Scottish Organisation for Practice
Teachers (ScOPT)
Annual Conference 2015
12th November 2015
Outside the Box:
how can we use our social work skills
and the relationships we build to
‘humanise’ managerialism?
Dr Pamela Trevithick
Visiting Professor in Social Work, Buckinghamshire New
University/
Coordinator of GAPS (promoting relationship-based approaches,
and psychodynamic and systemic thinking in social work)
What I intend to cover . . .
1. an outline of the knowledge and skills
practice framework and lexicon of 80 skills
2. the importance of emotions in social work
3. the importance of relationship-based practice
4. the challenges to be faced in relation to
effective social work practice
1
knowledge and skills in social
work
The importance of relationships
See: Trevithick, P. (2003) ‘Effective relationship-based
practice: a theoretical exploration’, Journal of Social Work
Practice, 17(2), pp. 173-186
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Theoretical knowledge domain (TK)
(abstract theories)
Adapted, abstract
‘parent theories
theories that are developed,
adapted, or ‘borrowed’ from
other disciplines, particularly
psychology, sociology,
organizational theory, etc.
Role and task
Practice theories
abstract theories that analyse
the role, task and purpose of
social work (e.g. social work’s
care and control functions,
/‘revolution’ versus ‘reform’?)
theories relating to direct
practice:
(i) generalist skills and
interventions
(ii) fields of practice
(iii) practice approaches
(iv) values-based perspectives
Factual knowledge domain (FK)
(facts, statistics, evidence, research)
Law
Social policy
Agency
Problems
People
knowledge of
the principles of
law/relevant
legislation
knowledge of
relevant social
policy
knowledge of relevant
agency policy,
procedures and
practice
knowledge of
particular
problems (e.g.
domestic violence)
knowledge of
specific groups
of people (e.g.
children/yp)
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Professional use of self/the relationships we build: use
of self-knowledge, intuition, tacit knowledge, self care
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Practice knowledge domain (PK)
(knowledge gained through direct practice/practice wisdom)
Use
Creation
Knowledge and skills use/
Utilisation
knowledge creation and
skills development
(i) skills and interventions
(ii) fields of practice
(iii) practice approaches
(iv) values-based perspectives
Service
users’ TK, FK + PK
Skills/interventions = knowledge, skills and values in action
Working creatively with
complex and unpredictable
contextual situations that
have new or unique features
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This framework identifies 9 or
at best 10 features that are
evident in every interaction in
social work
The framework identifies how
relationships are important, e.g.
- relationships between people
- relationships between different
areas of practice
- the relationship between the
government and social work
A lexicon of 80 generalist skills/interventions
1 creating a rapport /relationship
2 welcoming skills
3 self-awareness/ ‘use of self’ as a
catalyst for change
4 language skills/being articulate
5 non-verbal communication skills
6 observation skills
7 active listening
8 memory skills
9 capacity to engage/open to others
10 emotional attunement skills
11 demonstrating sympathy
12 demonstrating empathy
13 using intuition/intuitive reasoning
14 information gathering/investigative
skills/asking good questions
15 open questions
16 closed questions
17 what questions
18 why questions
19 circular questions
20 hypothetical questions
21 paraphrasing
22 clarifying
23 summarizing
24 giving feedback thoughtfully
25 inviting feedback openly
26 appropriate use of self disclosure
27 prompting/probing
28 allowing/using silences
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33
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35
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41
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ending/closure/termination skills
providing practical hands-on help
providing emotional support
giving advice (cautiously)
providing information clearly
providing explanations clearly
providing encouragement/inspiration
offering affirmation/praise/validation
providing reassurance
using persuasion/thoughtfully directive
demonstrating leadership/initiative
breaking ‘bad news’ sensitively
modelling and social skills training
reframing
offering interpretations
skilfully adapting to need
counselling skills
containing anxiety
skills of self-care
negotiating skills
contracting skills
networking skills
working in partnership
mediation skills
advocacy skills
assertiveness skills
challenging/confrontational skills
dealing with hostility/aggression
managing explosive encounters
(v29)
58 managing professional
boundaries/confidentiality
59 conveying an appropriate sense of
authority/confidence
60 ability to apologise in ways that reclaim
lost trust/recover lost options
61 recording/form filling skills
62 note taking/minute-taking skills
63 report writing skills
64 letter writing skills
65 computer skills/IT skills
66 telephone skills
67 use of mobile phones/text messaging
68 presentation skills
69 chairing/facilitation skills
70 using supervision creatively
71 organizational /administrative skills
72 reading/comprehension skills
73 analytic and critical thinking skills
/reflection/reflexivity to unravel
complexity and aid decision-making
74 critically evaluate and apply quantitative
and qualitative research
75 skilled use of interventions targeted at
structural barriers
76 courtroom skills
77 skilled use of diplomacy
78 skilled use of touch (e.g. shaking hands)
79 skilled use of humour
80 skilled us of social media
These 80 skills can be used to challenge the
worst excesses of managerialism.
Managerialism’s main weakness is its failure
to recognise the importance of emotions –
the emotional impact of its policies and
procedures on service users and
practitioners. It also fails to recognise the
the fact that a central feature of good
practice lies the relationships we build
Therefore any presentation on the
importance of relationships also
needs to include the importance of
emotions
2
Why are emotions important
in social work?
The importance of emotions is covered in
my paper ‘Humanising managerialism’
See: Trevithick, P. (2014) ‘Humanising managerialism:
reclaiming emotional reasoning, intuition, the relationship, and
knowledge and skills in social work’, Journal of Social Work
Practice , Vol. 28 (3), pp. 287–311
In this paper I explore the meaning of
key terms, including:
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emotion
feelings
affect
attunement
empathy
social emotions
display rules
self-regulation
learning
defences
Question
What emotions would you
consider to be universal and
basic to all human beings?
Basic and universal human emotions
There is no agreement about what constitutes
the basic emotions that all human beings
experience
Plutchik (1991) identifies eight basic emotions: fear,
anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, joy, trust, and anticipation.
Ekman (2003) and Damasio (2000) have an almost
identical list but substitute joy with happiness:
fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, happiness, trust, and
anticipation
Basic and universal human emotions
Howe’s list of basic emotions includes: fear, shame,
disgust, embarrassment, terror, jealousy, anger, loss, rejection,
abandonment, surprise, love, joy and happiness (Howe 2008: 27)
In an amusing quote cited by Damasio (2012: 319),
love was described by Stuart Sutherland (1996) in The
Macmillan Dictionary of Psychology as:
‘A form of mental illness not yet recognised by any of
the standard diagnostic manuals’.
We learn through our emotions
We react and act on the world
through our emotions – how we
feel about things that happen in
our lives
The emotions we want to experience
as all human beings . . .
- trust
- security
- safety
- hope
- comfort
- reassurance
- warmth
- love
- to be touched by
another human being
Most service users are looking for the same
emotions – a sense of safety, the ability to
trust, the sense of being valued, respected,
loved
Too much pain that’s left
unresolved, neglected and without
healing can lead to defensiveness - a
lack of trust in others and a sense of
defeat, powerlessness and
hopelessness
Defences - 3 sources
Defences in
organisations
defensiveness
Defences
in ourselves
Defences in
others
Defences and defensiveness
See: Trevithick, P. (2011) ‘Understanding defences
and defensive behaviour in social work’, Journal of
Social Work Practice, Vol. 25(4): 389-412.
3
Relationship-based practice –
why are relationships important?
A definition of relationship-based
practice
‘Relationship-based practice promotes the view that the
relationships we create are fundamental to
understanding and action, and it is this understanding and the meaning given to experience - that shapes the
way we work with people. The aware and unaware
emotions and feelings that all parties bring to an
encounter – and the impact of wider social factors constitute a central element of the understanding that is
achieved and the actions based on that understanding’
(Trevithick 2015)
The importance of relationships is
clearly evident in:
a. attachment theory
b. neurobiology/neuroscience
c. what you and I know from our own
personal and practice experience as:
(i) as social workers and
(ii) as human beings
The findings of neuroscience
‘The very nature of humanity arises from relationships . .
. essentially everything that’s important about life as a
human being you learn in context of relationships’ (Perry
2003)
‘Relationship experiences have a dominant influence on
the brain . . . Interpersonal experience thus plays a special
organising role in determining the development of brain
structure early in life and the ongoing emergence of brain
function throughout the lifespan’ (Siegal 2012: 33)
The relationships we build in social
work are crucial for 5 key reasons:
(a) the relationships we create can tell us
something about the quality of people’s early
and current relationships (Trevithick 2003)
(b) this closer proximity can help to analyse and
to identify what is happening and why –
particularly whether defences are operating
and the impact of social factors – and how
both can have a bearing on the work at hand
The relationships we build in social
work are crucial for 5 key reasons:
(c) relationship-based practice should embrace
the importance of ‘emotional dimensions’
in social work and encourage the
development of a more emotional language
and dialogue, and a more inquisitive,
sensitive and responsive understanding,
analysis and practice
The relationships we build in social
work are crucial for 5 key reasons:
(d) successful relationships can open up new
possibilities and horizons for people
(e) good relationships, including those with
other professionals - can allow us to grow
– as people and as professionals
Creating meaningful relationships can
open up new possibilities and horizons
Five positive outcomes have been identified by the
Stone Center in Boston, USA:
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an increase in zest and vitality
an increase in empowerment to act
an enlarged picture of ourselves and others
an increase in self-worth - a greater sense of
confidence in our abilities and competence to act
 a growing desire for more connection and contact
with others
(Judith Jordan 1991: 95)
Our greatest joys are felt in
relationship but on the down
side our deepest pain is
experienced in relationships
4
the challenges to be faced in relation
to effective social work practice
The end game: The marketisation and privatisation of children’s social
work and child protection. Ray Jones Critical Social Policy 2015, Vol. 35(4): 447–469
Abstract
There is a long history of voluntary and other organisations, along
with the state, providing social services for children in England.
But crucial assessments and decision-making about the care and
protection of children have been undertaken by local authorities
within the context of democratic accountability and transparency.
This is changing. The government is opening up children’s social
work services, including child protection investigations and
assessments, decisions about initiating care proceedings in the
courts to have children removed from their families, and decisions
where children should then live, to the market and to the private
sector with companies such as G4S and Serco expanding into
children’s social services. Nowhere else in the world are profit
driven companies given these powers. This article traces how this
radical change is moving forward at pace.
It’s important to remember . . .
 technology and information systems
are not the enemy – it is how these are
being used that is dehumanising and
demoralising
 all organisations, and particularly
public services, have to have high levels
of accountability, transparency and
sound and accurate recording systems
What is managerialism?
Managerialism
target-driven, time-limited, ‘onesize-fits-all’, frequently computerbased approach in social care and
social work?
A ‘tick-box approach’
Managerialism – was born in
Harvard University, USA
.
Management
Ideology
Expansion
Managerialism
What is managerialism?
Managerialism, or New Public Management (NPM), replaced the previous
system of Progressive Public Administration [PPA] or old public administration
and introduced a new approach to the co-ordination, management and delivery
of public services (Dunleavy & Hood 1994; Hood 1995)
Managerialism’s principles are loosely based
around:
 the 3 E’s: economy, efficiency, and effectiveness
(Audit Commission 1983: 8)
 the 3 M’s: markets, managers and measurement
(Ferlie et al. 1996)
 that is, to do more with less
Its ideology stronghold:
unquestioned and
unquestionable assumptions
neo-liberal ideology – the market will
provide
managerialism – the system will provide
the role of government – to promote
marketisation for the benefit of the few
What is managerialism?
Managerialism combines management knowledge and
ideology to establish itself systematically in organizations
and society while depriving owners, employees
(organizational-economical) and civil society (socialpolitical) of all decision-making powers. Managerialism
justifies the application of managerial techniques to all
areas of society on the grounds of superior ideology,
expert training, and the exclusive possession of
managerial knowledge necessary to efficiently run
corporations and societies . . . . (Klikauer 2013)
Management
Ideology
Expansion
Managerialism
Ideology
Giddens – an influential sociologist has argued that:
‘the concept of ideology has a close connection
with power, since ideological systems serve to
legitimate the differential power held by groups’
(Giddens 2001: 691)
Key features
- obsessed with numbers
- promotes maximum outputs with minimum
input
- replaces the concept of collaboration with
that of control
- fails to recognise the importance of ‘soft’
variables e.g. the part played by intuition
- holds a dubious position its moral and
ethical role and responsibilities in society
Evidence-base???
What is the evidence base for the claim
that managerialism offers a more
economic, efficient and effective approach to
service delivery in social work when
compared to previous systems?
None
Managerialism – its dangers
 denies people’s rights to key resources and services on
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economic grounds and shifts the focus from needs to risk
reduces human need and emotional concerns to a ‘target’
or an ‘outcome’ that too often ignores the ‘real’ problem
denies the situational uniqueness that every case carries
and the complex and social nature of problems
replaces professional judgements, and knowledge, skills
and expertise, with procedures and performance targets
triggers defensiveness in people and organisations – a
‘watch your back mentality’, territorial disputes among
professionals and people exaggerating concerns
creates a divisive culture that leads to blaming,
bullying, intimidation and complaints
extensive data collection and inspection regimes are costly
time-consuming, and starve front line services of funding
The ideological shift from ‘need’ to
‘risk’
The result:
a) people’s own definition of need (for housing, food,
adequate income, benefits) is too often denied and
replaced by a professional assessment of ‘risk’
b) only people who fit the ‘risk’ category become eligible for
a service. Therefore, some people’s access to key services
and their fundamental rights as citizens are being denied
c) restricting and ‘gate-keeping’ access to services can
encourage ‘risk-taking’ behaviour to meet threshold
requirements
To summarise
Managerialism is not:
 economic, efficient, and effective
 has almost no ethical and moral interest
in the human cost and emotional impact
of its policies and procedures
 it promotes the commodification and
marketisation of human need and
human concerns
Survival strategies – are essential
The impact of recent government
policies has led to:
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more work
less resources/services to draw on
less staff
a massive rise in inequality
the breakup of the welfare state
The breakup of the welfare state
and rise in poverty and inequality
The widening gap between rich and
poor
This graph shows that greater the income
gap between the richest and poorest 20%
in a country, the greater the likelihood of
health and social problems being
intensified. This is detrimental not just to
people living in poverty, but to the vast
majority of society.
This research suggest that many health and
social problems, such as high levels of
mental illness, numbers in prison, rates of
drug and alcohol use, weight problems, and
low levels of public trust tend to be worse
in less equal societies
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk
From Wilkinson and Pickett’s (2010) The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. London: Penguin.
Wilkinson and Pickett are the founders of the Equality Trust http://equalitybristol.wordpress.com/
The breakup of the welfare state and rise
in poverty and inequality
Joseph Rowntree Foundation [JRF] Report 2014
 13 million people in the UK are living in poverty
 1/5th of working-age adults without children are living in poverty
 in the last decade, the number of people in poverty in the private
sector has doubled (private + public housing both have approx 4m people)
 unemployment has fallen by 300,000 but . . . . . .
1.4 million adults work part-time because they can’t find full-time
employment
3/5ths of people who moved out of unemployment in the last year are
paid below the living wage (£7.85 per hour). [minimum wage =
£6.30/adults, £5.13/ under 18s)
there has been a dramatic rise for people self-employed (4.6 million)
many of whom have experienced a 22% fall in real pay since 2008-09. It’s
estimated that self-employed average earnings stand at £207 a week –
less than half that of paid employees
The concept of resilience
Its value
 it raises important issues about people’s quality of life,
particularly the quality of people’s experiences at work
 it’s given rise to new thinking and encouraged the
promotion of new approaches such as mindfulness
Its limitations
 it focuses too heavily on individual’s ‘getting on with it’ at
the expense of understanding why people lack resilience
 it easily ignores the impact of structural factors
 it has been corrupted by governments and employers
in ways that blame individuals who struggle to ‘keep going’
Resilience described
‘Resilience is used as a concept that describes people’s ability to
deal with stress, pressure and the demands made of them. It suggests
the ability positively to adapt to situations of risk that might easily
lead to maladjustment in those who are vulnerable . . . Resilience is
a complex phenomenon. It is not a unitary concept. No-one possesses
across-the-board resilience. Each of us may show varying degrees of
resilience in different situations. You may be able to deal well and
with skill when confronted by social conflict. However, if your boss
pushes too many technical tasks your way, you may quickly feel
unable to cope and your stress level begins to rise’.
(Howe 2008: 106)
Suggestions to reduce occupational stress
and enhance resilience?
What helps?
 good supervision (but the right kind)
 good social support (be alert to what is
measured and how)
 changing the nature of the work
 managing expectations and responses
 other strategies – food, exercise or both?
(Moriarty and Manthorpe 2015)
How can employers/managers enhance
resilience??
 join with other employers to argue vehemently for the
funding and resources to meet demand and to do the job
 value employees
 reduce caseload sizes, particularly for complex cases
 be clear about the expectations laid on social workers in terms
of their roles and responsibilities
 undertake careful workload planning
 encourage peer social support
 provide good reflective supervision (not driven by targets)
 provide supportive working environment and collaborative
organisational and learning culture
Tips for survival – how to care for ourselves
and others. Some suggestions . . .
1 Strengthen our voice
- avoid being isolated by joining trade unions; BASW, GAPS, unions,
College of Social Work, BACSPAN
- look for allies, particularly with service users and also nurses, teachers,
other workers and their unions, etc.
2 Stay relationship-based
- develop an emotionally receptive and responsive approach in your
work, and a self-aware ‘use of self’
3 Work between the cracks (search for opportunities that exist)
- find ways to do joint work/argue for its effectiveness
- find someone to talk to - someone you can trust
- avoid burnout by balancing de-energising/demoralising feelings
with experiences that energise and inspire hope and possibility
- share good news/positive experiences/creative interventions
Tips for survival – how to care for
ourselves and others. Some suggestions . . .
4 Be strategic
- speak out but ask others to take forward information that’s too
risky to reveal without being threatened
- work out the difference between a defensive compliance and a
strategic compliance
- work for change but with a shared strategy about what can be
achieved. Success breeds success.
- claim the knowledge, skills and expertise you’ve acquired/revealed
- stay emotionally energised and optimistic
- view taking action as a re-energising activity
5 Stay well informed
- keep up with developments in social work by joining
information networks, blogs, 38 degrees, etc.
- respond to government/agency consultation opportunities
- respond to media criticism and misinformation
Inequality: is compounded by the
growing divide between rich and poor
UK cabinet 2009: 23 millionaires out of 29
Only 4 female cabinet members
Cameron’s 2015 Cabinet - has less
millionaires but there are still too many
Inequality: has been compounded by the Conservative
government’s policies, such as the Bedroom Tax
As a cabinet minister, Ian Duncan Smith –
who initiated the Bedroom Tax - who in
2013 earned £134,565 a year, which is
£2,587.00 a week The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9964767/Iain-DuncanSmith-I-could-live-on-53-per-week.html
Photo Independent
Tuesday 2
April 2013
300,000 people signed
the petition at
www.change.org
challenging Duncan
Smith to try to live on
£53.00 pw. He refused
Mr Duncan Smith lives in a 16th-century
Grade-II listed Tudor house in Swanbourne
which is said to be worth £2m. The property
includes a swimming pool, tennis courts and
three acres of grounds. It belongs to Mrs
Duncan Smith's father, John Tapling
Fremantle, the fifth Baron Cottesloe, who
moved out of the house with his wife several
years ago. Mr Duncan Smith is technically a
tenant and living rent-free with his wife and
children. The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osbornemounts-fierce-defence-of-essential-cut-in-top-tax-8556168.html
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