77335 Integrative Case Study: Reflection on Practice and Theory

This case study reflects on a co-facilitator's experience in the Kids Against Violence Experience (KAVE) program at Parentline, focusing on children affected by family violence. The study details the assessment process, including understanding user needs, engagement strategies, and intervention activities. It explores the program's objectives, which include strengthening bonds, addressing safety issues, and promoting positive social outcomes. The paper critically evaluates the practice, applying theories, models, and approaches, alongside a critical assessment of relevant policies, legal frameworks, and academic literature. The study also includes reflections on the facilitator's role, communication techniques, and the application of Maori cultural concepts within the program. The case study demonstrates how the program aims to promote resilience and support children through group-based activities and individualised interventions, considering factors like peer relationships, family dynamics, and potential developmental issues such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The paper concludes with an overview of the program's impact and its contribution to positive outcomes for children experiencing violence.

Running head: 77335 INTEGRATED CASE STUDY
77335 Integrated Case Study
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................2
Part A -The practice.................................................................................................................3
Part B – Critical Practice......................................................................................................11
B1. Reflection......................................................................................................................11
B2. Critical Evaluation......................................................................................................13
B3. Policies and Legal frameworks...................................................................................17
B4. Appraisal of academic literature................................................................................19
B5. Promoting Social Outcomes........................................................................................23
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................23
References...............................................................................................................................24

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Introduction
Children are the most unsuspecting victims of family violence and abuse (Chappell &
Curtin, 2013). Not only do they get affected physically, it takes a toll on their mental
wellbeing as well. Children as victims of family violence suffer from personality disorders
that impact their lifestyle (Burford, 2017). My work as a co-facilitator in the Kids Against
Violence Experience at Parentline has provided me with exposure to different children with
varying personality traits. They display behavioural discrepancies like aggression, violence
towards other children and parents, victims as well as perpetrators of bullying, disobedience,
depressive moods, lack of self-esteem, anxiety and low coping mechanisms (Straus & Gelles,
2017).
As a co-facilitator, my task was to engage children in various tasks that would make
them feel less left out and help build positive approach towards the aforementioned issues.
This paper also focuses on the activities to describe how they can be used to evaluate the
behavioural discrepancies in children and enforce a trait of positivity, compassion,
understanding, empathy and gratitude in them (Beddoe, 2014).
The activities are group based programs which runs for 8 weeks, on each Thursday
from 9-11 am. Eight children in the age group of 6-9 years are involved in this activity, 7
boys and 1 girl. Owing to their behaviour in and out of school being of concern, they have
been referred by their schools, the Oranga Tamariki Ministry for children and various other
external organisations.
The program targets the following objectives through the activities:
 Risk and Protective factors form on the basis of the program
 Strengthening the bond between child and parent/caregiver
 Addressing safety issues

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 Group based program
 “Breaking the family secret” of domestic violence
 Helping children understand protection orders
 Developing safety plans
 Building support networks
 Addressing and discussing separation, loss, grief and family changes
Since the consent of the parents had already been received initially, it was agreed upon
that further consent was not required. A release of information sheet was signed.
Part A -The practice
Prior to the beginning of the programme, I would meet with the facilitator and discuss
the day’s agenda. Thus we know what is to be expected and we can avoid complications due
to confusion or misunderstanding. That is crucial given that we are dealing with a sensitive
issue like family violence.
Assessment
The first stage of the practice is an assessment stage which is done to determine the
suitability of children in the intake process. This process involves that the client meets the
requirement of the program that relates to family violence and abuse. The entire assessment
process ensures that a better understanding and insight is gained in terms of background,
family and friends’ dynamics and environment of the child. Three aspects were categorised in
terms of peer relationship in school and home.

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The children who are being referred to Parentline must have experienced or witnessed
family violence at least once. The effect of the episode(s) determined the children’s
behaviour in various sectors. In multiple cases, traits of aggression and violence were
observed in the children while in multiple others children were seen to suffer from
depression, anxiety, loss of motivation to work, fear of closeness and contact with other
people, both adults and children of same age (Stien & Kendall, 2014). These information
while assessed and analysed provides important details about whether or not the client is
suitable for individual or group intervention.
Understanding User needs
All eight children in the group exhibit physical symptoms associated with behavioural
or emotional problems such as being physically aggressive to others, bullies, not sleeping
well, disruptive at school and home and imitating behaviours from others, anxiety and
depression, fear of contact or conversation with other people.
Among the eight children there are seven boys and one girl. There are two sets of
siblings and two individual children.
It was important to me to support collectiveness and inclusiveness between the
siblings and the individual children to avoid power and control from the groups over the
individuals. I did focus on the girl because of being the youngest that she has a voice and able
to speak up against her brothers. During the group I was considerate of her being the only girl
and I would rotate sitting next to her and the boys but, if we played a game I was always on
her side.
I noticed that the one of the boys gets easily annoyed and often appears angry more
than the others. He refuses to follow rules and often argues and throw temper tantrums in the
class. This behaviour started in week two and showed minimal improvement by week six. I

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demonstrated assertiveness because I was able to understand that he is unable to initiate
friendly connections or ask what he need. I understood his basic needs and knew that all
children needs must be met in order for them to focus on learning. We gave him the choice of
finishing his worksheet or to leave it. I could see that his emotions are having an impact on
his concentration and I gave him the choice to complete the worksheet once he felt better. I
was concerned for the child because his other siblings who are in the same group has shown
improvement in their behaviour except him.
My main facilitator had a discussion with the child’s grandfather who reported that
the child visits his mother every fortnight and once he is back home it is very difficult to get
him back into structure and routine.
Further to this, I have discussed this with my manager who used to be a nurse to get a
different perspective. After the group we debriefed and she told us that the child in question
may have “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome” because she noticed noticeable physical appearance of
the syndrome. Feta Alcohol Syndrome can have an effect on the physical, cognitive,
behavioural and neurological developmental disabilities due to excessive exposure to alcohol
during pregnancy. Knowing this information, I was able to show more empathy and used a
strength-based approach which focused on his strengths instead of deficits.
We played a game called STOP, THINK, GO and the purpose of the game is to help
the child to manage his own behaviour and emotions in high risk situations. The child in
question was able to lead the game appropriately and created order between the children. He
engaged well in the game and was able to identify certain emotions
I have also asked him to help me with Kai (food) preparation which gave him a
responsibility and he did very well.

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Engagement – What I did.
We started the engagement session with a review on the previous session. We talked to
the clients about general environment in their homes, how much of positive or negative
dynamics they have to live in. We discussed about any positive or negative events that has
happened over the week and how they felt about it (Melchiorre & Vis, 2013). Throughout the
conversation, I maintained the following aspects of communication:
 Listening – It is crucial, when dealing with an issue this sensitive, to be a good
listener (Gartner-Schmidt et al., 2016). This gives the children the feeling that their
words are being taken into account and this acts as a first step towards developing a
friendly relationship with the children.
 Nonverbal communication – Children in the age group of 6-9 years have low degree
of attention. Therefore focusing on non-verbal communication like body language,
eye contact, hand gestures and tone of voice etc. act as prompts for the children
(Mehrabian, 2017). Body movements, fluid tone of voice, maintaining eye contact
and using gestures help keep the children’s attention grabbed and aids engagement.
 Clarity and concision – Children in the mentioned age group are incapable of
understanding inherent verbal cues like adults. They need to be spoken to in a very
clear language without ambiguities. Thus it is important that when we are talking to
children, we speak clearly and avoid content that they will not be able to understand
(Yehuda, 2015). It is also important to remember that these children come from a
particular background and are used to a particular type of family dynamic. This would

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require attending to the topic in discussion with a level of care and concision that the
students would relate to but would not be something that they will be uncomfortable
talking about.
 Friendliness – Children belonging to a violent family background require to be talked
to in a manner that they would not find intimidating (Isaacs, 2013). I therefore tried to
maintain the friendliest behaviour possible with the children. These include making
small bits of jokes or fun between conversations to make them laugh and be
acclimatised to the setting.
 Confidence – Children are also very perceptive about people. Therefore, maintaining
a tone of confidence in the speech becomes important as they will understand who to
talk to whenever they require something (Kottler, 2017). This helps the process by
making the children familiar with a setting that they can work in.
 Empathy – Children who are suffering also require someone to understand their
problems since in that age group, they are mostly incapable of narrating events in
details. Therefore, I tried to empathise with them in the best way possible so that they
can believe they we care and we understand what they are going through because of
certain issues in their homes (Erskine, Moursund & Trautman, 2013).
In order to engage children in the age group of six to nine years, there are certain pre-
requisites that need to be taken care of (King, Currie & Petersen, 2014). Children are very
perceptive to colour, light and shade, objects in a room, even to the behaviour of other
people, food, games etc. (Cadima et al., 2015). Therefore we designed the room to be
children friendly and decorated the walls with colourful pictures, balloons and decorative
paper to bring out a feeling of playfulness (Almeda et al., 2014). We kept many toys in the
room with furniture specially designed to engage children. We also had multiple resources,

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for instance art and craft materials for the children to engage with (Fox & Schirrmacher,
2014).
To me, Verbal communication seemed like the best and the most obvious forms of
communication (Mckee, Schultz & Sartini, 2013). I would prompt the children with certain
words to encourage reflection on the events of the past week. Furthermore, I would engage in
playing games with them in order to encourage teamwork and peer involvement. We have
worksheets designed for the day that the children need to finish. I would help them with their
worksheet that is set out for the day. In order to improve the facilitator-children bond, I would
also prepare Kai (Food) according to their choice and needs.
Each of the eight sessions start with a game and the sessions focus on mainly four aspects
as mentioned below –
a. Tikanga – It is a Maori concept that deals with culture, custom, ethics,
tradition etc (Mead, 2016). The sessions tend to provide the children with an
understanding of the Tikanga or the Cultural values.
b. Whānaungatanga – Is another Maori concept that elaborates the close
connection between people and kin (Keelan, 2015). The sessions are targeted
towards helping the children understand the importance of kinship and imbibe
similar cultural values in them.
c. Manaakitanga – This is the concept of hospitality. In the Maori culture, this is
considered to be a highly important cultural value and is directed towards
making the travellers or tourist feel at home (Murphy & Gray, 2013). The
sessions are also designed to help the children understand the value of
hospitality and encourage them to engage in activities that build hospitality
traits.

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d. Rangatiratanga – In Maori culture, this means independence and is a
descendant of the term ‘Tino Rangatiratanga’- the historical indepence of the
state from the British Crown and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Durie,
2013). The session would help the children understand the cultural
significance of independence.
Intervention
Intervention is the most crucial aspect of the entire programme as it actively attempts
to not just understand but modify the children’s behaviour and approach by intervening with
the ways they view a current situation and learn from it (Katz, 2015). The intervention, like
other parts of the process, needs to be deliberate, purposeful, evidence based and transparent
(Howarth et al., 2015). As a social work student, in the intervention process, my role was that
of a co-facilitator in a group setting which is intended to offer assistance to promote
behavioural change. I did debriefing sessions with the main facilitator and that helped me to
support the children through transitions by talking to the children and helping them make
sense of what is happening and how to manage their emotions, besides who and where to talk
to if certain situations get beyond their ability to control.
The eight sessions were designed to build an understanding of the child’s situation to
offer change in their lifestyle and habits. The sessions focus on safety plans, understanding
what is abuse, feelings and emotions, touching rules, violence and anger. Each session is
designed to help the child to understand and cope in difficult situations but, also to keep them
safe.
The following topics are covered over the eight weekly sessions-
 Safety plan/ Safe Adults
 Positive and Negative Feelings

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 Emotions
 Types of abuse
 Touching rules
 What is family
 What is violence
 Bullies
 Self-esteem
 Self-Confidence
An example of one of the above topics is given as follows –
In session four the children learned about touching rules and the effects of family
violence. They watched a DVD about family violence incidents and what they can do to keep
themselves safe given all of them have been exposed to extensive family violence episodes.
The purpose for the topics at that session is to help the child visually experience the
effects of family violence and to gain confidence to speak up (Kay & Shipman, 2014). This
information gives the child the ability to recognise and challenge the behaviour through open
discussion with the main facilitator and me because they have built a rapport and trust with us
which has helped them to think of options and consequences (Purvis et al., 2013).
Evaluation
The following steps were ensured for steady and thorough evaluation of the entire process
 Each child was given a folder at the start of the class and there is a section for the
parents to complete if they have any issues/concerns.
 Client satisfaction form gets completed at the end of session eight.

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 Post- Assessment – questionnaire and forms get completed to determine any changes
or concerns. From the information an analysis gets completed to establish if the child
needs further interventions for example; one-on-one counselling.
The aforementioned steps make sure that the process reaches a state of equal transfer of
information and service. The information that is provided to us through the response sheets
and forms help us understand where the process is going right and where it is failing and
therefore my Facilitator and I had a better understanding of what kind of services are
beneficial for the client.
Part B – Critical Practice
B1. Reflection
What I did well.
 When the children need to reflect on the previous weeks work, I would give them
hints. I would prompt them by asking questions and allowing them to answer.
 I have organised the games well and engaged the children actively.
 I did a lot of encouragement and helped to create a child friendly environment.
 I was open minded in finding alternative approaches.
 I always stayed calm and explained the kawa (rules) at every session so that the
children understand the expectations.
 I offered choices to the children regarding activities, decisions, food, etc.
 I have praised good behaviour and calmly made them understand why bad behaviour
doesn’t suit people.