New virtual training tool for social workers piloted by University of Greenwich
Social workers will soon be able to act out, in the safety of a virtual world, potentially difficult or dangerous encounters with families of children thought to be at risk of harm.
In a pioneering new development, the University of Greenwich has created a virtual environment in which social workers and trainees will be able to further develop the skills necessary to carry out home visits by deploying an avatar, a virtual being, in practise exercises.
The university's Centre for Research with Fragile Families, which was formally launched on Thursday, 13 May, has created a virtual scenario in which Brendan, a social worker, pays a home visit to a single mother, Elli Grove, and her two children Tara, four, and Liam, five months.
The scenario comes in the wake of the Baby Peter case in Haringey in which an unrelated man joins a vulnerable single-parent family. "The idea," Dr Jane Reeves, the centre's director, says "Is to increase social workers' awareness of assessment situations and how their behaviour can have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of the visit. It also allows the students to visit and revisit the scenario and reflect upon a range of different approaches and outcomes."
This virtual world and this scenario has been 'built' by undergraduate students in the university's School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences under the direction of principal lecturer Ryan Flynn.
It was unveiled at the formal launch of the centre and some 200 social workers and academics had a chance to negotiate their way through different permutations of the narrative involving Brendan and Elli.
The launch was also addressed by two distinguished social work academics - Professor Sue White of Lancaster University and Professor David Shemmings of Kent University, who spoke about social work research post Baby Peter.
Maritime Island, the virtual community being developed by the university, has a hospital, primary and secondary school, children's centre, police station, prison, doctor's surgery, court house and social services department.
The scenario, which is being piloted, is based on social work research, on social
work assessments, characters from the research of Dr Reeves, and scenarios
acted out by Futures Theatre, an organisation which provided the final script for the
scenario and also the voices of Elli and Brendan.
Dr Reeves says: "Social workers need to be offered safe opportunities to be able to reflect on significant practice issues. Role plays and case studies have a place, however, the serious game opportunity offered by Maritime Island brings the well documented social work assessment issues into sharp focus and brings social work reflection on interventions and decision making into the 21st century."
Mr Flynn says: "This is an exciting project due to the innovative use of games technology to enable students to visit and revisit situations they may infrequently have the chance to deal with in their studies. We believe that games can be used to support traditional teaching and learning methods. The emotional attachment people can form with game characters is an essential part of this as participants can follow the characters through different scenarios in the serious game, and is where we believe Maritime Island has huge potential for the future."
Professor White says: "Many of the tools provided for social workers have been poorly designed and do not support sound decision making. A thorough understanding of the common errors and pitfalls in practice is necessary if we want to design safer systems."
Professor Shemmings says: "Professionals need to develop more creative and informed ways of determining when men are involved in the care of children. At the moment they can sometimes remain 'invisible', whether or not their presence is negative or positive."
In time, the university is hoping that students of other subjects, such as health and law, will be able to act out other virtual training scenarios on the island. The university is also looking for partners from social work, social care and health agencies to further develop the work.
A follow-up workshop and lunch on the virtual scenario will be held at the centre on Tuesday, 22 June.
Ends
Notes to editors
For further information contact: Dr Jane Reeves j.e.reeves@gre.ac.uk or research assistant i.m.wales@gre.ac.uk The Centre for Research with Fragile Families, School of Health & Social Care, University of Greenwich, specialises in working with families with vulnerable children.
For further information, please contact: Lee Armitt, Press Officer, University of Greenwich on 020 8331 9420. E-mail: l.armitt@greenwich.ac.uk
Section 47 under the Children's Act 1989 applies when there are concerns that a child has experienced, or is at risk of, harm. It is an intervention to prevent or reduce the risk of harm. Local authorities have a duty to assess and investigate situations where there are suspicions that a child has suffered significant harm - or could in the future - from lack of care or a deliberate act by his/her carers.
Elli lives on a housing estate in the virtual world of Maritime Island. Brendan is expecting her to be living there on her own with the children. On his arrival at the house, he hears a child crying and a dog barking.
After ringing the door bell, Brendan has to negotiate his way past the aggressive, possibly dangerous, dog and into the house. He explains he wants to make a section 47 assessment of risk - under the Children's Act 1989 - on the children. He then discovers that there is an unknown and aggressive man in the house, Luke, who is not the father of Elli's children.
Depending on how the social work avatar conducts himself and the decisions he makes, Brendan is either shown the door by Luke without being able to check on the wellbeing of the children, or he makes Luke so angry that the latter storms out, leaving Brendan to discover a potentially abused Tara in an upstairs room.