Digital brochure of speaker and workshop presentations from the Social Work Scotland Annual Conferen
BEARING WITNESS TO THE ‘PAIN OF OTHERS’ Fractured Lives, Dissenting Voices, Recovering Truth
Phil Scraton
School of Law, Queen’s University, Belfast
Social Work Scotland Annual Conference and Exhibition 2024
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
25 September 2024
As the sea withdrew on its twice daily ebb
Golden Mediterranean sands speckled
With washed up cargo
Not for bounty hunters nor trophy seekers
But body bags and unmarked graves
From this well of suffering and fractured lives
Politicians seized a callous opportunity
‘What to do with such knowledge of faraway suffering? … it seems normal for people to [ignore] the ordeals of others. We don’t get it. We truly can’t imagine how dreadful, how terrifying, and how normal it becomes. Can’t understand, can’t imagine.’
Susan Sontag 2000
ON ‘KNOWING’
How do we know what we know?
‘Why weren’t we told?’
Reliable Information and Scientific Analysis?
Power, Ideology and ‘Regimes of Truth’
‘Ways of Seeing’ and Intellectual Collusion Dissenting Accounts and Alternative Discourses
‘Being There’ – Bearing Witness
Turning
‘Cases’ into Issues
VOICES of the BEREAVED and SURVIVORS
Deaths in Police and Prison Custody 23 April 1979 -
Stardust, Dublin 14 April 1981: 48 died
Lockerbie, Scotland 27 April 1988: 270 died
Hillsborough, Sheffield 15 April 1989: 97 died
Marchioness, London 20 August 1989: 51 died
Dunblane, Scotland 13 March 1996: 18 died
Grenfell Tower, London 14 June 2017: 72 died
Mother and Baby Institutions/ Magdalene Laundries
VOICES : ANNIE
‘At the end of the day I know that if any thing happens me there’ll be an investigation. (I never ripped the mattress or blanket nor did I block the spy). So if I take phenumia it’ll all come out … I think you can only last 10 12 days without drinking cause then you dehydrate and your kidneys go. I’ve no intention of eating or drinking again so their beat there. I know they’d all love me dead but I’d make sure everything is revealed first.’
Annie Kelly, last letter home (with permission of her family)
VOICES : EDDIE
‘The crush came … like a vice getting tighter and tighter and tighter. I turned Adam ‘round to me … in distress.
There was a police officer, on the track about five or six feet away. I begged him to open the gate … screaming. “My lovely son is dying”, begging him to help … He just stood and looked at me. I punched the fence. Right at the beginning when I was begging the officer to open the gate I could’ve got Adam out. I know that because I was there.’
VOICES : MICK
‘We were taken into the staffroom. Some parents’ names were being called out. Those of us left behind thought: “It’s probably their children who have been killed”. We weren’t told anything. The police behaviour was atrocious. As if we were an inconvenience. Eventually we went in. He started talking, knew nothing about my family situation. “Mr and Mrs North.” I stopped him and said: “I’m a single parent, and this is my friend who has stayed with me”.’
VOICES : STOLEN
‘On my knees, eight months pregnant, scrubbing a clean floor. Holding my belly with one hand, the brush with the other, the nun standing over me. A few days after she was born, they told me to dress her, gave me new clothes. They took her. She was gone. I lay there looking at the empty cot holding her blanket to my face.’
‘I have lived with this silently all my life and have felt like I have carried a heavy guilty burden.’
SUFFERING and PROXIMITY
‘What to do with knowledge of faraway suffering? It seems normal to [ignore] the ordeals of others. We don’t get it. We truly can’t imagine how dreadful, how terrifying … can’t understand, can’t imagine.
Perhaps the only people with the right to look at images of suffering of this extreme order are those who could do something to alleviate it.’
Susan Sontag 2000
VIEW FROM ‘BELOW’
BREAKING the SILENCE
Bearing Witness : Hearing Testimonies
Recovering ‘Truth’ : Challenging Deceit
‘Personal Troubles’ – ‘Public Issues’
Personal Experiences Social Cultural Histories; Political Economic Contexts
Doing ‘Memory Work’ and Memorialisation
RECOVERING ‘TRUTH’
Institutional Failures in Investigations and Due Process
Criminal Investigation Inquiries Inquests – Avoidance of Liability
Families’ and Survivors’ Experiences and Campaigns
Social Work as a ‘Bridge’
‘BEING THERE – BEARING WITNESS’ Ethical Challenges on the Front line
‘Such research requires “being there” or “bearing witness” and occasionally takes the researcher to a different place. As the photographer Don McCullin asks, “When do you put down the camera and do something?”
When do you pause as a researcher [social worker/ teacher/ healthcare worker] and intervene, give evidence or expose what is happening before it is too late? Researching the suffering of others in controversial circumstances, institutional negligence and interpersonal violence … presents political as well as methodological and ethical challenges.’ Scraton 2007
PROFESSIONAL INTERVENTIONS are POLITICAL
Power: Class Gender Sexuality Racism Sectarianism
Respecting the Uniqueness of Lives and Experiences of ‘Others’
Ensuring the ‘View from Below Inside’ is heard
Valuing Difference, Strengthening Resistance
Encouraging and Valuing ‘Memory Work’
Using our Personal and Collective ‘Agency’
We’ are Agents of Conflict and of Change
‘KNOWING’, ‘INTERVENING’, ‘MEMORIALISING’
Bearing Witness to Survivors’ and Relatives’ Testimonies
Accessing and Archiving Records
Ensuring Survivors’ and Relatives’Access
Investigating Human Rights Violations in Institutional Practices
Holding State and Non-State Institutions and Individuals to Account
Securing rights and justice requires a ‘fundamental shift in structural relations and the determining contexts of power which marginalise and exclude from effective participation.’ Scraton and Haydon 2002
CRITICAL SOCIAL RESEARCH as DISCLOSURE
Critical social research is concerned with context: moments, events, responses and consequences within their structural determinants …
Personal troubles’ understood and explained within prevailing social, political and historical inequalities: class, gender, sexuality, race, age, ability
Troubling recognitions’ (Stan Cohen): reclaiming meaning and significance denied by formal ‘techniques’ of denial or neutralisation
Disclosure and dissemination of troubling information is the responsibility of the critical researcher in creating an alternative discourse
THE RESPONSE of RADICAL SOCIAL WORK
SOCIAL JUSTICE, INCLUSION and RIGHTS
Ending poverty, securing essential services
Ensuring access to information and neighbourhood support
Effective state-community relations and consultation
Inclusive, active participation of all community voices
Celebrating diversity, challenging discrimination and fear
Responding to mental well being as a continuum
Creating hope through material opportunity
Promoting critical thought and action through dialogue
Securing economic social and cultural rights
‘SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER’
‘They found a way of speaking out, the men and women whose voices have now reached us decided that they could not live with themselves if they did nothing, they could not stain their lives by remaining silent. They understood that if they witnessed this suffering inflicted on themselves or on others, and did nothing, they were, in some twisted way, being turned into accomplices. They had to face the long nights when it seemed nobody cared, when the darkness of apathy seemed to surround them, when their voices did not seem to receive the echo and answer that they needed.’ Ariel Dorfman 2000
Leading from the Front: Social Work Leadership in a Digital Landscape
Calum Campbell, Digital Social Work Policy and Practice Advisor, Social Work Scotland
Ruth Griffith, Policy Manager, Digital H&SC, COSLA
Rikke Iversholt, Lead for Social Care & Telecare, Scottish Government
For some social workers, trying to get a handle on digital and what it might mean for your lives and your practice is like trying to imagine a colour you’ve never seen or a sound you’ve never heard- and that’s ok!
Together we can navigate this
What is Digital?
• Digital is a journey, not a destination.
• Digital is something you are, not something you do
• Digital in social work is not something new or extra that you need to do.
• It’s about enhancement not replacement
• It’s about applying the culture, practices, processes & technologies of the Internet-era to respond to people’s raised expectations
A very short history lesson
• “Social Work is the art of doing different things with different people, co-operating with them to achieve some of heir own and society’s betterment”
• - Mary Richmond, American Social Work Professional.
Current Challenges
Sustainability- services and environmentally
Underfunding and Resource Constraints- doing more with less
Workforce Recruitment and Retention
Complexity of Cases- ageing population, increased poverty
Moral Distress- Working in a way which does not align with professional values
Ethical and Legal Challenges
Workforce Burnout and Mental Health
Organisational/Cultural changecombating silos and short termism
Demand for Services- service demand and capacity
Overburden of Administrative Tasks
Current Landscape
Vision: to improve the care and wellbeing of people in Scotland by making best use of digital and data in the design and delivery of service
Major Programmes of Work
Analogue to digital telecare Near Me – video consultations / appointments
Digital approaches in social care
Digital front door
Shared health and social care record
National Information Governance approach Building digital capabilities
Digital maturity programme of work CHI in Local Government
Data strategy and delivery plan
Why has social work been slow to adopt technology?
• “Digital is not my job. My job is people”
• “Technology belongs to the corporate world”
• “Social work is an antiestablishment leaning profession”
• “Our leaders won’t give us permission. They just don’t understand the benefits outweigh the risks.”
• “Embracing technology means giving in to the system”
• “Using my senses is one of my biggest tools in social work”
• “We don’t have the right tech and don’t know how to use the tech we do have”
If you add digital on top of a thing that is misunderstood or broken you will have a misunderstood, broken digital thing
Technology has improved practice
Benefits and Opportunities
Digital Social Work isn’t just about process!
Digital
is an enabler to achieve core social work objectives
The future of social work practice needs digital
• Social work is a rights-based practice that’s about empowering people and times are changing. People are living digital lives.
• It is time that we put our misgivings about tech aside and no longer see it as something unhelpful and reposition ourselves to see that it is a safe and efficient process that wraps around a person, its part of their lives and part of our jobs.
• If we don’t risk the change when we risk the profession losing credibility and fading into the background which would be disastrous.
The future social workers needs digital too
• We are experiencing a workforce crisis, if we cannot increase the workforce then we need to we decrease the workload. Digital is key in this.
• We must consider how we attract younger talent to the profession and how we keep them in the profession.
• The way things are currently we risk experiencing analogue anxiety, whereby the current tech levels do not meet the skills and abilities of newer and future social workers.
• Social workers are currently using digital in their practice. It is happening regardless. But is it happening safely? Are we harnessing the full potential? Do we have strong enough digital leadership? The answer is no
A Hybrid Future!
Technology and digital tools in social work have been an unfulfilled promise for a long time
We can no longer avoid technology and digital. They are an inevitable and necessary element of social work practice
Hybrid practice should be a future-ready element of social work, designed to accommodate uncertainties as they arise and sensitive to the improvisatory practice of social workers
Pause for discussion
• Any thoughts or questions about what you’ve heard so far?
Why be a digital leader?
• More and more organisations are having to place transformation higher on the agenda, taking a more collective and collaborative approach to service design and delivery
• There is a growing need to be more user-centred, involving service users and staff in co-design
• Increasing need to break down silos between IT, clinical/subject matter specialists and operations staff
• As effective leaders, it’s about working collaboratively to better understand how, where and when we can realise the benefits that we should be exploiting in relation to existing and emerging technology
Push and pull of digital leadership
• You can be a digital leader who pushes a digital agenda and take the opportunity to cultivate and shape digital developments under your leadership.
• Or you can be a leader who is pulled by the digital agenda. A position of avoidance will mean it still happens to you, and you will have little control of it.
• The more you harness the push you can minimise how destabilizing the pull can be.
• Implementation science tells is there’s no good time to start, you just need to get started!
Five Aspects of a Digital Organisation
1. Understand the environment
2. Users at the heart of the organisation
3. Bold, open and curious leadership
4. A skilled, empowered workforce
5. Technology, data and processes that serve your organisation’s goals
1. Understand the environment
• Leaders don’t need to be technical experts but understand the changes taking place in the world, and how to harness the organisation, using digital tech, to do a better job for users.
• It’s not just about how services are delivered, but also how people live their lives in a networked society, and how they expect to interact with organisations.
• Digital technology isn’t niche — it affects most aspects of our lives, and most aspects of the strategy and operations of most organisations.
2. Users at the heart of the organisation
• An understanding of users needs to go through the entire organisation so that rapid, relevant and effective decisions can be made.
• This requires relevant, timely data to be collected and accessible on people’s needs and expectations and how services are meeting these
• It’s everyone’s job to make things better for users. Not just a policy team too removed from users to have any real understanding about them
3. Bold open and curious leadership
• Leaders need a basic level of digital competence, curiosity and confidence. You are a digital leader!
• No single individual can make your organisation digital. You can’t just recruit a digital superhero and hope for the best. That’s a vicious cycle
• A new style of leadership is required. It must be bold, open, collaborative and support experimentation
4. A skilled, empowered workforce
• It’s not about recruiting new ‘digital people’, but creating the culture for your current staff to become more digital
• Anyone can work using digital if given the right environment, tools, training and leadership
• A digital organisation requires everyone to have a basic level of digital competence & confidence
The Digitally Enabled Workforce (DEW) Team within NES is the delivery partner for Scottish Government's Building Digital Skills and Leadership Programme and are collectively responsible for the delivery of a programme of work aligned to Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy, Data Strategy and Care in the Digital Age delivery plan.
The programme priorities are to develop national resources and learning networks that support digital skills and digital leadership development across the health and social care sector.
You can find out more on the team site about the resources available, networks to support learning and upcoming events.
5. Technology, data and processes that serve your organisation’s goals
• Too often current practice is constrained by old technology and processes that dictate strategy rather than the other way
• Avoid considering tech as a thing on its own. Upgrading the tech will help a bit. But attention must be given to culture and ways of working
• Technology and systems that are interoperable are essential
Digitally empowered organisations have:
• Clear investment in leadership and strategic intent and delivery
• A digital transformation strategy which is implemented and monitored
• A delivery team with a clear goal and mission that’s user focussed
• Data that is comprehensible, relevant and available
• Processes that are fast, integrated and light
• Tech & systems that are interoperable, scalable and flexible
• An open attitude to risk and innovation
• Invested in developing the digital and data skills of their workforce
Where to start?!
• Find and support your pioneers and troublemakers: find the people who are already working on or wants to work on making things work better and give them space and permission to do more.
• Fix what’s broken: Locate pressure points in the system and design a small-scale experiment using digital technology to address it. Repeat.
• Align digital and tech to your overall strategy and direction: identify the main things you are trying to achieve and consider how digital technology could help- rather than starting from the question of what can we do with technology, or how can we use digital tools.
In Summary
• Digital is not just about technology, it’s the enabler. Digital is a way of working to respond to people’s raised expectations.
• Digital does not represent an existential threat to social work, but failing to meet people’s ever-increasing expectations of service delivery and quality will have very negative consequences
• Digital is not a case of replacing one way of working with another. It provides new approaches to addressing problems old and new.
• It’s no longer about whether we do digital or not, it's now about how we do it.
• Digital & technology should be for the betterment of people and communities, not just about more effective admin
• Social workers and leaders need to engage with digital practice with a critical lens. Be excited, be curious and be sceptical!
Advice for Leaders
“You need to realise that you have the space to use your influence to do the right thing, even if the right thing is a risky thing. Key is knowing who can rely on for support”
• Kathryn Lindsay, CEO & Former Chief Social Work Officer, Angus Council
Challenges for the Future and How we Might Meet Them
Tina Laurie – University of the West of Scotland
Colin Turbett- Common Weal
Scotland Care Reform Group
Some Facts About Climate Change
CAUSED BY GREENHOUSE
GAS EMISSION
THROUGH:
Power generation
Manufacturing
Cutting down forests
Using transport
Food production
Powering buildings
Over-consumption (richest 1% account for more greenhouse gas emissions than poorest 50%)
EFFECTS:
Source: United Nations
• Hotter temperatures
• More severe storms
• Increased drought
• Warming rising seas
• Loss of species
• Not enough food and water
• Increased health risks
• Poverty and displacement
How climate
change impacts vulnerable communities in the uk
Poor housing standards
Resource scarcity – rising energy costs, rising staple food prices
Health issues and overstretched/failing health services
Sudden disaster – flooding, fire, drought
Migration from Global South to the Global North
Rising inequalities – immunising the wealthy as they garner resources for themselves – denied to the poorest
resilience building
De-individualising problems and addressing needs of those suffering collectively e.g. foodbanks and foodsharing
Emergency planning participation – ensuring voice is given to the marginalised and their needs accounted for
Helping organise collective voices that raise issues concerned with housing and other vulnerabilities
Contributing to social and political action concerning the redistribution of resources and wealth, and promoting green policies that might reduce global warming
In Preparation
As an example: The Bude Climate Change Partnership
Rising sea levels
Community led interventions such as:
Community Jury
Storytelling
Partnership working
Reducing waste & encouraging self-sufficiency
Food waste in the UK is at scandalous levels – 9.4m tons annually
– 6.4m tons of which is edible
• Food share schemes divert at least some of this and their use should be facilitated and encouraged
• Community garden schemes
• Community cafes: “The Old Oak”
• Furniture, white goods and other household item recycling schemes
All can involve participation of marginalised and vulnerable groups – with spin-offs that include improved mental health, upskilling, community pride and social solidarity
Climate refugees
• By 2050, as a result of predicted environmental catastrophe, displaced people are expected to be as follows: 49 million in East Asia and the Pacific, 40 million in South Asia, 19 million in North Africa, 17 million in Latin America, and 5 million in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (IOM 2021). Many will make their way to the Global North including the UK
• At present they are prevented by international law (the Geneva Convention) from seeking asylum and gaining refugee status and so are particular targets of the official “hostile environment” in the UK
• They should be regarded the same as those escaping persecution and war
• Social workers must challenge the “hostile environment” in all its forms – from far-right nationalism and racism, to more hidden post-colonial notions of white supremacy – and government policy
• Refugee welcome and support is a familiar role for social workers and will increase in scope
Underlying premise of csw approaches
• Recognising the diverse nature of communities
• Doing “with” not “to”
• Top-down enablement for bottom-up actions
• Building on community assets and strengths
• De-individualisation of commonly experienced issues
• Artistry and creativity
Community social work
“Whilst traditional social workers might be deployed to respond in the wake of disaster, workers already embedded in the community concerned might offer more through their networking and local knowledge. They are also well-placed to help build resilience through the preventative and proactive approaches that are essential components of CSW.”
Social Work Leadership in a world of care management
By Kate Ramsden – UNISON
& Dr Neil Gibson – Social Work Scotland
Care Management
A Short History of How Business Methods Came to Define Social Work Processes
With thanks to Colin Turbett
Timeline
1968
Social Work (Scotland) Act – promotion of social welfare: prevention and community.
1980s
concerns at financial cost of increasing life expectancy and vulnerable elderly population
on – advent of marketisation, reduction of state interventions and criticism of social work
1979
The Griffiths Report 1988 & The NHS & Community Care Act 1990
• - Creation of a purchaser provider split – create a marketplace & reduce state responsibility for service provision
• Social workers to become “managers of care” who would develop new skills in buying in services, utilise accounting systems and effectively use information
• 1990 Act created an internal market within the NHS and a broader marketplace for social services
• Seven stages of “care management”: 1) publishing of information, 2) determination of level of assessment, 3) assessment, 4) care planning, 5) implementation, 6) monitoring, 7) review
Consequences
- Eligibility criteria & rationing of services
- Personalisation, choice & user empowerment as bedrocks of the marketplace
- Waiting Lists
- Demise of relationship practice in favour of technocratic processing
- Obsession with risk
- Cognitive dissonance about the social work task – leading to comfort for some but demoralisation for others
- Contribution to recruitment and retention issues
Alternatives
• Separate assessment from care management
• Leeds Strengths-Based Social Care
• Torfaen Wellbeing Teams
• Northumbria/Gateshead Liberated Method
UNISON Care Management Survey 2024
Do you think the care management model as practiced in your authority enables relationship based, preventative practice?
15% of respondents think the model supports good practice, but 71% think it does not.
Do you think the Care Management model as practiced in your authority meets the needs of the people you support?
65% feel the model as practiced in their authority is not meeting the needs of the people they support.12% feel that it is.
So what do workers tell us needs to change?
•Increased resources for the people we support
•Manageable caseloads to enable personcentred creativity & preventative work
•More time for relationship-based practice & needs-led social work assessments
So what do workers tell us needs to change?
•Less bureaucracy & paperwork
•Leadership that understands & supports the social work role
•Better understanding & respect for social work role amongst partner agencies
What can you do?
•Context - National Care Service bill and National Social Work Agency - Opportunity or threat?
•Under-resourcing – outwith your power to change
•BUT what can you do to enable social workers in adult services to practice in line with their social work values?
Examples:
• Leeds – the blank paper
• Northumbria – Liberated Relational Method
• South Wales – referral based on relationship and prevention
• Angus Council (thanks to Erin Cosans):
1. Reflective Evaluations
2. Reflective Discussions
3. Thematic Audits
In small groups:
What do you need to do to overcome the barriers in your service/organisation?
How do you, as a leader, create the culture for your workforce and what is the role of the NSWA in supporting you to do this?
Developing and nurturing future leaders through social work education and newly qualified practice
Lizzie Thomson, Sally Paul, Debbie McCullagh, Sara Driscoll (University of Strathclyde)
Lauren Duffy, Caroline Cassidy, Alan Stevenson (Inverclyde HSCP)
What do we mean by ‘leadership’?
Necessary and important connection with ‘management’ – planning, accountability, resources, organising, providing direction, offering protection
Adaptive/Transformative Leadership – having courageous conversations, disrupting/interrupting unhelpful patterns, innovating/testing the new (and failing!), bringing people along through messy journeys of change, collaborating, and taking care of oneself
“Adaptive leadership is a daily opportunity to mobilize the resources of people to thrive in a changing and challenging world.” (Heifetz, 2009)
Where the personal meets the organisational
Influences on leadership in social services are both personal and organisational. The social, political, and economic environment matters as much as the people and their skills/abilities
SSSC, 2016
Embedding Leadership within Strathclyde Social Work Programmes
• Student representative
• Problem Based Learning
• Case Study Based learning
• Relationship based focus
• Groupwork
• Thinking critically
• Problem solving
• Radical Social Work
• Service User and Carer Group
• Personal Tutors
NURTURING LEADERSHIP THROUGH
PRACTICE LEARNING
"We desperately need more leaders who are committed to courageous, wholehearted leadership and who are self-aware enough to lead from their hearts, rather than unevolved leaders who lead from hurt and fear.”
(Brene Brown, Dare to Lead….)
Promoting social work identity
Promotion of micro, mezzo, macro change
Create a safe space for learning (scaffolding)
CPD for Practice
Educator /Link workers
Working with courage and vulnerability
Practicing through the lens of leadership
Leadership at all levels and within all roles
Supporting development of critically reflexive practitioners
Transitioning to practice: the Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) Supported year
Aims to:
“ensure that all NQSWs entering the workforce have access to support and development opportunities which consolidate social work education and develop professional identity and social work practice”.
“provide an infrastructure so that all workers know what support they will receive from their employer to assist their transition from education into the workforce”
NQSW Supported Year - SSSC NQSW website
For Universities:
Independent Learning Plan (ILP)
- Completed in final year of study to inform transition journey
- Promotes partnership working between universities, employers, students/NQSW’s
- Embedded into social work programmes
Core Learning Elements for NQSWers
Expected to develop and demonstrate eight Core Learning Elements within 12 – 18 months of registration.
Core Element 8: Professional leadership
“develop personal and professional authority as a social worker including when working collaboratively across agency and professional boundaries"
Employer Support:
Inverclyde:
• Induction
• Regular developmental supervision
• Monthly forums with key speakers
• Opportunities for peer support
• Regular check-in’s / support with CPL
• Continual evaluation
Leadership & NQSW in Inverclyde
Given what you have heard and your own experiences,
• Are there any notable strengths in the approach to nurturing leadership discussed?
For discussion
• Are there any gaps or things that you feel could be done better/differently?
• What challenges to nurturing leadership in NQSW practice have you encountered in your organisation, and how have you sought to overcome them?
Leadership and Decision Making
Dr. Martin Kettle
Glasgow Caledonian University
Tim Armstrong University of Dundee
Introduction
• Postgraduate Diploma CSWO
• Deficit of research looking at decision making of those in leadership roles.
• Types of decisions leaders are required to make- Strategic, Operational, Managerial, Professional
• Professional Judgement vs Decision making
• Decisions a CSWO is required to make.
• Can decision making be taught? If so, how can decision making be enhanced
Outcomes from today’s session
• Consider what a good decision looks like
• Reflect on the factors that may impact on your decision making
• Identify way in which decision making might be improved.
In small groups consider:
• What makes for a good decision?
• How do I make decisions?
(Models, theories, different approaches?)
• What factors do I take into account in making decisions?
Factors that may impact on decision making -
Heuristics and Biases
'A heuristic is a strategy that ignores part of the information with the goal of making decisions more accurately, quickly and frugally (i.e. with fewer pieces of information) compared to more complex methods’ (Gigerenzer and Gaissmaier, 2015, p. 913).
Factors that may impact on decision making - Heuristics and Biases
• Type I Type II (intuitive and analytical) (Kahnemann, 2011)
• Confirmation bias
• Availability heuristic
• Hindsight bias
• Bias bias
• Trusting others' judgements
• Emotion and reason
Factors that may impact on decision making- Context is crucial
• Ecology of Judgement (Helm and RoeschMarsh, 2017)
• Psycho- social Rationality (Taylor, 2020)
• Intuition (Sicora et al., 2021)
• Other factors
Ecology of Judgement
• Good fit with social work
• Theory, research and procedures but also
• Context, culture and values
• Meta cognition
• Helps to think about role of other professional
• Ecological approach antidote to technical-rational solutions
• "Supports practitioners (leaders) to explicitly reflect on the multi-layered and interacting factors influencing the way they interpret data and frame judgements" (Helm and Roesch-Marsh, 2017)
Psycho-social rationality model
• Recognizes that decision-making in social work is not solely a cognitive process but is also influenced by emotional, social, and psychological factors.
• Integrates intuition and rationality
• Emphasizes that decisions are made within specific social and relational contexts.
• Recognises Emotional and Psychological Influences:
• Encourages Reflection on decision making to identifying biases and improving future decisions and to identify ethical consideration
• Provides a framework to make more holistic and nuanced decisions by balancing the use of intuition with rational analysis, while also being mindful of the emotional and social context. Taylor, B., (2020); Sicora et al. (2021)
The role of intuition in decision making
• Intuition - An integral part of the decision-making process.
• Not just a gut feeling; but intuition is actually informed by cognitive thinking, emotionally-driven reasoning, and internalized learning.
• It can help us connect with those we are working and navigate complex situations where traditional decisionmaking models might fall short.
But…
• What about rational analysis and previous knowledge?
• The psycho-social rationality model offers a more integrated approach to decision-making that includes both rational analysis and intuitive insight.
(Sicora et al., 2021)
Other factors that impact on Decision making
Hard factors
Legislation - Views - Finance - Staffing/HR
Risk – Research - Good practice - Previous experience
Values – Ethics - Intuition
Soft factors
• Context of leadership more broadly (Martin, 2023)
• Developed as part of PGDip CSWOInterviews + assignments
• Paper forthcoming (Armstrong and Kettle, forthcoming)
Messages from JDM module
• Role of CSWO is often an isolated oneupward delegation
• “Kick it upstairs” “On your head be it”
• Competing interests – staff and service users
• Decisions highly dependent on judgements of others
• Partial or incomplete information
Key learning
• Type 1 – Type 2 thinking - increased confidence in moving to Type 2
• Resisting pressure to make a decision. Confidence not to make a decision
• Decision making more deliberate
• Complexity of decisions
• Dependence on the judgement of others
• “Gumption”
• Being explicit about how decision was reached
• Being prepared to be challenged
• Considering how the decision might land
So what?
What
do you need to help you make better decisions?
References
Armstrong, T. and Kettle, M., (forthcoming) “My decision making is much more deliberate… I’m still energised by it”: Lessons learned from the design and delivery of a module on judgement and decision making for Senior Social Work Managers
Gigerenzer, G. and Gaissmaier, W. (2015) ‘Decision making: Non-rational theories’, in N. J. Smelser and P. B. Baltes (eds), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, Volume 5, 2nd edn, Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 911–16.
Gubbins, E. and Byrne, R.M., (2014). Dual processes of emotion and reason in judgments about moral dilemmas. Thinking & Reasoning, 20(2), pp.245-268.
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Kahneman, D., (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Macmillan.
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Sicora, A., Taylor, B.J., Alfandari, R., Enosh, G., Helm, D., Killick, C., Lyons, O., Mullineux, J., Przeperski, J., Rölver, M. and Whittaker, A., 2021. Using intuition in social work decision making. European Journal of Social Work, 24(5), pp.772-787.
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Social Work Scotland Conference, 25.09.2024
Leadership Practices for Complex Change
Mihaela Manole, Implementation Research Fellow, CELCIS, the University of Strathclyde
Karen Dyball , Assistant Chief Officer, Children and Families, Glasgow HSCP contribution and support from: Emma Hanley, Melissa Van Dyke and Dominique Harvey
Suggested citation: Manole, M., Dyball, K., Van Dyke, M., Hanley, E., & Harvey, D. (2024, September 25)
Leadership Practices for Complex Change [Conference presentation]. Social Work Scotland Conference, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Leadership Practices for Complex Change Workshop structure:
• Welcome
•Key findings on leadership from CELCIS’ Children’s Services
Reform Research (CSRR)
•Leadership for Complex Change and Foundation Practices
•Glasgow journey of strengths-based leadership practice
•Wrap up -informal discussions and sharing
Children’s Services Reform Research (CSRR)
Overarching question:
“What is needed to ensure that children, young people and families get the help they need, when they need it?”
Four strands and concluding report: Overarching messages and implications:
Realisation of rights; Addressing poverty and deprivation; Decluttering policy and legislative landscape; Improving data and information sharing; Relationship between integration and outcomes; Supporting the workforce; Sustainability of services; timely access to non-stigmatising services and seamless transitions; Relationship-based practice; Effective multi-agency working; Effective leaders; culture.
Children’s Services Reform Research (CSRR)
Strand 4
• • Scotland'schildren’s services workforce views and experiences
Mixed methods approach:
o o o Survey with 1,399 respondents across Scotland Focus groups with 66 participants Interviews with 25 leaders.
Findings from the Children’s Services Reform Research (CSRR)
Strand 4 -Leadership of children’s services and shared strategic working:
• • • • Positive examples: leaders able to create a learning culture, moving beyond seeking feedback to enabling change and fostering innovation;
Characteristics of good leaders and managers: showing enthusiasm and commitment to improving the life of children and families; collaborative; with solid understanding of the area of work they provide oversight for, and of the daily experiences of front-line;
Challenges: a feeling of disconnect between all levels (national and local level, and from the daily front-line experiences); insufficient provision of resources, commissioning and funding of services (competition, uncertainty, achieving underspent); acting on learning; Insufficient support available to leaders –they described their position as “isolating”, high level of pressure; recruitment challenges;
Findings from the Children’s Services Reform Research (CSRR)
Strand 4 -shared strategic working (cont.):
• National funding programmes are important (supporting change and partnership development) but have diminished effectiveness given short-term nature;
• The importance of shared visions and long-term objectives which would continue throughout funding cycles, and not cancelled if management changed; importance of building trust and transparency(third sector).
Children’s Services Reform Research (CSRR) -
What is coming up for you for you?
Individual time -take a couple of minutes to reflect on what you have heard
• What is coming up for you?
On a sticky note, capture one reflection that you would like to share (for the sticky wall)
Leadership practices informed by evidence
Planning –expectations (linear solutions, clear understanding of cause and effect
Planning –expectations (linear solutions, expecting certainty re. cause and effect) vs. reality when applying the plan (complexity, different perspectives, non-linearity, emergence)
Leadership practices informed by complexity level
Strategy in the face of complexity: The Stacey
and debate, trial and error (to understand what works and what doesn’t work), paying attention to what emerges; thus, using adaptive leadership practices;
•Chaotic, very far from agreement and certainty (e.g. working during Covid-19) -> the sequence is acting-sensemaking-responding, focusing on stability, formalising lessons learnt and increasing resilience; thus, using adaptive leadership practices.
Important:
•The response to a challenge must match its level of complexity. Simple and clear plans cannot work when dealing with complex challenges. The opposite is also true –technical solutions should not be seen as inferior to adaptive ones, not every challenge is complex, messy or risky. A diverse array of leadership practices is therefore needed in human/social services.
• The work of Ronald Heifetz is highly relevant, particularly the ‘Practice of Adaptive Leadership’ -practical guide with tools, case studies and worksheets to support the development of adaptive leadership.
How often we think things are..
simple, complicated, What does this mean for your role and function? or complex?
“Complexity
is a particular phenomenon in a system and not just something really complicated” .
Foden M.
5 components of Collective Leadership:
Source: Sharp, C., McLaughlin, D., Whitley, J., & Lawson, K. (2022) How Do We Know
Foundation Practices for Relational Leadership –
Why?
•Facilitate clear and respectful communication
•Promote hearing all voices and create psychological safety
•Encourage ‘big picture’ thinking
•Making valid inferences
•Engage in productive and efficient problem-solving
•Maintain disciplined attention to the hard work at hand
Foundation Practices for Relational Leadership
- Which skills?
Getting and giving informationskills
Observing and describing behavior
Secondhand observation skills
Safely climbing the ‘Ladder of Inference’ (making valid inferences)
Readiness for change and connecting through rationales skills
Developing and providing rationales
Developing and maintaining relationships skills
Providing meaningful recognition
Requesting and accepting feedback
Providing ‘readiness-based’ invitations (Second
Maximizing feedback skills
Providing developmental feedback
Recognisingand addressing concerns
The Ladder of Inference
The following material has been adapted from: Senge, P., Ross, R., Smith, B., Roberts, C., & Kleiner, A. (Eds.) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization. Pp. 242- 246.
Instead of ‘jumping’ to conclusions, I analyse and test the assumptions, meanings, selected data and the pool of available data
I take ACTION or MAKE STATEMENTS based on my beliefs -Visible
I adopt Beliefs about the world and people in it
I draw Conclusions
I make Assumptions based on the meanings I add
I select data and information
Observable “data” and experiences occur (as a video recorder might capture it) -Visible
Using the Ladder of Inference
We get in our own way when we behave as though:
It’s usually a functional behaviour!
•Our beliefs are the truth.
•The truth is obvious.
•Our beliefs are based on real data.
•The data we select are the real data… sometimes the only data.
You can’t live your life without drawing conclusions or adding meaning…. by using the can improve communication
BUT you ladder productively and “safely” by….
Becoming more aware of your own thinking and reasoning.
Making your thinking and reasoning more visible to others.
Safety on the Ladder
DO: Walk others through your thinking.
“Let me tell you what I heard….To me, this means…therefore I believe…”
Ask for data in an open-ended way.
“What was your reaction to…”
Simply describe the observable data.
“You’ve been scowling for a while…can you help me understand?”….then see where the discussion goes.
Test your assumptions.
“
Are you upset about this? Are you disappointed in the decision we made?” “Are you optimistic about what’s next?”
DON’T: Accuse others of climbing the ladder.
“I think your reasoning is faulty.”
“You are making unwarranted assumptions.”
Talk behind someone’s back about their poor ladder climbing ability.
“
Boy, he didn’t bother to check anything out”
Glasgow’s Journey towards Strengths-Based Leadership Practice
Glasgow’s Journey towards Strengths-Based Leadership Practice
Developing shared understanding of the system –maintaining curiosity and asking new questions of the data
Outcomes for children; two-thirds of young people returning home
Additional risks of accommodation
SIMD profile and Bywaters’ research
Protecting organisationor children?
Glasgow’s Journey towards Strengths-Based Leadership Practice
Transformations require us to see the world differently –a paradigm shift–rather than assuming the future will be an extension of the past.
Culture & Paradigm Shift
Learning from strengths-based and trauma informed practice
–FNP, FGDM, Nurture, GIFSS
Culture of care and kindness
“Holding
the hands”
Glasgow’s Journey towards Strengths-Based Leadership Practice
Bureaucratic/ assessment processes are strengthened to better identify risk to child safety and to protect the children and wider organisation; aligned with (current) system purpose
Staff respond to identified risks to child safety and attempt to manage the situation, often with very good intent
Families are asked what they need; staff and managers listen and respond with flexible and responsive services, gaining trust with families
Families and community demonstrate their insights, wisdom, and strengths
Staff are unable to eliminate risks in families, eroding confidence in the organization and its staff
System ‘as is’ System ‘to be’
Organisationalfocus on risk identification maintains perceptions of families as unsafe and without potential to change
Risk-focused stories about families permeate the service
Bureaucratic processes are adjusted to support and improve organizational responses that are aligned to achieve its core purpose
Staff, families, and communities work together to meet the needs of their children, building trust and confidence in the organization, its staff, and with partners
Positive, ‘good news’ stories about families permeate the service
Strengths-focus maintains perceptions of families as safe and capable
Glasgow’s Journey towards Strengths-Based Leadership Practice
Supporting the transition
Culture of sharing feedback and understanding and appreciating diverse perspectives
Developing a shared vision
System ‘as is’
Identifyingvalues and principles which underpin the vision
Creating shared ownership from leadership to the frontline
System ‘to be’
Developing consensus and a container for consistent decision
making at all levels of the system
Backbone support &integration of evidence into practice
Thank you!
Sticky wall -informal discussions and sharing your reflections with colleagues
