Reflective Journal Entry - Assignment Example

Reflective Journal Entry ENTRY NUMBER What happened? Select a particular incident or issue and provide a brief summary of the focus of your reflection. For my first task in placement, I was to attend to a mother who is a victim of domestic abuse, and her two young children. My supervisor felt my anxiousness and asked me to observe her interview the mother while I watch over the children. I learned that the mother, Hannah, was completely dependent on her husband especially because she came from another country and was not adept in the English language. However, he took advantage of this weakness and treated her unfairly. While my supervisor interviewed Hannah, I stayed with her children, a girl and a boy. The girl seemed to be unfazed what happened them, as she was chatty and friendly. The boy, however, appeared to be more affected, as he was quiet and distant. I tried to find out more about him but remembered to keep my distance at a comfortable length so that he will not feel threatened whatsoever. I introduced myself to him, saying my name is Mairo. Suddenly, a smile lit up his face and he associated my name with a game he loved to play called Mario. That short exchange broke the ice and soon he started to share stories with me. He spoke fondly about his friends in his previous school and how he missed them and also going to school. I felt he was getting deeper with his feelings as he expressed his longing for his friends and it made me uncomfortable because I did not know how to address it. I was already thinking of the effect of his mother’s domestic abuse from his father on this little boy’s perception of people. I realize that this session is an exercise in my capability of critical reflection and analysis and I fully intend to learn as much as I can from it. What were your thoughts and feelings at the time? What are they now? At that time, I was nervous when I saw Hannah and her children, being told that the mother was a victim of domestic abuse and that it was my task to deal with her. I felt I was not ready for such a sensitive case. I was concerned for the children, worried how witnessing their father abusing their mother could affect them. I felt relieved when my supervisor offered to take on the task of interviewing Hannah so that I can observe her and learn how to do it. I initiated talking to the children to see how they were coping with the situation. I felt more concerned about the little boy. Unsure of how to behave around him because he seemed so quiet and distant, I was ambivalent in getting close to him so I maintained a safe distance. I felt successful in getting him to talk because he was amused by my name and its similarity to a favourite character of his from a game he plays. The thoughts that ran in my head were about how pathetic the family’s situation was and how the children can possibly develop mistrust and a negative perception of people in general, having witnessed a painful scene between their parents. I am aware what negative impact domestic violence can do to children in both their emotional and physical well-being. I also realized how important communication is, specifically the choice of words can make a difference in how people relate to each other on their first meeting. Looking back, I feel glad that I was able to handle the situation of talking to the children appropriately that they opened up to me. I think being a mother helped a lot because my concern for their welfare was genuine. However, since this was a professional case, I still felt that it was out of my comfort zone and had to apply diversity to my practice so I can better understand what my clients were going through based on their own context and background. What knowledge (theoretical, legal, policy, research) were you conscious of at the time? How did this knowledge inform your practice? How has it informed your learning? The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." (WHO, 2015, para.1). In terms of Hannah’s case, the factor of her children witnessing her abuse constitutes “domestic abuse” under the amended Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2012 especially if they have been physically hurt. Hannah was able to escape from her husband’s maltreatment even before he can extend the abuse to their children. Children’s best interests are looked after by the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as it declares: "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth" (UNCRC, 1989). Hence all measures should be taken to ensure children’s protection from any kind of abuse. Under the Children Act 1989, local authority services can customize their services to protect children at risk of abuse such as provision of homes, child-minding and day care services for such children (DfEs Children Act and Reports, 1989; 2004). All these legislations have been developed for the benefit of all people. It upholds human rights. Multi-agency working shares responsibilities in helping marginalised people like Hannah and her children. Knowledge of these legislations makes me more confident that I am participating in efforts to protect Hannah and her children with the services I can provide through my placement training experiences. Because I am more concerned with the effects of domestic abuse on the children, I remember Bowlby’s Attachment Theory (1969) which contends that a person’s real relationships in the earliest stages of life shape his or her survival functions as he or she grows and develops throughout the life span. In their case, their earliest relationships are with their parents. However, when this maturation process is interrupted by conflict, such as domestic abuse, Bowlby (1969) argued this can affect children’s emotional development. It is likely that the children may develop beliefs that the world is an unsafe, unstable and uncertain environment for them to live in (Busch & Kimble, 2001). Webb (2011) explains that children may even exhibit symptoms of anxiety disorders including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic grief depending on the gravity of their situation. To prevent this negative disposition from growing and to revert their perception to a more positive one, necessary developmentally-appropriate interventions should be provided to them. Because young children have limited linguistic capacity to describe what they are thinking and feeling, they often express it in symbolic ways like through art work or playing with toys (Aldwin, 1994; Moody & Moody, 1991; Oltjenbruns, 2001). Another concern I have is the learning they may have derived from witnessing the domestic abuse. Vygotsky (1978) believes that children learn from socialization with others. Social Learning Theory suggests that young children are prone to imitating what they observe from others (Bandura, 1977). So it is actually concerning for the children to be exposed to violence at such an early age since they may think it is a way of life they can practice themselves (Bandura, Ross & Ross, 1963). As a mother, I would not want these children to grow up believing violence is acceptable. Also, to prevent them from experiencing negative outcomes in their development, I know I have to do something to help them in easing their pain and finding a better path to reclaim their lives without any threat to their safety and security. What are the Values issues? Discuss any ethical dilemmas or concerns in relation to anti-oppressive practice. Addressing the case of Hannah and her children involves respect for their human rights. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.... Everyone is entitled to all ... rights and freedoms ... without distinction of any kind.... All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination ... and against any incitement to ... discrimination.... Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for ... health and well-being” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 1, 2, 7, and 25). This declaration protects Hannah from any form of discrimination or abuse regardless of her race or cultural background. It should be enough to ensure her of safety from being harmed by anyone. Although she is married to her abuser, it does not mean that he can do anything to her and since it is a marital problem, no one has the right to intervene. I realize that much can be done to help women in this situation. Abuse even in marriages should not be tolerated. It has got to stop most especially if children are involved. With regards to professional practice, ethical considerations should always be kept in mind when dealing with service-users. Social workers should not impinge on their privacy and should allow them enough space and prerogative to decide for themselves. What went well? What would you like to do differently? What aspects of your knowledge, skills or values do you need to develop? How could you do that? Personally, in this event, I could not claim success for Hannah’s treatment because it was my supervisor who took care of it. I can only take credit for how I dealt with her children. I feel that I was successful in allowing them to open up to me who is actually a stranger to them. My being responsive to the boy’s reaction to my name, Mairo further prompted him to share his thoughts and feelings to me beyond what he initially responded to, which was my name’s similarity to his favourite game character, Mario. I listened to him and his sister well. I can understand their personal situation, but as a professional social worker, I know I had to distance myself from becoming too subjective in my thoughts and feelings. I needed to refer to my knowledge of legislation and theories to keep the service-user’s situation in perspective. Deriving much learning from this session, I hope to be able to apply more PCF capabilities in future sessions. I am looking forward to working more with Hannah and her children and to learn more appropriate interventions and professional skills for them. I am aware that as I gain more knowledge, skills and experience as a professional Social Worker, I will be able to display my competency in professional leadership. This will entail contributing much to the profession by providing quality services to service-users as well as passing on my legacy to future social workers through training and mentoring. References Aldwin, C. M. (1994). Stress, coping, and development: An integrative perspective. New York: Guilford Press. Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963) Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3– 11. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment. Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1. Loss. New York: Basic Books. Busch, T., & Kimble, C. S. (2001). Grieving children: Are we meeting the challenge? Pediatric Nursing, 27, 414–418. DfEs Children Act and Reports, (1989; 2004) information retrieved from http://dfes.gov.uk/publications/childrenactreport/#1989 and http://dfes.gov.uk/publications/childrenactreport/#2004 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2012) Retrieved from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/4/contents Moody, R. A., & Moody, C. P. (1991). A family perspective: Helping children acknowledge and express grief following the death of a parent. Death Studies, 15, 587–602 Oltjenbruns, K. A. (2001). Developmental context of childhood: Grief and regrief phenomena. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 169– 197). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. United Nations (1989) Convention on the rights of the child. Geneva: United Nations. Retrieved from: http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Webb, N.B. (2011) Play therapy for bereaved children: Adapting strategies to community, school, and home settings, School Psychology International 32(2) 132–143 World Health Organization (WHO) (2015) Violence Against Women, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/ Read More