As an upcoming social worker, I am feeling more confident identifying concerns and appropriate means of challenge. An example is when I repeatedly contacted the police to gain clarity on a specific violent incident, and check whether it was witnessed by children witnessed. After six weeks of no details, the police informed me they were closing the case as no witnesses came forward, when the whole time the mum involved had been waiting for a police update. After liaising with the mum, I advised the relevant officer on what actually happened, but also confirmed that mum no longer wished to press charges as the time lapse meant things had calmed down.
My management of time and workload has improved considerably during placement. …show more content…
A good example of the effect of loss and change on relationships is with a Polish family I was supporting. Having found the courage to escape a domestic abuse relationship, the family were now living in a safe environment and starting to rebuild their life, yet the mother once again put the life of herself and child in jeopardy by re-established contact with the perpetrator. Exploring this, I was saddened to find that, despite being abusive, mum was drawn to her ex-partner because she lacked an informal support network to turn to for comfort and advice when she became ill, and her identity encompassed him as he was the only link she had to her former life in Poland. With this same mother, I raised her awareness of the damaging consequences of children whom live amid domestic abuse by highlighting the forms of harm and the long-term impact this could have on her child. For example, how her child potentially could observe and copy the same dysfunctional behaviours onto others during their life, or experience the same type of relationships due to normalising domestic violence as being part of a healthy adult relationship. This subsequently persuaded the mother to reconsider resuming the relationship for the sake of her