power are differentiated in the literature; this leads, for example, to distinctions between power to act, power to define, or power to limit. While there is no doubt that Roberta could be a frightening person, and that she and her child were vulnerable, the possibility that she was right and that at an unconscious level this was a retaliatory act cannot be ruled out. Whilst Robertas behaviour was frightening, if one function of supervision is for managers to support workers emotionally and in being critically reflective about parent-child relationships (Davys & Beddoe, Citation2010) it didnt happen. There had been significant concern for the two children aged 4 and 5 from early in their lives due to their fathers drug abuse and violence towards their mother. By demanding help that is due to him, a client also possesses and exercises power. But the fact is therapists are not endowed with any special powers and abilities that make them better or "more" than other ordinary people with specific educations and (let's hope!) Power in discourse is concerned how power is actually exercised and enacted, that is face-to-face spoken discourse. Those elements of practice, which cut things off at their roots and which permanently foreclose the possibilities of open-ness, are the adversaries of a critical social work. Nevertheless, this can be thought of as similar to a physician having a greater understanding of a patient's medical issues than the patient has about the physician's, or an attorney knowing intimate details about a client's life circumstances that the client doesn't know about the attorney. This left no space for thinking that could help them become aware of the transference and counter-transference, the pathological nature of the relationship and communication and how they could negotiate things like having a place to sit on home visits and having meaningful relationships with children, where they were held as well as seen. Strengthening Social Worker-Client Relationships in Child Developing Winnicotts work, Kahr (Citation2020) uses the metaphor of hostile clients throwing bombs into encounters with professionals, causing psychological shrapnel that workers and clients have to find ways to survive. Twenty-one of her encounters with social care were observed by the researchers (12 social worker home visits, two family support worker home visits, three child protection case conferences, two inter-agency Core Groups and two court sessions). Tew (2006) But Olivia had been on the receiving end of Robertas anger and was already deeply emotionally enmeshed in the casework, which prevented her from achieving the kind of detachment necessary to critically reflect and think clearly about the work. However, ultimately for Roberta it was the professionals who had the power, and she felt strongly that they misused it: they have disrupted my family life and they tried to remove the child from me. The chosen cases are what Wengraff (Citation2001) calls the focal or gold-star cases within qualitative research samples that deserve attention because they not only tell their own story but illustrate the general research findings particularly well. WebThe role of power in social work practice has been generally understated despite its importance to the course and outcome of the clinical process. It is the place where influencing judgements are held. Ron barely acknowledges the conversation initially, although its largely aimed at him. Leaders of all major social work organizations came together on Aug. 14 in a national town hall to report on their efforts to advance anti-racism within social work practice, education, regulation and research. a possibility, and leaves open whether this becomes action. He recognizes the importance of Heidegger's view of the constitution of the subject in a temporal frame and of the development of a new philosophy purged of humanism. This demonstrates how standardisation and neoliberal governance can impact on social work organisations and influence managers and workers experiences (La Rose, Citation2019). There was a deep investment in not showing or fully feeling what was there deep down to be felt. Professionals need much more training to help them learn strategies that defuse these potentially explosive relationships, recognise their role in co-constructing the hostility, and how to work through resistance and engage with children and parents in respectful, reciprocal ways (Smith et al., Citation2012; Turnell & Essex, Citation2006; Turney, Citation2012). When I started working on the topic of power and powerlessness in social work, I did not have many questions. Take for instance an interview between a social worker and client, in which the social worker is constantly interrupting the client whilst s/he is trying to explain the circumstances under which a child was left unattended over a long period of time. This paper draws from research that observed long-term social work practice in child protection and shows how relationships based on mutual suspicion and even hate were sustained over the course of a year, or broke down. We must build upon the good social workers have done in the fight for civil rights, health care access, child protection, the War on Poverty and marriage equality by working more intentionally to elevate Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives in the communities we serve. We felt like we were being judged obviously, which we are, nothing has properly been explained to us. It involves using empathic skills and self-knowledge on the part of the social worker (Trevithick, 2003 ). inappropriate resistance. Information about yourself and your personal life should not be disclosed to clients. In facing head on the difficult experiences and emotions that hostile relationships involve, the paper draws on social theories that are helpful in thinking about such emotional and relational complexity. Ongoing self-reflection, conversations with colleagues, education, professional training and advocacy are the best ways to ensure we all live the anti-racist principles required of our profession. Professionals and families were only shadowed and interviewed if they gave informed consent. To care about someone and be helpful requires a capacity to become emotionally attuned to their experience, to think about why they present in the ways that they do and to not retaliate when they are angry and upset. The atmosphere feels incredibly tense. It is Foucault who teaches us that "power is co-extensive with the social body" and that "relations of power are interwoven with other kinds of relations" (1980, p.142). When interviewed for the research around the time these encounters were happening Roberta admitted she deliberately covered the seating to prevent professionals from sitting down, orchestrating discomfort. Mood is either an expansion or contraction of one's scope for action in relation to others. The following discussion applies to adults in therapeutic relationships with qualified therapists. They have a regular form which has been inherited from the past, and the latter constrains us from doing the action differently. Is It True That Single Women and Married Men Do Best? Being squared off with was in a variety of ways at the heart of how parents saw their experience of hostile relationships. Despite its great influence There are constraints on the topic of question and answer during the assessment. They constitute some of the most important forms of regulatory power and means by which society maintains itself. 72 0 obj <>stream The flow of power has less opportunity to be one way. She was also trying to contain her emotions to undertake the several phone calls and other tasks now required to ensure this child is safe. So we have to be extremely careful in what we write down as it will live on after us, affecting other perceptions, and how social workers use their powers in their treatment of a client. Words such as omnipotence and state power or striving for power, power struggle and abuse of power usually evoke negative associations and feelings. Once again, suspended self-preservation was regarded as the safest course, but it only really works as a healthy long-term strategy if the attention to the emotional impact of the work that is being postponed is provided as soon as possible.

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