Developmental Psychology: A Critical Review of the Take Two Program

This report provides a critical review of the Take Two social service program, an Australian initiative focused on providing therapeutic services to vulnerable children, youth, and their families. The review begins with a summary of the program, detailing its objectives, funding, and partnerships. It then evaluates the program's efficacy, highlighting its efforts to improve the mental well-being of children facing trauma, abuse, and family violence. The critical review section delves into the program's strengths, such as its focus on the impact of home environments and its efforts to develop community support. It also identifies limitations, including its narrow focus and reliance on consultation rather than direct formal assistance. The report concludes by acknowledging the program's advantages in addressing the impact of surrounding environment on the mental well-being of children, while also pointing out areas for improvement. The review includes references to relevant literature supporting the analysis.

Running head: TAKE TWO
Take Two
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TAKE TWO
Table of Contents
Summary of the programme under review......................................................................................2
Evaluation of efficacy and critical review of programme...............................................................3
Evaluation of efficacy..................................................................................................................3
Critical review of the programme................................................................................................3
References:......................................................................................................................................6

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Summary of the programme under review
The social programme of Take Two is an intensive care therapeutic service which is
provided to the infants, the young children of the society and the youth. Its primary objective is
to a standard quality therapeutic service and aid to the families concerned and contribute
significantly to the improvement of the social system by protecting the children who are
extremely vulnerable in nature. The Take Two social service programme is based out of Victoria
in Australia and it receives its fund from the Department of Health and Human Services. It is
also partnered with a therapeutic foster care service, by the name of Aboriginal therapeutic home
based care, the Stronger Families service as well as therapeutic residential care.
In this context, it needs to be noted that Take Two understands that the service of care
alone is not enough to provide support to the children who are recovering from the trauma of
abuse, neglect and that of family violence. Instead, the social service programme of Take Two
works with the distressed young children and the youth, their social care givers, the parents and
also the teachers involved in order to ensure that they are able to learn the pain felt by the child
and take measures to create a trust worthy environment.
In this context, it needs to be noted that social services are usually provided to the
individuals living in a society in order to ensure that they are able to lead a quality life and that
their standard of living improves to a significant extent (Foster et al., 2016). The purchase of the
basic means of subsistence is not the end objective of every individual. It is the responsibility of
the government to ensure that its citizens are able to live a life of fulfillment and peace which
would aid them to enjoy their time on Earth.

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Evaluation of efficacy and critical review of programme
In order to understand the working of the Take Two social services and the impact it has
on its target group, there is a need to evaluate its efficacy and make a critical review of the
programme.
Evaluation of efficacy
The Take Two Social Services of Australia has the main objective of providing support
and aid to the young children and youth of the society ("Take Two", 2020). To this extent, the
children who are suffering from stress and anxiety issues, the social workers engaged with the
Take Two Social Services of Australia is try to improve upon their sense of mental well-being
and support them in understanding their surrounding environment and cope with the
circumstances in a better manner (Maybery et al., 2017). The social workers also give aid to the
elderly family individuals so that they can understand the needs of their child or children and
respond effectively to their needs and desires.
Thus, the efficacy or the need of the programme lies in the fact that it is essential for all
those individuals of the society who are emotionally vulnerable or are living in a violent
domestic situation. This leads to the rise in the aggressive attitudes of the young children or they
might isolate themselves from all societal activities. This hampers and challenges their growth
and development since the communication and integration with the society is important for the
growth of every individual ("Take Two", 2020)..
Critical review of the programme
Undertaking a critical analysis of the Take Two Social Services as working in Australia,
it can be seen that the program is extremely narrow focused. It only caters to those youth of the

4TAKE TWO
community who are stressed or anxious about their home environment and thereby, develops an
issue in the manner in which they conduct themselves in the society (Banfield et al., 2018). Thus,
it overlooks all the other individuals of the society who might be facing challenges in other
institutions beside their home, such as in schools or other educational institutions. In this context,
it needs to be seen that the rate of bullying and mistreatment is higher in such public places
rather than in home environments.
Furthermore, another short coming of the Take Two Social Services which can be seen is
that the Take Two Social Services is mainly consultant in nature. The social workers associated
with this programme gives an advocacy to the concerned client about whom to go to in the event
they need a formal help. They do not provide any formal help as such. Thus, this further affects
the mental well-being of the child since they have to talk about their issue to multiple people
(Stomski & Morrison, 2019). They are already vulnerable in the sense that they cannot cope with
their surrounding environment. In the event that a care giver is assigned to them who cannot
relate to the problem faced by the child, then it would prove to be disastrous for the mental well-
being of the child.
However, in this note, it is important to understand that the Take Two Social Services has
certain advantages related to it. It has sought to examine the impact of the surrounding
environment on the mental well-being of the child, starting from their home environment (Poon
et al., 2019). The parents have a significant amount of influence on the development of the
personality of any child. Thus, in the event that the child faces a violent nature in their homes,
they would be influenced by this in two ways. They would either take in an aggressive behavior
or they would try to socially isolate themselves from the other individuals of the society. Thus,
this issue is sought to be rectified by the programme identified.

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Another significant advantage of the Take Two Social Services is that the social workers
try to develop the community as a whole (Dadds et al., 2018). They educate the members of the
society in creating a wholesome and comforting environment for their child within their homes.
Furthermore, the family members are made aware of the importance of a peaceful and
harmonious nature which would improve their mental well-being also. Thus, the Take Two
Social Services is important in the context of the young children.

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References:
Banfield, M. A., Morse, A. R., Gulliver, A., & Griffiths, K. M. (2018). Mental health research
priorities in Australia: a consumer and carer agenda. Health research policy and
systems, 16(1), 119.
Dadds, M. R., Collins, D. A., Doyle, F. L., Tully, L. A., Hawes, D. J., Lenroot, R. K., ... &
Kimonis, E. R. (2018). A benchmarking study of father involvement in Australian child
mental health services. PloS one, 13(8).
Goodyear, M., Maybery, D., Reupert, A., Allchin, R., Fraser, C., Fernbacher, S., & Cuff, R.
(2017). Thinking families: A study of the characteristics of the workforce that delivers
family‐focussed practice. International journal of mental health nursing, 26(3), 238-248.
Maybery, D., Goodyear, M., Reupert, A., Sheen, J., Cann, W., Dalziel, K., ... & von Doussa, H.
(2017). Developing an Australian-first recovery model for parents in Victorian mental
health and family services: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMC
psychiatry, 17(1), 198.
Poon, A. W. C., Harvey, C., Fuzzard, S., & O'Hanlon, B. (2019). Implementing a family‐
inclusive practice model in youth mental health services in Australia. Early intervention
in psychiatry, 13(3), 461-468.
Stomski, N. J., & Morrison, P. (2019). Predictors of burden in Australian mental health
caregivers: a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Mental Health, 1-6.
Take Two. (2020). Retrieved 2 April 2020, from
https://www.berrystreet.org.au/our-work/healing-childhood-trauma/take-two Foster, K.,

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Maybery, D., Reupert, A., Gladstone, B., Grant, A., Ruud, T., ... & Kowalenko, N.
(2016). Family-focused practice in mental health care: an integrative review. Child &
Youth Services, 37(2), 129-155.