Social Work Case Study

Assessment

As social workers, we must help people, families, and the community function well within society and meet their basic needs. This usually entails specific methodologies and processes that improve the well-being of people and help meet the complicated needs within social communities. One such process is assessment, which is crucial in Chloe and Leo’s case. The main goal of this assessment would be to help Chloe and Leo reach their full potential by providing them with the support they need.

One aspect that I will assess is their family dynamics. Based on the information provided in the referral form, there is evident strain within the family. Firstly, the parents have failed to provide physical and emotional support to the children. For example, Leo told the teacher that his father had hit Chloe, but it was not international. Their home environment is characterised by conflict as their parents constantly fight, resulting in tension and a lack of security among children. Children in such homes frequently exhibit behavioural issues and difficulty forming and maintaining peer relationships (Ferguson, 2017). This is evident in Chloe, who only has one friend and struggles to develop other relationships. At the same time, her brother exhibits behavioural problems as he constantly disrupts his classmates with jokes and has recently told his teacher to “fuck off”. Ultimately, Chloe and Leo’s family has a stressful relationship burdened with arguments, neglect and physical abuse.

Additionally, assessing socio-economic attributes is essential to fully understanding the issues and needs within the family. The referral form indicates that Ryan and Holly struggle to make ends meet. Holly was working part-time at a shop but lost her job, and Ryan occasionally works but has never had a regular job due to his injured back. The financial problems could strain the family, resulting in increased fights between parents. As a result, interventions should strive to help Ryan and Holly secure more stable jobs so that they can meet their children’s economic needs (Marlow, 2023). Further, their financial struggles could also be contributing to the parent’s substance abuse issues. Alcohol provides an escape during stressful circumstances, which could lead to addiction, especially when an individual is experiencing ongoing stress. Therefore, assessing the family’s socio-economic aspects helps in identifying underlying issues, leading to comprehensive knowledge of the family.

Another critical factor in this evaluation is social challenges. The case demonstrates that Chloe is undergoing bullying online from her classmates. Children undergoing bullying are more likely to go through anxiety, depression and long-term damage to their self-esteem. They also occasionally feel lonely and choose to isolate themselves from others. The bullying that Chloe is undergoing could, in part, have led to isolation and trouble developing peer relationships. Also his anger and frustration could be due to the pain from being bullied.

Why We Do This

Social workers work towards helping vulnerable individuals get social justice. As a social worker who mainly works with children, I always seek to identify the personal tools and external resources that will help them live a better life, especially if they are in a situation where they are exploited, abused or neglected (Featherstone et al., 2021; Alston, 2021). As a result, we conduct a thorough assessment of the children’s situation to understand the unique aspects of their circumstances and come up with tailored solutions that meet their individual needs and improve their overall life quality. For example, when working with children who are victims of domestic abuse, our goal is usually to move the secure areas and link them with services that they need to start over. This same is true for children with neglectful parents. By placing them in homes where they are better cared for, we improve their life quality, allowing them to reach their full potential (Maclean and Harrison, 2015). The goal for individuals struggling with substance abuse is to provide them with the support that they need through an adequate rehabilitation process that would help them let go of triggers and leave this harmful behaviour.

An essential aspect of our work includes interviewing clients as part of the assessment. This allows us to gain first-hand information about the situation to tailor our interventions to their needs better (Banks, 2021). We usually use different tools depending on the specific case. In this case, we have mapped out the family dynamics in Chloe and Leo’s family and their socio-economic situation and social issues. Such in-depth examination of the family provides a holistic picture of their situations, ensuring that the needs of all members are met.

Chronology

Legislations

The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968

The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 provided early help to communities and partnered with local organisations to protect vulnerable groups. The legislation gives social workers the duty to provide local communities with social work services, including guidance, advice, and financial help (Gordon and Davies, 2018). A critical aspect of the Social Work (Scotland) 1968 is that it highly emphasised child protection and resulted in heightened recognition of child abuse and neglect.

Section 15 of the legislation gives social workers the authority to receive children subject to abuse or neglect (Braye and Preston-Shoot, 2017; Thompson, 2024). Based on the findings, Chloe and Leo have been victims of abuse and neglect as their parents regularly leave them alone and do not tend to their emotional needs. As a result, the decision to move the children from the home aligns with the provision in the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. Additionally, this section provides information on how Holly and Ryan may assume their parental rights. For instance, they must be clean and provide evidence that they can provide their children a safe and secure environment. Section 20 states that social workers must make decisions that further the best interest of the children brought into their care and that they should allow them to properly develop their character abilities (Critchley et al., 2021). Thus, we will monitor Chloe and Leo’s stay at Sarah’s house, further providing maintenance throughout their stay. Moreover, Section 32 of the legislation defines the kinds of children that deserve compulsory care measures. It includes children who are experiencing unnecessary suffering or subject to abuse as defined in Schedule 1. Chloe and Leo fit this criteria; thus, our actions as social workers align with the legislation.

Children (Scotland) Act 1995

The legislation tackles children’s rights, particularly when it comes to taking part in decisions that affect them. As such, during the meetings, we included Chloe and Leo and asked them whether they would feel comfortable living in foster care, but they instead chose to live with their aunt Sarah. They claimed that they loved their aunt and enjoyed the times when they slept over at her place as she was “more caring” than their mother. Involving the children in decision-making allowed them to talk about the problems that affected and helped us arrive at a decision that best fitted their needs (Tisdall, 2015). Children (Scotland) 1995 defines children taken from their homes to a new environment as being “looked after and accommodated” and establishes the duties of local authorities in ensuring that their needs are met (Martin, 2012). While evidence showed that their children would be safe while they were being cared for and accommodated by Sarah, we alerted the local authorities to regularly check up on them to guarantee that their needs were met.

(Scotland) Act 2021

The Act maintains that abuse entails sexual abuse, physical abuse and abuse that takes the form of neglect (Hendry, 2021). Chloe was hit by her father when he was arguing with Holly, and the parents have been reported for leaving their children unattended for several hours. Our conclusion that the children were being abused aligns with its definition in this legislation. Section 20 (1) of the Act demonstrates that relevant care is, “a residential institution in which the day-to-day care of children was provided by or on behalf of a person other than a parent or guardian of the children resident there” (Cairns and Callander, 2022). This could be a children’s home, residential care facility, penal institution, school-related accommodation and secure accommodation. Taking children to Sarah’s home aligns with the Act as her home is a secure accommodation where she can care for Chloe and Leo’s needs, thus allowing them to reach their full potential.

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland Act 2021

The legislation outlines the responsibilities of those involved in protecting children nationwide. It claims that initial intervention should always seek to support children within their families before compulsory and extensive measures can be taken. The National Guidance for Children Protection in Scotland Act 2021 claims that in cases where children need placement away from their homes, social workers can protect them by providing trauma-informed, attuned and adequately sustained support that works towards reunification or alternative secure home if impossible (Scottish Government, 2010). When working on this case, the initial assessment proved that intervening within the family may be inadequate for Chloe and Leo as their parent’s substance abuse issues could not be solved immediately. As a result, we chose to place them under the care of Sarah, who was able to provide safe, secure and nurturing accommodation. Nonetheless, we considered future reunification as we placed the parents into rehabilitation and connected them with a job placement agency that would help them get more permanent jobs.

GIRFEC Policy 

The Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy provides practical measures through which social workers can promote the rights of every child. The policy calls for assessment, planning and actions that consider each child’s needs and promote their well-being and safety (Bolger, 2016). As such, it asks social workers to listen to the views of each child and consider them when making decisions. However, aspects like the child’s age and their level of understanding and maturity will also come into play. In the case of Chloe and Leo, while they are still minors, they have some level of understanding of their circumstances. We prioritised Chloe’s opinions as she was older and more “mature” than her brother. The policy further states that social work services should seek to build children’s resilience and strengths while tackling the risks and vulnerabilities within the children’s lives (Coles et al., 2016). By placing Chloe and Leo under the care of their aunt, we addressed the risk they faced from being exposed to domestic violence and neglect from their parents. We further sought to help with their individual need when we placed them in therapy; this particularly helped Chloe to deal with trauma from an insecure home and online bullying from her peers. GIRFEC additionally calls for partnership with those who care for the child and have responsibilities towards them. We followed this provision when we put them under the care of Sarah who care for them.

Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021

Part 1 of the law gives senior police officers the authority to place a Domestic Abuse Protection Notice to individuals who abuse their partners and children without resorting to court. The legislation is set to be implemented in 2024, where it will provide immediate protections for individuals going through domestic abuse. This legislation will help Holly and the children as it will protect them from Ryan’s actions, thus ensuring that they are safer (Cairns and Callander, 2022). By giving more power to law enforcement, the law will allow for prompt actions to be taken in case of domestic abuse.

SHANNARI and The Promise

The Scottish administration describes well-being as, Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible (SHANNARI). This principle guided our social work initiative as we focused on creating a safe environment for children by protecting them from abuse and neglect at home. Also, we aimed to attain a healthy surrounding where Chloe and Leo achieve the highest possible physical and mental health (Crichton et al., 2020; Rogon, 2019). While placing them in a foster home seem an ideal choice, we discovered that accommodating them with their aunt would result in better mental health. We further purposed to put them in an environment where they are supported to achieve in school and where they are nurtured and actively take part in different activities, thereby promoting their life quality. On the other hand, The Promise maintains that children must be listened to and their feedback be considered during decision making in social work. It additionally recommends placing children were they are supported and love, placing children with their sibling and asks social workers to actively support children to develop meaningful relationships in the community (Adams, 2017; Bamford, 2015). We followed this policy when we put Chloe and Leo under the care of their aunt, allowing them to maintain their sibling relationship and obtain support from it.

Theory and Practise

Relations-Based Practise

This practice seeks to create relations with families by providing them with chances to change but with clear repercussions if they fail to do so. When implementing relations-based practice, me as a social worker became the main practice tool and I sought to build support for Chloe, Leo and their parents. I did this by maintaining a relationship with Holly and Ryan while they went into rehab and regularly checked up on them (Hingley-Jones and Ruch, 2016). I also informed that a failure to dedicate themselves to the substance abuse treatment will lead to them never recovering their parental rights. This practiced allowed me to understand that each individual’s journey was unique and that their internal and extrernal world were connected (Ferguson et al., 2022). As such, rather than seeing Holly and Ryan as neglectful parents, I saw their actions as response to their psychosocial issues. Thus, I sought to connect to job placement agency to help them with their financial struggles and rehab for them to treated for their addiction.

Strength-based theory 

Strength based approaches emphasises the capacity, knowledge, connections, skills and potential in people and communities (Coulshed and Orme, 2018; Healy, 2021). One of the strengths that we identified is the parents’ willingness to tackle their addiction. Both Holly and Ryan had engaged with a local family support organisation which had resulted in the improvement of their alcohol use and family strength. As a result, our intervention sought to enhance the parents’ capacity to care for their children. By placing them in a local rehab, we focused on alleviating their substance abuse issue, thus promoting collaboration towards better outcomes for Chloe and Leo. We also considered Chloe love for school and Leo’s passion for nurture class and sought to remove them from their stressful environment so that they could concentrate in school and improve in their academic performance.

Attachment Theory

This theory came in handy as it allowed us to comprehend human behavior. It maintains that babies have innate behaviors aimed at guaranteeing that caregivers meet their needs. Such behaviors include making eye contact, crying, clinging and smiling (Page, 2017). As a result, caregivers that take note of these behaviors and respond appropriately are able to promote secure attachment with their children. Children develop insecure attachments when neglected resulting in maladaptive behaviors (Chinery, 2016). Leo, who is only 7 has undergone neglect from his parents resulting in insecure attachment. This could explain why he is acting out in school, where he constantly distracts his classmates.

Systems Theory

This theory provides a framework that helps social workers understand why certain people behave in a particular way. When applying this theory in practice, we looked into all the factors that impacted Chloe and Leo’s lives, including their family dynamics, their parents’ financial issues and their social issues. (Turner, 2017) Comprehending all these systems allowed us to put together a picture of what drive their actions in school (Payne, 2016). For example, we understood that Leo’s attention seeking behavior and Chloe’s difficulty to form peer relationships and anger were to due exposure to abuse and neglect in their home. Therefore, the theory adequately informed on the family dynamics allowing us to developed interventions that addressed underlying issues.

Contrustictivism theory

It asserts that there is no “objective” truth as individuals create their reality depending on their encounters and backgrounds. This theory urges us as social workers to comprehend the perspectives of the clients. It also calls for consideration of the social influences within a person’s lives so that interventions created may be holistic (Michailakis and Schirmer, 2014). When applying this theory, I viewed myself as a collaborative partner who sought to co-construct solution and comprehend the issues that were affecting the family. For instance, this approach allowed us to understand that Holly and Ryan constantly fought because of their financial issues.

Conclusion

Social workers have a duty to promote the well-being of the vulnerable members of society. We sought to promote Chloe and Leo’s situation by conducting a thorough assessment, which informed us that they had been exposed to neglect and abuse. The numerous legislations that focus on children welfare in Scotland guided our assessment and we made decision that not only placed Chloe and Leo in a safe environment but also worked towards reunification with their parents. We linked Leo’s distracting behavior in school with the inability to develop a secure attachment at school. Systems theory and constructivism theory also informed our theory. As a social worker, I also followed a relationship-based approach where I focused on developing strong relations with the family. Ultimately, our holistic interventions led to the best outcomes for both the children and their parents.

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