What are Social Workers like in galway

pink13

Just wondering what peoples experiences have been like?
Also assessment times - what are they like with west HSE?

catherinesara

A social worker tends to be a person with unresolved issues of their own from childhood, which they project onto unsuspecting service users.

They are often power hungry individuals who desire power over every service user.

As wee used to say in Mayo- Never invite or allow a social worker past your door.

Having researched these herd thinking individuals for 14 years- that is what I learned.

I did the research having been lied about in court by a social worker- and even when perjury was proven beyond a doubt - the social worker would not let go- like a dog with a bone.

In UK they call them Queens of Removals and Terminators.

Enough said.

Pique

Oh that's charming!!!

Is there no such thing as a conscientious social worker?....that actually does their job impartially and fairly?
I think you're being bang out of order and generalising completely! One persons opinion, albeit for 14 years (after a bad personal experience of one SW in the words of catherinesara), to be so negative is not representative of every social worker you've ever met, but imo, says more about you...and reduces the validity of your other posts in my eyes.

And no, I'm not a SW, nor do I have any contact with one, personally or profesionally, but I do know the dangers of generalising due to grievances felt personally.....it's out of order and does a disservice to the rest of the profession.

deisemum

I'm sure there are some very conscientious social workers around who have to deal with some dreadful cases in not so great working conditions. Like all walks of life there are some good and some bad.

Having worked in the NHS often in the same centres as social workers they as a profession were generally disliked and weren't respected by the other professions. A lot of it was brought on themselves though.

Generally it's the bad ones in any profession that attract more attention than the good ones who just get on with things. I wouldn't tar them all with the one brush, that wouldn't be right

celticcutie

Tis a tough job though. Can't be easy turning off after a days work. I never knew the profession had that kind of stigma attached to it. I've never heard anything bad about Social Workers but then again I don't work near that field

Portia 27

celticcutie wrote: »

Tis a tough job though. Can't be easy turning off after a days work. I never knew the profession had that kind of stigma attached to it. I've never heard anything bad about Social Workers but then again I don't work near that field

Yes, social workers are dreaded by most people in society.

In UK, they are more hated than a traffic Warden.

There are a few decent ones however, who understand life, but most come from well to do families and have no experience of hardship or poverty.

I suggest that all social workers live for one year in the same conditions as service users- so as to educate them properly.

All they know is from a book- which has little reality in it.

So, yes, social workers are often dreaded by service users.

bbam

My experience is that most perspective adoptive parents are very anxious about social workers..
I wouldn't like to see all SW degraded(some maybe)... like any section of society some are good at their jobs and some are not..
We've been assessed twice (not in Galway) and it was tough both times.. tough but fair...
I know others wh had a terrible time... It can be luck of the draw...
They do however have a huge burden of responsibility...

My advise it to be honest and really listen to what they say/ask from you..

Portia 27

bbam wrote: »

My experience is that most perspective adoptive parents are very anxious about social workers..
I wouldn't like to see all SW degraded(some maybe)... like any section of society some are good at their jobs and some are not..
We've been assessed twice (not in Galway) and it was tough both times.. tough but fair...
I know others wh had a terrible time... It can be luck of the draw...
They do however have a huge burden of responsibility...

My advise it to be honest and really listen to what they say/ask from you..

Actually by law social workers are not accountable to anyone.

I know that is hard to believe, but they have more power than the Taoiseach.

Many are obsessed with power, hence it is difficult to feel comfortable with them.

They are worse than police and tend to try and make you feel like a bold child, even if you have done nothing wrong.

Many have now become graduates of Common Purpose and are literally brainwashed clones with no sense of humour and their SS allegience is only to their master- another CP trained officer in the office.

The public are unaware, but a lot of our tax money is wasted on NLP training of these herd thinking sheep.

They have no idea that they have been secretly programmed of course, but if you know what to look for, you will know the genuine social workers from the dodgy ones.

If they are UK trained- beware.!!!

LadyMayBelle

Jeez, has anyone anything positive to say about social workers?! i am training to be one, and that comment by catherinesara about social workers tending to be a people with unresolved issues of their own from childhood, which they project onto unsuspecting service users is really offensive.

pink13, while i havent yet started placement with the service, i have heard some positive reports from people who have contacted the service(and no, not from social workers). As another poster put it, tough but fair. Im sorry I cannot offer you any insight, but I certainly hope those of you who posted negative comments re social workers have a long hard look at how tough a job it is, underresourced and understaffed.

Portia 27

LadyPennyworth wrote: »

Jeez, has anyone anything positive to say about social workers?! i am training to be one, and that comment by catherinesara about social workers tending to be a people with unresolved issues of their own from childhood, which they project onto unsuspecting service users is really offensive.

pink13, while i havent yet started placement with the service, i have heard some positive reports from people who have contacted the service(and no, not from social workers). As another poster put it, tough but fair. Im sorry I cannot offer you any insight, but I certainly hope those of you who posted negative comments re social workers have a long hard look at how tough a job it is, underresourced and understaffed.

LadyPennyworth- as a soon to be social worker, you have fallen right into the trap.

See, already, you are thinking like a sheep- herd thinking.

You are defending the herd, yet you know nothing only what was fed into your mind.

All this talk of underfunded and over worked- before you even spend an hour on the job.??

Then your mind is already telling you- Oh God, I am a poor, tired over worked social worker, who really wants to help, but how can I, as I am tired and weary.?

Plus, you re-acted to me, so I know you have unresolved childhood issues. Reaction is the giveaway to any psychologist.

Perhaps you thought- Oh I will become a social worker and be a do-gooder and everyone should like me.?

No, among service users, you have to earn trust and respect.

And Yes, I know a few brilliant social workers- but the majority have no real life experience and are often bullies who threaten and intimidate vulnerable service users.

For the record some male social workers offer sex to vulnerable women too in return for so called favours.

And I know, because I have been there.

I also know a service used drugged and raped by a social worker in her own home.

I have witnessed social workers use Gardner's Threat Therapy on a boy of 8- to lock him up and use electric shock therapy on him unless he lied for the said social worker.

I have witnessed a child of 4 thirsty for hours, and a social worker offering her a drink, if she lies for him. And all he wants to do is talk about sex to her- of which she has no knowledge, but he persists on both children until he breaks their spirits and run away.

That, is child abuse- legalised child abuse by a social worker, and he can never be reprimanded because the law says so.

They are the social workers I have met along my journey in life of 54 years.

I wish you well in your chosen career, but if you expect tea and biscuits every home you go to???

No. People in Ireland have always dreaded social workers because of the stigma they bring with them.

Mind you, you could be different and prove me wrong.

I invite you to do so.

deisemum

LadyPennyworth you might find catherinesara's comment offensive but I can tell you from my experience of working alongside doctors, dentists and other ancillary medical staff that a high percentage of these experienced medical staff would agree with cathersara's comment about a lot of social workers having unresolved personal issues from their childhood. The 2 social workers that I know on a social level have varying degrees of issues from their childhood.

A number of them are also known for abusing their position in nasty and vile ways. I also agree with the comments that you haven't even done a day in the job yet but you're already defending the herd mentality.

No matter how underresourced or understaffed social services are it's no excuse for social workers to abuse their position. There are plenty of other services that are underresourced and understaffed but their staff generally do not attract the same negative reputations that social workers do.

I hope that you have the integrity to keep your eyes open and not be blinkered in your training and later worklife.

LadyMayBelle

I will certainly try. Thank you.

While I have not yet qualified I have (due to bad management practices)throughout the years often had to resume similar responsibilities of a SW, and whilst I am very, very aware there are many SW's who are acting inappropriately and abusing the power. Only this morning, I encountered yet another case of child abuse carried out by a social worker. do you honestly think I have naively chosen to train? That I expect tea and biscuits every time?? Because I want to do a do-gooder?! Come on. I think you underestimate that I too have been there. It's not like I woke up some day ten years back and decided "wouldn't it be fun to be a social worker."

Obviously you have major issues with SWs, anyone can see that, and I'm not here to belittle your experiences. I work hard and within the best way I can. I may not be happy with every single aspect of it, and yes, in reference to an earlier post, it is unsettling not being answerable to anyone, and our constitution is still a draft. But what should i do, steer away from the profession altogether?

"There are a few decent ones however, who understand life, but most come from well to do families and have no experience of hardship or poverty."
True, right you are. Im not delving into my personal life but there are many ppl I am aware qualified and training who wouldn't know poverty if it slapped them in the face. Im not going to reveal any more stories regarding social workers and horrifically bad practice as we all know there happening but my point is there is no need to tar all of us. Yeah we've got bad press historically and recently but at least Im making an attempt.

I do think the UK system churns out slightly less dreaded SWs these days than they did.

pul out some positives and good luck work on resoloving your issues with SWs

LadyMayBelle

pink13 wrote: »

Just wondering what peoples experiences have been like?
Also assessment times - what are they like with west HSE?

Anyways back to the questions relevant to the thread.

bbam

Responsibility indeed.. I can't think of a more important one..

In the case of adoption they are tasked with deciding if a person/couple are fit to be parents and indeed parents in this particularly special way..

Unfortunitely not all people are as fit to be parents as they think they are and I am glad to have someone there to ask the diffocult questions and see how well put together perspective parents are...

There are some huge generalisations being made about social workers... We should know better... A point to note would be that there are huge generalisations made by society about Adoped children/people in general and I know them not all to be true...

Some people have terrible times with their SW, sometimes it isn't justified... but sometimes ??, who knows.

Also when allocated a SW it shouldnt be too hard through the many support groups to speak to people who have interacted with that SW...

Slan
bam

Yasmine

totally agree with caterinesara sws are power hungry dey get satisfaction out of seeing other pple miserable bcoz dey dont want any1 to b happy coz der not!!!!!!!

Yasmine

potia 27 u are dead rite in wat u sed finally sum1 understands wat i mean bout sws bein plain old mean!!!

pink13

Thanks for the feedback everyone, in hindsight my question was probaly, too leading and too much of a generalisation. I'm currently waiting to be assessed and am nervous curious and apprenhensive. PG it'll all go ok. Thanks again.

Portia 27

Yasmine wrote: »

potia 27 u are dead rite in wat u sed finally sum1 understands wat i mean bout sws bein plain old mean!!!

The sad thing is that the SW could do so much good, but it is rarely in their nature to do so.

Many are psychopaths who love to see people in pain, especially mothers whose babies are being ripped from them for forced adoption in UK.

No doubt Ireland will follow suit as there is money in babies, because women want to adopt to feel whole/complete.

That is the propaganda they are being fed of course.

Then they discover, the baby they adopted does not fill the hole inside them, but it is too late.

People should read the Baby Thief for a full understanding of the truth behind this multi billion poud business world wide, where both natural mother and adoptive carer are used by a greedy patriarchal society.

The_Conductor

Portia- you might like to take a step back and try to see all sides of the equation. I'm not trying to defend social workers- but there are genuine people out there who do there best with limited resources- just as certainly as there probably are psychopathic lunatics on power trips. Its just not fair to tar everyone with the same brush however.

I am not familiar with the forced adoptions in the UK that you are referring to- perhaps you might like to start a seperate discussion thread on the topic?

The original poster was seeking people's experiences of social workers in the HSE Western area- please get on topic. If you have relevant experience to impart to the poster- please do so, if not- either start a new thread relevant to the issues you wish to post about- or post in another fora altogether.

Regards,

SMcCarrick

leebee77

i agree with the last poster. this thread has got a bit out of control and i am disturbed by some of the comments. It seems crazy to tar all social workers with the same brush and seems to me that those who's comments are very negative have had very bad experiences and maybe should post their views on a different site. I have worked as a children and families support worker with the social work in Scotland and I worked with a great team of people..none of which came from rich and privilaged backgrounds. none of them were power hungry or mentally disturbed! yes at time they were overstretched but they certainly werent in the habit of ripping families apart.on the contary the work they perform is to try and keep families together if possible. I hope the original poster has found some answers to her original query.
I have one of my own...Where does Ireland stand on single people being able to adopt? I am 32 and am single. I have an eight year old son and i work part time. any advice or info on this would be greatly apreciated. cheers.
slainte

The_Conductor

As a single person you *can* adopt in Ireland. I think this was introduced in the 1998 Act. We're progressive in some respects- and backwards as possible in others.......

Gyladene

catherinesara wrote: »

A social worker tends to be a person with unresolved issues of their own from childhood, which they project onto unsuspecting service users.

They are often power hungry individuals who desire power over every service user.

As wee used to say in Mayo- Never invite or allow a social worker past your door.

Having researched these herd thinking individuals for 14 years- that is what I learned.

I did the research having been lied about in court by a social worker- and even when perjury was proven beyond a doubt - the social worker would not let go- like a dog with a bone.

In UK they call them Queens of Removals and Terminators.

Enough said.

Funny. None of that applies to me at all. Perhaps I'm doing it incorrectly.

lostinnappies

Hoping to adopt also in galway, this thread scares me.

I know SW have the weight of the world on them and would have to be overly cautious because one good evaluation to an undiscovered peado etc will result in catistrophic outcome for all concerned (including SW). I understand that they have to error on the side of caution but really when it comes to adoption and not an investigation surly they arent quite so bad. Im hoping that once they see you are open and honest with a genuine hope to add to your family a member who is in desperate need of a loving home that they wont be quite so hard lined..... or am I being nieve. What are other peoples experience when it comes to adoption only.

ISDW

Gosh, I am shocked at how off topic this thread went, and some of the comments on it. I am going to stay off topic though:P

I fostered in England for 9 years before moving back to Ireland, and am now a foster carer here, so have been through the assessment process for fostering, and worked with many social workers in both countries. I think it is incredibly unfair to generalise about a whole group of people. I have worked with some very, very good social workers, and also with some that I would consider not to be so good. However, in my experience most people become social workers because they actually want to help people and make a difference. They certainly don't do it for the money or the kudos. When anything goes wrong, blame the social worker. A child gets hurt or killed, why did the social worker not take the child away from the family? If a child gets removed and the family fight for it in the public domain, how dare they take a child from its family. As far as I can see, social workers can never win. As I say, I have unfortunately worked with some social workers that I didn't think did a very good job, but I have had that experience throughout my life in other jobs, and in dealing with people generally.

I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I could never be a social worker because I couldn't take the stress of dealing with the issues they have to on a daily basis. And yes, they are undermanned and underfunded. I know it was in the UK, not here, but the Baby P case highlighted a lot of things. I didn't notice any of the press asking the public if they would be willing to pay more taxes to ensure there was more money available to social services to ensure children's safety. People like to wring their hands and agonise over things when they go wrong, but do they stand up and be counted when its needed? Generally not. I know a lot of social workers that have been assaulted in the course of their days work by service users. Those stories don't tend to make the press though.

Good luck to the op, I hope that your assessment goes well.

Gabsdot

My husband and I have gone through 2 adoption assessments in the Dublin area. I'll admit neither we're much fun.

During the course of our assessments we have had meetings with 5 different SWs and met 2 others on our preparation course. Out of the 7 we have had dealings with 1 was a bit of a nutcase who definitely had these 'issues' someone mentioned. 3 were total company heads with little life experience who just did everything by the book and the other 3 were lovely, warm, friendly people who were a pleasure to deal with.

The assessment is part of your preparation to be an adoptive parent. There is a lot to learn and a lot of issues to think about and make decisions on. My advice for anyone starting out on the assessment is to just answer the questions they ask and don't chat too much.
Try not to worry and good luck.