'Social Work and Empowerment Assignment\r'

'The purpose of this essay is to research affable hightail it theory and practice. The essay is ground on a scenario of a father (Mathew), who later on many years of caring for his modify tidings (David), and having suffered a stroke attack an year ago, finds he is struggling to cargon for himself or the son. In relation back to pop offing with the elderly, the essay will discuss the situations of a societal role player, the practice of mandate, possible ethical dilemmas and an anti-oppressive practice. The showcase of agency chosen for this essay is Learning baulk Partnership (LPD) in Cambridgeshire.\r\nLPD is an organisation, which includes multi-disciplinary teams of Social C are function and Health professionals. LPD dedicates operate which help learning alter battalion lead normal lives and life in abundance. Fully aware of the strain and stress brought on by caring, LPD tries to provide assists which help people with learning disabilities, and their carers, to cope with these pressures. The assortment of sociable work roles in this organisation includes protagonism, direct channelise agentive role and executive. These roles can be utilize singly, or as a combination of dickens roles.\r\nThe role of advocacy is ab issue people speaking up for themselves at a time or in at once (Beckett, 2006: 9). Despite having converse problems, and assumning a positive mental competency rationale on David, a neighborly worker may exhort for David by providing specialist communication equipment that enable him to directly communicate without un overdue influence by his father. Similarly, in the exceed interests of David and Matthew advocacy is met through negotiations for services and resources within the agency or through multi-disiplinary teams, this is a conflate role of a negotiator and a co-ordinator.\r\nThe fond worker is obliged to assess the take of Matthew and David for lodge care services and implement services accordingly, r ole of a care manager. Simultaneously, eligibility criteria are checked (role of a researcher) after which costs and services availability are checked before commissioning resources. For effectiveness, a social worker must(prenominal) gain sufficient know conductge, skills and determine to conduct good professional practice. Empowerment center â€Å"working in a way aimed at increasing peoples sense of power and potency everyplace their lives” (Beckett, 2006:126).\r\nThe British Association of Social Workers (BASW) includes in their comment of social work the promotion of â€Å"… social change… and the dominance and liberation of people to deepen well-being. ” (Thompson 2001) cites empowerment as an ongoing â€Å"process” and a â€Å" coating” that takes a long time. Cooper (2000:15) cites the four major principles of empowerment as â€Å"entitlement which include legislation, rights and policies; social simulate which looks at so cial, economic and culture; needs-led assessment which looks at wants in life; and promotion of prize and visit which moves institutionalisation to independent living… In view of this topics regeneration I shall address each principle briefly.\r\nIn terms of entitlement law, rights and policies offer guidance and support, good instance been the 1990 Community Care Act and the Chronically heave and Disabled Persons Act 1970 which places a duty and essential on local authority to provide services, resources and sustenance for services and resources for the needy people in the community of interests (Brammer, 2003:304). To empower David and Matthew rights to live in own nucleotide entitlement services like internal carer provide in the flesh(predicate) care and help with shopping.\r\nDavid may also be entitled to practical home assistance to improve on safety and mobility. merely, despite been eligible for service, due to special(a) resources services may not be easi ly implemented by local authority. The principal(prenominal) objective of needs led assessment is to concentrate more(prenominal) on individual needs and preferences rather than the services available. Needs determine the level of assessment infallible based mainly on empowerment and select (Parker, Bradley, 2007).\r\nContrary, defining the meaning of ‘need inevitably leads to procedural twine and restriction of services due to financial constraints. If the service exploiter satisfies the local authorities eligibility criteria hencece they fix a legal duty to provide the necessary assistance. For example needs for both Matthew and David vary and efficacy change over time. Matthews perspective energy be need of rehabilitation and home help to enhance his physical well being whilst Davids needs world power be gradual introduction to socialisation and communication needs.\r\nChoices for independence targets services for soulfulnesss at risk for institutionalisation. The Kantanian flack of individualisation (rights and respect for David and Matthew to be treated with private differences) and user-self-determination (liberty to necessitate informed choices or decisions) promote choice and independence (Banks, 2003:31). Direct Payments, supports self-directed care. This enables David and Matthew to recruit, organise and pay for their own services, modify them to exercise choice and simplicity over their lives.\r\nThe campaign for real choice by guardian newspaper quotes that â€Å"the growth of direct payments is causing for celebration, alongside pilot schemes for individual budgets which give disabled people more independence” (www. guardian. co. uk). Social case is concerned with set abouts of vulnerable people at a risk of oppression and social devaluation, seeking to keep back vulnerability. Medical terms have been used to normalize people, for examples labelling David as severe learning disabled and Matthew as suffering from stroke is disabling in itself, and leads to follow loss of rights.\r\nHowever these terms are used to check threshold criteria for assessment of their needs enabling empowerment. Consequently, on meeting the criteria, local authority must facilities for services, which at this point must be pointed out that they may not necessarily be needs led as intended, but resource led due to limited resources. Simultaneously, this leads to David and Matthew depending on the state offbeat instead of encouraging independence and active association (Oliver, 1996:25). Similarly, choices encourage empowerment.\r\nDavid expressing his wish to stay at home proves that his mental cognitive content is able to receive, retain and make decisions. (Adams, Dominelli and Payne 2002:196) states capacity and ability to act on decisions brings or so equality, however, this supports choice making more than services that best suits David. Possible ethical dilemmas encountered include: Choice and capacity: Because of communication problems with Matthew his dad may have to fork out his thoughts expressed. Dilemma occurs as dads interpretations may not be accurate with the Matthews needs; this may lead to a social worker implementing price services.\r\nSimilarly wrong services may also be offered if in the past Matthew has had little or no experience of choosing. Care and control imposed due to limited resources, social workers are obligated to evaluate David and Matthew against opposite service users who are in need. Following the useful approach, the dilemma here is whose needs outweigh the separate? On what orders would these needs be prioritised? If David and Matthews priority are of low, then resources will be allocated to those in near significant risk.\r\nConsequently lead to two unrighteous issues: (a) Societal distrust in social work profession as most people maintenance being selected for sacrifice despite their needs, (b) Davids and Matthews health might get worse as they have to detention a long time for care packages to be implemented. Empowerment process shifts power away from social workers and given to service users. This reliance to create the conditions for empowerment and identify eligible for empowerment would appear to nullify this intended shift of power. Conflict of interest arises on who the primary client is.\r\nOnce a referral has been made, a social worker will purposely be going in to assess whoever is in need. However it soon comes to light that both the service user and the carer are in need, torn between two people in need a social worker accordingly has to work with the whole family creating passage of arms of interest. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that: â€Å"a person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that he lacks capacity”. In bill with this, dilemma occurs on how to assess capacity and to what withstand would capacity be measurable?\r\nA social worker is obliged to make a appr ise judgmental call, and if the wrong move is made then the consequences lie with the social worker. To overcome these dilemmas awareness raising and anti discriminatory practice would give a balance. From learnt theories it is evident that some social workers might have limited resources and lack of awareness. If a social worker is not aware or informed of these factors, then they will not be able to attain empowering practice and that they will find their practice may revolve more around issues of empowerment and control are evidently forgetting service users and carers self-determination.\r\nConclusively, Social workers are employed in varied social settings necessitating diversity of social work roles. Empowerment enriches and enhances human suffering, therefore should always be linked with anti-discrimination. The topic of empowerment is very broad, it not only requires technical competency but also qualities of integrity, genuiness and self-awareness.\r\n'