More than half of newly-qualified social workers do not feel adequately prepared to work with people with drug and alcohol problems, a Home Office-funded study has found. Have a look here - what can be done to improve the situation?
I'm on placement in a drugs agency and having now worked with this client group I cannot believe that we don't receive specific training with regards to substance misuse irrespective of the pathway we choose. Reflecting on the past 97 days here (3 more to go!!!) I've learnt so much that I will take with me regardless of where I end up working. So many of the service users have interactions with statutory services such as adults teams, mental health social workers and children's social workers yet much of the work here has been educating these workers due to misconceptions they hold with regards to drugs and those who use them. Some views are worrying, such ignorance with regards to to substance misuse especially with regards to parenting capacity.
One of the biggest learning experiences is that those who misuse substances are such a vulnerable and oppressed group, subject to discrimination and negative behaviour and it goes unchallenged.
I would never have picked substance misuse as an area to work within, and whilst I doubt I will seek employment in this area I know the information I have now, for example the difference between addiction and dependency, cycle of change, prescribing, needle exchange, motivational interview etc. etc. will make me a better worker in what ever discipline I choose to work. But what about other students? It's such vital knowledge it should be mandatory!
popeye: One of the biggest learning experiences is that those who misuse substances are such a vulnerable and oppressed group, subject to discrimination and negative behaviour and it goes unchallenged.
popeye i applaud you, i have been saying this for ages but no one listens because drug and alcohol users are so badly looked upon in society. the attitude of many social work students to this service user group on my course is shocking and is not helped by our lack of training in this subject. as a year group we asked for this to change and although it wont change this year the next year groups will recieve some training in these issues. there is so much ignorance around this subject it is shocking, many people see it as self inflicted and have no compassion,
i remember reading that when the CCETSW was still about that there were then recommendations to make this a compulsory subject but since the degree nothing similar has been said. if you are interested this a really good article.
It's really interesting to hear your views as students of social work courses and on placement. I'm particularly heartened by your 'group action' in taking steps to do something about it. I don't think there's a single person or body to blame for it, in the end it's just a waste of energy trying to work that one out...but we do need to look forward and make some changes for our sakes as individual professionals, the credibility of the social work profession and, most importantly, for our service users! It's also sad, but also reflective of my own experience, that we still have social workers who see people with alcohol and drug problems as 'undeserving' inspite of their learning on values and despite the core principles of social work including social justice and advocacy. Let's all keep at it!
Sarah G
I did a practice placement with Turning Point some years back, it was invaluable, However I asked for a drug / alcohol placement, it was a field of interest as I had lost a lot of friends through Opiate abuse. I also worked for Phoenix house as a criminal justice drug worker and in house worker in a local bail hostel It may be useful for the local substance misuse agencies to provide mandatory training in substance misuse and its surrounding issues.
I once advocated for local authorities to have a designated Social Worker with extensive knowledge to be centrally based and who would work borough wide. Was told it would come under a health remit and couldn't be funded.
This is a load of cobblers as there is a quantum difference between the medical and social models of substance misuse.
I do have to add though, in substance misuse you are often staring into the abyss of the dispossessed and you need to have the stomach for it. I am very hardened and experienced and have not come into social work from the side of middle class do -goodery!!! Even I have had to ask for clinical supervision to unload some of the horrifying tales that have come my way. Try to see the bright side of life when, for example, you may dealing with a sex worker that is addicted to crack/heroin, she tells you she is trying to lose herself because she was systematically sexually abused by the males in her family and her partner kicked her till she miscarried then made her throw the aborted foetus on the fire. This sort of social story was my daily fare.
I now do CP and find it childs play in comparison
My current placement is within this field, I will definately do the best I can as a student to give people the choice and dignity they deserve nobody is born into addiction it is learned behaviour and for many people they have no other option. As students we collectively asked our uni to provide more learning material on drugs and alcohol misuse but we never got it, It still is not a part of the degree and it really should be as many social workers will come across people with dependancies in many different settings and we are not being educated enough in this area.
On a positive note, can I just say that at the university I attend, there is a whole module devoted to substance misuse. This is an optional module, yet one I feel should be compulsory. As someone that was quite naive about substance use/misuse I found it thoroughly informative and extremely useful. I am now on my final placement working with victims/survivors of domestic violence where substance use/misuse is really common. I feel a lot more confident at discussing this than I would have done before. Maybe it is time to make it a compulsory element of the degree programme.
I have had no training at all in relation to drug or alcohol issues, and as I am on placement now until I complete the degree in June I know it will not happen.
Interestingly this was discussed today at the Uniersity where I attend as had been brought up by someone 'high up' in the local authority with whom we are linked for placements. We have a whole compulsory module on substance misuse for which the University has been praised.
we had one lecture about drug and alcohol use at uni and it was the basic facts e.g what it is, what it does, how to recognise it etc.
I was very lucky in that I had my final placement in a drug and alcohol treatment service for under 18's and as part of that had access to good training. I have long argued that the social work training should include more on drug and alcohol use, as the majority of families we work with (especially in CP) will have a link to drugs or alcohol somewhere.
I personal would agree with this, i am a 3rd yr student and i recall we had half a day in uni on drug and alcohol use.
We also did a full module on substance misuse when I did my degree. It was really good, we had police in to talk to us, ex and current substance misusers, it was invaluble. I think it is relevant to most area of social work, I work with older people and contrary to popular belief there is a lot of substance misuse within this age group.
While at uni I recieved no direct training on drug, alchol missuse, domestic violence or child protection. I also had no placements were these issues were at the forfront. Despite this I knew and continue to know I personally have an excellent understanding of the assessment triangle and I believe I have learned much more than training can ever provide through my on the job experience working with families and sucking dry professionals involved in these various fields.
Dispite what I say I think all universities should provide realistic training on the above 4 mentioned issues as all my cases involve more than and at least 2. But I do think that we learn by experience and reflection and the assessment framework I believe is a magnificent tool.
I would like to comment on substance missue and parenting capacity. from a social work viewepoint i have not worked in substance mis-use, however in my personal life i am into hard dance music, raves and week long parties. in my past i have taken drugs and i can honestly say it has not had a negative effect on me. in fact so many positive aspects of my personality stem directly from this. there is still a dangerous misconceptin that all drug users are incapable of raising children and although i chose to give up drugs when i had children, many of my friends have not and there are no CP issues there. there needs to be a distinction between those who are suffering from the substances they are taking and those who are simply enjoying those substances WITHOUT HURTING THIER FAMILIES)
I have just finished working on placement at a substance misuse service and have possibly learned more this past 8 months than the whole of the three years of the degree! Our whole course has failed to place any focus on substance misuse yet a majority of the people I have worked with who use/misuse substances have links with mental health, physical health, child protection and carers issues to name but a few, yet this is not given any time on the degree.
The placement has helped me to pull together the aims of multi agency working, the links between various areas of intervention, risk, impact on lives and additional training which was essential to my learning. This has provided a huge platform for me to continue from once fully qualified.
I would like to think that I will be a 'good' social worker, but I also know that without this experience in a substance misuse service my practice would be 'lacking knowledge' until the opportunity arose in the future. I feel that this should be a compulsory module at least with awareness of links to other areas of social services. I cannot comprehend how a social work degree programme can be delivered successfully without the inclusion of substance misuse.
Taylorsprite: I cannot comprehend how a social work degree programme can be delivered successfully without the inclusion of substance misuse.
I cannot comprehend how a social work degree programme can be delivered successfully without the inclusion of substance misuse.
Neither can I.
Hi I am a qual SW consultant and see the effects of alcohol on children 24/7 365. I work voluntarily for FASawareUK East in Cambs and have 3 adopted children who all have Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder which is a lifelong incureable disability that severely disables the child for life and gives 'hell' to families who try so hard to help their children with this often invisible disability.They were diagnosed popst placement at our instigation. SS said they just needed a new family and they would be ok basically!!! My 3 children and 7000 a year in the uk are born with this preventable disability due to their mother drinking alcohol in utero. The effects are devastating and permanent resulting is behaviour/learning probs, physical disabilities, lack of social skills and grossly reduced outcomes in life. They are asbos waiting to happen and often end up in jail. Very few people know about this but it is preventable and more common than CF, Spina Biffida, Downs Syndrome and Aids put together in this country.
So you're right...why dont we get training prior to qualification, why dont we ask the right questions, we look for drugs and needles dont we, why alcohol? because its legal and we dont appreciate that alcohol to the unborn child is more dangerous that any classified illegal drug, and so we dont deal with it, ask the right questions or document its use.We just dont see it at all in our practice.
So many children go undiagnosed or wrongly diagnosed with asd or adhd, ever wondered why so many kids are hyperactive nowadays? think binge drinking, think our women culture of drinking and you wont be far wrong.Now think FASD!!! . Did you know that you dont have to drink much to have a child like this? The only safe amount of alcohol in pregnancy is NONE (BMA report 1997) but service users drink after work or at any time when pregnant and it is underreported, denied and undetected..hence our many children in school/life having probs.
If anyone wants to know more please feel free to e mail me on fasawareukeast@btinternet.com or www.fasaware.co.uk for the website.
I often do training and organise conferences, so if you need any help, e mail me.I am nice guidline stakeholder registered, the ONLY SW in the UK to be so for FASD and drinking alcohol in pregnancy! Absolutely shocking guys, need more awareness and I do this VOLUNTARILY!!!!!. As a parent we are having a horrendous time tryng to get services and sw and medics, teachers dont know what they need to know to help us...hence we get huge poor practice and discriminated against. Last thing, we get seen as a poor parents and the behaviour is as a result of US!!! How wrong can you be?? I did a recent survey of adoptive parents with children with fasd and nearly 100% of them said they felt unsupported and the profesionals lacked awareness, shockingly 50% had had their children removed from them or placements broken down!!! What on earth is happening here guys???
Did you know that some agencies are seeing 70% of children in the care system affected by alcohol?
I have written several articles in CC, I think its time I did another one in light of this info.
Ali McCormick. SW Fasawareuk East.
Bless you Ali and thanks for speaking out. FAS is not widely recognised in the UK. Had I have had a few more years to practice I would surely have brought this to the fore and can only salute the USA for it's work on the subject.
You have my utmost respect. If I can help please email me privately as I'm not too far away !!!
Mary B
Hope that my modest donation via your website helps - I see from the Charity Commission what a small Charity you are and it is good to be able to help in some small way such a useful Charity. FAS is a tragic condition in too many children and young people
Incidentally, did the Local Authority give you sufficient information within their adoption information? If not, is there a case for a claim under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme on behalf of the children? It is the direct responsibility of each Director of Social Services to ensure that such Claims are made where children hve been abused - and I believe that FAS falls within that category. Did the LA carry out adequate screening prior to adoption given what they knew about mother?
You can send me a Private Message if you wish.
Thank you so much, I have pmd you. you would have no idea hat we have been through, you would think I was a liar or very ill if I told you lol. thanks ali xx
popeye: I'm on placement in a drugs agency and having now worked with this client group I cannot believe that we don't receive specific training with regards to substance misuse irrespective of the pathway we choose. Reflecting on the past 97 days here (3 more to go!!!) I've learnt so much that I will take with me regardless of where I end up working. So many of the service users have interactions with statutory services such as adults teams, mental health social workers and children's social workers yet much of the work here has been educating these workers due to misconceptions they hold with regards to drugs and those who use them. Some views are worrying, such ignorance with regards to to substance misuse especially with regards to parenting capacity. One of the biggest learning experiences is that those who misuse substances are such a vulnerable and oppressed group, subject to discrimination and negative behaviour and it goes unchallenged. I would never have picked substance misuse as an area to work within, and whilst I doubt I will seek employment in this area I know the information I have now, for example the difference between addiction and dependency, cycle of change, prescribing, needle exchange, motivational interview etc. etc. will make me a better worker in what ever discipline I choose to work. But what about other students? It's such vital knowledge it should be mandatory!
Most of my social work experience has been with drug users. They certainly undergo lots of discrimination. Thank God for organisations like Drug Equality Alliance
Help End Discrimination Against Drug Users
voltaire: IThis is a load of cobblers as there is a quantum difference between the medical and social models of substance misuse.
IThis is a load of cobblers as there is a quantum difference between the medical and social models of substance misuse.
sorry but that is just utter bunkum.
have you ever heard a drug and alcohol s/w argue with an addistion consultant/nurse about planning a drug users care?
it is hilarious. like 2 rats fighting in a shoebox.
the 2 models are completely different.
you only have to look at the shambles of addictions in glasgow and clyde where trying to combine the 2 models has resulted in huge and increasing numbers on caseloads and increasing o/d's and sucides.
an awful lot of the poor, vulnerable and opressed addicts are not exactly endearing are they?
crime, dealing,violence, anti-social behaviour.
they tend to opress others rather than being opressed themselves.
titchmagoo: voltaire: IThis is a load of cobblers as there is a quantum difference between the medical and social models of substance misuse. sorry but that is just utter bunkum. have you ever heard a drug and alcohol s/w argue with an addistion consultant/nurse about planning a drug users care? it is hilarious. like 2 rats fighting in a shoebox. the 2 models are completely different. you only have to look at the shambles of addictions in glasgow and clyde where trying to combine the 2 models has resulted in huge and increasing numbers on caseloads and increasing o/d's and sucides.
What are you on about now? Tich, get hold of a dictionary, a quantum difference means that there is a distance between the two models that can't be crossed, some people do agree with you you know!!!
hey, i'm not following you.sorry.