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threatened by aggressive parents

Councils are breaching duty of care for failing to deal with intimidation of staff
Councils have been accused of breaching their duty of care to social workers following the results of a Community Care and Reconstruct survey of more than 600 frontline workers about dealing with hostile and intimidating parents. The survey found that, although the majority (72%) of social workers felt quite confident dealing with such families, it was taking a severe toll on social workers on their work, their emotional and mental health and on their families. Three-quarters (73%) wanted national guidelines to force employers into action on the issue. Management do not acknowledge how draining working in hostile situations can be. If you manage the situation and achieve the best outcome for the child while still maintaining relationships then they tend to just let you get on with it. But this comes at a price for the worker, one survey respondent wrote. Many said social workers had to organise their own support and back-up on visits they thought might be difficult and there was no time allowed for of this, they should be offered appropriate support such as counselling and time off work, or at least a diversion from frontline duties. Claire Barcham, Professional Practice Development Advisor for The College of Social Work, said the survey confirmed anecdotal evidence that social workers were facing unacceptable levels of intimidation and violence. She said providing a safe working environment was part of the new voluntary Employers Standards and the College intended to use the standards to hold councils to account. However Colin Green, chair of the Association of Directors of Childrens Services, families, communities and young people committee, said he did not think national guidance could play any useful role. However, he agreed it was very important that social workers felt supported by their managers and employers through supervision and good local practice. It should also play a bigger role in social worker training and continuing professional development, he added.

Mansuri: Consistent support needed

de-briefing or learning following such visits. Nushra Mansuri, professional officer at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said the survey highlighted a serious state of affairs that has for too long not been addressed appropriately by social work employers and which is clearly a breach of their duty of care. Threats to social workers from parents should not be a given. Training, supervision, clear guidelines and staff care must be consistently available to the workforce. In situations where individuals are experiencing longer term trauma as a result

benjamin wachenje/cia

Parent was so hostile it made me feel physically sick

Anji Kerr, social worker with Hertfordshire Council The worst case of this type Ive had involved a parent who was so hostile that it made me feel physically sick after seeing him. He was from an ethnic minority community and he frequently accused me of racism and made official complaints. Each time they were followed up as they should be and each time I was exonerated. One time he even cursed me and wished me dead in a crash. At meetings he would swear and finger point across the table. It made me and the other

hostility stats

professionals involved feel sick and really down for days. I have two hostile parents in my caseload at the moment. One took

At meetings he would swear and finger point across the table

offence at a report I wrote about a year ago and will not let it go. The other, who has a child on a protection plan, tells me to get off

her doorstep and refuses to talk to me. It makes it difficult to do the job. I cant fault my managers though. Theyve been really supportive. With the parent who cursed me it affected me so much that I requested reflective supervision to go over the case and see how I handled the situation. It was really helpful. Hostility from parents is to be expected due to the nature of the job, but there are ways of managing it. One thing we have is an individual working agreement with clients, spelling out what they can expect of us as a council and what we should expect from them.

40% of respondents had been in practice for more than 10 years. 50% dealt with hostile and intimidating parents every week 61% had been threatened by a parent in the past six months. 77% of those had received multiple threats over that time. 68% had experienced threats to their person. 26% had experienced threats to their family. 67% felt dealing with hostile parents had had an impact on their work and family. 43% felt children were being put at greater risk because they had little management support.

17 November 2011 www.communitycare.co.uk

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