Centre for Systemic

Social Work

Clare Chamberlain, Matt Watson, Khushali Supeda

Why change anything?

–Too much time in the office–Too much assessment, not enough intervention–Too much case management and referring out–Too many repeat referrals–Lots of add on projects but what about mainstream change–Too many repeat referrals

What we want to achieve?More purposeful intervention – clarity of about what we can doWorking with fewer families at any one time – a significant

reduction in repeat referralsReducing escalation – a reduction in children with child protection

plans and those looked after

Focus on Practice / Partners in Practice

• Skills and knowledge development programme800 practitioners and managers across the three authorities over two years

- Systemic practice - Signs of Safety

• New roles – Heads of Service Clinical Practice- Clinical staff / family therapists

• Career practice pathway – Specialist Practitioner posts

• Changing the system conditions in which we work – adapting processes and bureaucratic systems. Designing a new case recording system. More joint working and reflection groups

Centre for Systemic Social Work

• A teaching centre within the Tri-borough authorities

• Building expertise in systemic practice within the workforce across our three boroughs

• Sector improvement – working with other LAs to train staff and help them promote systemic practice

• Practice Leadership programme

Westminster Gangs & Neighbouring

Gangs

WCC GANGS AT START IGU

Post Code Rivalry /

Colours /

Types of Offences (i.e. Robberies)

CURRENT GANGS & ISSUES

Business (in/out borough)

Networks / CSE

Offences (i.e. Drugs)

Gangs and Youth

Violence Reduction

Co-ordinator

Community Safety

IGU Manager

Families

BSO

Community

Safety

Senior Gangs

Worker

Families Sgt

Flexible Gangs

Worker

Families

Girls, Gangs and

Sexual Violence

Worker

Families

Gang Exit Worker

(St Giles)

Flexible Gangs

Worker

Families

PC

PC

PC

Mentoring Co-

Ordinator

Families

Health Worker

(NHS)

FACES

Employment

JCP

IGU Police

ASB Case Worker

Community

Safety

Gangs Analyst

Community

Safety

Flexible Gangs

Worker

Families

Flexible Gangs

Worker

Families

Senior Probation

Officer

PC

Westminster IGU

• Enforce• Divert

• Prevent• IdentifyDaily

Weekly

GMAP

X Borough

Schools

Mentors

Early help

Consult

Licences

Orders

CBO..

Case-work

Street work

Groups

First order change: doing more or less

of the same thing: tasks

Westminster IGU

The blind men and the

elephant

Second Order Change (Bateson)

creating a new way of seeing things

completely

We move away from locating

problems in individuals and

begin to see how issues,

identities and patterns are

embedded in relationships and

through feedback. (Karl Tomm)

Any two people in a

relationship are in a

process of mutual

influence. This is the

same with behaviours

between a worker and

a family and a

manager and staff.

(Tom Anderson)

From ‘case management’

complexity to real complexity!

• Staying curious and irreverent (Cecchin1992)

• Theory of change: analysis over ‘actions’

• Common language

• Patterns in relationships tendency to repeat (Isomorphism; Liddle & Sabre 1983)

Embedding systemic ideas

Case Example

• Khushali Supeda

Ahmed Family

• Family Life Cycle Model • Carter and Goldrick (2005)

• Milan Systemic Therapy • Reframing –

• Palazolli et al (1980) – 3 principles of interviewing: Hypothesising, Circularity and Neutrality

• Scripts and Beliefs • John Byng-Hall

Theory and Intervention

Social and Personal GGRRAAACCEEESSSJohn Burnham and Alison Roper-Hall (2011)

• Gender

• Geography

• Race

• Religion

• Age

• Ability

• Appearance

• Class

• Culture

• Ethnicity

• Education

• Employment

• Sexuality

• Sexual Orientation

• Sprituality

Any questions?

Bibliography 1

Andersen, T. (1987) The reflecting team: dialogue and meta-dialogue in clinical work. Family Process, 26:4

Byng Hall, J. (1995) The Nature of Scripts. In J. Byng-Hall Re-writing Family Scripts. (pp. 23-40) NY: Guildford Press.

Bateson, G. (1978) ‘Towards an Ecology of Mind’

Cecchin, G. (1992) Constructing Therapeutic Possibilities. In MacNameeand Gergen(eds.) Therapy as Social Construction. London: Sage

Liddle, H. & Saba, G. (1983) On context replication: the isomorphic relationship of training and therapy. Journal of strategic and systemic therapies, 2 (3): 3 -11.

Mason, B. (1993) Towards positions of safe uncertainty. Human Systems: The Journal of Systemic Management and Consultation, 4: 189 –200.

Pearce, B. (2007) Critical moments that shape our social worlds. In Making Social Worlds –A communication perspective (pp.1-28). Blackwell Publishing.

Tomm, K. (1988) Interventive interviewing: Part III. Intending to ask lineal, circular, strategic, or reflexive questions? Family Process, 27(1): 1-15.

Bibliography 2

Burnham, J (2011) Developments in Social GRRRAAACCEEESSS: visible-invisible and voiced-unvoiced in Krause I (2011) Culture and Reflexivity in Systemic Psychotherapy Perspective. Karnac, UK

Carter (1978) in Cater, B and McGoldrick, M (2005) Overview –The changing Family Life Cycle: A framework for Family Therapy in The Expanded Family Life Cycle: Individual, Family and Social Perspectives (pp3-28) Allynand Bacon

Cater, B and McGoldrick, M (2005) Overview –The changing Family Life Cycle: A framework for Family Therapy in The Expanded Family Life Cycle: Individual, Family and Social Perspectives (pp3-28) Allynand Bacon

Don J Donaldson and John Weakland1961 in MattilaA (2001) “Seeing things in a new light” Reframing in therapeutic conversation. Rehabilitation Foundation Research Reports 67/2001. Helsinki University Press, Helsinki(Haley J, 1963 p 46)

Palazolli, Boscolo, Cecchin& Prata(1980) Hypothesising, circularity Neutrality. Three guidelines for the conductor of the session. Journal Family process 19, issue 1 3-12

Watzlawick, p et al, (1974), The Gentle Art of Reframing. In Watzlawich, P et al Change of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. Pp92-109 NY W.W Norton