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Effective writing in professional social work practice
Effective writing in professional social work practice

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4.3 Who is social work writing for?

There are many ways in which the choice of language may differ depending on who is the main intended reader. The examples here differentiate writing to an authority or organisation compared with to an individual person, in this case a person using the social work service. The specific ways in which a social worker might write should also take account of factors such as the age, mental capacity, first language and specific communication needs of the reader.

In the following activity you will hear from Gillian, an experienced social worker in a role in England of Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).

Activity 14 Writing to the child

Watch the following video in which Gillian talks about how she thinks reports and case notes about children should be written. As you watch, note down how reports can be explicitly addressed to a child and what Gillian sees as the benefits of doing this

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 3: What is your current role?
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Transcript: Video 3: What is your current role?

GILLIAN LUCAS
My current role is an independent reviewing officer, also known as an IRO. I started off in social work in child looked after team, and I progressed to reviewing officer.
Central to the work of an IRO is writing up the review minutes. And currently, in Islington, we’re writing them to the child rather than as a professional report. And so, that involves breaking down information and making sure that there is no professional language within that report, and it’s a conversation between you and the child. And that will involve explaining what different plans and assessments are.
So an example would be to explain what a child protection plan is. My description might include professionals, which are doctors, teachers, social workers. We’re worried about you. So they wanted to help mummy, daddy to look after you properly. Mummy and daddy had to agree to take you to nursery on time, make sure you were collected on time. And just talk to the child, so that conversation is clear and the child understands what might have led to them becoming looked after.
I think it’s really important to direct reviews and reports to the child because one of the social work values is to keep all work child focused, all decision making child focused. And if you’re writing a report or a review directly to that child, all of your thoughts and your thinking is child focused.
It can be really difficult to write directly to a child because you need to avoid using jargon and professional language and actually think about what you’re saying. You need to pitch it at the right level to the child’s age and understanding. So initially, it takes longer to write reports.
But as you get into the flow and start thinking of the child in front of you and you’re having a direct conversation rather than writing a report about the child, then the flow gets easier and easier. I think it’s a nicer way to write to a child. It keeps language sensitive. And it will show the child that we do genuinely care about them.
The benefits of writing directly to a child in this way is that the tone and the pitch of the writing is much warmer. The language used is far more sensitive. And it will also show the child when they do come back as an adult and they’re reading their reports that you did genuinely care about them.
You did want them to know why decisions were being made. You were making that explicitly clear in a very sensitive manner. I also know parents have read the reports, and they prefer it. They feel that they’re written in a nice, softer tone and actually written in a way that shows that you care.
Writing in a child-directed way could happen across the board in terms of social workers writing and other professionals writing. So, for example, there’s no reason why case notes can’t be written in a child-directed way. Child protection reports could be, the social work review reports. Some social workers in Islington are writing their reports to children. Court reports could be written in this way. I just don’t understand why we’re not all trained to start writing all of our work to the child to keep all our minds and our work child focused.
End transcript: Video 3: What is your current role?
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Video 3: What is your current role?
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Answer

Here are some points that stand out from Gillian’s comments:

  • The main point is that reports (indeed all writing about a child) should be written in a way which explicitly addresses the child. An example would be to write ‘you’ in place of the child’s name.
  • Gillian likens this kind of writing to a ‘conversation’ with a child which means that it is important to explain what is happening and why in ways that a child will understand.
  • Gillian talks about choosing the words used carefully, avoiding professional language that a child may not understand. She suggests using words such as referring to ‘mummy and daddy’ and describing the reason and outcome of a meeting instead of referring to it as a ‘child protection plan’.
  • Gillian makes the point that writing directly to the child is part of the core values of child-centred social work.

Perhaps a general point that Gillian is making is that just because particular ways of writing have become common in professional practice, these do not need to remain the same, if there are good reasons for writing in different or new ways these should be tried out.