To ask your honest opinions of social workers?

[founditdark]

I am due to graduate with my social work degree and feel ready yet apprehensive to go out into the working world.

However, over the past 4 years, some people have been less than complimentary when I told them what I was doing at uni. Including my dad who had a bad experience with social workers growing up. He frequently tells me 'I hate fucking social workers'.

Is this the norm? Is it something I'm better keeping to myself when asked what I do for work?

Also if anyone has any words of wisdom for an (almost) newly qualified social worker please do post.

Thanks

I have had contact with 3 social workers I'm my life, 2 of which were amazing human beings. Helpful, dedicated and proactive. The third was a totally corrupt, lying and frankly sadistic cow.
The bad apple has definitely tarred my opinion but fortunately was the first one I dealt with so my faith was restored by the subsequent ones.
If I was to be a social worker I would take care to remember every day that the peoe I deal with are likely not stupid and can spot manipulation a mile off. Do not lie or twist the truth.

My experience as a teacher and working in child protection in a different setting was that SW were often young and without much life experience. I saw them overreact and underreact - both hurting children and their families. I’ve met one social worker I really respected who was a very capable woman with good intuition and lots of life experience….. that’s the exception.

In an anonymous forum I’d say they do more harm than good half of the time.

My Father lives alone he is 91, he manages to wash himself, make his own breakfast and lunch, he hangs his washing out and even pops to the shop but he can't be trusted with his medication( throws it away) Carers come in morning and evening to open the locked cupboard which his medication is stored in, he needs pain medication mid afternoon but his SW won't sign off another 5 minute Carers visit ( even though the same carer visits across the road just after 3) According to the SW my Dad doesn't need this medication even though it is in his blister pack her exact words were "he will just have to suffer until the carer goes in at night" I think the words evil bitch sprang to mind so no i don't have a high regard for them and having had to deal with many of them in an EY setting i have yet to meet one that wasn't up their own backside.

I'm sorry but I hate them. They do what is best for them, not what is best for you.

I've daily experience of liaising with social workers re vulnerable people and I've only positive experiences to date. They tend to be older social workers and really do try their best.

I have met lovely social workers and ones that clearly have burn out... But the worst I ever met was a distant relative who was disgusting creepy pervert who never should have been let around children!

Anyway I'm sure you will do a great job and you really are needed!

@WlNDMlLL

I appreciate they do a thankless job and are massively underfunded, but as a teacher and SENDCO I've found them next to useless.

I’m also a teacher and Senco, and have mixed feelings. I believe their hands are tied much of the time. I’ve worked with some very effective SWs, who’ve made a significant difference to the lives of the families they’ve supported, but also some who’ve just been so inflexible it’s caused a massive breakdown in relationships. One particular one would insist on telling me my job at every review meeting, in front of the parent. Even when she was shown to be wrong with the law as she saw it, she still didn’t back down. Currently I’m trying to deal with a hospital social worker on the discharge team regarding my step father, and he’s absolutely useless. He’s a final year student, is off work more than he’s in, hasn’t even seen my SF even though he’s been in hospital for 2 months! I hate com)laining about someone doing their jobs, I know no one’s perfect, but his lack of knowledge and empathy is dangerous! It’s thankless job and not one I would do.

Stay away from gender ideology/unquestioning affirmation around "transing" children and I will generally think you're amazing, doing a valuable and essential job 😊

OP disregard the negative comments on here. The thing is everyone will have an opinion. Do yourself a favour and hold your head up high and do your best for the people you are helping.

Their first priority is arse covering, child welfare, helping families comes second to that.

I'm a nurse and when I worked in a hospital I had a very negative view of SW and could give daily examples of their poor practice and incompetence A lot of them were quite unpleasant!

I work in a community team now and the SW are fab! Workplace culture and the correct support make a massive difference. They are still busy and service is under pressure but they always do their absolute best and are knowledgeable and caring.

[quote entropynow]@RainingYetAgain

If your dad had the mental capacity to make the decision [having dementia does not in itself mean a person lacks capacity] it is irrelevant that you had Lasting Power of Attorney. That only comes into play if someone lacks capacity
But hey, those wicked workers standing up for older people's rights and not wanting to break the law. How very dare they.[/quote]
Exactly…if he has mental capacity he is actually allowed to make decisions for himself even if not the right decision….a bit like the rest of us !

@Nidan2Sandan

Overworked, underpaid, and massively underappreciated.

I think if social work had the funding and attention it needs, the issues that makes people hate social workers would be far less.

This.

I think generally there is limited understanding of what legal powers social workers are able to exercise.

My experience is in ageing and although I’m
Not a SW I worked closely with them. A lot of relatives seemed to think that social workers could remove older ppl from their homes when the older ppl didn’t want to go or force them to accept care because “it was for their own good”. Often tje SW & I would be in agreement that the OLder person would be better off with help but there was no way to force it onto ppl. I’m sure their relatives thought social services were being useless but when someone has capacity thete is little you can do if they don’t want help.

The intricacies of things like the fair access to care criteria are not known to most ppl and why would they be? But it governs whether ppl are eligible for help with social care and most local authorities because of funding pressures can only help ppl whose needs are “critical” if they’re not, often you’re on your own

It’s a thankless job - I’d not touch it with a barge pole

Overworked and stressed!
I've been one, incredibly hard and made me very unwell for my age.
Moving out of it was the best thing I did but at the same time you can't beat it for the opportunity to work with amazing children and help change lives.

Which area are you thinking of going into?

-know your role. It’s easy to get dragged into doing things that aren’t your role and belong to that of other professional’s.
-stay current and keep your cpd up to date. As your case load gets heavier you might pass up on training etc.
-make sure you get frequent supervision and use your team/colleagues for peer supervision.
-remember you can only do what you can do.

That’s some advice from the top of my head. As previously said; there are shit, awesome and average social workers. As there shit awesome, average police, teachers, supermarket workers, doctors etc. The decisions and assessments you’ll be making carry significant weight though so it can be viewed differently if you get it wrong.

Don’t give a shit if people turn their nose up at you being a social worker. I was once with my husband and his friends and wives (meeting them for the first time years ago) and when I was asked about what I do, one woman proceeded to talk derogatory about social workers as a whole and the only person who looked like a dick was her. Most social workers I’ve come across want the best for people and come to the job from a good place. There are still crap ones too though.

Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know and then go away and find out about things. Families appreciate honesty rather than bullshitting/winging your way through. No one knows everything.

Always be honest with your ongoing assessments. Families need to know where things are at and things shouldn’t come as a shock to them where possible.

I’m not going to lie, it’s a really hard job, you’ll work over your hours and be underpaid. Every so often I look at other jobs but then get my head back in the game. It’s aged me, makes me view things differently at time but it’s a great feeling when you make a difference, even if it’s not as much as you’d like!!

My SIL is one and I wouldn't trust her to look after our goldfish. We recently found out that she is a domestic abuser, both of her ex husband and children. Both her children are no contact with her, and she has never met her grandchildren. She is a senior children and families social worker.
Someone who bullied my DC at school has become a social worker. This is someone who I truly believe shows psychopathic traits. I actually felt sick when I heard what she was doing.
So no, my personal experience isn't good, and I worked in HR many years ago for social services in a northern city which has been very much in the news, and some of the stories about the social workers from that time are truly horrifying.

I have a great SW and think she’s amazing! I’ve met several completely useless ones though. They have such an important job and if they aren’t dedicated to it then it can literally ruin lives

I think people sometimes have a negative opinion due to some of the high profile mistakes that have been made. But this is all the more reason it's vital to have good people going into social work and to support them.

I think the Recruitment process and criteria needs improvement. Too many Social Workers aren't strong enough to be 'up to the job' - so we've got a shortage as so many leave, get too 'stressed out' and go sick, etc.

Although I'd have made a really great SW myself, I was turned down for an MSW solely because I didn't do a 6 month stint of voluntary work during my degree course.

It went to Panel, but still turned down and the Course went ahead 1 person short. I had plenty of experience but as I gave birth in my 2nd year as an LP I didn't think I needed to add to my existing voluntary work experience.

In my 3rd year there were 3 SW Diploma qualified Social Workers studying Social Policy along side us regular students. They were paid wages to study and upgrade their qualifications.

1 was a very strange person, who preferred to follow her sexual predelections than care for her own family. The 2nd was quite nice but had a nervous breakdown due to the challenges that studying might present so quit.

The 3rd was fine, but then she was from Croatia and probably had seen a bit more than Brighton's worst day.

Social workers give evidence to the court. Let's all hope that the information they report onwards is always completely accurate.

The system is more screwed than ever.

Individual social workers do not have the time to do the job in the way it needs to be done, even with the best of intentions.

I feel that partly it is a case of the good or even excellent ones can only do so much, the can't magically whisk away underlying issues or necessarily solve problems that require money and imputi from other entities. Therefore the good ones generally aren't able to positively influence people's lives as much as they would like or often as much as the family would like.
The bad ones though, for whatever reason can damage people's lives in such a way that they'll never forget it. The scope for negative outcomes is so much wider and more serious that it makes people very very wary around them.
It's almost as if getting involved with them is like lighting a fire. When they are good they can keep your body warm and at a reasonable temperature; if they are bad they can burn you really badly.

I think the majority are doing the best they can in a system that's really understaffed with frustrating amounts of red tape, knowing that if they make a mistake (human afterall) its likely they will be thrown to the wolves. I have a lot of respect for them but I wouldn't do the job for a million pounds a year.

@founditdark

I am due to graduate with my social work degree and feel ready yet apprehensive to go out into the working world.

However, over the past 4 years, some people have been less than complimentary when I told them what I was doing at uni. Including my dad who had a bad experience with social workers growing up. He frequently tells me 'I hate fucking social workers'.

Is this the norm? Is it something I'm better keeping to myself when asked what I do for work?

Also if anyone has any words of wisdom for an (almost) newly qualified social worker please do post.

Thanks

Lots will have negative views about your profession. You will soon learn who to tell and who to be vague with.

Many people are very ignorant about the role, the responsibilities and powers that social workers have.

Some have also had negative experiences. Don't take this too much to heart. There are those who have genuine reason to be angry but honestly, most people who have social work involvement are very angry about it, even when that involvement is absolutely necessary and actions justified.

We worked with two social workers when adopting our LO. They were both very different but both equally brilliant. Our social worker was kind, very thorough, made us feel at ease and supported. Our LO’s child protection social worker was no nonsense, very thorough with court, supportive. They were both exactly what we needed for their roles and we are indebted to them.