Reflective Analysis of Statutory Criminal Justice Social Work Practice

Introduction

The aim of this RAS is to provide a reflective and analytical account of one of my assigned cases during DP2 and evaluate my practice as a student social worker, within a statutory criminal justice (CJ) setting. The essay will analyse and evaluate theories, laws and policies which informed my practice, while reflecting on the impact and effectiveness of practices.

My DP2 has been the placement which occurred within a statutory Criminal Justice Social Work Department, at one of the local authorities (LA) near Glasgow. Criminal Justice social work takes place within the context of guidance provided by the National Outcomes and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System. Criminal Justice Social Work forms part of Social Care and Partnership (HSCP) and operates under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 which integrate LA’s and health boards. Criminal Justice System in Scotland is underpinned by Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 and Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. The primary aim of statutory CJ is to improve public and community safety by managing and working with other partners to reduce the risk of causing offence or harm to the local communities. The other legislative acts which underpinmy work regarding my cases were the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 and Mental Health (Care &Treatment) Scotland Act, (2003).

My role as a social work student within this placement includes, completing risk assessment, interview service users/offenders and write Court reports. I also supervise my assigned cases if such cases receive Community Payback Orders (CPO’s) after the Court hearing and this involves one to one offence focussed work as well as joint working with other departments within the LA, the Courts and other agencies.

The case example for this RAS will be referred to as RJW from here onwards. RJW received CPO disposals, thus, 12 months Supervision Order and 12 months Conduct Requirement Order (to engage with the Community Addiction Team) had been promulgated. The Community Payback Order (CPO) 2010 Act was introduced to replace Probation Orders, Community Service Orders, Supervised Attendance Orders and many other provisions in 2010 (McNeill & Robinson, 2015). The 2010 act was implemented as a response to the Scottish Prisons Commission (2008) report ‘Scotland’s Choice’ by the Scottish Government and led to the passing of the current Criminal Justice and Licensing Act (2010). CPOs allow the offender to remit the costs caused by the offences committed by the person to the community through Financial Penalties, Unpaid Work, Restriction of Liberty (ROL) and Supervision Order, Conduct Order and many more (McNeill & Robinson, 2015). CPO s serves as a direct alternative to custodial sentence. However, Mills, (2011) discussed that whilst it is a “well-intended” option, it also often falls prey to a number of “persistent flaws”. Mills, (2011 p.14) further argued that the alternatives to custody or CPOs can somewhat become a “net-widening tool” especially when these could be utilised as disposals for crimes which otherwise may not meet the threshold for a sanction of penalty based on crimes committed. CPOs form the majority of the workload executed by CJ social work departments such as my DP2 placement.

RJW was my fourth assigned case. He is currently a 30 years old male, who came to the attention of the Court in 2006 at the age of 17 years. Over the years, he has accumulated twenty-eight convictions including his current offences of two counts of Assault and Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 S.38 (1) charges. RJW offences are diverse in nature including more serious convictions for the possession of offensive weapons, assault to injury, public order offences, failure to comply with bail conditions, failure to comply with community based disposals, domestic offences including gender based violence and drugs misuse.

My initial involvement with RJW was to complete risk assessment, alcohol assessment, restriction of liberty assessment of his accommodation and complete his criminal justice social work report (CJSWR). After his Court appearance, he received two disposals, thus, 12 months Supervision Order and 12 months Conduct Requirement Order, which compels him to engage with the Community Addiction Team (CAT). Therefore, he was re-assigned to me in the capacity of his Supervising Officer to oversee his Supervision Order and Conduct Requirement Order for the duration of my placement.

Risk assessment framework used to assess RJW was LSCMI assessment. This assessment is based on principles of risk, needs and ability to respond to promote desistance from offending; reductions in reoffending by up to 40% and used across the Scottish criminal justice system (RMA Scotland, 2020). Due to the nature of his offences, the court had requested additional assessment to evaluate his level of alcohol consumption. I completed this assessment through the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The (AUDIT) was developed by World Health Organisation (WHO) through a multinational collaboration. The test focuses on preventative and early intervention approach to prevent and manage alcohol related problems (Saunders et al., 1993). The AUDIT test highlighted a number of areas whereupon RJW involvement with alcohol proved problematic. Description of his alcohol consumption pattern was consistent with binge drinking as he discussed use of alcohol monthly, with periods of binge drinking and instances whereupon he struggled to cease consuming alcohol. Bearing this in mind the risk assessments identified risks to himself and from him, to all stakeholders including general public (Saunders et al., 1993). Over the months, I continued to conduct risks assessment during supervision which identified more risk factors including violent temperament, poor mental health and poor coping mechanism.

I recall that some of these risks were apparently based on his criminal history and I remembered thinking I have never met anyone with such extensive numbers of criminal convictions. As I struggled with my identity and identification, I recalled thinking; how am I going to get him to engage with me. Albert, Ashforth & Dutton, (2000:13) as discussed by (Webb, 2017) believed that “identity and identification are root constructs in social sciences”. During his CJSWR, two interventions were identified which offered me a starting point for his supervision. I completed referrals to the community addiction Team (CAT) and Recovery Across Mental Health (RAMH) to deal with the core issues pertaining his level of alcohol misuse and mental health issues. Thereafter, I identified Offence focused CBT work sheet which formed the bases for his supervision. The CBT exercises are designed to enhance motivational skills, coping and social skills, prevent relapse and reinforcement management (NES, NK).

My practice with RJW, was through relationship building based on trust, truth, openness, and honesty from the beginning (SSSC, 2016). I made sure all information communicated are appropriate, accurate and straightforward with clarification when needed (SSSC, 2016). His supervision order required him to engage with the CAT and when he continued to miss his appointments regardless of receiving prior verbal warnings, I was faced with issuing him an official warning letter. I was clear about procedures and consequences from the beginning of his order therefore he knew he had crossed the line. Regardless of his apologetic nature, I felt that his reasons were unacceptable regarding missing yet another appointment which has put him at a higher risk of breaching his order. I felt that he could have made more effort to keep his appointments in line with his Conduct Requirement Order. At this point I knew needed to be assertive, and to use the authority placed on me as a CJ social worker to drive through the seriousness of his actions. This I managed to do this without being authoritarian and without compromising our working relationship.

During pre-engagement research and, while interviewing RJW for CJSWR, I noticed that alcohol misuse was centred in his offensive activities till to date. He informed that he had lost his father at the early age of 5 years and both parents had been drug addicts prior to that.

After the passing away of father, his mother’s drug addiction got out of control which resulted in his removal from the care of his mother and he was placed with his grandparents by social service. His grandparents took care of him until the age 17 years when his grandfather passed away and his grandmother also passed away 3 years later at the age of 20 years. As well as this, he informed of being a target of bullies while in high school which forced him to join a gang in school for protection. He informed of carrying offensive weapons to school daily as he experienced attacks daily which led being stabbed in the face by a rival gang while in high school.

At the beginning of DP2, I had the opportunity to attend Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) course and thereafter, did some reading of the effect of having four or more ACE’s in adult life. The understanding and knowledge acquired helped a great deal with my practice with RJW as I was able to understand his present behaviours to some extent. A research by Welsh Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) found that people with adverse childhood experiences stand a poorer chance of becoming high achievers in school, be productive members of the society and have comparatively greater likelihood to end up within the criminal justice system (Bellisi et al, 2015).

According to this research, Service User’s like RJW with 4 or more ACES are, four times more likely to be a high-risk drinker, fourteen times more likely to have been a victim of violence, fifteen times more likely to commit violence against another person, sixteen times more likely to use crack cocaine heroin and twenty times more likely to have been incarcerated during their lives (Bellisi et al, 2015). The detachment of him from his mother at the early age of 5 years has been another significant reason which underscores his behaviour since, as argued by Bowlby, mothers are the primary caregivers and without whom a child will feel abandoned (Bettmann and Bettmann, 2013). RJW certainly felt abandoned by his mother and again after losing his other primary carers; his grandparents. This abandonment is still felt by him as he had informed during his supervision before Christmas that he feels lonelier during the festive periods as he has no close relative left in his life.

Reflecting on these facts made me to become worried about his two sons and his fifteen years old younger brother of whom, he has a kinship care responsibility, in terms of his pattern of behaviours getting transferred on to these children (Bellisi et al, 2015). According to the Wales ACES research, those who experience ACEs in their childhood are more likely to raise their children up within ACEs household. As such the cycle of ACEs becomes predominant in successive generations and may result in poor health conditions and anti-social behaviour for generations (Bellisi et al, 2015).

By adopting solution-focuses therapy with RJW, I was able to engage him in a collaborative way using his strengths to guide him to find other options of dealing with some of the issues he was facing (Corcoran & Pillai, 2009). De Shazer, (1994) cited in (Corcoran & Pillai, 2009) offers that instead of focusing on the part of the issues, we must rather look forward to a problem free future. RJW weekly supervision and assessment were formulated around him concerning prospective situations which extended beyond his current situation and the focus was concentrated on what he wants to achieve for himself and for his family and how to achieve it (Corcoran & Pillai, 2009). Using solution focus and incorporating self-change model through pre- Contemplation, Contemplation, Action, Maintenance and Relapse framework (Diclemente & Prochaska, 1982), the process worked very effectively. We worked through Pre-contemplation and Contemplation phases over the first four weeks of his supervision and discussed how he arrived within the CJ system. Through discussion, I lead him to reflect, dig deeper into the core of his issues that impacts his behaviour and his alcohol consumption (NES, NK). He opined that he only consumes excessive alcohol as a coping mechanism to help him deal with his mental health which leads to his pattern of behaviour to the current 28th conviction. We are currently in action stage where RJW was lead to find ways to identify the best solutions for him and created a short term manageable mechanism and goals (Corcoran & Pillai, 2009). Due to RJW’s mental health issues and as we waited for his referrals to come through I utilised cognitive behaviour therapy (CTB) work sheets which helped to identify when he was struggling or relapsing (Diclemente & Prochaska, 1982) and allows us to work through it. Through the CBT work sheets, focused on understanding how his thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are related and how changing how he manages his feelings and behaviour impacts his way of thinking (Albin & Bailey, 2014). Although, some critics believe that CBT is a narrow obsession which plays down the role of the psychologist (Pilgrim, 2011). Having access to this tool helped me to identify some immediate areas of concern and opened up a dialogue for discussion surrounding his mood, mental health, sleeplessness and past trauma including flashbacks. While I am not a specialist and sometimes feels I am out of my depth still, I felt it was the best way I could help him while he waited for his referrals with the CAT and RAMH. I was able to also share some of this information with his CAT worker which helped her to understand RJW at his initial engagement with his addiction worker and helped to generate a further referral for a psychologist intervention.

RJW has been involved with criminality since he was a teen and has a limited work experience having served some jail terms. He opined that because of his criminal history, he finds it difficult to gain and maintain employment. Pettinato (2014,) when discussing employment opportunities for ex-offenders, described it as “bleak” due to discrimination and labelling. Furthermore, the personnel, who have been within the CJ system, tend to have less education, limited work history as well as less cognitive skills coupled with mental health issues and greater tendencies of substance abuse (Pettinato, 2014).

Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) cited in (Pare & Felson, 2014) also discussed the linkage between economic inequality and what he referred to as ‘various social evils’, such as lower social trust, impaired mental and physical health, excessive consumption, drug addiction, obesity and failing education systems. (Bursik 1988; Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls 1997) cited in (Pare & Felson, 2014) believed that people’s environment also plays a major role in their development. According to these writers, the poorer people are the more likely they are to live within socially disorganised communities with lower levels of efficacy. Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Exploring the Prison Environment and the Evolving Roles of Prison Staff.

In RJW’s case, he had become involved with the CJ system from a very young age whilst he was still in school. Young offenders as agued by (Pettinato, 2014) are faced with the “most devastating collateral consequences” and are more often trapped in a lower level employment as they face direct discrimination in obtaining certain employment opportunities due to their criminal history. Some of these discrimination stems from the media’s portrayal of crime in the print media, TV series, films and documentaries (Croall, Mooney & Munro, 2010). These media broadcast created myths, misunderstandings and fear amongst the general public (Croall, Mooney & Munro, 2010).Part of RJW’s rehabilitation programme, as had been agreed with him, was for him to engage with the local employability requirements. However, I was aware that he may encounter some issues surrounding the restrictive and fewer numbers of opportunities available for those with criminal histories (Lamble, 2014).

Calderhead (1989), as has been cited in (Yip, 2006), defined reflection as, “an acquisition of attitudes and skills in thinking” or “process of critical self-determination”. Habermas (1973) cited in (Yip, 2006). Reflecting back to the start of DP2, I feel I have developed into a comparatively more assertive, confident social work student in comparison to the previously possessed limited and incomplete knowledge about the CJ process. Through Practical Reflection, I was able to identify and modify my personal assumptions as a professional and these underpinned my practice with RJW and the rest of my cases (Yip, 2006). As one of the most complex cases assigned to me, it allowed me to develop my personal and professional effectiveness through case management, risk assessment, planning and undertaking offence focused work and analysis. I had the opportunity to work collaboratively with other departments and agencies and used my supervision with my practice teacher to discuss my cases or my link worker whenever I needed additional support. My link worker allowed me 30 minutes of reflection duration every day which was very useful as it highlighted potential pitfalls, which gave me the opportunity to deal with issues (Knott & Scragg, 2016). Reflection also allowed me to seek alternative responses, which enhanced my professional understanding and afforded personal insights (Schon, 1993; Hatton and Smith, 1995; Ruch, 2000). I was given a complete autonomy over my work and identified the right assessment and activities which informed supervision with all my cases as appropriate. My LW and the rest of the CJ team were helpful and always willing to assist.

I had a brilliant PT who understood my needs and allowed me the space to share my worries about cases or otherwise through supervision. My approach of assessment, I believe, was effective and assisted RJW to open up relationship and this further facilitated the opportunity to foster an engaging working relationship. Two months into his supervision, I noticed a shift in his attitude as he became more motivated to achieve stability and structure in his life, an achievement I never thought was possible at the beginning of his supervision. As he began to such for opportunities to use his skills as a DJ and went on to perform gigs shortly after Christmas. He completed both gigs without excessive alcohol consumption and without getting into trouble and this was a great achievement.

In the end I realised that, in as much as I am caring, nurturing and supportive, using my emotional intelligence is central to practicing effectively (Knott & Scragg, 2016). As well as this, I learned through this placement that while these values are good values they are not mutually exclusive and that I can still maintain those values while still being assertive, authoritative without being an authoritarian.

Dig deeper into From Classical to Integrated Approaches with our selection of articles.