The Art of Relationship Findings from Interviews with Service Users of Blackburn with Darwen s Family Regeneration Tea

1. Claire Mason Dept Applied Social Science Lancaster University Scott Hyde Social Worker Blackburn with Darwen Family Regeneration Team ‘The Art of Relationship’Findings from Interviews with Service Users of Blackburn with Darwen’s Family Regeneration Team

2. ‘The Art of Relationship’ Overview of project Overview of research Key Findings Discussion of findings within context contemporary social work practice

3. Family Regeneration Team Established 2003 ‘Michigan model’ Solution based brief therapy Children ‘at edge of care’ Family focussed Intensive Short term Flexible Hands-on

4. Research Overview Participants selected from 3 service user groupings: Children remained at home following FRT intervention (n = 11) Children subsequently became CLA (n=5) Children subsequently returned home (n=4)

5. The Participants Interviews were carried out with 20 adults from 15 families: 14 mothers 5 fathers 1 grandmother

6. Methodology All families contacted by project and asked to participate Pre-interview visits made to explain purpose Semi structured interviews carried out by researcher from Lancaster University Audio recorded Thematic analysis using inductive coding

7. Findings No significant difference in findings between groups Relationship as central: Respectful communication: trust, honesty and feeling safe A shared goal Practical assistance and understanding parents’ own needs Reliability: being available Solution focussed approach

8. Respectful communication Trust Honesty Feeling safe

9. Trust and Honesty “I felt I could trust them, they didn’t put me down, they advised me, they never said I was doing it wrong” (mother) “Even though well you know, it’s like a form of Social Services isn’t it, I didn’t feel threatened. With Social Services coming backwards and forwards I get really nervous and panicky I don’t want to say anything wrong, but when [Project X worker] were around it were so calm and friendly….I felt like I could ask him for anything, tell him anything, no matter what it were, what it were for; without thinking ‘oh I’m going to get judged’” (mother).

10. how the worker carries out her work with the parent, that is as important as what she actually does (Trevithick, 2003)

11. A shared goal Children achieve best outcomes when workers have constructive relationships with their parents and work to agreed goals with them (Reder et al. 1993, Trotter 2006, Platt 2007)

12. A Shared Goal I was a bit wary like… I didn’t trust them, they’d been sent by social services, , I was cautious like…. don’t want them in…..but [Project X worker] was alright, she’s really down to earth…I knew her job status.. but she were always friendly and always discussed things with us all. All the reports she wrote were spot on couldn’t fault wi’ them she brought to show us, we knew all she were saying (about us )”.  

13. Understanding Parents Own Needs Impact of child- centered discourse on practice Parents as ‘others’

14. Understanding Parents Own Needs “I was very tired when [Project X worker] got involved and he showed me ways to build my energy level up, he showed me how to make a decent omelette. They didn’t throw the goals in my face; they went through it all with me. He helped me with going to Doctors, even arranged for counsellor. Yeah he took me there, brought me back home…. If I ever needed help with shopping and that.. they were always just there for me” (mother) “she would come and help me tidy up..not just tell me to do it..that meant a lot that did” (mother)

15. Understanding Parents Own Needs Family centred Not separating child's needs from whole family needs Not parent blaming

16. Understanding Parents Own Needs DIY Transport and accompanying service users to appointments Material provision Budgeting

17. “I always felt like they were judging me. I just didn’t like social workers.... Before I got sectioned there was actually a period of 2 weeks when the kids weren’t here and it made me worse. As soon as they handed over to [Project X] I felt much better. I always felt like everything had to be spotless when [child protection social worker] came round. With Project X it didn’t feel like that.... she’d come in and make me a brew and she would help me out” (mother)

18. “If there were any problems with the house and that (FRT worker) would get on to the landlord or he’d just fix it himself” (mother) “she would come and help me tidy up..not just tell me to do it..that meant a lot that did” (mother)

19. Reliability Kept appointments Easily accessible Responded to crisis 24/7 “When things happening they would come straight away. Like one day J was kicking off and he came straight away and calmed him down and that” (mother)

20. Reliability – being available Practical availability Emotional availability “emotional labour” (Gray 2002) “...she just stepped in, it were totally different (to other services), she were always there…… I were able to contact them when needed to, like when A got sent down” (mother)

21. “She’d come down when she said she would. She would answer her mobile and if she said she’d ring back she would. Not like D [Family Support Team Social Worker].She was either out of office or on leave. It’s not that.. I don’t like D she just not reliable” (mother)

22. SFBT Problem Free Talk “It weren’t all negative like the other lot She [FRT worker] noticed when we had changed something even if it were a small thing. She knew it were hard for us” (father) “, they [FRT worker] didn’t put me down, they advised me; they never said I was doing it wrong” (mother) Miracle Question “[FRT worker said] I need to pick 3 goals.. what you would need. It was like fairy god mother that” (mother)

23. Relationship in Social Work Long considered the ‘bedrock’ Quality of relationship key criterion in predicting outcome (Farmer and Owen 1995,Holland 2000, Platt 2007) ‘Engagement’ Partnership incoherent without relationship Development of relationships dependants upon the worker skill base ( Turnell et al 2007 Forrester et al. 2008, Ferguson 2009)

24. Contemporary Practice Research suggests whilst workers recognise importance of relationship conspicuous absence of skill (Drake 1994, Forrester 2008)

25. So why............................. Technocratisation Adversarial approach Deskilling work-force

26. Technocratisation Escalation of administrative tasks ICS Performance Indicators Computer vs direct work

27. Deskilling work-force Computer vs direct work Social workers less time and discretion to identify what is relevant (Parton 2008) Social work role redefined Impact on skill base Decrease face to face time with service users ‘Off-shelf ‘ short term packages of intervention

28. Adversarial Approach to Practice Despite refocusing following ‘Messages from Research’ (1995) tension between risk and support, care and control remains (Parton 1997, Spratt and Callan 2004, Ruch 2005) Rocky terrain of safeguarding work “A wealth of useful information is provided about the nature and limitations of ‘partnership’ working, but there is little about how social workers talk to parents in these most difficult of conversations. Social Workers are left to navigate this complex area themselves” ( Forrester et al 2008:33)

29. Progressively, service user practitioner relationships are viewed in legal, procedural and administrative terms rather than as an indicator of practice effectiveness (Trevithick 2003) Leap of faith for workers to adopt contemporary relationship based models (Ruch 2005).

30. In summary........ ‘relationship’ tells us little about the important aspects of that interaction in the ‘swampy lowlands of practice’ (Schon 1985) The words of these parents offer some insight into its importance ‘The art of relationship’ complex and skilled pursuit

31. References Drake (1994) Relationship competencies in child welfare services Soc Work.39(5):595-602 Farmer and Owen (1995) Child protection practice: private risks and public remedies: a study of decision making HMSO London. Forrester, D. McCambridge J. Waissbein, C. and Rollnick, S. (2008) How do Child and Family Social Workers Talk to Parents about Child Welfare Concerns, Child Abuse Review 17: 23-35 Ferguson, H (2009) Performing child protection: home visiting, movement and the struggle to reach the abused child, Child and Family Social Work 14(4): 471-480  Gray, B. (2002) Emotional labour and befriending in family support and child protection in Tower Hamlets, Child and Family Social Work 7(1): 13-22 Holland, S. (2000) The assessment relationship: interactions between social workers and parents in child protection assessments , BJSW 30:149-163 Parton , N. (1997) Child protection, family support and social work: a critical appraisal of the Department of Health research studies in child protection, Child and Family Social Work 1(1) :3-11 Parton 2008 Changes in the Form of Knowledge in Social Work: From the ‘Social’ to the ‘Informational’ BJSW 38, 253-269 Platt, D.(2007) Congruence and Cooperation in social workers’ assessments of children in need, Child and Family Social Work 12 p.326-335 Reder, P., Duncan S. And Gray M.(1993) Beyond Blame – child abuse tragedies revisited. London: Routledge  Ruch, G. (2005) Relationship-based practice and reflective practice: holistic approaches to contemporary child care social work,  Child and Family Social Work 10(2): 111 - 123 Schon, D. (1983) The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action New York: Basic Books Spratt., T. and Callan J. (2004) Parents’ Views on social work intervention in child welfare cases’ British Journal of Social Work 34: 199-224 Trotter, C. (2008) What Does Client Satisfaction Tell Us About Effectiveness ? Child Abuse Review 17 p.262-274 Trevithick, P. (2003) Effective relationship based practice: a theoretical explanation Journal of Social Work Practice , 17(2) p.163-176 Turnell, A. Elliott, S. and Hogg,V. (2007) Compassionate, Safe and Rigorous Child Protection Practice with Biological Parents of Adopted Children Child Abuse Review 16 : 108-119