Gaynor Evans Advanced Practitioner November 2016 Disguised Compliance Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides Gaynor Evans Advanced Practitioner November 2016

List them in order that causes the most anxiety Exercise In pairs discuss the characteristics you find most challenging when engaging with families for the first time List them in order that causes the most anxiety Consider how you would feel if a stranger came and knocked on your door and told you that you had got to change or do something by a certain date

“A problem for social workers and others is that coverage of recent high profile cases in some parts of the media has contributed to an impression of all parents who maltreat their children as conniving, cold-blooded individuals, set on abusing or even killing a child and, in the process, deliberately setting out to deceive the authorities.” C4EO knowledge review 2010

“Irrespective of whether they co-operate, it is worth remembering that most parents involved in the child welfare system are involuntary participants in a process they may resent.” C4EO knowledge review 2010

Why do I tell you this? One of the biggest issues emerging in SCRs is the importance of professionals not relying on one source of information in important circumstances/decisions/assessments/understanding poor engagement or hostility Not relying on self report – looking for the clues or discrepancies Intuitive & Analytical thinking Major issue in resistance and disguised compliance – making and trusting our professional judgements Theme of SCR’s ‘Apparent or disguised co-operation from parents often prevented or delayed understanding of the severity of harm to the child and cases drifted. Where parents engineered the focus away from allegations of harm, children were unseen or unheard (Brandon et, al., 2008)

Disguised Compliance Disguised Compliance is a phrase coined by Reder, Duncan & Gray in 1993 in ‘Beyond Blame – child abuse tragedies revisited’. They described It as a patterns of interaction between professionals and service users (family/parents/carers) in which professionals are kept at bay by partially complying with professional plans. Also splitting professional opinion

Indicators of Disguised Compliance clean the house week before review school attendance improves for 2 weeks welcome, rather than usual hostility, at home visit plausible excuses for missed appointments presenting for clinic appointment day before crucial home visit

Disguised Compliance - some indications No significant change at reviews despite significant input; Note need for a plan and a review Parents/carers agreeing with professionals regarding required changes but put little effort into making changes work; Change does occur but as a result of external agencies/resources not the parental/carers efforts; Change in one area not matched by change in other areas; Parents/carers will engage with certain aspects of a plan only; Parents/carers align themselves with certain professionals; and Child’s report of matters is in conflict with parents’ report. Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Exercise Think about: Something in your life you have been meaning to change for some time that you would be prepared to discuss with a stranger Write down all the good reasons for making this change Explain to the person next to you why you haven’t done it yet Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Implications for practice Developing an overly optimistic approach/ Focus too much on small improvements rather than considering families’ full histories Develop ‘fixed views’ that are not updated in light of contrary evidence The second challenges focuses on practitioners’ views of and reactions to complex and sometimes resistant families, their lack of experience and confidence working on challenging cases and work-related stress. Many studies highlighted the unhelpful views and reactions practitioners developed when working with resistant families, largely focusing on unjustified optimism that occurs after families – often long-term cases – make small steps in the right direction (Bostock et al., 2005, Brandon et al., 2008b, Rose and Barnes, 2008). Often referred to as ‘start again syndrome’, workers coped with the overwhelming information about families and the feelings of helplessness that resulted in many difficult, long-term cases by putting aside their knowledge of the families’ past behaviours and focusing on the present (Brandon et al., 2008b). The recent emphasis on strengths-based approaches has resulted in some workers becoming unwilling to make critical professional judgements about parents’ behaviour (Brandon et al., 2009). Indeed, one study reported that professionals often developed fixed views about the families they work with and were disinclined to revise their previous notions or consider new risks of harm to children such that, for instance, signs of physical abuse were ignored in neglect cases, the term ‘rough handling’ was used to describe injuries or men were viewed as either ‘good dads’ or ‘bad dads’ regardless of their actual patterns of behaviour (Brandon et al., 2009). Several studies described practitioners misjudging the level and degree of families’ difficulties. When practitioners felt overwhelmed, their confidence was low or they were not receiving adequate managerial support, they tended to avoid making difficult decisions or challenging their colleagues’ decisions and behaviours, even when they had reason to believe a child was at serious risk of harm (Gardner, 2008, Brandon et al., 2009).

Factors to do with Professionals Lack of engagement skills – making relationships critical Lack of confidence in own role and task/confusion about what is required Not adopting an authoritative approach Self reliance/capacity issues/ people can make their own decisions Not acknowledging racism/discrimination oppression Not recognising the impact of issues such as Learning disability Domestic abuse Parental Mental health Not seeking to find a shared understanding of the issues to be addressed Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Factors to do with service users and their experiences Experience of seeking help in the past – influence on the present Experience of help seeking attitude Trust and Attachment Experience of authority Attitude to change Cultural issues /Racism/discrimination Disability issue – e.g having a learning disability Have something to hide Anxiety and shame Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Where does my knowledge come from? Personal life experiences Work as a social worker User of services as a carer Serious case review author – largely children, but some adults Researcher/Dissemination of research Training Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Intuitive & Analytical thinking Recognise the impact of Intuitive and Analytical reasoning (Munro Review) Intuitive: unconscious process that occurs automatically and integrates wide range of data to produce quick judgement. Makes use of emotions (sometimes referred to as “gut feelings”) Analytical: conscious and controlled – using formal reasoning and explicit data – often not using data from emotions – ruling them out Each have their benefits and drawbacks But: Need to draw on both to make sense of complex situations Need to recognise when one dominates Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Understanding Resistance Recognise the impact of Intuitive and Analytical reasoning (Munro Review) Intuitive: unconscious process that occurs automatically and integrates wide range of data to produce quick judgement. Makes use of emotions (sometimes referred to as “gut feelings” Analytical: conscious and controlled – using formal reasoning and explicit data – often not using data from emotions – ruling them out Each have their benefits and drawbacks But: Need to draw on both to make sense of complex situations Need to recognise when one dominates Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Aged 12 and looking after the family https://youtu.be/0qMbbic9XpU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX83VhGbCGc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ1U-jfrA6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osbv4yNkt7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-8vMXE2xPE Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Exercise Discuss your initial response to this – how might you need to manage this? What would you really like to say to this family Identify statements that suggest minimisation, resistance, avoidance Can you identify the emotion beneath these statements? Consider the gaps between what the parents and children say, what they do and their body language Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Mason’s four key features Communicating respectfully: trust, honesty and feeling safe – results in greater information sharing enabling praqctitioners to better protect children Sharing goals: being clear about concerns and taking service- users with you – agree goals with them Practical assistance and understanding service users’ needs, while ensuring child remains central focus Being reliable – available and building service around service users’ needs Mason (2012) ‘Social work the art of relationship’: parents perspectives on intensive family support project Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

What helps Relationship based practice – working with everyone “Think Family” – Strengths based approach An authoritative approach Good assessments Appropriate plan and review Tools such as: Genograms Culturagrams Discrepancy matrix Awareness of risk and consequences Reflective supervision (devil’s advocate) Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides

Go to insert > duplicate slide to add more slides