Task-Centred Anti-Discriminatory Practice in Social Work

Task-Centred Anti-Discriminatory Practice in sociable exitDemonstrate your cause of the main principles of business CENTRED PRACTICE. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the theory in its application to anti discriminatory workout.IntroductionThe International Federation of Social Work states thatThe companionable survey profession promotes mixer change, problem solving in humanrelationships and the empowerment and liberation of citizenry to enhance well-being.Utilising theories of human behaviour and fond systems, tender work intervenes at thepoints where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and genial vindicatoryice be fundamental to social work1.The best kind of social work is that which places the lymph node or help user at the centre of everything it does. This is a core principle of occupation base social work, rather than working with a set of preconceived ideas the social player has to negotiate the legal material within which she/he is obliged to operate in order to hand the best results for the service user. Task based social work is therefore first and foremost ethical and anti-oppressive social work which takes as its foundation the Human Rights Act of 1998 that each person should be dealt with in terms of the concept of the inherent worth of the individual.This assignment ordain first give some definition of the role and responsibilities of the social worker. From within this manikin it will then look at the main principles of task centred practice and will use imaginary scenarios to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the theory and its application to anti-discriminatory practice.Social WorkPeople looking for a c beer as a social worker usually have more luck if they have had some develop of dealing with individuals in the community of interests. This could involve work placements or being convolute with voluntary work, both of which seen as good practice and background to engage in social work practice. Prior community involvement is seen as a valuable asset for anyone wishing to become a social worker. Social service is set against a background of voluntary charity work in the late nineteenth century and people who get involved in community work are seen to have the right kind of spirit, or an interest in social justice that is a valuable part of social work (Moore, 2002).Tasks and Roles Within the Legal FrameworkThe social workers role is outlined by what was the personal social services. The overall aim of social workers is a concern with individuals and the care they may need. Under Government legislation and the Code of Practice, social workers have to act in accordance with the 1998 Human Rights Act, the 1990 NHS and Care in the Community Act (a result of the 1988 Griffiths Report), the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act of 1970 and the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. More recently social workers are legally required to be involved in partner ship working with different agencies (ref) and this has been extended to include the service user/service provider relationship. in that respect is, arguably, some truth in the fact that this takes what is at heart a charitable search for social justice and puts it on a par with businesses and at the mercy of market forces.The primary work behind task centred practice is the identification of social systems, what they might be and what they do. Thus the properly qualified social worker necessitate a good deal of sociological knowledge with regard to things like class, gender, race and religion. He/she would also need to be witting of Parsons work on social systems and socialisation because this gives an insight into the boundaries from which a service user may be operating (Payne, 1991). Once social workers are aware of social systems and how they operate then it is possible to be able to define any imbalances within a working relationship (Payne ibid). This outlast is a necess ary part of anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice, however, we shall see that task centred practice can be a two edged sword for the social worker.Paynes (1991) systems summary is essential to task centred practice because it provides the social worker with a conceptual basis to start breaking a problem and its solution into manageable pieces.Task centred practice is based on the idea that people learn by doing and that when they have a success this then improves their performance (Hanvey, 1994). Task centred theory is upgrade premised on the view that tasks are a series of steps that a professional would take in order to help a service user achieve a goal. This goal would need to take into account the rights and responsibilities of others as well as those of the service user.There are three key parts of task centred practice the first part of this process focuses on the problem or situation that the social worker is faced with, for use a young flummox who has been ho spitalised with mental health problems and now wishes to look after her child herself. In this situation the social worker would have to break the problem down for example what might the risks to the child be if it was left unsupervised with a sustain from a difficult client group? The social worker would begin by looking at the whole picture and then focus on particular aspects of the situation that could be problematic. Added to this as the social worker investigates the problem further he/she may find the shape and scope of the problem changing (Hanvey, ibid). Thus the social worker has to establish certain parameters e.g. the urgency of the problem and the chances of distress or success as well as any support the service user may have. In the graphic symbol of a young mother with mental health issues for example the following problem might occurIf the social worker needs to make a visit and the service user refuses to allow entry this could cause problems with regards to any future assessment, something which is required by the legal framework. According to the terms of the Community Care Act of 1990 (circular LAC (92) 12, any needs assessment would have to take into account that persons current living situation, any help or support from friends and relatives and what she herself hopes to gain from the assessment. Because of mental health needs this client would be entitled to a specific type of assessment.2A task centred undertake involves looking at what the service user wants (in this case to have agnatic rights and control of her child), what the problems might be. If an earlier assessment has shown that family and friends would be able to offer little in the way of help and a young child is involved then the social worker has a duty to search for alternatives. If the mothers care of the child is erratic and she is posing a problem for other people around then it would be the social workers duty to call in the medical officer of health who then ha s to confine an order from the magistrates court. This would allow the social worker to gain entry and to assess the situation and the needs of the child, however, this could bring the social worker into a value skirmish situation (this, I think is one of the problems with the task centred plan of attack).Task centred social work means that once the social worker has defined the problem and the hoped for outcome, he/she then has to decide whether the outcome is really attainable and what the consequences might be if it were achieved. With the imagined scenario used here achieving what the client wants could involve the social worker in a variety of problematic situations.Ethically speaking the interests of the service user should take priority. However the social worker has a duty to bear in read/write head the BASW guidelines on ethical practice, Boulton (2003) has said of thisIn exceptional circumstances where the priority of the service users interest is outweighed by the nee d to protect others or by legal requirements, make service users aware that their interests may be overridden (Boulton, 2003 p.10).3Where it has been estimated that a child may be at risk then a social worker has a duty of care under the 1989 Childrens Act. At the same time there is a requirement to act within a framework that is informed by the Human Rights Act of 1998 and the rights of the mother have to be taken into consideration. There is a dilemma here for the social worker because a wrong decision could result in harm occasioned either to the child or to the mother as a result of her own actions. In such circumstances a social worker is bound to make an assessment of risk, and also probable harm. If harm is occasioned then the social worker could be held to account.The (system we are in now is almost ready to treat every death as chargeable to someones account, every accident as caused by someones criminal negligence, every sickness a threatened prosecution. Whose fault? Is the first question (Douglas, 199215-16).4Clearly this situation needs a multi-agency approach including the social worker, his/her immediate superior, someone from the child protection scheme, the mothers GP, the health visitor and the mother. Putting the child on the child protection interpret with regular reviews may help alleviate the situation and is in line with the requirements of the 1989 Childrens Act. This could therefore become a case where the service users rights will be overridden because the primary duty is to the child. This is where a social worker would be faced with a conflict of ethics and values which may depart to a practice situation where, as a practitioner, the social worker cannot be right. The final part of a task centred approach is to define just how long a social worker can give to a particular case and this is almost impossible to define, particularly in the imagined scenario above. A case like this could go on for years with different levels of profe ssional involvement.ConclusionTask centred theory, I believe is a good starting point for social workers as it provides some sort of framework for dealing with some of the problems service users may present. While the theory is meant to support anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice, this relies on a thorough understanding of social systems and how they operate. On the other hand there are some situations where a social worker has to weigh the needs of one person against some other and this can result in apparent oppression and neglect of a service users human rights. The fact of the matter is that there will always be cases where someone is the loser and this is a sad fact of social work experience.Bibliographyhttp//www.gscc.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/30BC32F2-20B2-4D90-ABAB-3666D5BB44EB/0/Rolesandtasksconsultationpaper.pdf accessed 31st March 2007Boulton, J 2003 Code of morality for Social Work available at http//www.basw.co.uk/articles.php?articleId=2page=14Hanvey, C and Phi lpot, T. 1994 Practicing Social Work New York, RoutledgeKemshall, 2002 Kemshall, H. 2002. Risk, Social Policy and Welfare Buckingham, Open University Press p.9Payne, M. 1991 moderne Social Work Theory. A Critical Introduction, London Macmillan.The Care Programme Approach Policy towards integrated care programme approach and care steering (2000) South London and Maudsley NHS Trust11 http//www.gscc.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/30BC32F2-20B2-4D90-ABAB-3666D5BB44EB/0/Rolesandtasksconsultationpaper.pdf accessed 31st March 20072 The Care Programme Approach Policy towards integrated care programme approach and care management (2000) South London and Maudsley NHS Trust3 Boulton, J 2003 Code of Ethics for Social Work available at http//www.basw.co.uk/articles.php?articleId=2page=144 Quoted in Kemshall, 2002 Kemshall, H. 2002. Risk, Social Policy and Welfare Buckingham, Open University Press p.9