A Brief Note On Attachment Theories

Key Selection Criteria

List your tertiary level qualifications in Social Work, Psychology or a related field

Completed a Bachelor of Human Services and Masters of Social Work at La Trobe University as of December 2017.

Summarise your knowledge and use of the Child Youth & Family Act 2005 and Best Interest Principles

Through my tertiary education and social work experiences, I have gathered a knowledge base deriving from the CYFA (2005) and the Best Interests Principles. The CYFA (2005) promotes that a child’s best interest’s drives all planning, decisions and service delivery. The Act has various areas that promote improved planning, coordination and delivery of services to families as well as there being a focus on a child’s cultural identity and cultural competence in all service delivery. The Best Interest Principles (BIP), which is also adhered to by Child Protection, is based on section 10 of the previously mentioned act. The BIP emphasizes on promoting and protecting the best interests of
children and young people through ensuring their right to stability, safety, and development. The BIP illustrates practice approaches and theories such as systems, strengths and outcomes focused. It also describes the importance of building resilience and relationships with children, young people and families.

Summarise your knowledge and applied use of theoretical approaches and frameworks relevant to working with children and families

Attachment theory:
The main aim of using attachment theories in practice is to help and support families to stay together whenever it is feasible to do so.
Attachment theories are important to consider as it has been backed up by theorists that unstable or interrupted attachments in childhood carry out into adulthood. A child/young person needs attachments with their caregivers in order to thrive in their environment.

According to Bowlby, attachment patterns are formed in the context of early life experiences with caregivers, and maintained by later interpersonal relationships in adulthood. Attachment patterns become internalized and shape how indiviudals see the self and others in close relationships which in turn influence how one perceives and cpes with stress throughout their lifespan.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecosystems
theory-

Bronfenbrenner identified five environmental systems with which an individual interacts. This is comprised of the micro, meso, exo,macro and chronosytem.
Applying this to practice, one would want to know who makes up an individuals or a families network, what organisations, of agencies do they engage with, what relationships do they have with their micro network, and how are they affected by the overall macro and chronosystem.
Although this theory is not a practice approach, it does inform a practitioner understands of the dynamics of a family and their network, which can ultimately aid in developing and implementing plans.

Trauma informed theories

Understanding trauma and trauma informed care is complex and understanding its impacts on individuals can better enable social workers to care for the needs of children and families from a holistic perspective as well as strengths based.

Trauma is important to consider from a practitioners point of view, as trauma can impact on developing and maintaining relationships and maintaining emotional regulation which can affect interventions and plans. Trauma, particularly with children, require calm, safe and patient parenting in order to recover or cope, and can also require a Multisystemic response to engage the required services to assist in this process.

Describe a challenging time you had in actively engaging with a family

During my final placement at Child Protection based in Footscray, there was a challenge in actively engaging with a family who resided in Frankston. The young person, who the report was based on, absconded from her paternal grandmother’s home to live with her mother in Frankston. The mother, who was heavily pregnant, did not always answer her phone and the young person did not own a phone, thus engagement became a challenge. Ultimately my supervisor and I would drive to Frankston which was over an hour drive in traffic to engage with the young person and mother, which did work out.

• Describe a risk assessment you have undertaken

During my first placement at Royal Melbourne Hospital in the Emergency Department, I had the opportunity to interview and conduct psychosocial assessments on individuals who were homeless. To do this, I discussed what supports they had in place (both formal and informal), their current residence, and their income and if they had any mental health issues or any other related health issues. This needed to be done in order to assess their level of risk before they were discharged and after consultation with my supervisor, relevant agencies were contacted and put in place to assist the individual.

Provide an example of how you have planned and implemented an intervention related to the development of parenting capacity and/or family functioning During my final placement at Child Protection, I was based in the Investigations and Response Team in which I formulated an Investigation plan based on the intake report. The first home visit that discussed this report and to confirm details and the contents, aligned and confirmed the details of the child protection report. The mother in this scenario was having difficulty going to Maternal Child Health appointments, and also taking her children to school, which was a concern for the children, as well as the mother’s ability and capacity to cope with the demanding challenges of single parenthood. With consultation with my supervisor, agencies such as Tweddle and liaising with the Child Health Nurse and the School to create a plan to help the children get to school on time, was developed and implanted.