Critically analyse the relationship between the
law, social policy and social work practice, in the context of: child and
family social work; adults social work; mental health.
Essay
Plan:
Critically
analyse: As with
analysis, but questioning and testing the strength of your and others’ analyses
from different perspectives. This often means using the process of analysis to
make the whole essay an objective, reasoned argument for your overall case or
position.
Introduction:
–
Introduce
the topic/problem in the first line, then refer to any legislation you will be
discussing throughout the essay and why (to focus on the voices of the
children, to protect their welfare, this depends on who you have chosen from
the case study). Then detail your argument as a result of this problem, refer
to who you are using from the case study, then summarise in a sentence how you
are going to achieve this (100-120 words). The guidance says to choose one
individual from the case study.
–
Use
the phrase “in the context of child and family social work” at some point.
Main
Essay:
–
You
could use subtitles to help you structure your essay such as “law”, “social
policy”, and “social work practice”.
–
Structure
your paragraphs using the Point, Evidence, Explain. Make a point in the first
sentence of the paragraph, then provide the academic evidence using references
in the next few sentences, then explain how it applies and what it means in the
context of your argument. Then link the last sentence if you can with the start
of the next paragraph.
Example from my essay (do not copy): “First and foremost, the law
simultaneously “sets boundaries for practice” and requires interpretation
(Brammer, 2020, p.14). To address the notional and explanatory gap of law in
relation to social policy and practice, the UK has introduced policies that are
personalised, shaped around service user needs and “how they ought to be met”,
and are therefore person-centred (Howe, 2014, p.13). One policy instrument that
does this can be seen in The Troubled Families Programme (TFP). To be eligible
for TFP a family must include dependent children, in this case Jordan, and
satisfy two of six criteria: crime and antisocial behaviour, education, life
chances, living standards, domestic abuse and mental and physical health (Loft,
2020). While this programme has been critiqued for being deficit-focussed, it
is principally relevant here (Lambert & Crossley, 2017, p.1). Jordan has
sporadic school attendance and is presenting as withdrawn or aggressive. He has
been seen with young adults after school, which highlights the potential risks
of anti-social behaviour and truancy. This was pointed out by Jordan’s
teachers, acting under the Education Act 2002, concerned with his education and
possible crime and antisocial behaviour, thus, satisfying the benchmark for
intervention.”
Ideas for essay discussion: power imbalance between law, social
policy and its impact on social work practice; discuss one or two social policies
to keep it focused, perhaps Troubled Families? Also, I would stay away from the
county lines argument as there is not enough evidence to me to justify this as
an argument. Instead, use subsection 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to
demonstrate that Jordan and Jodie would have witnessed, whether direct or indirectly,
domestic abuse. For Jordan, this could possibly explain why he is ”withdrawn
and aggressive”. If you do go down the county lines route, use Child Exploitation – Oxfordshire
Safeguarding Children Board (oscb.org.uk) to inform your thinking and argument of Jordan being
exploited due to him being vulnerable, as Jodie is not having her basic needs
met we could confidently assume Jordan is experiencing the same neglect. You could
then link this to attachment theory and this would help to justify his
behaviour; Where is the voice of the child in the legislation/social policy? Is
it listening to them well enough, or could it do more to accurately reflect the
child’s voice? If so, how?; Does the law do enough to protect these children?
Could it do more, if so, how?; I would suggest using the Working Together to
Safeguard children (2018) and Every Child Matters (2004) policies to support
your argument, you could even add a critique of these two if you feel they
could be improved/parts of these policies that are better than the social
policies you have used and why?
–
What
are the impacts of this piece of legislation/social policy on social work
practice? The critical analysis element will come from your understanding,
critiques, and use of academia to analyse and say whether the piece of
legislation/social policy is useful at achieving what it was created for, or
are there elements that disempower practitioners/service users in practice? The
impact of legislation and social policy on practice will be well documented, so
you could also talk about the ambiguity of applying legislation in practice for
practitioners, you could then use Lipsky’s theory of street level bureaucracy (1980)
to support this argument in one of your paragraphs.
Conclusion:
–
Summarise
main argument and what the implications of your approach are for whoever you
have chosen from the case study. Then finish the conclusion with why your
approach is the best for this scenario.