Pauline Green &

Fran Fuller

19/04/231

Child Protection &Emotional Intelligence

Happy Social Work Day!The social work profession promotes social

change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work (IFSW 2010)

An historical context Social Services was established in 1971 in

the UK

The death of Maria Colwell in 1973 bought child abuse in England into the public domain in a significant way

Since then we have had several child death enquiries and serious case reviews which have considered the role of social workers and other professionals who work with vulnerable children

In 1991 we saw the enactment of the 1989 Children Act which was to transform the way in which professional worked together and investigated child abuse.

Legislation1989 Children Act- This mandated all

professionals to have a responsibility to child protection

2003- Every Child Matters- A paper which emerged from the death of Victoria Climbié in 2000. The paper was published by Lord Lamming who had carried out the enquiry of Victoria’s death.

2003 saw the introduction of the new social work degree which sought to professionalise and safeguard the status of Social Work by increasing the study time and to apply 200 days of practice as a requirement to meet the learning outcomes of the degree.

There was also a consideration within the report regarding the ‘emotional resilience’ of social workers

Outcomes of the enquiries.In 2008 another tragic death occurred and

a further enquiry was conducted by Lord Lamming. The death of Peter Connolly prompted a social work taskforce to be set up.

This task force reported back last year with 15 strong recommendations.

Some of the focus was on the training and preparation of social work students and many questions were asked as to whether students were ‘fit for practice’ ?

There was also a consideration within the report regarding the ‘emotional resilience’ of social workers

The Emerging Landscape!As a profession we are encouraged by the

proposed recommendations which our current government has accepted.

The HEI’s will be charged with considering the directives given to them by further reports one of which is due to be published tomorrow.

Emotional intelligence (EI)will be a consideration alongside emotional resilience.

EI…… What is it? What place does it have within the social work profession?

Definition Emotional Intelligence is “a form of social intelligence that involves

the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action”

(Mayer and Salovey,1990 cited in Cherniss, 2000, p4)

Emotional Intelligence Paradigm(Morrison, 2007)

Emotional Intelligence and Social WorkThe Social Worker who is emotionally

intelligent is more than halfway to being an effective Social Worker”

(Howe, 2008, p7)

Links with Social WorkProfession deals with emotionally charged

activities/situationsSocial Work requirements and standards

relating to the new Degree indicate that Social Workers should be emotionally intelligent

Social Workers need to be able to interpret human thoughts, feelings and behaviour

Aspects of job such as interviewing, working on an inter professional basis, assessing etc require emotional intelligence.

Concern “relationships between Social Workers and

their clients change from interpersonal to economics, from therapeutic to transactional, from nurturing and supportive to contractual and service orientated”

( Howe, 1996, p92)

The EI Test15 scenarios – testing different areas of

emotional intelligenceChoose only one option from a choice of

responses a, b, c or d.Add up your scores using the answer sheetWhat is your score?

ResearchM.A Education – Dissertation“ Can Social Work education and training

increase a Social Work student’s emotional intelligence?

All three year groups took part. Tested in Oct 2007 and again in May 2008

Findings

Year 1 Oct Test Score vs May Test Score

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

EI s

core

Oct Test

May Test

FindingsYear 2 Oct Test Score vs May Test

Score

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

E I S

core

Oct Test

May Test

Findings

Year 3 Oct Test Score vs May Test Score

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

E I Sc

ore Oct Test

May Test

Why the increase in EI?Experiential learning ie placement – Goleman

1998

Taught modules – Preparation for Social Work Practice, Human Growth and Development, Communication Skills etc

Work experience whilst training

Opportunity to train with a wide ranging student cohort of differing ages, gender, culture, experience etc

Time – development of experience, knowledge, values and skills

Future Implications/ConsiderationsTesting – What is the best way to test?

Who should be involved in testing eg Personal Tutor, peers, Practice Assessor

Interview/ Selection/ RecruitmentFurther research regarding staff

awareness of curriculum and EIPersonal Professional DevelopmentLearning, Teaching and Assessment

methodsInclusion in curriculum

To Conclude Goleman (1995) claimed that emotional

intelligence can be

‘as powerful and at times more powerful than IQ”

Where to Get More InformationGoleman, D (1995) “Emotional Intelligence”

London: Bantam Books

Howe, D (2008) “The Emotionally Intelligent Social Worker” Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

Reading Cherniss, C (2000) “Emotional Intelligence: What it is and Why

it Matters” www.eiconsortium.org Cherniss, C and Goleman, D (2001) “The Emotionally

Intelligent Workplace” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Gardner, H (1983) “ Frames of Mind:The Theory of Multiple

Intelligences” New York: Basic Goleman, D (1998) “Working with Emotional Intelligence”

London: Bloomsbury Publishing Lishman, J (2007) ”Handbook for Practice Learning in Social

Work and Social Care” London: Jessica Kingsley Publications Morrison, T (2007) “Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social

Work: Contexts, Characteristics, Complications and Contribution” British Journal of Social Work Vol 37 pp 245-263

Parton, N (1996) “Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work” New York: Routledge

Thompson, N (2009) “Practising Social Work” Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

Any Questions?

Thank youMany thanks for your valuable contribution

GOODBYE