Law Area in Social Work - Assignment Example

Question 2 In the case at hand, the relevant area of law which could be applied refers to Family Law and Children’s Laws specifically the Family Law Act of 1975 as amended with regards to family violence. Under the law, family violence is defined as “conduct whether actual or threatened, by a person towards, or towards the property of, a member of the person’s family that causes that or any other member of the person’s family reasonably to fear for, or reasonably to be apprehensive about, his or her personal well being or safety”. As a student social worker it is my obligation to manage the case through a collaborative process of assessment, planning, and facilitation for options and services to meet Phillipa’s complex needs. Relying on from the assumption that humans have the basic needs to form attachments to people throughout their life. Failure to form attachment compromises the longer term emotional and well being of a person. The capacity for attachment starts from the early experiences with the carer. Developing a safe and secure bond with the carer ensures the child to form trusting relationships with others later in life. However, an experience of early loss such as death of a parent can affect the emotional development of a child and harbor a feeling of fear of abandonment which could affect their relationship in the future. Furthermore, violence perpetrated against their mother such as in the case of Anna, she can be both a source of comfort and fear for the children as the latter are likely to be afraid for themselves and for their mother. Hence, care and comfort especially from the family is an important basis for recovery following a traumatic experience. This attachment theory justifies the fear and action of Phillipa. An initial face-to-face contact with Phillipa is the first point of contact, which includes timely provision of information and safety assessment. In the engagement process, this refers to building a rapport and trust with the client. The pacing is led by the client to let her know the functions of the social service and know her rights and expectations from the service before a risk assessment can be done for Anna and the children. Assessment follows the engagement process. How a social worker adequately and appropriately meets the needs of the client determines good assessment. There are several methods of assessment from unstructured interviews to clinical assessment tools. Practitioners must ensure the cultural validity of any assessment tools. Then there is the individual or group counseling. In individual counseling it encourages client to determine her own issues and goals and gain self confidence in making decisions for her own and the children’s safety. The number of sessions for one-on-one counseling depends upon the needs of the client and the children. On other occasions, practitioners are the best advocate and provide assistance involving case work either being the case manager or coordinating the case to other external agency. Question 3 In the case at bar, the relative area of law in social work that applies is specifically the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 as amended. Section 18C Part IIA of the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 as amended clearly states, “that it is unlawful for a person to do an act, otherwise than in private, if (a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and (b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group. The law further provides that it is deemed to be done not in private when the word causes to be communicated within the hearing of other people in a public place, which in this case is the hospital. As a social worker in the health care settings it is important to develop an interprofessional team to be connected not only to the profession but to other colleagues in the hospital. It is the primary purpose of a social worker to enhance human well-being and help meet the needs of people specially the vulnerable, oppressed, disenfranchised and living in poverty. It is the responsibility of the social worker to promote social justice by challenging discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as culture, socio-economic status, skin colour, racial or other physical characteristics. Dealing with indigenous communities is very complex and it is a very difficult task for practitioners. Social workers shall have cultural competence and sensitivity to and awareness of the diversity in cultural groups and integrate this knowledge into their practice (NASW, 2001). A comprehensive, culturally competent assessment by a social worker in health care includes cultural values and beliefs, social history, living arrangement, and household environment among others. To successfully work with indigenous people, tuning in to the political reality of their experiences is an essential component of preparation (Maidment, J. & Egan, R., 2004). It is an ethical responsibility of a social worker to train healthcare professionals to achieve a level of cultural competence. Should Regina and her family decided to have a mortgage on their home and have a few dollars in the bank, she’ll be assured of equal opportunity as granted towards non-members of the indigenous people. Section 12 Part II of the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 specifically provides, “that it is unlawful for a person, whether as a principal or agent to refuse or fail to dispose of any estate or interest in land, or any residential or business accommodation to a second person by reason of the race, colour, or ethnic origin of that second person or of any relative or associate of said second person”. Provided further in subparagraph 1(b) Section 77 of the Equal Opportunity Act of 1984, “that it is unlawful for any person to discriminate against another on the ground of impairment by refusing an application for accommodation”. Hence, Regina and her family can be secured in their dwelling and enjoy the same benefits and privileges granted to non-indigenous people without fear of being discriminated as they are very well protected under the law. Question 4 The relevant area of law applicable in this case is Criminal Law more specifically the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act of 1987 and the Young Offenders Act of 1997. A child as defined under the Act is a person who is under 18 years old. Section 6 of the said Act provides for the principles relating to the exercise of criminal jurisdiction which serve as the basis for social work and stated as follows: (a) that children have rights and freedoms before the law equal to those enjoyed by adults and, in particular, a right to be heard, and a right to participate, in the processes that lead to decisions that affect them; (b) that children who commit offences bear responsibility for their actions but, because of their state of dependency and immaturity, require guidance and assistance; (c) that it is desirable, wherever possible, to allow the education or employment of a child to proceed without interruption; (d) that it is desirable, wherever possible, to allow a child to reside in his or her own home; (e) that the penalty imposed on a child for an offence should no greater than that imposed on an adult who imposed an offence of the same kind. Provided further, in Section 3 of the Young offenders Act of 1997 that a scheme is established as an alternative process other than court proceedings for children who commit offences through the use of youth justice conferences, cautions, and warnings. Based on the ecology systems perspective theory, the environment where the child evolves affects his development and the family is the mediator with his other environment which essentially contributes to the healthy development of the child. However, pressures from the environment such as schools, and peer groups affect the development of the child, it may help or hinder such development. The relationship of the family with the environment changes as time evolves and so are the needs of a member of the family. The risk factor here is poor supervision and monitoring of parent while the protective factor includes attachment to family, supportive parents and a positive school environment. This theory applies very well to every family. But this can be corrected positively by creating a connection with support groups or network and enhancing the strength of the family. Engaging the support of a social worker or agency by self-referral is what Alison did to discuss problems she was having with her children. The experience with the police and the Court attendance notice might have been traumatic for Chris and Evan and may disrupt the normal balance of their psychosocial functioning and stimulates paralysis. As a student social worker performing concrete actions of being the link, resources or advocate addresses the concerns of Alison. Enhancing the engagement process by developing the qualities of empathy and respect is central to successful connecting with the client in the beginning stages of work together (Yalom, 1996; Dejong & Berg, 1998). There are several early interventions operating in Australia, and home visiting, family support and parenting education might do well in preventing future offending. Should Chris’ age is 19 years old, the consideration might have been different, him no longer a child shall be responsible for his actions and the criminal proceedings of the court applies. Question 5 The relevant area of law is the Family Law Act of 1975. The case at bar concerns about matrimonial causes, that of the separation of husband and wife and parental responsibility. As defined under the Family Law Act of 1975, matrimonial cause as applied in this case means, “proceedings between parties to a marriage, or by the parties to a marriage, for (i) a divorce order in relation to the marriage; or (ii) a decree of nullity of marriage; be decree or otherwise. It could also be proceedings between the parties to a marriage for the approval by a court of a maintenance agreement or for the revocation of such an approval or for the registration of a maintenance agreement as provided further in Section 4. Generally, a law cannot regulate the private affairs of an individual. However, where the best interests of the children are at stake, the law provides for the rules and the court must regard the best interests of the children as the paramount consideration. It is the objective of the law to provide the children the benefits of a meaningful relationship with both parents by maintaining direct personal relations and contact on a regular basis. But the law also provides for a regulation to ensure a genuine effort to resolve the dispute through a family dispute resolution before applying for parenting order before the Family Court. Section 61DA Part VII of the Family Law Act provides for the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility when making parenting orders. However, this presumption relates solely to the allocation of parental responsibility and this does not provide about the amount of time that the children spend with each parent. But section 65DAA Part VII of the Act provides further, “that the court to consider child spending equal time or substantial and significant time with each parent in certain circumstances. Equal shared parental responsibility may be granted if the child spending equal time with each parent is at the best interests of the child otherwise substantial and significant time may be considered”. Considering the various practice theories for social work practice, structural family therapy and family systems strategic therapy can be applied in this situation. The Haley and Madanes model believes families go through dysfunctional stages to get to functional ones (Niolon, R., 1999). This model posits four categories of problem resulting from (a) desire to control and dominate; (b) desire to be loved; (c) desire to love and protect others; (d) desire to repent and forgive (Niolon, R., 1999). The strategic approach of providing feedback to the parents about the issues brought by the children involve three stages, these are: social stage, problem stage, and interaction stage. On the first stage, a social worker makes everyone more relax and less defensive. The second stage involves the introduction by the social worker and speaking to each member of the family engaging the father first while observing other members’ interactions. Having gained information from the interactions, a directive and not an advice is given to the family to restore power to the parents and create new and pleasurable interaction for the child and the parent. References: Brown, M. & Putt, J. June 1999. Early Intervention – Crime Prevention. Connard, C. & Novick, R. February 1996. The Ecology of the Family: A Background Paper for a Family-Centered Approach to Education and Social Service Delivery. [online]. Available: http://www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/ecology2.html. Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 Section 5, Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 Section 6, Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 Equal Opportunity Act 1984 Section 77 1(b), Equal Opportunity Act 1984 Early, B. Practice Theories for Social Work Practice. [online]. Available: http://ncsss.cua.edu/adobe/theories.pdf. August 15, 2008. Family Law Act 1975 Section 4, Family Law Act 1975 Part VII, Family Law Act 1975 Section 61DA, Part VII, Family Law Act 1975 Section 65DAA, Part VII, Family Law Act 1975 International Federation of Social Workers. October 15, 2005. Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles. [online]. Available: http://www.ifsw.org/en/p38000324.html Maidment, J. & Egan, R. 2004. Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare. Allen & Unwin Publisher. Niolon, R. December 1999. Strategic Family Theory and Therapy. [online]. Available: http://www.psychpage.com/learning/library/counseling/strategic.html. August 15, 2008 Practice Guidelines: Women and Children Family Violence Counseling and Support Programs. July 2007. Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Section 12, Part II, Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Section 18C, Part IIA, Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Young Offenders Act 1997 Section 3, Young Offenders Act 1997 Read More