Basic HTML Version
e gap
how it works.” But I think the morale issues really come from the amount of cuts
that everyone’s experiencing – jobs are being frozen, people aren’t being
replaced, redundancies are being made and yet we hear “you need to do better
and you need to do more.”Well, give us the resources. And then of course people
like me turn around and say, “and you need to know more about substance use
and be asking about it and responding to it,”’ she laughs.
Her other specialist area is the overlapping issues of substance use and
domestic violence. While alcohol plays a role in around half of all domestic
violence incidents, as her website points out ‘alcohol and drugs do not cause
domestic violence’ or ‘delete our understanding of right and wrong’, and she
stresses the need for treatment services to challenge people when they blame
substance use for their actions. Are they doing that?
‘Some do, but I think most don’t,’ she says. ‘It’s a bit like social workers
asking about substance use – there’s a recognition that there’s an issue, but
people need to feel confident to ask the right questions in the right way. Part of
that can be very easily resolved because there’s lots of good practice guidance
out there, for example from the Stella Project. The important thing to
remember is that these people are already in your service – they’re not a new
service user group that have yet to come through the door. These are the
people who sit in front of us – clients who are behaving in an abusive and
violent way and who may or may not be disclosing it.’
A key part for workers is simply learning to recognise disclosure, she
stresses. ‘Simple references like, “oh, you know, sometimes I have a bit of a
short fuse”. It’s about picking up on things that may indicate perpetration of
violence or abuse and just exploring that, because it may be that person
testing the water and seeing how you react. If that’s met with an inappropriate
or dismissive response – “oh, so do I” – the person either will feel it’s nothing
for them to worry about or that they’re not going to go any further with
talking about it.’ Crucially it’s also about the worker picking up on the safety of
the partner and children, she states – ‘seeing not just the person in front of
them but the whole family as part of their concern.’
Another key issue, of course, is that of domestic violence victims using
alcohol or drugs to cope with abuse – or deal with abuse issues from the past –
which can make them even more vulnerable. As she pointed out before in
DDN
(16 November 2009, page 6), the majority of women in treatment will have
suffered domestic abuse at some point. ‘You’re looking at two thirds, if not
more, depending on how you define abuse and violence,’ she says. ‘So again
these are people who are already in treatment – they’re not new people.
‘It’s ensuring that the substance use specialists and professionals feel
equipped to ask about it and are prepared to ask again later on, because
sometimes people won’t disclose the first time. There are those myths around “I
don’t want to pry, or ruin the relationship, or put them off coming to the service,”
but you ask about all sorts of personal things so something about their own
safety may be just what they need. You don’t know unless you ask.’
DDN
The BASW special interest group is holding a child protection and substance use
event in Durham on 30 April. Details at www.basw.co.uk/event/?id=107 The group
is building a database of social workers in the substance field and is keen to hear
about events or resources people would like to see – email s.richards@basw.co.uk
Crucially it’s... about the
worker picking up on the
safety of the partner and
children – seeing not just
the person in front of them
but the whole family as
part of their concern.
April 2013 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 17
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Profile |
Sarah Galvani