The purpose of this paper is to define, describe and apply social work models to my recent placement experience, and an initial assessment that I observed. My twenty day placement was at a Christian voluntary adoption agency, based in England. They do not have contracts with local authorities in Wales, but do work with them as and when their help in finding potential families to adopt children is required. Although a voluntary agency they work within the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Children Act 2004, Care Standards Act 2000. The prospective adopters approach the agency themselves. The agency offers a non discriminatory approach; they do not judge people by their age, culture, sexual orientation, marital status or ethnicity. There are many children awaiting adoption from varying backgrounds. The prospective adopters must be able to offer secure, safe loving environments for the children to thrive and flourish, Children Act (2004). By contacting the agency they are given an information pack, in a format that is acceptable to them. They can then, if they wish, contact the agency and request a prospective adopter’s initial assessment. The initial assessment that I observed, was that of a single applicant whom I will refer to as X. She was of Welsh origin, but non-welsh speaking, white, thirty nine years old, divorced and employed with her own home and a supportive family. She also had a sister who had been adopted from Pakistan. Historically single people have been seen as inappropriate for adoption and only used as a last resort (Rosenthal and Groze, 1992). However, ‘Single parents have a high level of emotional maturity, have a high capacity to tolerate frustration, and are not overly influenced by the opinions of ot... ... middle of paper ... ...Koprowska, J (2008) Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work (2nd edn), Exeter: Learning Matters. Lane, M (2006) Adoption Law for Adopters, Oxfordshire: Adoption UK. Milner, J and O’Byrne, P (2009) Assessment in Social Work (3rd edn), Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Moss, B (2008) Communication Skills for Health and Social Care, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Parker, J and Bradley G (2007) Social Work Practice (2nd edn), Exeter: Learning Matters. Roscoe, K, and Madoc-Jones, I (2009) ‘Critical Social Work Practice: A Narrative Approach.’ IJNP, Vol (1). p12. Slade, J (2006) Safer Caring (2nd edn), UK: The Fostering Network. Stepney, P and Ford, D (2000) Social Work, Models, Methods and Theories, Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing. Thompson, N (2003) Communication and Language: A handbook of theory and practice, Basingstoke; Palgrave MacMillan.
Maclean, S. & Harrison, R. (2008) Social Work Theory: A Straightforward Guide for Practice Assessors and Placement Supervisors. Kirwin Maclean Associates, Staffordshire
Dorfman, R. (1996). Clinical social work: Definiton [sic], practice, and vision. New York: Brunner/Mazel Publishers.
Pages 261- 267. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2011.10.006. Cameron, D. (2001). The 'Case Working with spoken discourse and communication. London: Thousand Oaks & Co. Carson, C., & Cupach, W. (2000).
SEDEN, J. (2011). Professional development in social work: complex issues in practice. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge.
Parker, J. and Bradley, G. (2003). Social Work Practice: Assessment, Planning, Intervention and Review. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.
My position as a newly qualified social worker initially entailed working solely with Child in Need cases, giving me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of my role. By following the recommendations of Making The Most Of The First Year In Practice: A Guide For Newly Qualified Social
In order to address the disproportion of minority children who wait to be adopted, we must first consider the requirements one faces to be able to be a perspective adopting parent. The adoption process starts off by choosing an adoption agency. Next, the agency will send someone to the prospective parents’ home to gather informat...
Walsh, J. (2014). Theories For Direct Social Work Practice (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Birkenmaier, J., & Weger, M. (2011). The practicum companion for social work: integrating class and field work (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
She should have brown eyes, dark brown hair, and a pretty smile. Or do I want a little boy, so I can raise him to be a football quarterback. Do I want to be buying pink princess costumes or scary monster costumes? Am I even ready to care for another person? People question themselves while deciding whether or not adoption is the right choice for them. Not all hopeful, soon-to-be parents pass the first set of qualifications. Every adoption’s goal is to bring a son or daughter into a new family. However, each type also has different processes and qualifications. In addition to the qualifications, the government has established legislation to safeguard the adoption process. As adoption rates grow, so do the controversies surrounding adoption. Adoption is a long, strenuous process that has continuously changing throughout the years.
There are many frameworks of social work which can use to examine the way social work is practiced and theorized. One of these frameworks is Payne’s model. Payne’s model asserts that there are three distinct theories of social work, a field which he described as, “…the profession of social work claims to help people in their personal & interpersonal lives in order to achieve social improvement & to adjust social change to benefit people interpersonally,” (Payne, 2005, p. ix). The three views Payne describes are the therapeutic (reflexive-therapeutic), social order (individualist-reformist), and transformational (socialist-collectivist). The therapeutic view simply put, is working to help the client
Winkler, P. 2007. Domestic and international adoption. Social Work 52 (2): 189-190. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 10, 2011).
SW’s need to demonstrate the principles of social work through professional judgement, decision-making and actions within a framework of professional accountability. SW’s also need to recognise their own professional limitations and how and when to seek advice from other sources, including supervisors, senior social workers and other clinical practitioners such as psychiatry. You need to demonstrate effective use of opportunities to discuss, debate, reflect upon and test hypotheses about what is happening within families, for children; and how to resolve tensions emerging (Department for Education,
Research suggests that in the United States there is on average 65 to 80 children waiting to be adopted daily. {Goldberg, Brooks 2001} In the United States we are facing a severe overabundance of unwanted children in the system.{Bradley 2007} Worldwide these numbers are significant, reaching approximately 500,000.{Goldberg, Brooks 2001} According to a study done by the Adoption Institute the number of children are growing annually while the peak number of adoptions domestically and internationally was 175,000 in 1970. This growing number is of concern to each nation in the world. {Goldberg, Brooks 2001} Economist Richard Bradley equates the high number of children to an unduly burdened, un-informed system. Adoption promotes cognitive and emot...
As noted above, it also poses some limitations and contradictions. Overall, the main components of modern critical social work, to serve oppressed populations, recognize power differentials, acknowledge the influence of larger systems and challenge unjust structures (Healy, 2014, p. 185) provide social workers with a foundation to work from in practice. As the profession of social work is continuously growing and evolving, critical social work should not be seen as a concrete and definitive way to practice, but instead as a base for understanding that should be critiqued and enhanced with the gaining of