Critical Commentary: The Impact of Work-Related Violence towards Social Workers in Children and Family Services

Robson, Anna; Cossar, Jill; Quayle, Ethel

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu015

Cited by 52 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This observation also accords with findings about the effects on workers having fear and anxiety about seeing/challenging the family, as found by Stanley and Goddard (2002), Harris and Leather (2012), Laming (2003) and Robson et al (2014).…”

Section: Discussion: the Effects On Workers And Their Child Clientssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Demonstrating again the very limited amount of recent research carried out into this specific area of both violence to social workers and to child protection workers, in their review of the literature on the impact of work-related violence toward social workers in Children and Family Services, Robson et al (2014) found only seven research-based papers that met their inclusion criteria relating to this area. The authors reported that the majority of participants across all seven studies had experienced at least one incident of violence throughout their career, including verbal and physical aggression, threats, property damage, and intimidation.…”

Section: Child Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Violence and aggression from parents toward childcare and protection workers is known to negatively affect the safety and well-being of both staff and child clients (Broadhurst et al, 2010;Brown, Bute, & Ford, 1986;Community Care, 2010Harris & Leather, 2012;Laird, 2013;Littlechild, 2005aLittlechild, , 2005bMarshall, 2011;Newhill, 2003;Pahl, 1999;Robson, Cossar, & Quayle, 2014;Stanley & Goddard, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Violence and Aggression From Parents on Child Protection Workers’ Personal, Family, and Professional Lives

et al. 2016

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This article presents findings from a survey of the experiences of child protection workers in England when working with parents who exhibit aggression and violence. This work explores the effects on workers in their professional lives, and on themselves and their families in their private lives. The article examines workers' thoughts and experiences about the effects of parental hostility on workers' ability to protect children. The article also details workers' experiences of the nature and effectiveness of training and support in this area. These findings are then examined in the light of the results of an analysis of the literature, including the findings from serious case review (SCR) reports in England (official inquiries into the causes of child deaths where the children are known to social and health services). The majority of the 590 respondents in the survey were social workers (n = 402; 68%), reflecting the fact that case management of child protection cases in the United Kingdom is the responsibility of social workers working in statutory agencies. This article addresses, from a consideration of the secondary analysis and the original research findings from the survey, how individual workers, managers, and agencies can best understand and then respond effectively to aggressive parental behaviors.

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Section: Discussion: the Effects On Workers And Their Child Clientssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Child Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Violence and Aggression From Parents on Child Protection Workers’ Personal, Family, and Professional Lives

et al. 2016

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“…This endeavour often places child protection workers in hostile environments Goddard, 2002, Littlechild, 2005). Child protection workers commonly experience violence and intimidation from parents they have to work with in an attempt to protect children 2 (Stanley and Goddard, 2002, Briggs et al, 2004, Littlechild, 2005, Laird, 2013, Robson et al, 2014, more so than other social care professionals (Newhill andWexler, 1997, Shin, 2011). Stanley and Goddard (2002) reported that such hostility can result in workers implementing coping strategies for preservation of their physical and mental well-being.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘If I Feel Like This, How Does the Child Feel?’ Child Protection Workers, Supervision, Management and Organisational Responses to Parental Violence

Hunt

Goddard

Cooper

et al. 2015

Journal of Social Work Practice

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This study analysed workers' experiences of supervision following interactions with hostile and intimidating parents. This analysis examined management and organisational responses to worker stress, and assessed the adequacy of support that workers received. An online survey was designed to collect data on workers' experiences and free text responses were qualitatively analysed for references to the supervision they received in response to working with parents. 590 participants responded to the survey. 402 were qualified social workers, and 423 worked in child protection. Participants had experienced a range of violent behaviour from parents. The overwhelming theme in responses was the lack of support and supervision workers received, often in stressful and frightening circumstances. Approximately one quarter of participants only used organisational procedures, guidelines or protocols on dealing with hostile parents. Workers reported that mismanaged parental hostility affected their practice and the quality of protection that children received. The violence experienced had a significant negative impact on their personal and professional lives. Organisational responses in the form of supervision and education were often inadequate and resulted in children receiving reduced quality of protection. Recommendations for policy and practice change are discussed, with the aim of caring for workers and the children they protect.

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“…Indeed, the social services has traditionally been exposed to threats and violence in the workplace due to the face-to-face work with vulnerable clients in exposed situations (e.g. Padyab & Ghazinour, 2015;Robson, Cossar, & Quayle, 2014). However, this may also be a limitation in the research design.…”

Section: Limitations and Strengthsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instrumental, Interpersonal or Holistic: Social Work Managers’ Conceptions of Safety in the Psychosocial Work Environment

Nordesjö

2019

Journal of Social Service Research

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Social work managers are accountable for risks and safety in the psychosocial work environment. This article aims to understand how social work managers deal with safety in the psychosocial work environment in social service organizations with potentially conflicting logics of regulation and security, by answering the questions: How do social work managers conceptualize safety in the psychosocial work environment?; What are the implications of different conceptions of safety in the psychosocial work environment for social work management? Through a qualitative phenomenographic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 27 managers in the Swedish social services, three conceptions were found: an instrumental, interpersonal and holistic conception. As each conception encompasses the former and thus increases the level of comprehensiveness, tensions between the logics of regulation and security increases. Managers with a comprehensive conception must therefore reflect on the way regulations for safety may conflict with social relationships. Implications for social work management are the need to discuss how safety management relates to social work professionalism, and the self-regulation due to the integration of safety thinking in social work professionalization. Future research could investigate how the conceptions relate to managerial and professional practice and how different parts of the social services conceptualize safety. KEYWORDS social work management; safety management; psychosocial work environment; phenomenography

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Critical Commentary: The Impact of Work-Related Violence towards Social Workers in Children and Family Services

Cited by 52 publications

References 19 publications

The Effects of Violence and Aggression From Parents on Child Protection Workers’ Personal, Family, and Professional Lives

The Effects of Violence and Aggression From Parents on Child Protection Workers’ Personal, Family, and Professional Lives

‘If I Feel Like This, How Does the Child Feel?’ Child Protection Workers, Supervision, Management and Organisational Responses to Parental Violence

Instrumental, Interpersonal or Holistic: Social Work Managers’ Conceptions of Safety in the Psychosocial Work Environment

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