Journals

Journal Portfolio

Practice with Children, Youth and Families is an area where I began my journey into social work many years ago and where I wish to undertake my second Field work placement in 2012.

An element of this course was the written submission of two assessment pieces. On this page it is my intention to critically review my performance in these two assessments from my own evaluation and from feedback provided by the course tutor. Then to provide a plan for ongoing development of practice knowledge, including methods of evaluation.

 Assessment 1

  This item required the completion of a statutory child protection report regarding the Sampson family, highlighting my interpretation of the family in terms of its structure and dynamics, issues of concern and to provide a genogram of the family, utilising literature to evidence the points of interest. This was an assessment that I enjoyed completing, other than a brief workshop  presented during term two residential (2010) at Central Queensland University Rockhampton I had limited experience at creating a genogram. The creation of one for this assessment required me not only to critically analyse the family’s case study to gather significant information, but also to learn how to construct a genogram and the utilisation of an unfamiliar computer program.  This aspect I believe, after numerous attempts, I completed effectively enabling the visualisation of the family construction and its relationships. Regarding the portrayal of family my interpretation was adequate, however as highlighted by the course assessor I failed to raise the issue of social exclusion/ isolation regarding the mother and how this impacts upon ‘the family’s vulnerability for future child protection issues’ (SH, 2011), there were a number of issues of concern relating to this case study, many I discovered and many I did not, however my  descriptive of these concerns was limited and a more thorough analysis, with evidenced research would of been appropriate particularly in a real case scenario. From this assessment and the feedback provided by the course assessor (SL) It has become evident that there are a number of areas in which I need to become more knowledgeable particularly when identifying an issue of concern and how this issue can impact on other areas of the family’s wellbeing and ability to function for example, The impact of domestic violence and its relationship to mental health, parental capacity, etc.

 

Assessment 2

The second assessment piece required the evaluation of issues and dilemma’s encountered to maintain the best interests of the child when working in a practice context. The practice context that was chosen was child protection in out of home care. The two issues identified were the removal of children from out of home care and breaching client confidentiality, too discuss these issues, discover what theoretical frameworks underpinned them and how, research was undertaken into legislation, including mandatory reporting and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, building appropriate relationships with clients, strengths perspective, anti- oppressive approach and cultural competence. There were many social work theories I found that were relevant to this context, but I failed to mention the importance of child development theories, social learning theories, system theories and in particular Attachment Theory. Especially as a great deal of research based upon attachment theory intends to promote knowledge of the characteristics that contribute to complications in parent-child relationships (Daniel, Wassell & Gilligan 1999), and that children in out of home care are most likely living away from the individual to whom they have their primary attachment relationship (Daniel, Wassell & Gilligan 1999). This would support the significance of regular contact, which is another issue that upon reflection I could have discussed further. As noted by the assessor I did concentrate far too much upon the ethical components of child protection and the workers practice, when more focus was required on evidence based theoretical aspects.  I did report the underlying principles of child protection in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and attempted to relate the importance of cultural competency when working with any client in this context, however further research would of enhanced the  significance, importance and implication of cultural competence.  

References

Daniel, B Wassell, S & Gilligan, R 1999, Child development for child care and protection workers, Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd, London, England.

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on my learning

Overall on both assessments my grammar and structure of sentences needed more focus, my written expression was I believe too elaborate, a more concise report would of allowed for more wordage to be utilised in a the theoretical critique and demonstration of knowledge. I need to gain more knowledge about;

1.      The legislation of Australian child protection,

2.      Theoretical discourses that underpin child protection,

3.      The practice context in which child protection takes place, i.e. government agencies, non-government agencies,

4.      Family structures and the importance of dynamics,

5.      Human development

6.       Cultural awareness and competence,

 

Goal	Action	Time Frame	Evaluation
Develop knowledge about legislation underpinning Child protection	Research CP legislation QLD and Commonwealth, revisit family law text.	February 2012	Journaling, competence in assessment writing
Enhance knowledge of theories of child protection and human development.	Research, social work journals, texts on child development, child protection.	Initially end 2011, although this will be an ongoing process	Application of a child development theory into my personal practice framework.
Develop knowledge about the practice contexts of child protection.	Research into local community, networking, attendance at community workshops.	Again ongoing, however by June 2012 I want to have made numerous network connections, and be able describe services relating to CP that are available in the community	Possible attendance certificates, increased contacts, reflective journaling.
Knowledge about family structure, dynamics,  and relationships	Research into social work, behavioural, and physiological journals	January 2012	Self reflective Journaling and peer group discussion.
Cultural awareness and competence,	Research into culture, respect sensitivity and competence through literature and engaging at a practical level at the local Indigenous wellbeing centre.	Ongoing process, April 2012	Self reflective journaling
Improve my literacy skills.	Engage in workshops that promote report and assessment writing. Contact the Communications learning centre at Central Queensland University for advice.	February 2012	Enhanced confidence and competence in assessment writing, report writing and in employment application, etc.