Young People in Focus

SECTION 4

Session 8: Common Practice Issues

As the IYPP project progressed site staff noticed that they seemed to experience the same or similar practice issues, regardless of the model of intervention. One of the multi-site project meetings, therefore, was used as a practice forum for staff to share issues and explore solutions together. The following five practice issues were addressed:

1. How to respond to parents who ask: ‘What should I do in this situation?’

It was acknowledged in the discussion that some parents might see it as the workers’ role to solve their problems for them. It was felt that this issue can feel easier to deal with in a group situation, as the facilitator can instantly turn to the group and draw upon the combined experience of both facilitators and group members to provide a range of problem-solving examples and to encourage the parent to think about what fits them and their situation best. In both individual and group work there are a number of other strategies that can be employed:

Expectations

It is important for workers to be clear about their role and expectations at the beginning of any intervention, as well as discussing parents’ expectations. As part of these initial discussions, parents need to be reassured that there are often no right or wrong answers to a number of questions, but that together the parent and worker can problem solve issues. Workers need to help the parent(s) understand that the intervention will include looking at options together and discussing a variety of ways to handle a number of scenarios so that they can develop a greater range of strategies to address different issues.

Ownership

It is important when working with the parents to allow them to acknowledge their ownership of the issues raised within their family. In order to this, it is a good idea to begin with the focus on the positives for the parent(s). Workers need to look for these positives (strengths) and build upon them. As parents are experts with regard to their own young people, workers should encourage parents to use their expert knowledge to help them. If parents have resolved another issue, refer back to this and help them to transfer the skills they used then to the new situation. This can also help to build their confidence.

Programmes

Workers should ensure that the programme has a number of tools within it, including analytical tools, such as problem solving, reframing and using ‘I Statements’, that can enable parents to feel more confident in dealing with a range of situations.  By practising these skills in different situations they can then build up their own ‘toolkit’ of skills and strategies that work for them. 

Relationship with the parent(s)

Take time to build up a relationship with the parent(s), which will help with this issue. Once a trusting relationship exists entrenched ideas and negative thoughts can be challenged in a non-threatening way. As good relationships are built on honesty, then workers should be honest that they don’t have the one answer that would solve things.  Instead the worker can suggest that they and the parent can work on an issue together, by discussing options and then supporting the parent whilst they test out the options. It is sometimes a good idea to take time out to think about an issue that arises. If this is the case and the issue is not an urgent one, then let the parent know this and return to the issue later in the session or in a later session.

2. How can I be sure that I am getting things right when I am working with a parent one to one?

When working with parents in a group, part of the process is the joint discussion with your co-facilitator regarding the group process, individual parents and issues arising. When working individually you are not able to reflect with a colleague who was in the session. It can be a difficult situation, especially for a less experienced practitioner. Ideas from site staff included:

Supervision

Workers should play an active role in supervision and take any practice issues to your supervisor. If there is a peer supervision group or practice forum in your area, then join it. Discuss the case with colleagues and use techniques such as role play.

Assessment and Planning

In the initial stages of an intervention, it is vital to ensure that an intervention plan is based on a thorough assessment of the risk and protective factors within the family. The intervention plan should be developed with and agreed by the parent(s) and regularly reviewed – this can help to ensure that you’re making progress and covering useful ground.

Relationship with the parent(s)

Working in partnership with parents will help to establish a relationship where you can check out with them how useful they find particular exercises or sessions and the material you are using.  Be sure to ask for feedback from parent(s) at regular intervals.

Parenting programmes

If workers are using a parenting programme then they should make sure that they are thoroughly familiar with it. The use of a structured programme, containing all the elements that the worker and the parents agreed need addressing, can be reassuring. A programme can be a commercially bought or developed in-house.

3. When couples are referred for parenting intervention, should they attend together or separately, especially in groups?

There is clearly no right answer here as it will depend on each family’s circumstances as there can be positive and negative aspects to both situations. It is fundamental that this issue is discussed prior to any intervention taking place and that decisions are based upon information gathered at the assessment stage. It will be important to consider during the assessment process with the couple and individually how they operate together, for example, is there a high level of conflict between them, will they both get the opportunity to contribute if they are in the same group, or will one tend to be the ‘spokesperson’.  Ultimately the decision will rest on whether it will be more beneficial for their family if they work together or separately and on practical considerations such as whether they can both be available at the same time.  In some circumstances it may be appropriate to work individually, or in separate groups before coming together either in a group or in joint or family sessions.

Site staff felt that a significant aspect of the inclusion of couples as well as single parents in a parenting group is that it can lead to ‘secretive sub groups’ or a couple dominating a group, but that this can be avoided. The following points will help to avoid this situation arising:

Assessment

Make sure that a thorough assessment is completed prior to the group (or other intervention) starting and use the information gathered in the group selection process. If there are any uncertainties, then have some individual sessions first before recommending that parents attend a group.

Expectations

Workers need to be clear about their expectations for the way people behave in the group and address this at pre-group meetings and in the first session. This should include a discussion regarding confidentiality and ground rules and the issues should be revisited regularly.

Session Planning

Plan the sessions carefully and make sure that there is a variety of activities in each session, with group members working individually, in pairs, in small groups and as part of whole group discussions. This will allow workers to split couples up for part of the time. It is possible to use some activities to explore stereotyping with the group. Plan facilitator roles carefully, as well as the programme. Debrief each session and use lessons learned to help plan the next session.

Make changes

Workers should acknowledge when something needs to change later on, as it is not possible to find everything out at the assessment stage and they may not have been aware of behaviours or factors that later emerge. 

Single parents

It may be helpful to encourage single parents to bring someone else with them to the group – a friend or family member.

4. Addressing discriminatory behaviour in parenting groups.

This issue arose as a consequence of the previous discussion regarding the inclusion of couples and single parents in parenting groups and ensuring groups are inclusive. As before good assessment and planning are fundamental to ensuring a positive mix of participants within groups. However, there were some specific aspects, which are contained in the following discussion:

Role modelling

Group facilitators should lead by example and not underestimate the power of positive role modelling.

Assessment

As before, use the information from a thorough assessment to inform decisions about who should be included in a group and whether this is the most appropriate intervention for each individual parent. Discuss with parents their needs. Have a variety of options for working with parent(s).

Expectations

How the group will work together should be part of the discussion when establishing ground rules and at pre-group meetings. How participants communicate with each other should be agreed, for example the language used, how respect for a person can be conveyed even if you disagree with their view and so on. This not only helps to create a positive environment for the group, but should be useful in establishing some of the key messages about how we can work together even when we have different views, feel angry or upset and so on.

Dealing with an incident in a group

How to respond to any incident will in part be determined by the nature of the incident as well as the stage of the group process and the relationships between facilitators and participants, as well as between the participants themselves. You may have had some warning signs that if not responded to appropriately can lead to an incident occurring.

Sometimes it may be appropriate to have a discussion in private at the next break, for example, with each individual involved as an initial way of addressing an issue. However, it may be necessary to address incidents straight away in the whole group setting to support group members affected by an incident and to ensure that the group remains a safe and supportive environment. When preparing for group work co-facilitator will need to explore their roles and agree strategies to respond to any incidents of discrimination within the group. If one parent acts against another, group workers should ensure that the parent subjected to the discrimination/prejudice is well supported at the time of the incident and their ongoing support needs identified with them. Depending on the nature of the incident, consideration will need to be given as to how/whether the group should continue with the same participants.

In the Key Elements of Effective Practice Parenting Source Document (YJB) the role of facilitators is highlighted:

Facilitators should be ready to take the decision to exclude a parent from a group, and this applies not just to disruptive parents but... to those parents who are not benefiting from group work and who would probably gain more from one-to-one work. Supervision will assist staff to make this type of practice decision, and to feel supported when dealing with potentially difficult issues.

With respect to parenting group facilitators there are some skills that have appeared to be particularly valued by parents:

• Facilitators that enable group participants to work together
• Facilitators that are good listeners
• Facilitators that are sensitive to the concerns of parents ‘in trouble’
• Facilitators that are proactive in maintaining respectful and participatory group dynamics: everyone feels encouraged to take part and ‘ego trips’ are under control, for example
• Facilitators that can work positively with anger and conflict

(Key Elements of Effective Practice Parenting Source Document Youth Justice Board – www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk)

Session content

Use ice breaking exercises to address the issue with the group. This can be in the form of assumptions/stereotyping exercises. Facilitators should acknowledge with the group that we all have some prejudices and through identifying and understanding them we can help to ensure that they don’t hurt ourselves or others.

Group facilitators have the chance, when working on ground rules and communication within groups, to create the opportunity for participants to develop strengths and skills which will benefit the group experience as well as their other relationships.

5. As a practitioner, how can I solve the dilemma between ensuring that I go through the programme as well as facilitating the group process?

This issue arose as some site staff found that their model was very prescriptive about session content to be delivered to tight timescales each session. It was acknowledged that this could be difficult for some practitioners, especially when implementing such a programme when their previous experience has been to focus more on the process with parents, with flexible content. Site staff discussed some strategies that can be used to ensure a balance between process and content:

Assessments

At the assessment stage, be clear with parents about the model of intervention and take into account their expectations. Workers need to be clear about the criteria for referring to this programme when carrying out an assessment.

Expectations

It is important for workers to be clear about their own expectations as well as those of parents and how comfortable you are delivering different types of programmes.

Creating the time for the process to take place

This can be done in a number of ways, such as including extra sessions at the beginning or end of the intervention or lengthening each session to allow some time beyond the programme content before, in the middle, or at the end of the session. Experience from the IYPP project has shown that building in a reasonable amount of time for refreshments is useful. This allows time for relationship building both between members of the group and staff relationships. As professionals, we should not underestimate the power of this relaxed time.

Individual issues

Extra individual sessions can be offered to those parents who need them either to help them build parent/staff relationships or to address specific individual issues that arise.

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