Are Social Workers Receiving Sufficient Training?
“I recall having a one-hour domestic abuse seminar. Cintia, a five-year experienced social worker, adds, “I had pretty much no mention of coercive control during my training.” “It did not equip us for the approaching reality. You feel as though you are dropped into the deep end.
Although Cintia has a lot of experience, she believes that nowadays, roughly 90% of her caseload consists of psychological and controlling abuse. Her academic education, meanwhile, provided very little on coercive control. Since 2015, when coercive and controlling behaviour (CCB) became illegal in the UK, it has been acknowledged as a fundamental component of domestic violence. Campaigners contend that good intervention depends on a knowledge of CCB.
Why Is There a Deepening Crisis in Training?
According to a recent study, over a third of England’s certified social work courses still lack particular instruction on coercive control. For programs including instruction, the length ranges greatly—from up to twenty hours to as little as one hour.
The regulating agency, Social Work England, claims to check these courses to ensure they follow professional guidelines for safe practice. But the English and Wales domestic abuse commissioner has described the results as “baffling” and demanded compulsory coercive-control training for every social worker.
” Sadly, domestic abuse causes two murders every week. The commissioner says we must start immediately; we cannot learn on the job. To March 2023, police in England and Wales registered a record high of almost 43,000 coercive control violations, therefore underscoring the increasing frequency of this problem.
What Is the Hidden Toll of Coercive Control?
Studies point to women being more prone to be victims even if males are likewise impacted by coercive control. Using a pseudonym, Amelia describes years of mental and physical mistreatment. Reviewed written documentation of her claims of abuse, but Amelia’s interactions with social workers raised serious concerns.
“Social workers I looked to for assistance did not see through the dishonesty of my ex-partner. He handed them falsehoods. Nobody paid any attention to me. I was not believed, Amelia says. From monitoring her movements and calling her negative names to increasing physical violence, Amelia’s abuser’s controlling actions, compared to a leaking tap, grew over time.
During the darkest night of Amelia’s life, her spouse attacked her viciously in front of their kid. Amelia finally fled, but she struggled constantly as the abuse still affected her family’s emotional state. She says that, dazzled by her ex-partner’s appearance, social workers blamed her instead.
“It would have made a difference if social workers had known more about coercive control,” Amelia says. “Services meant to assist most likely created more anguish for our family. I absolve the social workers of responsibility. I hold the training they received responsibility.
Why Is There a Systematic Failure in Understanding Coercive Control?
Survivor of coercive control and now a trainer with Stronger Beginnings, Samantha Billingham, emphasizes the systematic problems: “Perpetrators, whether male or female, are incredibly cunning. They dominate the experts, including social workers, not only the survivors.
Thirty-year-old social worker Dominika feels a great weight on her responsibilities. “If I don’t do my job right, that can mean someone loses their life, either a child or a victim of domestic abuse,” she adds. She and Cintia work for Birmingham Children’s Trust, which has been tackling these issues since 2018, replacing the council-run children’s services department.
The social workers took part in a particular training course, including first-hand stories of coercive control. Social workers voiced worries during this training about the dangers victims run when they leave a house where a controlling abuser lives. “Is it going to raise the risk [for the victim] when I’ve gone?” one social worker said.
What Needs to Change in Social Work Education?
29-year-old Cintia contrasts the vital help Birmingham Children’s Trust offers with her past academic education. “My university training was inferior, very minimal,” she recalls. Dominika also points out that present social work students need more knowledge.
Of the 67 English colleges that teach social workers, 25 (37%) do not expressly provide any instruction on coercive and controlling conduct. Less than 10% of these schools offer a stand-alone course on coercive control. Men can also be victims of coercive power, as seen by “Jack,” who left an abusive relationship and experienced continuous control and false accusations.
“I think we’re letting social workers down by not having a consistent approach to training,” the domestic abuse commissioner adds. According to Social Work England, new rules stressing the need to know coercive control for student social workers are under final development.
However, advocate Samantha Billingham considers the present level of training “pretty dangerous and shocking.” She argues that while visiting these houses, social workers should first be thinking about coercive control.
