In this object you will engage with ten tricky situations. You will be:
- given a scenario and a proposed way forward;
- invited to rank different approaches to the situation with which you are confronted;
- invited to answer a true/false question related to the relevant legal rules.
After you have worked through the ten situations, you will receive feedback on how different orientations are embedded in the approaches you selected. The contribution that each makes to practice, and to the approach you take as a practitioner in the legal context, will be identified.
Knowledge of the legal rules is important but insufficient for sound social work practice. The legal rules normally require the exercise of discretion when deciding whether, when and how they should be invoked. Professional discretion plays an important role in identifying and negotiating the various dilemmas or conflicting imperatives within social work practice.
- Care versus control
Do we intervene to provide care or to control behaviour?
- Needs versus resources
Are services needs-led or resource-led?
- Legalism versus professionalism
What weight is given to legal rules as against professional values and knowledge?
- Professionalism versus partnership
Where does the power lie, with professionals or with service users and carers?
- Individual versus collective interests
Should an individual’s rights be promoted or should they be weighed against the collective interest?
- Rights versus risks
Do we use the law to promote rights or to control risks?
- Autonomy versus protection
Should we overrule individuals’ wishes in order to protect them?
Some orientations to practice might emphasise agency rules and procedures or compliance with legal rules. They might seek to avoid risk or to control risky behavior. Other orientations might emphasise need, rights or client satisfaction.
So, what kind of social work law practitioner will you be during a typical day? In exercising discretion, what considerations will you elevate above others? Moreover, when confronted with situations that require a response, just how sound is your knowledge of the relevant legal rules?