8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
1/16
Competency in socialwork practice
sss3083
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
2/16
Why competency?
Social work : a practice profession Social workers are in a powerful position :
decision and action affect the lives ofclients
Incompetent practice can have lastingnegative impact on clients lives.
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
3/16
Competency: What is it ? Doing a job well ?
Good Social work practice
Professional competence is the demonstration ofknowledge, skills and values in the workplace to agreedstandard (OHagan, 1996: 5)
Competency refers to a demonstrable ability to fulfil oneor more aspect of the role, and is therefore closely linkedto the notion of skills (Thompson, 2000: 77)
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
4/16
Competency in what? Competency (able to practice) in different fields/areas of
work e.g. competence in child protection work; mentalhealth
Competency in working with individuals, families, groupsand communities
Ethical practice
Cultural competency
Legal competency
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
5/16
Competency: How to measure ?/Determine?
Must be measured in relation to what isconsidered the core purpose and thenature of social work; and the roles andtasks of social workers
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
6/16
Core purpose of social work Assist and mobilise individuals, families and groups to enhance their
well-being and problem solving capacities ( enabler)
Link people with systems which provide them with resources,services, and opportunities (Mediator)
Promote the effective and humane operation of these systems
Contribute to the development and improvement of social policy(Change agent and Advocate)
Ref. Pincus & Minahan (1973)Social work practice: Model and method [Ch. 1 Nature of social work practice].
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
7/16
Generic tasks and skills
Communicate and engage Promote and enable
Assess and plan Intervene and provide service Work in organisations
Develop professional competence
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
8/16
Communicate and engage
Communicate : both verbal and written,with clients, as well as with colleagues andmembers of the community
Engage : being able to form purposeful,effective relationship with clients
Interrelated, although good communicationskills does not always lead to positiverelationship with clients
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
9/16
Promote and enable
Promote : opportunities for people to usetheir own strength
Enable : clients to maximise theircapabilities, meet needs, solve problemsand achieve change
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
10/16
Assess and Plan
Assess : Ability to gather information,to understand the situations,to form a picture of the differentissues surrounding the clients.-involve use of knowledge, skills
and values Plan: Ability to formulate a plan of action,
to intervene into clients situation
Assess and plan involve continuous reviewing,analysing, and negotiating (with clients and agency )
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
11/16
Intervene and provide service
Assessment comes before intervention- How, when and whether to intervene?
- What service to provide?- What approaches to use ?
Involve a wide range of skills
Involve the use of intervention approachesat different levels
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
12/16
Work in organisations
Ability to work competently within theorganisation
Accountable to agency policy andprocedures
Contribute to the responsiveness of theorganisation to people needs
Uphold professionalism
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
13/16
Develop professional competence
Reflective and critical evaluation of ownpractice
Continuous training and make use ofsupervision
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
14/16
Reflective practice
Ability to reflect and think about what wedo and how we do our work
Recognising that practice situations aregenerally messy, and have to be wrestlewith to make sense of them (Thompson,2000: 70)
Open to new ideas and to changes anddevelopment
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
15/16
Exercise on reflecting whereI am at ?
Based on a case study, students in groupof 5 discuss and reflect your level ofcompetency in the following areas:
Communicate and engage Promote and enable Assess and plan Intervene and provide service Work in organisations
8/12/2019 Competency in Social Work Practice1
16/16
Caseexample
Knowledgeneeded
Area ofcompetency
Self-evaluation
A 15 year oldgirl, referred byher mother tosee you, who isa social workerin a governmentagency.Mother said sheis beyondcontrol.
At first meeting,the girl appearsto be resistant,and refuses totalk to you.
Communicate andengage
Promote andenable
Assess and plan
Intervene andprovide service
Work inorganisation
Top Related