Danger and disdain: truth and dare in social work education.

Beddoe, Liz

INTRODUCTION

This article will consider some broad issues for educators in their dual roles of preparing practitioners for practice and in developing and participating in their ongoing professional education. It will be argued that experience of violence and abuse cannot be separated from the public image of social work. I will draw on my own experience as an educator and make some suggestions for action.

 It's official: the public does not like social workers, according
 to a poll out today. Tell us something we don't already know.

 Social workers have always been in a tricky situation. They are
 either seen as hapless incompetents who can't stop abuse even when
 it is going right in front of them, or they are no better than the
 Stasi ... they may be wearing leather sandals instead of jackboots
 but they still storm around peoples' houses, take their kids away
 and generally wreck peoples lives on the flimsiest of evidence.

 Social workers have a huge image problem. News, by its very nature
 exaggerates the extraordinary and ignores the ordinary. When it
 comes to social workers, the only stories journalists are
 interested in involve tragedy, failure, conflict and incompetence
 (Woolf 2001).

Tower (2000) writes that social work "has an image problem in the popular media. Historically social workers abdicated control for shaping public opinion to media producers who had no investment in the future of the profession" (Tower 2000, 575).

The image of social work and its place in the contemporary media discourse is a topic in a paper I to teach final year social work students, some of whom are practitioners returning to study to upgrade a Diploma in Social Work to a Bachelor of Social Work. In developing a paper on the sociological discourse of social work (with my colleague Phil Harington) it became apparent that we couldn't look at the discourses of social work itself in a vacuum; that these discourses were shaped and influenced by the kind of social worker appearing in the media, both in 'news' and entertainment. This in term is shaped by the political context in which social work and social services in general must forge their nature and style (Franklin and Parton 1991).

 It is frustrating, but in addition to all of the responsibilities
 of doing and teaching social work, the profession must use precious
 energy to shape public opinion. The image problem is real, however,
 and social workers should be concerned. Educators who are not
 convinced that an image problem exists need only ask students
 if someone close to them disapproved of their decision to enter the
 social work profession (Tower 2000, 284).

Students in our class were in total agreement that social workers don't come across well. We decided that there were some prevailing images:

* The 'wet' liberal wimpy social worker who is soft on criminals;

* The rotweiller who takes away children (from a cartoon seen on many office pin boards);

* The incompetent social worker who neglects their caseload;

* The radical social worker who is 'loose' and not very professional; and

* The social worker who is a bit too close to their clients (and the stigma attached to the group the clients come from).

Some of these stereotypes come from the social work characters in popular television drama, especially 'soap operas'. Students were unable to identify any positive examples of social work characters from popular television. They couldn't name any movies in which social workers were heroes, or even 'OK'. Within the classroom content of the course we have some fun with a group activity in which the students develop a synopsis for a 'soap opera' in which social work heroes take centre stage. This exercise has a two-fold benefit; firstly, it is a slight antidote to the negativity experienced in relation to the topic and secondly, it fosters an awareness of the challenge of presenting social work as 'entertainment'.

The students were extremely negative about journalists and the news media. Students who are practitioners in child protection services feel particularly vulnerable to being maligned in reporting child abuse cases. An essay topic for the course provided rich accounts of their frustration with media accounts of cases which had become public and their feelings of impotence because of privacy considerations. Many students had searched the web sites of major daily newspaper for references to social work. The students were upset that most references were negative and seemed blaming. The need for social workers to come to grips with the media has been addressed by other authors (Lytollis 1996; Franklin 1991).

Little is written in pre-service education texts on the public image of the profession. Similarly, not much is said about the abuse perpetrated on social workers in the course of their work. And yet, managing use of self in challenging situations is an important learning task for all practitioners regardless of age, gender, race, class, education, length of service and level of responsibility. Social workers work with individuals, families and communities at points of severe stress and at times social work intervention may be perceived as highly threatening to clients. There is clearly some ambivalence about raising these issues with students. Social workers encounter the challenges of abuse and violence in their workplaces and to neglect discussion of this in the curriculum is irresponsible. It is important to provide students and new practitioners an honest overview of the problem and some strategies to keep safe (Beddoe 2001a).

In their daily practice many social workers observe effects of emotional, physical and sexual abuse on our clients and within the communities in which we work. We understand that abuse can be silent and hidden and leave no visible scars but that the consequences of emotional deprivation and cruelty can be as devastating as a beating. And yet, when we examine our own experiences there is a tendency to minimize the things that happen to us and deny the impact on our practice and our personal lives. As social work educators we have a responsibility to bring these concerns to the surface and help students and beginning practitioners to adopt personal safety practices. The findings of an Australian study further suggested that care and protection workers were minimizing the high level of violence occurring in their work with families by focusing on casework interventions designed to placate and avoid confrontation (Stanley and Goddard 1993).

Most authors have identified common themes of under-reporting, self blame, lack of policy, and procedures to deal with incidents and the need for organisation to develop strategies for prevention (Braithwaite 1992; Puckett and Cleak 1994). Many have stressed the implications for social work education. There is agreement that there is a need for input in pre-service education and in post-training to raise awareness in order to prepare staff and avoid the traps (Goddard and Tucci 1991; Bibby 1994; Bowie 1996).

THE PROBLEM OF MINIMISATION

A significant number of incidents experienced by social workers are not reported to the social worker's supervisor or to the police (Bcddoe, Appleton and Maher 1999). It seems likely that the decision against reporting is more related to the agency environment than the seriousness of the assault (Beddoe, Appleton and Maher 1999).

As educators we need to consider what attitudes might be modeled by agency staff in placements. Students may be exposed to situations themselves or they may hear and observe minimizing or blaming reactions to incidents of abuse or acts of violence.

Some key themes need to be explored to ensure that students have a reasonable level of awareness of the prevalence and impact of on the job abuse or acts of violence:

* Occupational abuse is on the increase but tends to be still categorized as incidents happening to individuals on an infrequent basis. As a consequence workers who have been abused may feel isolated, embarrassed and fearful of disclosing their experiences;

* Social workers feel that reporting the incidents or initiating criminal or disciplinary charges may add to the stresses and problems faced by clients. The author has noticed a tendency to excuse client behaviour in much the same way that male family violence has been 'explained' in the past - "he was upset (drunk) (stressed) (angry) because of what happened: he wasn't his 'normal' self." The implication of this, of course, is that social workers should protect clients and others from the consequences of their violence against themselves. Perhaps other victims are felt to be more innocent! If there is an invisible hierarchy of victims then where we put ourselves as social workers is quite significant;

* The ambivalence and discomfort about the nature of social work especially in statutory social work with 'involuntary clients';

* The risk of accommodation of bizarre and dangerous behaviour when it can be defined as symptomatic of an illness: the social worker wishes that the client be healed not punished;

* The risk of strong identification with 'underdogs' may add to their distress in dealing with client abuse. This may be exacerbated when social workers themselvs, come from the same oppressed and marginalised communities as their clients. It may be felt to be disloyal to report;

* 'Staunchness'- an organisational culture may have developed in some settings in which there is a certain macho pride in being able to 'handle' abuse and violence. This may be heard by social workers as meaning it's a tough and demanding job and if you can't take a bit of abuse you should do something easier;

* The painful realization that to some extent the 'job' separates social workers from their clients. Social workers may be perceived as very powerful even when they feel vulnerable and powerless in the face of client hostility and aggression; and

* The impact of continual negative reporting and blaming in the press and letters to the editor. A student (who is a practitioner) said in class 'it's not social workers who kill children!'

The obvious parallels here with the dynamics of family violence: notions of blame, provocation, rationalization and the acceptance of the inevitability of abuse need to be pointed out in the pre-service curriculum.

We need to understand the 'shaming' that accompanies being a victim/survivor of an incident of violence or abuse. It is very personal, very intimate and very painful. As an educator I see this again and again with students, particularly from minority cultures. We may be aware of students' personal histories, their experience of abuse in their own life. We cannot ignore the risk that they face when they enter the workforce and need to identify that risk as risk of reliving previous trauma (Hanna 2001). If we don't articulate these concerns and provide information on the problem we are supporting the culture of silence about violence.

ISSUES IN AGENCY CULTURE

In a New Zealand study (Beddoe, Appleton and Maher 1999) a significant group of respondents described the problems experienced in their agencies - stress, lack of resources, lack of supervision, inadequate debriefing after critical incidents and the acceptance of a high level of personal abuse which is not dealt with as 'organisational abuse'. In this kind of workplace frequent exposure to verbal and physical abuse is accepted as part of the job. In my view the least well traversed issue is the image of the profession and the extent to which this impacts negatively on the esteem and wellbeing of its members. It is a topic worthy of further research.

Supervision is key to the ongoing management of the impact of this traumatic exposure, although it must be seen as one part of an ecological approach to worker well-being in high stress organisations and not the panacea for all problems (Adamson 2001).

Supervisors should be a key component of a system for managing the anxiety and uncertainty generated by the work. This includes dealing with the social work practitioners' experiences of abusive and potentially violent clients and client families. The context in which we practice ensures that worker anxiety levels remain high. The emphasis on risk management and evidence-based practice may actually create tension and uncertainty. The author has written elsewhere about this tension:

 On the one hand practitioners may feel pressure to be 'scientific'
 and objective and turn to empirical models of practice, on the
 other practitioners are urged to trust their feelings and listen
 to hunches. Supervision provides a space in which these competing
 voices can be heard and attended to. (Beddoe 2001b)

This means making room and providing a safe climate in which feelings can be exposed. If supervision provides opportunities for the safe expression and exploration of these feelings they may be a source of potential evidence about the degree of risk present. Supervision that recognizes the responses of the social worker as valid and significant may provide a key to safe practice. Gair and Thorpe suggest that organisations are not using the collective practice skills and accumulated practice wisdom of workers in dealing with aggressive clients and dangerous situations. The lack of discussion of "the personal emotions triggered by threatening situations and the lack of opportunities for the acquisition of violence management skills, is also reflected in the welfare education institutions" (Gair and Thorpe 1996).

If for no other reason than self-interest, social work agencies, especially statutory agencies, need to acknowledge that many social work staff are experiencing assaultive and hostile behaviours which are distressing and which may negatively impact on their professional practice and their ability to cope as individuals. Some positive responses have been reported in one New Zealand agency (Agnew 1998).

ISSUES FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATORS: DANGER AND DISDAIN

Apart from the concern that educators address with students abut the public image of the profession there is also a concern that pre-service address the dangers in a realistic and empowering way, much as we would educate children about 'stranger danger' not to terrify and dis-empower but to 'name' the problems and encourage empowering strategies and a sense of personal agency.

The apparent failure of social work education to address these issues and to contribute to the preparation of social workers for the dangerous workplace has been noted by other authors in the past (Goddard and Tucci 1991). It would be an interesting research task to examine how many programmes on both sides of the Tasman are addressing this issue a decade later.

Gair and Thorpe suggest that social work literature in general doesn't help. It presents an almost unwavering view of social workers working with passive (though sometimes resistant) clients. The traditional models of practice for social work have their origins in the theories of the therapeutic relationship. They are dominated by the view "that the traditional worker-client relationship can overcome the resistance of involuntary clients" (Goddard and Tucci 1991). These models have a comfortable fit with the social work foundation principles of unconditional positive regard and client self determination. They are problematic for social workers working in public services with involuntary clients who may be hostile, aggressive and potentially violent (Barber 1991). Goddard and Carcw have been highly critical of social work education slating that much of it is based on the "Mills and Boon" approach to social work (Goddard and Carew 1988).

Sayers has been critical of social work education arguing a gendered interpretation of the problem of violence. Women are socialised to use verbal rather than physical means of solving problems. Sayers argues that the concentration on training social work students to engage their clients in verbalising problems leave the social worker few skills to handle the violent behaviour which may occur when 'counselling' approaches fail (Sayers 1986). Social workers are still mostly female and frequently working with clients who may be victims of male violence. Many female social workers, especially if young and inexperienced, may be unsure about their authority, uncomfortable and ambivalent about using it, and fearful that being directive or assertive may lead to violence.

These issues need to be explored within social work education as part of the preparation for practice. It seems that the material taught needs to be linked through coverage of the experience of violence and abuse and the students personal responses to this within personal professional development courses. Models of practice need to be critiqued for their emphasis on work with voluntary, willing clients and alternative approaches proposed.

Discussion with academic colleagues has raised some concerns about the impact of this kind of material on beginning social workers and the timing of specific courses may be significant. It may be difficult also to encompass the needs of students with differing life experiences. In many student groups there may not be a common baseline of experience to draw on. Nevertheless, it is vital that students are given adequate preparation for the challenges ahead.

There are some challenges about presenting this material in a classroom. There are a few testing 'teaching moments' the author has encountered when presenting the survey findings in a classroom context:

* A part time 'in-post practitioner' student describing an unpleasant incident which had happened very recently and about which there was still considerable anger and shock. Talk about having to model what you are teaching on the spot;

* Two students on placement in mental health settings (one 'statutory' compulsory care environment and one in a community grassroots residential setting) conducting a very heated debate about the issues. One taking the 'if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen approach' and the other taking a very clear union 'health and safety' position; and

* A student in supervision training savagely criticizing the agency's crisis management programme which I was presenting as a positive example of what can be achieved.

These classroom situations and many others provide vivid material to work with. The process of teaching this topic can provoke unexpected responses. Strong feelings may be aroused, similar to those encountered when teaching child protection and mental health issues, where unexpected classroom disclosures can provide major challenges to ones' teaching skills.

STRATEGIES FOR ACTION: CURRICULA

Firstly, the development of media studies courses for undergraduate and postgraduate social work education can be considered (Tower 2000). This does not need to be too resource intensive. It may be useful to consider sharing ideas with students about how journalists think or, if possible, asking a friendly journalist or media studies person from your institution to come and talk to students to break down some barriers. Journalists have their own perceptions of social work, for example they may believe that social workers are ignorant of how media works and don't know how to use it effectively. Social workers may be seen to overemphasize confidentiality and sensitivity and therefore seem unwilling to educate the public through judicious and ethical discussion of the social work experience.

It is useful to ask students to consider how they might change these perceptions. Role plays could be used to experience being interviewed and consider what can be said about working with children who have been abused without breaching privacy. How can social workers develop 'media savvy' approaches to the utilization of the public arena to promote more accurate images of the profession.

Secondly, the development of courses that include the following: personal exploration of violence and its meaning to individuals; information about stress, trauma and exposure to abuse and violence; knowledge about how to defuse and manage potentially violent situations; the nature of organisational culture; and the impact on levels of work related stress.

Lastly, 'joining the dots' - developing professional studies curriculum for social work in which: explicit models to address social work with involuntary clients can be developed linking to the first two strategies; acknowledgement given to the reality that many students will work in statutory settings when they graduate and that many of the adults and young people they work with will be initially hostile (Trotter 1999);: and encouragement given for working towards a better and more hopeful relationship with the media (Tower 2000).

Perhaps we need also to examine the manner in which we as educators may deny and minimize the unpleasantness of much that we encounter. David Leadbetter asserts that there is a danger that "the political and resource implications of opening the 'Pandora's Box of violence to staff' may prove to be unpalatable and 'discourage the systematic analysis of the problem' and the subsequent development of solutions" (Leadbetter 1993, 616). I would suggest that the Pandora's Box contains a great deal more than fears of cost blow outs and high compliance costs of mandatory policies and procedures.

At the heart of the matter may be our continued discomfort with the internal contradictions of care and control. The empowerment approaches of the contemporary social work 'bag of tricks' are attractive. In essence, though, the assumption is that the 'active' social worker considers that he/she possesses the opportunity and the skills to 'empower' the 'passive' client. Strengths based and solution focused approaches do provide positive opportunities for social workers to work with challenging clients but they don't necessarily deal with the explicit dynamics of statutory social work. There is a major challenge ahead to find ways of employing strengths interventions in statutory settings.

Margolin suggests that despite empowerment approaches, social workers are still in reality "inserting themselves into clients' lives, initiating actions, judging outcomes and controlling terminologies and meanings" (Margolin 1997). It is in the context of these relations that the social worker is exposed to the risk of client hostility becoming overt. The risk increases where clients are well aware of the real power of the social worker to act in the face of their non-compliance. The power to remove children, invoke court action, declare a 'breach' of a court order or reduce privileges is a potent challenge to the autonomy of the client. To dress these powers up in any other language is simply to encourage denial. It doesn't make the job any more palatable and certainly makes it less safe.

STRATEGIES FOR ACTION: CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Much can be done through education of supervisors and managers at all levels in social and human services about the likely impact of hostility, abuse and violence on the workforce and on practice itself. This includes teaching content about the impact of stress and the supervisor's role in both prevention and trauma management.

We need to think about the impact of constant exposure to what might be described as lower level client abuse and intimidation. It is only recently that the literature has emphasised the different needs of those surviving critical incidents and those who over time are exposed to abuse and threat (Bowie 1996). Oddly, the literature on social work supervision tends to be somewhat silent on the issues with a notable exception being Brown and Bourne who emphasise that the skills for dealing with stress and trauma as essential components of a contemporary supervisor's repertoire (Brown and Bourne 1996).

Those educators providing training to new supervisors and first line managers need to recognize the acculturation that forms part of a social workers experience may have blunted their awareness of what might be happening for the people they work with. Supervisors may unwittingly be modeling one of two unhelpful strategies, unaware of the impact of hostile public attitude on their own approach to practice:

* Being staunch and fearless - it's a war zone! This kind of practice (perhaps echoing Barber's 'casework by oppression') involves directive and aggressive practice (Barber 1991). There is a danger of internalizing negative expectations and being overly directive. The use of authority is overt and while legitimated by actual power may be excessive. This kind of social worker may be held in contempt by more liberally minded colleagues or may be held up as role model to students and new social workers. The message is 'this is how to survive!' Unfortunately this kind of person is often likely to be blamed if they are assaulted. Supervisors who are 'staunch' may place their supervisees at grave risk through exposing them to unnecessarily dangerous situations;

* Being passive and avoiding conflict - it's a matter of survival - live to fight another day, protect another child. The consequences of this avoidance are a serious danger to practice competence. The dangers are well documented, especially in the child protection literature (Goddard and Tucci 1991; Morrison 1997). Workers who have been inculcated with the ideal of always striving to use verbal engagement skills to enable a positive relationship with hostile clients may pursue this course to the detriment of the child, their own safety and that of vulnerable others. In addition they may 'miss' vital information generated by their personal experience of the hostile person. This recognition of 'feelings as evidence' is of significance in social work supervision. Supervisors need training to appreciate the importance of hearing fully workers accounts of their interactions with clients and recognizing the importance of emotional and physical responses to client behaviour (Hughes and Pengelly 1997).

PARTNERSHIPS FOR CHANGE

It seems absolutely essential that all three organisational 'stakeholders' in the social services employment - the professional organisations, the schools of social work and the employers must take some concerted action to ensure that these issues are addressed.

Table 1 is a compilation of the many suggestions the author has received in discussions at seminars and conferences.

CONCLUSION

Increasing awareness of the exposure of social workers to hostility, negative imagery, and abuse in the workplace and in the public arena requires action. This paper has proposed a number of strategies to deal with the problem. It has been argued that the profession itself, social work educational institutions and the employing agencies need to undertake their share of the work to address the issues and support both students and practitioners to develop strategies to survive and stay positive and creative in the face of public disdain. Most importantly, social work must look at itself and consider the impact of not dealing with the contents of the Pandora's Box of power and authority. Further work needs to be done to develop explicit strategies to promote positive images of social work in the news and entertainment media.

REFERENCES

Agnew, R., Dawson, M. and C. Elliott. (1998) 'Dealing with the aftermath: why debriefing is critical', Social Work Now, (10), 6-11.

Balloch, S., Pahl, J. and Me Lean, J. (1998) 'Working in the Social Services: job satisfaction, stress and violence', British Journal of Social Work, (28), 329-350.

Barber, J. (1991) Beyond casework, Macmillan, London.

Beddoe, L., Appleton, C. and Maher, B. (1998) 'Social Workers experience of violence', Social Work Review, X(l), 4-11.

Beddoe, L., Appleton, C. and Maher, B. (1999) 'Social Workers and violence.' Social Work Now, 12 (April 1999).

Beddoe, L. (2001a) 'Violence towards social workers' in M. Connolly (ed.), New Zealand Social Work Contexts and Practice, Oxford University Press, Auckland.

Beddoe, L. (2001b) Learning for supervision in contemporary social work practice in Aotearoa. In L. Beddoe and J. Worrall (eds), Supervision: From Rhetoric to Reality: Conference Proceedings, Auckland College of Education, Auckland.

Bibby, P. (1994) Personal Safety for Social Workers, Arena, Aldershot. Bowie, V. (1996) Coping With Violence, Whiting and Birch, London.

Braithwaite, R. (1992) 'Violence Against Social Workers', Local Government Employment, August 1992.

Brown, A. and Bourne, I. (1996) The Social Work Supervisor, Open University Press, Buckingham.

Franklin, B. and Parton, N. (eds) (1991) Social Work, the Media and Public Relations, Routledge, London.

Gair, S. and Thorpe, R. (1996) Helpers as victims: assaults on women in social welfare practice. In R. Thorpe and J. Irwin (eds) Women and Violence - Working for Change, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney.

Goddard, C. and Carew, B. (1988) 'Protecting the child: hostages to fortune', Social Work Today, 20, 12-15.

Goddard, C. and Tucci, J. (1991) 'Child protection and the need for the appraisal of the social worker-client relationship', Australian Social Work, 44(2), 3-10.

Hanna, S. (2001) Being there and being fair: supervision issues with students. In L. Beddoe and J, Worrall (eds), Supervision: from Rhetoric to Reality, Conference Proceedings, Auckland college of Education, Auckland, New Zealand.

Hughes, L. and Pengelly, P. (1997) Staff Supervision in a Turbulent Environment-Managing Process and Task in Front-line Services, Jessica Kingsley, London.

Leadbetter, D. (1993) 'Trends in assaults on social work staff-the experience of one Scottish Department', British Journal of Social Work, 23(2), 613-628.

Lytollis, S. (1996) 'Making the best of the media spotlight', Social Work Now, (5), 15-20.

Margolin, L. (1997) Under the Cover of Kindness - The Invention of Social Work, The University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Morrison, T. (1997). Emotionally competent child protection organisations: Fallacy, fiction or necessity. In J. Bates, R. Pugh and N. Thompson (eds), Protecting Children: Challenges and Changes, Arena, Aldershot.

Newhill, C. (1996) 'Prevalence and risk factors for client violence towards social workers', Journal of Contemporary Human Services, October 1996.

Puckett, T.C. and Cleak, H. (1994) 'Caution helping may be hazardous: Client abuse, threats and assaults', Australian Social Work, 47(1): 3-9.

Sayers, J. (1986) 'Violence and social work', Australian Social Work, 39(4), 5-11. Stanley, J. and Goddard, C. (1993) 'The effects of child abuse and other family violence on the child protection worker and case management', Australian Social Work, 46(3), 3-10.

Tower, K. (2000) 'In our own image: shaping attitudes about social work through television production', Journal of Social Work Education, 36(3), Fall 2000.

Trotter, C. (1999) Working with involuntary clients - A guide to practice, Sage, Sydney.

Woolf, A. (2001) 'Social Workers deserve better', Accessed from http'://society.guardian.co.uk/socialcare/, Thursday, March 15, 2001.

Liz Beddoe *

* Author: Liz Beddoe: Dean Applied Social Sciences, Auckland College of Education, Private Bag 92 601, Symonds St Auckland, New Zealand. Telephone: (64 9 623 8899 Extension 8559). Fax No: 64 9 623 5014. Email: e.beddoe@ace.ac.nz

Table 1 Partnerships for change

Employers Social work education
 providers

Well designed public Recognition of workplace
relations strategies. safety as part of curricula
Publicity which provides in violence and abuse
the public with positive topics and exploration of
images of social work. students' understanding
 and personal responses to
Clear policies and violence.
procedures.

Staff training in dealing Media studies- examining
with the effects of abuse the impact of the image of
especially for supervisors social work on students
and team leaders. and supervisors.

Access to professional
debriefing. Exploration of models for
 work with involuntary
A "critical incidents clients.
reporting system" to Creation of an advocacy
 Pre-placement preparation
Safety audits and physical including personal safety
resources. collect data for research.
 training.
Serious consideration of
impact of continuous A code of practice for
exposure to hostility and students' safety.
verbal abuse and
intimidation. Basic training in crisis
 intervention and de-
 escalation.

 Education for supervisors
 to include consideration of
 the impact of critical
 incidents on supervisees.

Professional association

Public advocacy to create
more a positive public
image for social work.
Support for further
research.

Promotion of policies and

procedure manuals to
ensure consistent
workplace safety across
agencies.

Awareness raising about
the range and extent of
abuse and violence.

service for members,
provision and/or
promotion of training in
crisis intervention
methods.

Encouraging improved
professional development
for social workers in a
range of contemporary
models of practice.