Conclusion

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Effective work with children and families in need is more of an art than a science. There are no easy answers and professional judgement that recognises and grapples with the complex power relationships and competing interests that characterises people's lives and professional interventions is essential.

Some family members living in poverty who had experienced social work interventions spoke of their good experiences of social work practice and the important role relationships with workers played in affecting positive change in their lives, a view supported by literature on family support (Gilligan 2000, Quinton, 2004).

However others spoke of feeling like a statistic, not being valued, and form filling and resources taking precedence in the social workers' minds over their family's needs and views. Family members also recognised that this was not always the fault of the individual worker, but a consequence of organisational pressures and agendas.

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Just as the significance of the social context of families lives should not be under-estimated, neither should the organisational context in which practitioners operate. An acknowledgement of the need to support relationship-based reflective practice must therefore be forthcoming from managers and policy makers. As Ruch (2005, p.121) explains:

'to facilitate the development of relationship-based approaches, which embrace a holistic understanding of clients, of practitioners and of the nature and contexts of social work practice, there is a need for practitioners to be afforded the time and space to respond thoughtfully �reflectively-to the unique, complex and dynamic situations they encounter.'

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We will leave you with a final message from a family member relating the importance of a sensitive attitude towards poverty.


'The first visit I had from a social worker she came to the block of flats I lived in ran up the stairs because they were full of human excrement and urine and when she came in to my home she said to me why would you choose to live in a place like this? I was just really set back because I thought nobody would it must be obvious that no one should choose to live here, we are here because it was all we were offered it was all I could get, when I said that to her she said 'You should have fought harder for a nicer place' I was just really astounded.

I've still heard of families being told you shouldn't be living here, you should move somewhere else, or you should decorate this flat. If a 60 minute programme can go in and out they can transform a house why can't you, over the next 12 weeks, do this flat up'. People have said where am I going to get the money? the paint? the skills? what am I going to do with 5 kids while I'm painting? How am I going to live my life and do all that as well?'

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If you would like to learn more about this area, please visit SCIE's other poverty e-learning resources in the e-learning section of the SCIE web site. You have now reached the end of this learning object.

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