First Voice "How wonderful to have a job helping people...especially helping children have a better life. Wow! I can go into work today and really make a difference to people's lives! Amazing! I'm really excited about that, and can't wait to get on with it. I can be creative, powerful and have a real impact. I can encourage parents who are struggling, challenge parents who are complacent or misguided, and if it's really necessary I can intervene and use the powers that be in local authorities and Courts to ensure that children have every possible chance of wellbeing and a great life. What a wonderful job, I love it, it's inspiring and a real privilege. How blessed am I . I want to learn everything I can about it, and be the best social worker that I can be. "
Second Voice. "It's a job, fairly much like any other. I'm accountable for my work, for the decisions I make, at least accountable to my team manager. I understand the need to have adequate assessments which don't omit significant facts. I understand the need for them to be done in a timely way so that children aren't exposed to unnecessary suffering. I will do my best to complete initial assessments in timescales and with the best possible outcomes for children. It's a matter of being well organized and business like in how I do things. Having lists of what to do on each case, keeping up to date with recording, being child focussed. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge but I'm getting there. I can cope if I remember to look after my own wellbeing too, and don't waste any time"
Third Voice. "This is unbearable. I feel hemmed in and choked by the regulations and the nitpicking bureaucracy of the system. My life is hardly worth living as I scurry around like a rat in a maze trying to find the cheese. I hate working in an open plan office, where the only privacy is when I go to the loo. I am frightened that my team manager will pull my assessments apart, he has so little time to listen and doesn't want to hear me weighing things up, he'll want clarity about my decision and then he'll pick holes..
No one truly cares if children are actually happy and doing OK. It's all about covering your back.What matters is if the parent is not fitting in or complying in some way, the system is out to get them. And if I don't comply I'll be blamed and shamed as not good enough.
I am frightened I won't have the physical stamina. I resent having to see all children alone and having no say as to whether that is necessary. It means we have to do the bulk of visits after 3.30 and 7 or later.And we may not get the time back in time off, so our days can be from 9 am to 7 or 8pm. I am furious not to have control of my life, my time, to be owned by the system.!
I am being punished for something I have done, or not done, some failure of faith or courage. The penalty is to be living in an endless Kafkaesque nightmare. Social Work is a profession of slaves who are commanded and controlled by the system and in turn they do this to others.
The worst thing is that I am wasting my life. I could be doing something else, I should be doing something else with my life. My gifts, talents, passion, past experience and training are completely wasted doing this soulless social work. I hate myself for going along with it and the worst thing is I haven't the gumption to get out of it. There is no escape.I feel numb and despairing."
These are the three main voices in my head when I think about Social Work and my current job. I hear all of them at times. What a conflict! Which is the truth? I don't know how to reconcile them, or if it's possible. The weird thing is that they are all valid! I was tuned into the first voice some of the time this week, then the busyness starts,and the second voice kicks in...By the end of Friday, the third voice was definitely the strongest. The busier I get the louder the third voice becomes and the less energy I have for the job. Is this only me, or is it true of anyone else? And is there another voice, which has something new to say? I hope so, let's see!
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