The Importance for a Social Worker to Properly Assess Child Development

Knowledge and practical application of child development is fundamental to safeguarding children and promoting positive outcomes for children and families (Davies and Ward, Brandon et al, 2011). Social workers have a statutory duty under (The Children Act 1989), to promote and safeguard the welfare of children in need in their area and must investigate children who are suffering or likely to suffer from significant harm (Section 47). Under The Children Act (1989), Harm is defined as “ill-treatment or impairment of health or development…” and development means physical, intellectual, emotional, social, or behavioral development (Section 31(9)). Therefore it is important to understand what normal development looks like at each stage and age of a child’s life, so I am able to identify when a child isn’t developing at the correct pace or could be subject to neglect and/or abuse.

Social Workers not recognising developmental flaws have lead to children being severely harmed or even worse lead to the death of a child. In 2015 a 6 week old baby died due to neglect. In the serious case review (Kscb. org. uk, 2018), it states due to the challenges in arrangements to see the mother and her lack of engagement, health checkups were missed and the baby and his siblings were only seen 3 times over the summer period and were not once seen by themselves. Due to this the Social Workers and health staff were not aware of the baby’s severe lack of development. To prevent this from happening in the future the Munro review (2011), suggests all social workers must have a strong working knowledge of child development.

Developing knowledge around Children’s development will give me the opportunity to learn more about the risks and thresholds which is vital knowledge for a Social Worker. In my local authority level 4 is for children with complex/significant needs that require specialist or statutory intervention. The Local Safeguarding Children Board states most of the children who have needs at this level will undergo an assessment under either section 17 or section 47, they could then become subject to a child protection plan or need to become a looked after child.

This would either be voluntary accommodation (section 20), or a care order (section 31) of the Children Act 1989. The threshold documents outline the needs and circumstances which may indicate a child is need of these services is “A child who is in need because their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired or further impaired without provision of services”(Stockton. gov. uk, 2018, p 7). In this essay I’ll be analysing the development of a 3 year 8 month old boy (Ashton) who I observed for 4 hourly sessions over the period of two weeks. I observed him in his family home, whilst playing out with peers and at nursery. The contrasting settings allowed me to observe the way he behaved in the family home, and interact with adults outside of the family, as well as peers his own age. By using theory and research literature in relation to social work; law, ethics, professional practice, and parenting, I will be exploring Ashton’s physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social development, however these are all interdependent parts of a holistic whole which I will demonstrate in my essay.

I’ll be applying this understanding to critical and reflective analysis of the practice of social work in complex situations where power and authority need to be considered in relation to the rights and responsibilities of children and adults. The family setting comprises of his mum (Louise) who is White British and his dad (Jermain) who is Jamaican. His half sister (Arabella) who is 16 also lives with them. Mum is a part time carer in a local nursing home and Dad works day and night shifts in a factory, I would describe them as a working class family. Ashton’s maternal grandfather also spends a lot of time at the family home. At time’s I found the observations hard as I wasn’t able to interact with Ashton and I feel this affected his behavior. Whilst being passively present in the environment this meant I was co-constructing a new “observing system” for Ashton (Bateson, 1979). Ashton seemed extremely excited to meet someone new and consistently tried to interact with me and gain my attention. He did this by asking questions for example what my name was, if I was staying for dinner, and if I had a train. He also sat himself on my knee at one point.

Physical Development

Physical development is the process that starts in human infancy and continues into late adolescent. It involves developing “control over the body, particularly muscles and physical coordination. ” (Thomas, 2018). The peak of physical development happens in childhood and is therefore a crucial time for neurological brain development and body coordination to encourage specific activities such as grasping, writing, crawling and walking. “As a child learns what their bodies can do, they gain self confidence, promoting social and emotional development” (Thomas, 2018). Physical development in children refers to the development of their motor skills, which involves using their bodies. There are two types of motor skills, Gross motor control is having the ability to purposely move the large muscles in the body, and involves balance stability with such movement as kicking running, jumping, hopping, skipping, throwing and catching. The second one is fine motor control. Achieving fine motor control involves using and coordinating small muscles in the hand and wrists. Fine motor skills usually develop after gross motor skills and enable you to use small objects such as scissors, writing tools and musical instruments. Between the ages of 2 and 4, children should be able to “Run easily; walk up stairs using one foot per step; skip on both feet; pedals and steers a tricycle” (The developing child, 2018. p117).

During observation 1 the first thing I noticed was Ashton’s energy and stamina. He was running up and down the garden at a fast pace and was jumping on and off the trampoline. His fast running is a gross motor skill incorporating locomotion, kinesthetic perception and balance (Beckley et al. , 2009). “. . . if you observe children on playgrounds, you will notice that preschoolers display short bursts of physical activity followed by periods of rest” (Gabbard, 2011). This is due to stamina which is the capacity to sustain motor activity. Stamina progresses in line with the heart and lungs as the child gets older. Therefore is especially evident during puberty. The first stage of growth lasts around 2 years. A baby’s height will increase by 10 to 12 inches, and in the first year will triple their body weight. At age 2 the child’s growth slows down and will only increase by around 6 pounds a year until adolescence (Bee, Boyd and Boyd, 2013. P114). There’s extensive research around the importance of physical activity for young children to prevent health conditions in later life. “It has advantages in reducing blood pressure, countering obesity, lowering lipids, retarding osteoporosis, improving psychological wellbeing, and even reducing the risk of cancer” (Armstrong, 2018. p35). It is harder to get children to exercise due to the advances in technology.