A characteristic that is also important to consider when gathering information during an assessment is the interaction within the family. This is important because observing how the whole family interacts aids in noticing some signs that are not displayed during an individual assessment. This might include, poor communication between the parents and children or noticing how supportive the parents are with their children which might not be shown during their individual assessment. An important thing to remember during a family or child assessment, however, is that the family are the expert in their situation (Teater, 2015) therefore social workers should aim to provide an outcome suitable to their needs.
However, some challenges that might arise with information gathering might be the inability to understand how some minor issues overlooked during the assessment might have a significant impact on the child’s welfare and wellbeing (Turney et al, 2011). This in turn might create unexpected setbacks during the assessment and the social worker doing assessment might not be able to handle that due to lack of training. Which means that it is important that from the start, social workers should be aware and mindful of the information they gather in terms of the factors that support and undermine the child’s care. Furthermore, it is important for social workers to understand that gathering information is also about being able to make sense of the data collected and how not to overlook it even when it contradicts their findings; instead of just collecting straightforward information and only working with that without any alternatives considered. The social worker’s choice of theory when collecting data does affected the way they will ask certain questions; for example, they might ask more closed questions as opposed to open-ended questions the questions they will ask and the way they will gather the information; either in a survey or questionnaire (Maclean, 2015). Steve De Shazer (1985) completed his work on the Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT); which focused on what the patient needed to achieve through therapy rather than focusing on the problem that led them to seek help. BSFT aimed to used supportive questions that enabled the service user to recognise their own strengths and abilities. One type of questions that was used was the ‘miracle question’. This type of questioning supports the service user to identify their issue and redirect their way of thinking which makes it easier for them to come up with solutions to those problems. Miracle questions promote empowerment for service users as they can make decisions for themselves and the solutions they have come up with depend on their own way of thinking and is hardly influenced by outside sources such as family or professionals they work with (Lee and Hudson, 2011). The attachment theory by John Bowlby (1979) can be used by a worker to make sense of the information gathered; especially relationships surrounding the child being assessed. …show more content…
It is important to consider applying this theory when working with a child and their family as it can make it easier to understand the information gathered during the assessment.
Another characteristic of a good quality assessment is the ability to work within a multi-agency setting; including working with doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other specialist services. The Department of Education (2013) stated that safeguarding children and promoting their welfare was a “joint responsibility to be shared by difference agencies with different areas of expertise.” Working together with different professions supports the development of new practice as well as making easier for professionals to establish an effective intervention by combining their ideas (France et al, 2010; cited in Holt, 2014). However, some barriers identified when working within a multi-agency include differences in values; what other professionals perceive to be unacceptable might be acceptable to other professionals and this might cause tension and misunderstandings as professionals might fail to move forward because of these differences. Another issue is the lack of a ‘common language’- this because some professions used different language to mean the same thing and since some people are used to using certain language they might just assume that everyone else are aware of what they mean. Holt (2014) explained that after looking at some high-profile children
However, some challenges that might arise with information gathering might be the inability to understand how some minor issues overlooked during the assessment might have a significant impact on the child’s welfare and wellbeing (Turney et al, 2011). This in turn might create unexpected setbacks during the assessment and the social worker doing assessment might not be able to handle that due to lack of training. Which means that it is important that from the start, social workers should be aware and mindful of the information they gather in terms of the factors that support and undermine the child’s care. Furthermore, it is important for social workers to understand that gathering information is also about being able to make sense of the data collected and how not to overlook it even when it contradicts their findings; instead of just collecting straightforward information and only working with that without any alternatives considered. The social worker’s choice of theory when collecting data does affected the way they will ask certain questions; for example, they might ask more closed questions as opposed to open-ended questions the questions they will ask and the way they will gather the information; either in a survey or questionnaire (Maclean, 2015). Steve De Shazer (1985) completed his work on the Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT); which focused on what the patient needed to achieve through therapy rather than focusing on the problem that led them to seek help. BSFT aimed to used supportive questions that enabled the service user to recognise their own strengths and abilities. One type of questions that was used was the ‘miracle question’. This type of questioning supports the service user to identify their issue and redirect their way of thinking which makes it easier for them to come up with solutions to those problems. Miracle questions promote empowerment for service users as they can make decisions for themselves and the solutions they have come up with depend on their own way of thinking and is hardly influenced by outside sources such as family or professionals they work with (Lee and Hudson, 2011). The attachment theory by John Bowlby (1979) can be used by a worker to make sense of the information gathered; especially relationships surrounding the child being assessed. …show more content…
It is important to consider applying this theory when working with a child and their family as it can make it easier to understand the information gathered during the assessment.
Another characteristic of a good quality assessment is the ability to work within a multi-agency setting; including working with doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other specialist services. The Department of Education (2013) stated that safeguarding children and promoting their welfare was a “joint responsibility to be shared by difference agencies with different areas of expertise.” Working together with different professions supports the development of new practice as well as making easier for professionals to establish an effective intervention by combining their ideas (France et al, 2010; cited in Holt, 2014). However, some barriers identified when working within a multi-agency include differences in values; what other professionals perceive to be unacceptable might be acceptable to other professionals and this might cause tension and misunderstandings as professionals might fail to move forward because of these differences. Another issue is the lack of a ‘common language’- this because some professions used different language to mean the same thing and since some people are used to using certain language they might just assume that everyone else are aware of what they mean. Holt (2014) explained that after looking at some high-profile children