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Private-personal boundaries: the impact of registration

Private-personal boundaries: the impact of registration. Fran Wiles: July 2008. Research topic. How does professional registration/ regulation affect social work students’ sense of themselves as people?. GSCC codes. Clause 5.8 states:

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Private-personal boundaries: the impact of registration

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  1. Private-personal boundaries: the impact of registration Fran Wiles: July 2008

  2. Research topic How does professional registration/ regulation affect social work students’ sense of themselves as people?

  3. GSCC codes • Clause 5.8 states: As a social care worker, you must uphold public trust and confidence in social care services. • This includes the injunction not to: Behave in a way, in work or outside work, which would call into question your suitability to work in social care services(GSCC 2002).

  4. My initial research OU social work students (one region) • Interviews (2006) • Focus group and interview, using vignettes (2007/2008) Analysis of Care Standards Tribunal decisions Analysis of Community Care online forum discussions

  5. Questions … issues …dilemmas Personal Ethical Methodological Practical

  6. Questions … issues …dilemmas: is this a worthwhile research topic? Unsuitable behaviour applies both ‘in work’ and ‘outside work’ … does this matter?

  7. The 24/7 social worker • Clause 5.8 “extends the employer’s control into areas hitherto considered outwith their remit (McLaughlin 2007:1269). “welfare professionals have to be personally committed to values and ways of life that extend well beyond the scope of their contract of employment” (Clark 2006:76).

  8. Responses to conduct cases “Suitability … is about as subjective as right or wrong, good or bad. [This is] moral policing of the profession” “What has it got to do with GSCC what someone chooses to do outside work?” “It’s not as if it was a sexual offence. Was it really necessary to publish the results of this case? It’s naming [and] shaming …” “It gives a clear message to us all; be afraid, be very afraid.” (Community Care forum, April 2006 – February 2007)

  9. Focus group data Response to vignette (based on YD) M: I can see both sides … Y’ know on the one hand … [the] codes of practice dictate that we’re meant to uphold the profession of social work. But on the other hand it’s like, really like Big Brother isn’t it … the GSCC impacting on someone’s personal and professional life

  10. Questions … issues …dilemmas: Personal • Do my research interests imply that I am not taking service users’ well-being seriously enough? • Am I condoning unsuitable conduct? • Am I ‘disrespecting’ the code of conduct? • Am I being naïve? • Am I myself ‘unsuitable’?

  11. Questions … issues …dilemmas: Ethical • Insider status • Risk of disclosure – in my position I cannot guarantee full confidentiality • Sensitive topic • Raising students anxieties about registration (or negative attitude)

  12. Questions … issues …dilemmas: Methodological • Sampling issues (volunteers) • How will I know if students’ experiences of registration have had an impact on their social work education?

  13. Questions … issues …dilemmas: Practical • Getting distance learning students to attend a focus group • At what point in the degree should I explore this question? • Registration and suitability procedures are continually evolving

  14. Expectations about a professional social worker “Working in social care … places on an individual a responsibility … to behave appropriately and to be above reproach, "whiter than white", to be [a] role model” (Care Standards Tribunal 2006)

  15. Interview and focus group data • He did make a mistake, but … he’s been under a lot of stress, people make mistakes under that. • We’re supposed to be a profession that gives everybody a second chance aren’t we … well that’s my feeling. And we’re human and we make mistakes.

  16. A second chance? Care Standards Tribunal 2006: • “… misconduct is about lack of integrity and how an individual is perceived by others: if someone cannot be trusted in this part of their lives, where else are they not to be trusted? • The answer might be that they are utterly trustworthy elsewhere, of course, but that does not matter because … once doubt has been cast on how they are seen by others, the damage is done.” • What does this say about someone’s identity?

  17. References Care Standards Tribunal (2007): Published decisions of the CST www.carestandardstribunal.gov.uk/decisions/cstdecisions2006-739sesus.htm [accessed 25/01/07). Clark, C. (2006) ‘Moral character in social work’ in British Journal of Social Work vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 75 – 89. Community Care (www.communitycare.org.uk) General Social Care Council (2002) Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers and Employers, London, General Social Care Council McLaughlin, K. (2007) ‘Regulation and Risk in Social Work: The General Social Care Council and the Social Care Register in Context’, British Journal of Social Work vol. 37, no.7, pp.1263–1277

  18. Fran WilesFaculty of Health and Social CareThe Open University F.Wiles@open.ac.uk

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