Have you ever noticed that when working in Social Work, that it is very easy for every thought and action to be related to work. When working with young people or whatever field you do work in. It is easy when you are with the individual or family to lose track of time. Or more accurately, find it difficult to leave especially if they are still in crisis .
I currently work in a looked after children's team, where a lot of the young people aged between 16 and 18 live in unregulated placements. This often means that the Social Workers are the main point of contact for these Young People. Whether it be by telephone, or by taking them shopping, or by providing cooking lesson, or support with an appointment. This is alongside and on top of the Statutory duties.
More often than not this can not be done during the working day, due to the Young Person attending college, or work, or perhaps because the emergency may not happen until later in the day.
For me, as a father this can cause me problems. Especially when I need to be back to collect my children from their after school club. The consequences for me and my children if I am not back on time can be very serious.
With good childcare hard to find, and childcare that fits in with Social Work hours even harder. Even emergencies need to be negotiated, as I juggle work and home life to maintain a balance.
I guess that I am lucky that my wife understands the nature of the work as she too is currently studying to be a Social Worker. But what has scared me is the number of divorce stories I have heard. Where co-workers have worked all the hours and not maintained their relationships. When the to do list never ends, and an attitude of wanting the best outcome for every Young Person, I can see how easy it could be to work every hour possible.
But perhaps it is important to remember that to maintain a good balance, is not easy unless you have good support network at work and at home. That it is easy to tip the scales in order to help the young person in crisis. Once this is done, finding balance again may not be easy.
Read the complete post at http://hownottodosocialwork.blogspot.com/2011/03/have-you-ever-noticed-that-when-working.html
Posted
31 Mar 2011 9:58 PM
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How not to do Social Work
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