Working with Conflict and Hostility 23/24

TARGET GROUP

This training is targeted at professionals in direct contact with children who undertake or contribute to risk assessments and multi-agency meetings including social workers, family support workers, foster carers, health professionals, schools, police and others who work with children at risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation.    

Group Level 2 (regular contact with children, young people and/or parent/carer) or Level 3 (predominantly working with children) or above (including strategic leads), and NHS Inter-Collegiate Standards 2 and above for health professionals.  

AIM

The aim of this course is to enable professionals to work effectively with conflict and hostile families and
know how to mobilise the partnership in the event of an escalation of threats and violence towards
professionals. It considers the dynamic between professionals, parents and the wider relationships
with family members by exploring issues of power and control, and other deep rooted psychological
factors. It provides effective approaches to conflict management, and strategies for working confidently
with these families on a multi-agency basis.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand that the safety and welfare of the child or children is paramount and the importance of
  taking the voice of the child into account in all stages of the CP process;
• Describe how to engage with individuals to lessen the likelihood of resistance or aggression;
• Recognise signs of disguised compliance, coercive control and other strategies used to deter
  professionals, and its implications for risk assessment;
• Use messages from serious case reviews to inform their professional practice;
• Examine their own and other professional's responses to conflict or hostility and the impact on the
  worker and professional networks;
• Describe what leads some individuals to be reluctant, resistant and hostile towards intervention by
  agencies;
• Employ effective responses in engaging with this group of individuals which take into account the
  principles of anti-discriminatory practice;
• Understand conflict theory and how the use of power is exercised in the professional relationship;
• Develop strategies to ensure that they implement safe working practices by clearly assessing any
  risks to personal safety;
• Use supervision and support effectively to identify and manage cases where individuals display
  these characteristics; and
• To recognise the importance of record keeping and the impact if records are used within a legal
  process.