Why Social Workers Are Like Dartboards?

I think doing social work with children and families, child protection and particularly court work is one of the hardest and stressful of jobs.

Undoubtedly, there are many jobs that are highly stressful, teachers, nurses and police officers, for example, all do highly stressful jobs, and I guess it would be true to say that each role involves its own discrete stresses and strains which may not be fully comparable to other occupations.

Nevertheless, for me I consider social work with children one of the most highly stressful jobs because it is a job where virtually everyone feels they have the right, or are justified in criticising and abusing you.

And when I say everyone, I include children, parents, family members, other professionals, the judiciary, the media, the public, your own managers and those in your own organisation or agency.

So yes, I do mean virtually everyone and I consider that although the stresses involved in other jobs are different, my point is that at least the public, media and society at large, recognises and for the most part values the job performed?by teachers, nurses and the police.

Generally society recognises that it needs teachers and nurses, I think that is self explanatory.

As regards the police, depending on your experience of the police force and who you are, your views about the police may differ from perhaps the mainstream view. But no matter who you are, for the most part people realise that the police are highly necessary and play a vital role in our lives.

The same cannot be said about social workers.

In the interests of clarity I am not saying social workers do not play a vital role in this society. I am saying that society does not see and value the role played by social workers!

Social workers are viewed as either taking children away and intervening in family life when it is not necessary, or alternatively, failing to intervene and save children’s lives when they ‘should’ have done, and thus are viewed as culpable for the abuse or death of any child. ?

For this reason the general view of social workers is that they are worthless. They are frequently portrayed as nosey, liberal types, who are either unnecessarily overly worried about matters that either do not concern them, or make a big fuss about little or nothing.

When you add to this the reality that virtually every parent, wants to present themselves as being a good parent and that no parents, no matter what their circumstances wish to view themselves as a ‘bad’ parent, you can, I think, begin to grasp the potential for social workers working with children to be detested and abused. ?

If parents and family members do not recognise the important role played by social workers, in safeguarding children and promoting their wellbeing, not just for the present, but for their future.?Then, it is almost inevitable that they will experience social workers, not as a supportive resource but instead as a kind of unhelpful ‘social police’ that they do not need and definitely do not want involved in their life.

I consider that for most parents merely by having a social worker visiting your home and children is tantamount to making a statement in the eyes of public about their value or ability as a parent.

Ok, so perhaps that sheds some light on why the average person detests social workers, but what about those in the legal profession and the courts?

I suspect people in the legal profession do see social workers as having a job to do that has some worth, but of course the legal profession is highly adversarial and so if you are not supporting their case they are highly likely to be critical of you because discrediting you will be helpful to their case.

The other point to be made is that often social workers historically do not present as well as they need to under cross examination and this all adds to the view that social workers are not as robust as they need to be.

I see social workers as doing the most important and difficult of jobs, often without the resources and support they need and tolerating the abuse they receive. But for social workers to begin to be valued a significant first step is to fully respect and value yourself, because if you don’t no one else will.

That’s my view, and why I consider social workers are like dart boards. What’s yours?