Transcript How are men thought about in social work practice?
Breaking Down Barriers
Developing An Approach to Include Fathers in Children’s Social Care
Understanding defensive behaviours in working with fathers Gavin Swann 25 th February 2015
A Moment of Reflection
Please take two minutes to think about your own father.
Contents
The Personal and Professional Context – Reflective Considerations Breaking down Barriers Key Messages from the Literature What Social Workers report A Psychodynamic Contribution Findings from a Doctoral Study in LBI How to Include Fathers in Social Work Interventions and Services Conclusions
Defining Fathers
For this lecture fathers are defined as:
Any man who has an emotional relationship with a child ; i.e. a biological father, a step-father, mother’s partner or boyfriend.
Exercise
Why should we include fathers ?
Exercise
In pairs for 10 minutes discuss your personal assumptions, fears and even prejudices about working with fathers
The Personal and Professional Context – Reflective Considerations
Prejudice, stereotypes, assumptions, years on the front line. The ‘Tavi’ Experience Year 1: Baby and Mother Observation Year 2: Direct work and the Monroe Effect Year 3: The Research Project Years 4: – 6 Doctoral Studies
Breaking down Barriers
Researching Children’s Social Care A Whole System Approach Systemic assessment A case file audit Literature Review 18 months of Action Research / Co operative Inquiry ICS A second case file audit
Aims of the Research
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To design and implement a co-operative inquiry to include fathers in Children’s Social Care Develop the skills of co-inquirers Create and adopt a fatherhood strategy with realistic goals and targets Identify objectives for engagement with fathers Refine the existing referral and assessment process Use data collection system/s Ensure that training is available for staff at every level of the organisation/s in father-inclusive practice.
Establish better pathways and referral processes Ensure appropriate focused and gender specific information
Basic Measures
To increase the numbers of men (fathers, step-fathers, and partners) including telephone numbers, addresses and dates of birth recorded on all referrals. To increase the numbers of men (fathers, step-fathers, and partners) included on Initial assessments.
To increase the numbers of fathers comprehensively assessed as part of a core assessment.
To increase the numbers of fathers invited to and attending Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences. To increase the numbers of fathers invited to and attending Family Group Conferences. To increase the numbers of fathers invited to LAC reviews. To increase the numbers of fathers involved when initiating court proceedings. To increase the numbers of fathers involved when initiating court proceedings.
International Literature Review & Critique
Historic perspectives of the social construction of contemporary masculinity and contemporary fatherhood A shifting social policy towards men Ethnicity, class and the construction of masculinity Men, masculinity and child development Social work in a modern age
Literature Review continued
Gender Bias, the Denigration of Fatherhood or Simply Pragmatic Practice?
The constructions and pathologies of masculinity in social work An Overview of the Evidence Base; Social Work Practice and the Invisibility of Fathers The Education and Training Social Workers and Research about Men and Masculinity Violence - The construction of men as violence in social work - Domestic violence
Literature Review Continued
A Psychodynamic Contribution: Understanding how Violence Influences the Social Work System Defended Organisations Defended Professionals The Role of Supervision in the Inclusion of Fathers in Social Work Interventions How to Include Fathers in Social Work Interventions and Services
Multiple Masculinities
Hegemonic Masculinity Subordinated Masculinity Marginalised Masculinity which lead to protest and oppositional masculinity
Fathers & Child Development
It is now recognised that, in most cases, child centred and sensitive care giving by both parents through complimentary parenting, (where parents agree role differentiation), contributes to a wide variety of positive child outcomes. (Allen: 2011, Field: 2010, Hauari & Hollingworth: 2009, Lamb and Tamis-Lemonda: 2004).
What Social Workers report
Male Responsibility The Personal Fear The Need for Positive Male Role Modelling Organisational responsibility Male Responsibility
Male Responsibility
A demand for men to take responsibility for the care and protection of their children. Although, this is not a new discourse, it is one that is rarely spoken of in social work
‘The Personal’
How family origin and life experience influence, through assumption and prejudice, how men are thought about in social worker practice.
‘It is the prejudice that stops us
seeing the dad not the
timescales’
Fear
An endemic feeling within social work is the very real presence of fear, fear of a violent sexual attack or fear of allegation.
‘I would always think that at the end of the day a woman could hit you but a man could rape you or
sexually abuse you in some way’
Sexuality
The ever present discourse of human sexuality was present and yet is ignored within the profession
Role Modelling
The important function of modelling behaviours to demonstrate survival, escape from structural discrimination and male responsibility, ‘a good mother’ and professionalism. ‘I’ve got two men in my team and
I don’t think that about them’
Organisational responsibility
The need for Children’s Social Care to support and challenge the practice of social workers’ in advancing the inclusion of men
‘Its not discussed in supervision, our managers don’t challenge us’.
Critiquing the literature
Impact of Child abuse and / or domestic violence experienced by social workers in their childhood or adult lives on their social work practice The profession attracts a disproportionately high number of people who have suffered abuse and the impact this may have on their ability to manage violent and abusive clients
A Psychodynamic Contribution:
Understanding how Violence Influences the Social Work System Defended Organisations and professionals The Role of Supervision in the Inclusion of Fathers in Social Work Interventions
How to Include Fathers in Social Work Interventions and Services
Findings from a Doctoral Study in LBI
1. Why have fathers been continually excluded from the social work task? 2. How do we currently exclude fathers from social work practice? 3. How do we create the conditions for fathers to be included in social work practice?
4. What strategies, methods and techniques promote inclusive practice for fathers?
Social Work Practice
Identify the father as early as possible (See hand-out) The Basics: respect, be on time Understand masculinity Be a detective Ask and keep asking Involve the professional network in identifying and engaging the father The importance of FGCs There is a need for a more knowledgeable social work force particularly skilled in domestic violence and with grounding in masculinity and work with couples For more information on techniques see http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/
Exercise
In small groups: 1.
What can you do in your own practice differently to include more fathers? 2.
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What can your team do to include more fathers? What can your managers / the organisation do to include more fathers?
Services
Services for men are few in number, feminised, fragmented, poorly understood and not easily accessed Men are collectively socialised to avoid therapy and similar services Services to men need to be designed around the needs of men, particularly non-residential fathers, to improve child safety and family dynamics.
Conclusions
Include fathers in your practice; in assessments and interventions Discuss fathers in supervision Discuss in multi-agency meetings the identification of fathers Encourage conversations in your teams and organisations about father involvement
Q&A Gavin Swann gavin.
02075277163