The focus of child protection social work is often about the experience of the child and his or her carers. But what about the impact of this work upon social workers? In a recent research study, I focused on the experiences of 12 social workers from a Scottish local authority who worked with children and their families on a daily basis.

Social workers are required to make decisions and professional judgments based on limited information while operating within the parameters of “respectful uncertainty” and “healthy scepticism”. In recent years the profession has been subjected to negative media coverage following the deaths of children at the hands of their carers. Given this cultural backdrop, I sought to find out how child protection social workers experience their work.

Those who took part spoke passionately about their commitment to protecting children and the satisfaction found in working with families to help them make positive changes to their lives. But the job is not without its personal cost. All of the social workers spoke about their work impacting on their lives. For some, this was in the form of a disturbed sleep pattern; for others, diet was affected due to working late and missing meals. Personal relationships were impacted by the stress of the role for some workers, with others reporting that it had taken an unexpected event such as a bereavement to make them confront the pressure they were experiencing in their jobs. Child protection social work meant responding to emergencies beyond contracted hours. Although there were systems to take the hours back, such as flexi-time, sometimes this was not possible within the period allowed.

Particular cases haunted workers, with memories of what had happened to a child remaining with them for many years after their involvement. Babies with unexplained injuries, older children experiencing severe neglect, carers resisting involvement through fear and being aggressive towards workers were common.

There was a sense that social workers were often asked to work in risky and unpredictable situations. For some this resulted in physical threats and verbal abuse. Despite these challenges, there was a strong sense of empathy with clients – “how would we feel if our children were being removed? Of course I don’t want to press charges”.

Everyone in the study acknowledged the value of peer support. Friends and family members often did not understand the difficulties of being a child protection social worker, unlike the colleague who sat in the desk across and was privy to the difficult telephone conversations and mix of emotions experienced. Concerns about an agile working policy in the future were raised, given the value staff placed on peer support. Regular and effective supervision from managers was seen as essential for emotional containment. Those who viewed supervision as their right and would seek their managers out to ensure they were given time appeared to fare best – but it was acknowledged that this approach requires confidence, often gained through experience and practice wisdom.

There was a recognition that the role of a children and families social worker had changed significantly in recent years, in part due to managerialism but also due to perceived expectations from other professions that social workers did not remove children quickly enough from their carers. Some staff considered the increasing administrative demands – such as case coding and formal reports – to be at the cost of spending time with children and their families.

Opportunities to carry out planned work with children and their families were valued by the social workers. Access to interesting and relevant training was also important, with places on post-qualifying certificated courses available and a personal allowance to purchase books. Other supports such as practitioner forums also existed, although take-up appeared poor among the study group.

The most positive aspect of the study was finding out why people remained in their roles. Everyone spoke of their commitment to prioritising the needs of children. One worker spoke of feeling “honoured” when children showed trust and made a disclosure. For another worker, being told “we don’t need you any more – my mum’s not drinking now”, reinforced the importance of the work. Sentiments about being “fulfilled” and “achieving positive outcomes” were expressed by more than half of the social workers. This positive message has been echoed across other studies, and supports the belief that child protection social work is a hugely challenging but worthwhile profession.

Ruth Neil will be presenting her study at the UK Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC), Royal Holloway, University of London on 23 July 2014

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