What Is Personal Reflection In Social Work

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A 7 year old male, child J, lives with his grandparents, who have a residency order, after his mother was unable to care for both him, and a younger sister. Child J has seen his sister just once, and contact with his mother is sporadic and lacking any quality. This has resulted in relations between the adults involved to become fraught; the grandparents feel that lack of attention from mum is having a negative effect on child J. Child J was originally referred for encopresis, but other concerns became apparent, including an inability to form and maintain friendships, and the child displaying signs of aggression. My role was to continue with support which has been provided to address these issues. Child J has made significant improvements …show more content…

In retrospect, a face-to-face discussion would have been better as they are usually deemed as less patronising, and grandfather could have observed my facial expressions to confirm that I was being congruent. This event confirmed the reason why it is vital that practice incorporates social work values, such as the ones within BASW (2012), TCSW (2012) and HCPC (2008). By making recommendations which grandfather did not really like, he could have easily have refused to engage, however, by behaving like a professional, and being respectful and polite, I was able to state my point, without damaging the rapport. I found it difficult to relate any theory to this incident, however, it is possible that Operant Conditioning could explain why child J has ‘accidents’ at home, but is fine when at school. According to Teater (2012) responsive actions, both positive and negative, can shape behaviour. The attention grandfather provides during the cleaning process could act to reinforce the child’s dependent behaviour. In contrast, at school there is no assistance given so nothing acts to reinforce this type of behaviour; thus the child manages himself as he knows he …show more content…

People subjected to severe stresses, can then also associate later wrongs to that earlier event, rather than being caused by other variables. I have learnt to not take everything at face value, nor listen to one person’s account as it may not be accurate. A much more effective approach is to look at the wider factors, and to speak to various people to gain alternative accounts which give a truer reflection of what is actually happening. I acknowledge that I should be doing this anyway as a social worker. Furthermore, grandad’s response has made me realise that it is important to give consideration to the way I provide information. This not only refers to the way it is spoken, but the method too. Quality practice would be to say things in person, especially when it is sensitive or negative, as it makes people feel valued and minimises any misunderstanding. I intend to incorporate my learning in future practice to, hopefully, become a more competent and effective social

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