Master of Social Work- Year 2Ethics AssignmentMatriculation Number: 0235286Exam Number: 3528633Submission Date: 12th of DecemberNo of Words: 2713All names have been made anonymous to protect the identity of individuals. ScenarioDavid aged 11 was in residential care along with his 7 siblings. He had asevere history of abuse (sexual, physical and emotional) from a femalerelative. His stay in this residential setting was one of assessment nowork at this stage was being carried out to address these issues.
Thischild was restrained whilst shouting at his brother. This had been anextremely distressing day as three of his younger siblings had been placedwith foster carers and these two boys were unsure where they would begoing. They had quite a volatile relationship and it had been agreed by allstaff that there would be a cool-off time enforced, to calm the children. On this occasion an argument occurred between my colleague and the youngperson, who we will call David. Unfortunately my colleague did not waituntil she has changeover to be informed of the day’s events and immersedherself in this situation.
In residential care the C. A. L. M (Crisis & Aggression LimitationManagement. ) technique is used to support agencies in the management ofaggressive and challenging behaviour.
This is a very successful and highlyregarded model of treatment and is accredited and registered. 1 On thisoccasion my colleague did not have this level of training and used holdingtechniques, which were unsuitable for residential work. The restraint didnot follow the C. A. L. M.
physical restraint model. It also lasted for overan hour, which resulted in injury to staff. There was also no trainedmember of staff on shift and no one that was willing to assist in physicalholding. At the beginning of this project, it was made clear who had the adequatetraining for restraints and those that did not. We were strongly advisednot to intervene unless there was no alternative and/or immediate harmwould have been caused to a young person or those around them.
David becamevery emotional and his anxiety level increased as he thrashed around andscreamed for the member of staff to get off him. He was heard shouting;”this is what bad people did to me” Even at this stage the restraint didnot stop and was clearly upsetting him. I believe the upset was directlyrelated to the holding measures as they were not appropriate or safe holds. Ethical Issues & problemsThe ethical issues around in this scenario include the individual rights ofDavid who should have been given the same rights as he would have at home,also the responsibility that my colleague had to adhere to agency policyand procedures. Ethical Issues around inequality i.
e. the power balancebetween service provider and service user were huge and particularlythreatening for David as most of the staff were woman with whom he had atenuous relationship. In this case; mainly agency personnel staffed the unit. This in itself canhave its own drawbacks. Having researched the recruitment practices forthis particular agency for the purpose of this essay, and indeed havingbeen recruited by them myself; the level of qualifications and skillsrequired is high. However, on entering a residential unit it is rare thata member of staff will ask you if you are C.
A. L. M trained. Ethically, somepeople due, to their own value base, will not restrain, as they believe itto be damaging to a child. A recurring problem for the social workdepartment will be the staff shortages within the department requiring bankand agency staff to fill the gaps Even when staff have been trained, thetraining course for C. A.
L. M is not considered an essential skill to havefor the job within residential work with young people. Children Scotland Act 1995The Children (Scotland) Act 1995, incorporates provisions from the UNconvention on the Right’s of the child and also takes account ofobligations under the European Convention on human Right’s. The ChildrenScotland Act states that each child has the right to:.
be treated as an individual. . Form and express views on matters affecting him or her; and. be protected from all forms of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Parents and local authorities have rights and responsibilities in achievingthe balance of care.
When considering David, we must look at the scenarioin terms of the big picture and look not only at the code of ethics thatapplies to social service employees but also the statutory duties andobligations that we .
