Social work theory, intervention and review

Students on placement will experience working with people who have diverse and different life experiences, and will need to develop a toolkit of skills and knowledge to be able to engage effectively with them. This may include responding to high emotions such as fear, loss and hostility in a professional and empathetic way.

The application of social work theory to direct practice enables the process of reflecting and planning for the best way to intervene. Collingwood et al. (2008) devised an interactive circular tool known as The Theory Circle, which builds a theoretical understanding of a set of circumstances by assessing the prevailing influences before action is taken. The theory circle is structured into four interconnecting stages:

• Stage 1: THE PRESENTING ISSUE to identify what the main issues are that need to be addressed
• Stage 2: THE CHOICE OF THEORY to consider what social work models and methods may help to understand the presenting issues
• Stage 3: THE INTERVENTION PLAN to start to draw together a plan of action
• Stage 4: CHANGE AND REVIEW to ensure that the plan in place is still relevant and to be aware of changing circumstances.

We will be looking at 3 different student experiences on placement where each student responds to diversity and equality tensions. The Theory Circle will analyse the presenting information in more depth by drawing on relevant theory and methods to inform the action plan and review progress.

BASW Code of Ethics and Values includes 17 ethical practice principles, which reinforce the importance of professional values and ethical social work practice. We will refer to these and to PCF domain 3 ‘Diversity and Equality’ to consider how diversity shapes our identity as individuals and the vital need for anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive principles in practice.