Environmental scan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental scan - Essay Example However, the management should be aware of some of the shortcomings of semantic technique: it is limited in its data content, it can not be used for navigating the website and it is complicated for beginners. Currently, many people make use of search engines to retrieve and search for data on the internet. There are over fifty search engines that are available to the user worldwide. Some of the search engines are regional while others are universal. For example, Google, Yahoo Search and MSN are some of the global search engines. These search engines came to the market at the start of the last decade of the twentieth century. Following are some of the search engines that are currently in use: It is an immense search engine (Takakuwa, 2004: 23). It is claimed to be one of the biggest search engines that is currently available to web browsers. Levene (2006: 123) is of the view that Google uses the PageRank system to display the information that the user is searching for. This type of page ranking is named after one of the pioneers, Larry Page. This technology gives the user the pages that closely resemble what he is looking for (Takakuwa, 2004: 100). The page with the highest similarity is ranked at the top. This search engine is effective as far as giving the user a multitude of hits that closely resemble what he is searching for. It can be used to search for books, blogs, images, patents amongst others (Takakuwa, 2004: 100). It also links the user to other sites that are relevant. Though not as big as Google, it has an excess of twenty billion â€Å"web objects† (Thurow, 2007: 23). It gives the user shortcuts to the relevant site that he is looking for (Thurow, 2007: 23). The results are ranked using the Automatic AND technique. Apart from the two above, there are many other services such as Exalead, MSN and a host of others. The current search engines have some efficacies based on their size of database, search

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Business Law - Essay Example This method of justice strives to create an alternative forum away from the Courts which is more relaxed in nature, which allows for a more chilled out atmosphere and where the procedural importance given to the cases is reduced in order to allow the human touch a greater importance. Following is the definition of Alternate Dispute Resolution: â€Å"Procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, or minitrials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious than litigation, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, Divorce actions, in resolving motor vehicle and Medical Malpractice tort claims, and in other disputes that would likely otherwise involve court litigation.†1 Reading and understanding from the above definition, it can be interpreted that ADR is an alternate mechanism for justice which is less costly and more expeditious. Alternate Dispute Resolution consists of Arbitration, M ediation and Conciliation. Arbitration is a process by which the parties to the dispute appoint an independent Arbitrator who judges the case for the respective parties. This independent arbitrator is appointed on the behest of both the parties. Once the arbitrator is decided, the venue for the arbitration depends upon the parties to the matter. ... These systems envisage a concept where the parties mediate and conciliate with the other parties on their own without the admission of an arbitrator. The process of Mediation and Conciliation is considered to be more in the zone of a personal conversation rather than a legal case going on.2 The idea of ADR has always been to allow a more open and calm approach towards justice delivery system. And it has ben quite successful in the Europe and UK with a streamlined method of arbitration, medication and conciliation process in practice. The ADR Group is a world-renowned commercial arbitration organization, which indulges in systematic approach towards the problem solving of arbitration. ADR, thus, improves the judicial system in the following ways: 1. Less Burden on the courts 2. Less expensive than litigation 3. Less time consuming than litigation 4. Less stressful than litigation 5. More freedom to the parties to represent their case 6. Greater opportunity for the party to be heard 7. More chances of better justice delivery since every argument is taken into proper consideration Tribunals The UK Tribunal system is extremely diligent in nature. The UK Tribunal system is part of the administrative justice system, which is the place for justice delivery. It is known as Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The Tribunals take the parallel role of dealing with issues ranging to different areas of law, such as Competition Law, Environmental Law, Taxation Law etc. The Tribunals are quasi judicial bodies which are responsible for granting justice as a means away from the basic court justice delivery system. â€Å"The tribunals are managed by the Tribunals Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Recently, the tribunals have been re-organized, so that

Guanxi and Ethical Judgement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Guanxi and Ethical Judgement - Research Paper Example Problem Statement: The study focused on the determination of the impact of the use guanxi concept in the Chinese organizational managements and the effects on the ethical standards and judgement of the organization. Approach: The research has been a secondary source based research and obtained its materials and understanding from the earlier researches conducted on the concerned topic. Results: It has been obtained from the study that the concept of guanxi has an extreme significance in the management of organizations, particularly with respect to the Chinese organizations. Conclusion: Although there are certain negative aspects of following the concept of guanxi, yet from the study it has been concluded that the concept is an essential factor for the Chinese organizations that have records of success stories from using the guanxi concept and maintaining enhanced interpersonal relationships. Discussion: The study reflected that if the misuse of the concept can be controlled, then the concept would prove to be an efficient and successful one not only for the Chinese organizations but for every other organization. If the world of business is considered, it can be realized that different decisions are taken within the managements that involve the relations that are prevailing among the organizational members. By Guanxi, it is referred to a unique form of relationship that involves reliance, favour, dependence and adjustment between the individuals thus enabling efficient decision making processes that are based on internal relationships. Theorists have speculated and mentioned that this could be used as an instrument for marketing as well since it is involves decisions related to the performance of marketing and the business as a whole. However, there are other theorists who focused on different views and reflected that guanxi if followed at a personal level might lead to unethical behaviour (Chan, Cheng & Szeto, 2002, p.327). Guanxi believed to be capable of leading organizational members to unethical practices; there are severe concerns for the ethical considerations for the business practice s in the Western countries. However, when China is considered for research, it has been observed that the Chinese organizations consider guanxi as an ethical practice (Chan, Cheng & Szeto, 2002, pp.327-328). Guanxi in China is recognized as a major activity in its world of business as well as the society. Guanxi had been realized and introduced in the management policies of Chinese organizations intending to cope with the ever-changing business environment. Although the concept of guanxi has not been clear with respect to China, yet, the process is considered as a realistic way of bringing accord between the different organizational members (Wong, Wong & Wong, 2010, pp.2142-2143). The current research focuses on the practice of guanxi and its relation to ethical judgement in the context of Chinese management behaviour. Literature Review and Propositions Development: Several studies have been conducted on the business ethics practice in Chinese organizations and the use of guanxi in the management policies among the Chinese organizational members. Other researchers who had conducted studies on the business ethics in China focused on how the practice of ethics developed in the country. Earlier the concept of ethics did not have any practical implication. However, their studies imply that ethical practice has now developed to a great extent and it is a part of the organizational management in the Chinese business world. Al-Khatib, Vollmers and Liu however mentioned that there has been a huge decline in the moral standards of the

Media Censorship in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Media Censorship in Australia - Essay Example According to Internet World Statistics (2007), the Internet is today found to be used widely in Asia by 460 million users, in Europe by 338 million users and in North America by 235 million users. About 90% of Internet users are young people in many nations, including Asia, North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand. Today, school kids around the world are the busiest users of the Internet. (Anheier 2008:633). is now widely used by the government and business for their Internet on-line e-commerce and e-government transactions , there has been significant developments in Internet law-making and policy , there has been basic transformations to Internet governance , the consolidation of the internet for the popular culture and entertainment , the embedding of Internet with the contemporary identity , the changes in the media like on-line news , Internet’s impact in relationships , love , communication and desire. (Goggin 2002: 2). The 15th century media was the printing press, the 19th century had brought broadsheets, and 20th century brought radio, TV and the Internet. A new media may come into existence in the 21st century with all its permutations and parameters. Today, from neighbourhood to large companies are enjoying the ease and the speed of the Internet to create support for their objectives. Due to the Internet age, now companies are able to evaluate their public relations strategies in real dollar terms like revenue and sales. Today’s media is comprised of lap tops. ... siness for their Internet on-line e-commerce and e-government transactions , there has been significant developments in Internet law-making and policy , there has been basic transformations to Internet governance , the consolidation of the internet for the popular culture and entertainment , the embedding of Internet with the contemporary identity , the changes in the media like on-line news , Internet’s impact in relationships , love , communication and desire. (Goggin 2002: 2). Why Internet is a new media environment? The 15th century media was the printing press, the 19th century had brought broadsheets, and 20th century brought radio, TV and the Internet. A new media may come into existence in the 21st century with all its permutations and parameters. Today, from neighbourhood to large companies are enjoying the ease and the speed of the Internet to create support for their objectives. Due to the Internet age, now companies are able to evaluate their public relations strat egies in real dollar terms like revenue and sales. Today’s media is comprised of lap tops, cell phones with Internet accessing facilities, televisions, and digital camera. (Duhe 2007:2). The notion of mediated communication evaluates the public relation demeanours that happen through some varieties of mass media technologies like the Internet or televisions. J.E Grunig (2001) placed interpersonal and mediated communications are the two ends of the analogues’ aspect. Sha (1996) was of the view that dividing the mediated with that of interpersonal dimension was more proper. (Duhe 2007:9). Internet is regarded in the creation of contemporary Australian identities, and the dawning acknowledgement that Australia is one of the many nation benefited from the Internet as what Marcia Langton is of

EARLY CHILDHOOD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EARLY CHILDHOOD - Essay Example He walked around the table and chair sets which were there for the kids to use. Joey held my hand and showed me the maps, colorful carpets, tiny sofas, bright pictures, funny toys like baby dolls, and a baby calendar hanging on the kitchen wall. I saw him setting tables and chairs, serving his friends lunch using toy food, and playing chef, which showed that he was a social child. Yet I observed that he most often played quietly by himself. Perhaps the reason for this was that his peers found it hard to understand him because he was slow in speech and could not deliver proper sentences. I asked him his name but he kept on offering me toy food. His sense of creativity was astonishing. When he finished serving the food, he picked up the toy broom and started cleaning the kitchen floor to clear up the mess. An interesting thing I noted about him was that he got bored easily and kept switching from one activity to another. I concluded that he was not consistent, tried to be social but ea sily got frustrated when he would discover that others found it hard to understand what he was saying, yet he liked to explore things and occupied himself with activities that interested him. Jean Paige’s early childhood is the second of the four stages of cognitive development. The children between two and six use preoperational intelligence, language and imagination, but fail to use logical operations.

Cultural competency Essay Example for Free

Cultural competency Essay Cultural competency is an important strategy of eliminating racial disparities and improving quality in health, human and social services. The goal of cultural competency in these services is to create a health, human and social service system and practitioners who are capable of delivering the highest-quality care to all clients regardless of their cultural background, ethnicity, and race and language proficiency. If the professionals are not culturally competent they will not be in a position to handle social problems (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 71). Professionals offering these services do require an interpreter in certain situations such as; when the provider is not thoroughly effective and fluent in the target language should always use an interpreter. In situations when a client is not mentally fit a provider may need an interpreter. In cases in which language and literacy rate of the patient and practitioner vary due to different cultural groups, an interpreter will be required. Incase the client is a child who is under five years or more or an elderly person an interpreter is required. If the client is unconscious the provider can request for an interpreter (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 89). To minimize these problems, a professional should use an interpreter of the same sex as the client to avoid client from feeling insecure. Family members should be avoided as interpreters. Professional should learn basic words and sentences to minimize use to interpreter since they don’t deliver effective works due to biasness. They should address patients directly without any direct commentary to or through interpreter. Incase the professional suspects any problems and gets a negative response, then s/he should know that the interpreter knows what he wants. Interpreter should not be confused through backing up rephrasing or hesitating. Finally providers should attain training to be culturally competent to avoid cases of having an interpreter so as to offer effective service to clients (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 210). Using of an interpreter is not a good idea because the service given to the client will not be sufficient since an interpreter may be bias. Incase the interpreter is of different sex, s/he no knowledge on the service provided to clients of other sex leading to poor or wrong service being given to the client. There is no guarantee that practitioner’s conversion will be correctly interpreted to the patients and patient’s comments may not be conveyed accurately (Lecca, et. al. 1998, p. 211). List of References Lecca, P. J. , et. al. (1998), Cultural Competency in Health, Social and Human Services: Directions for the Twenty-first Century. NY: Garland Publisher

Reflective Practice in Social Work

Reflective Practice in Social Work Reflection is central to good social work practice, but only if enhanced action result from that reflection (Williams, 2006: xi) The underlying principles for this assignment are to critically evaluate my professional development in a practice placement setting and record reflections for future learning. Within this essay, I will include my reflections on the social work process of assessment, planning, intervention and review, and will critically analyse what I feel was successful and unsuccessful in each process, with efforts to identify what could be changed to enhance future practice. I will also include my knowledge, skills and values incorporated into my practice with two service users and my group work, while explaining my efforts to promote anti-oppressive practice. Throughout my assignment I will endeavour to portray my learning journey from the beginning to the end of my placement and conclude with future learning needs, to enhance my practice as a social worker. Introduction: The practice placement I acquired was a Court Childrens Officer (CCO), based at the Belfast Family Proceedings Court. It forms part of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. My role as a CCO, formerly known as a Child Welfare Officer, was to use my training and experience to ascertain the wishes and feelings of children and their families in private law matters. The role falls within family and child care services and determines that the childs interests remain paramount in court proceedings. As a CCO my role was to deal with cases where assistance was needed to help parties focus on the needs of their children, as opposed to continuing the incriminations as to who was responsible for the breakdown of their relationship. As a CCO I was then asked to present the information to court in oral or written report format. The CCO is used if other efforts to get the parties to reach a decision in the interests of their children have failed. This is to prevent the court process itself cont ributing to a lengthy breach in contact before it reaches a decision. As a CCO I was also responsible to act as liaison officer between the court and HSS Trusts, or other agencies (e.g. NSPCC etc) in respect of the courts decisions. Although employed by the Trust, I was responsible to the court. Before commencement of this placement I had limited understanding of the court process, and the legislation involved in private law cases. I was excited about the prospect of the experience I would gain having undertaken law and court modules, and attended court for certain flexible learning days, but I was also anxious about identifying the social work role within such a specific placement. I feel nervous and uncomfortable. Im finding the role intimidating being surrounded by legal professionals and legislation (being just a student). Im worried about having to provide oral and written evidence to the court, and perhaps having to disagree with the legal representatives views in court. I feel deskilled and anxious (PPDW: 21/01/10). After this initial anxious stage I began researching private law and knowledge, and used my practice teacher and on site supervisor to ask questions. Having completed a practice placement last year I already knew of the benefits of using reflection as a crucial aspect of my practice and learning. Thompson (2005) explains that it is important that practitioners use not only established theories, but use their own knowledge and experience to meet the needs of service users. He claims that reflective practice should help us to acknowledge the important links between theory and practice and to appreciate the dangers of treating the two elements as if they were separate domains (Thompson, 2005: 147). I was anxious to identify the social work process within my placement, as it was not evident on commencement. I was already familiar with the process of assessing, planning, intervention and review having had a previous placement with adults with learning disabilities. Within a court, however, this was very different, as a direction of the court determined my involvement with service users. Schà ¶n (1987) identifies that more than a process is needed with service users practitioners need to incorporate experience, skills and intuition for outcomes to be successful. The knowledge and skills that I identified, within my Individual learning plan, were skills in working with children, assertiveness skills, report writing and presenting skills, organisational skills, and group facilitation skills. I also wanted to enhance my value base as my previous placement helped me challenge issues around learning disabilities and the current placement is a very different setting. I wanted to devel op my values around childrens feelings about parental separation, and also working in partnership with children to ascertain their wishes and feelings about contact issues. I have outlined below the three cases I intend to use that will help identify my professional development within my placement setting. I will use these to provide an analysis of how my knowledge, skills and values have been developed through the social work process. Family C: Polish origin Child C (Age 7) currently resides with her father. The parental relationship lasted for seven years. Mother (Ms C) moved out of the family home to gain alternative accommodation when the relationship broke down. Ms C and the childs contact have been very sporadic since. Contact has not taken place since December 2009. Mr C is concerned with Ms Cs new accommodation being unsuitable for the childs safety staying overnight claiming alcohol misuse and the child coming home smelling of smoke. Ms C requires an interpreter and is seeking a Contact Order. As directed by the court I carried out an assessment of Ms Cs home, and also used mediation and counselling when meeting with the parties to focus on the childs best interests. The childs wishes and feelings were also ascertained. Family E: Child E (14) currently resides with his father (Mr E). Mother (Ms E) is seeking a Residence Order. Father currently resides with the child in a family hostel provided by the Belfast Housing Executive, which Ms E is concerned about. Court direction stipulated me to ascertain the childs wishes and feelings about residence with his father and contact with his mother. In addition to this I used mediation as an intervention to try to help the parties reach agreement about the child. I concluded my work with the family using a Person Centred Review with Child E to determine if the plans implemented earlier in my practice were working, and what he would like to change when his case was due for review in court. Group Work: My group work consisted of working with teenage girls at a high school in North Belfast; they were aged 14/15. I worked alongside the Health for Youth through Peer Education (HYPE) team who regularly visit schools to promote sexual health awareness. I co-facilitated this group and worked to educate the group about sexual health and relationships. This was to promote the need for the provision of accurate information to prevent teenage pregnancies and STIs, which have been highlighted as statistically higher in this area of Northern Ireland. Preparation of placement As indicated above, to prepare for this placement, I began by developing my knowledge base around the court setting and private law, so that I could be accountable to the court and the Trust for my actions. Trevithick (2000:162) claims to be accountable denotes professionalism by using knowledge, skills and qualifications, and adhering to values and ethics when serving a client. I began to tune in to the placement setting using knowledge, skills and values, with legislation such as The Children (NI) Order 1995, The Family Law Act (NI) 2001 and The Human Rights Act 1998. I tuned into the court setting and the rights of the service users who used it. Article 3 of the Children (NI) Order 1995 claims that the court should act in the best interests of the child, and I was interested in seeing if this occurred or if parental interests were considered higher. I tuned into the effects that divorce and separation have on children, and focused on gaining knowledge on how to minimize the negative impact this may have on children. The issue of contact in private law proceedings is a complex subject which raises questions of rights, responsibilities and ownership of children (Kroll, 2000: 217). I was initially interested in researching if children knowing both parents were in their best interests, and why. Having had a placement with adults and learning disabilities last year I had reflected on the medical model versus the social model of disability, this placement was very different in that it would be the a legal context versus the social work role. I found this initially difficult as the legal obligations of the court over-shadowed the social work process. Court directions dictated the aspects of work to be done, which I found difficult as service user needs were not necessarily established and met. Assessment: Ms Cs assessment required me to meet with her, discuss issues regarding contact with her child, and investigate her living environment to determine if it was suitable for the child to have contact in. Prior to Ms Cs assessment it was necessary for me to tune in to contact disputes between parents. I recognised that there is significant animosity with both parties, but that having contact with both parents is in the childs best interests to promote for attachment, identity and positive relationships. To initiate Ms Cs assessment I had received court directions, a referral and met with her legal advisor. I was at this time I was informed that Ms C was Polish and required an interpreter. The Human Rights Act 1998 and the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 both stipulate that an interpreter should be provided for health services to promote anti-discriminative practice and equal opportunities. I was then required to make a referral to the Trust interpreting service, and they informed me that they would make initial contact with Ms C. I found this unnerving, as the interpreter would be making first contact with the service user, and I would have liked the opportunity to explain my role. Having carried out previous assessments, I knew that communication was essential for the assessment and central to the process of gathering information and empowering service users (Watson and West, 2006), therefore to not be able to make initial contact with a service user I found to be restrictive and stressful. On initial contact with Ms C (and the interpreter) communication was difficult to establish. I found that by communicating through an interpreter I was limited in gathering information. I found it difficult to concentrate on Ms C, especially observing body language and tone of voice; instead I focused on the interpreter and actively listening to her. Ms C came across as frustrated and disengaged, showing signs of closed body language. I felt empathetic to Ms C because of the court process she was involved in, and the fact that she had to go to court to gain contact with her child. I felt the initial meeting with Ms C was not as successful as I had hoped, I was not able to discuss the issues affecting her, and unable to establish an effective working relationship due to the barrier on an interpreter. I left the meeting feeling deskilled and questioning my practice. On reflection, I should have provided more time to Ms C due to the language obstacle and gathered more information on her issues. I should have focused on Ms C and not the interpreter, and used the interpreter more effectively to establish a relationship. For future learning I will endeavour to use these reflections. The next part of Ms Cs assessment was her home assessment. I was initially reluctant to carry out a home assessment, as I had no previous experience, and did not know what was classed as an unsafe environment for children. I began tuning in and identified that a home assessment required strong observational skills for child protection concerns. I also discussed the home assessment with my practice teacher and on site supervisor for aspects I should be concerned about within the home. It was indicated that a safe environment for a child did not have to be overly clean, just safe considering where the child sleeps, fire hazards, is there evidence of drug or alcohol use, or smelling of smoke (as Mr C alleges). On entering Ms Cs home, as the interpreter had not arrived yet, I was reluctant to try and converse with Ms C. Ms C spoke limited English, and I did not want to confuse or alarm her by trying to discuss the case issues. However, I did try to use body language and facial expressions to reach for feelings and try to build a rapport by asking general questions about weather and work etc. I feel this helped our relationship, and helped me empathise about how difficult it must be to not be able to communicate effectively. By the time the interpreter had arrived I felt more at ease with Ms C, and addressed her (as opposed to the interpreter) with non-verbal cues such as nodding and body language. I felt more comfortable talking with Ms C, I felt more able to understand her frustrations at the court process, her ex-partner and his allegations. Prior to the assessment of the home I had gained stereotypical perceptions about Ms Cs home. I thought that the house, as it was in a working class area, would be unclean and neglected. However, the assessment of the home, using observational skills, indicated no child protection concerns, a clean environment for a child, and Mr Cs allegations unfounded. On reflection of my perceptions I feel I was oppressive to Ms C having been so judgemental, and I felt guilty about my opinions having been class discriminatory. Throughout the assessment with Ms C I found that by using an interpreter Ms C was able to stay informed and in control over her situation (Watson and West, 2006). I feel that by working with Ms C has helped my challenge my future practice with individuals who are non-English speakers. It will help me consider the needs of the service user, before judging them solely on language or their country of origin to provide equal opportunities. I now feel interpreters are required for a balance of power between the worker and service user, and promote anti-discriminatory practice. Planning: According to Parker and Bradley (2008: 72) Planning as part of the social work process is a method of continually reviewing and assessing the needs of all individual service users. It is based upon the assessment and identifies what needs to be done and what the outcome may be if it is completed. Prior to the beginning of placement I had limited experience of planning, or group work. It was important for me understand the facilitation and communication skills needed for successful group work, and help to develop my understanding of group dynamics, group control, and peer pressure for this age group. The key purpose of planning the group was to enable the young people to develop their knowledge and skills to be able to make informed decisions and choices about personal relationships and sexual health. I began preparing for the planning stage of the social work process by meeting with the HYPE team and researching their work. I was interested in the sexual health training for young people at school, as my own experience at school showed that the information was often limited, and I was interesting in finding out if it had been challenged. I then began by tuning in to how I wanted to proceed through the planning process, and researching the topics of the different sessions as I considered I had limited knowledge on sexual health awareness. As I had to plan every week separately it was important to tune in to each and use knowledge, such as group work skills to inform my practice. During initial sessions I noted how group members were quiet and withdrawn, this was important to note as the subject of sexual relationships may have been embarrassing for them to discuss. I too felt uncomfortable discussing the material, as I had limited understanding of sexual health, but it was important for the group to overcome these anxieties and work through them together. I identified that ice breaking techniques were required to facilitate trust and partnership. As the sessions progressed, one of the main challenges found was that peer influence was a major issue, with some of the participants controlling other quieter members. I felt it was necessary to include all members and encouraged participation using games. However, it was important not to push individuals when they became uncomfortable, as this could cause them to withdraw and disengage, disempowering them. Another challenge was that despite time management of the sessions, inevitably there had to be flexibility. Some of the group monopolised more time than others and it was necessary to be able to alter the plans according to time restraints. I also needed to be aware of my own values when planning sexual health awareness training, as it is still regarded as a controversial issue, especially in Catholic schools with teenagers (www.famyouth.org.uk). I considered sexual health awareness to be a great benefit in schools, but obviously due to religious considerations many Catholic schools continue simply to teach abstinence as the only form of contraception. This was important to consider as the group was facilitated in a Catholic school and many of the members or their teachers could have had religious views and opinions on the sessions, creating tension or animosity. Reflecting on this parental consent had been provided for the group, but the group itself were required to take part during a free period. I consider this to be an ethical dilemma as the childrens views werent regarded as highly as their parents. If undertaking this group in future, I feel it would be necessary to ask the group if they wish to take part, and gi ve the opportunity to withdraw promoting anti-oppressive practice. Intervention: Prior to this practice placement I had limited experience using intervention methods. My previous placement focused on task centred work with service users, but in the court childrens service this could not be facilitated due to the time restrictions of the court. I had also previously used Rogerian person centred counselling which I found I could use some of the theory and apply it to this setting. After gathering a range of information from the court referral, C1 and other professionals, I began to tune in to Es case. I had been directed by the court to ascertain his wishes and feelings in regards to residence and contact arrangements, and mediate between his parents to find agreement about the childs residence. As Child E is fourteen, I felt it was necessary to research levels of development for this age group and understand, according to psychologists, what level Child E would be at emotionally, physically and psychologically. I found that Child E should be at a level of becoming more independent, having his own values, and being able to make informed choices. One of the most important issues, through mediation, was challenging my own values and becoming aware of my own stereotypical views on adults who have separated, and the effects on their children. I had to challenge the idea that Child E just wanted to reside with his father as he was the less disciplined parent, or that Child E would most likely be playing his parents off against each other to get his own way. However, by challenging these views, and working with the parties through mediation, I came to realise that E had strong views about living with his father and had a stronger attachment to him. By reflecting on my values I realised that it was oppressive to consider the child as manipulating and could have affected my work with him. I found that having to be a neutral third party in mediation was difficult, I found myself having a role as a witness, a referee and a peacekeeper trying to find common ground. Despite this I feel a third side was necessary to help the parties work through issues. I found the most difficult aspect of this role to be impartiality as I found myself empathizing more with the mother (as the child refused to live with her). However, I also understood the childs reasons behind his decision. During mediation, and in court, I also challenged my judgements on gender and the notion that the mother is the nurturer or primary care giver in the home (Posada and Jacobs, 2001). The child clearly stated that he wanted to reside with his father, and when using questioning skills to probe about this, he claimed he had a stronger bond with his father, and that his mother was continually ridiculing him. I found myself having to alter my views about attachment and mother being the primary care giver and focus on what the child wants. As the intervention progressed I used family mediation session to work through issues. I found that effective communication was principal in ascertaining Child Es wishes and feelings, and helping the parties consider his views, as opposed to their own relationship incriminations. This not only empowered E by promoting partnership, but also gave him the knowledge that the court would be considering the information he provided. Within the meeting I felt I could have paced the meeting better and made better use of silences with E, as I dominated the conversation. I consider mediation to be successful as it helped the parties focus on the needs of the child, and helped them realise that they had a childs feelings to consider instead of the adversarial relationship built from court. Review: Prior to the review process I had experience of carrying out person centred reviews (PCR) through my previous practice placement. I had previous training on PCRs and found them to be more effective than traditional reviews, due to the service user involvement. A PCR is an example of a person centred approach and the information from a review can be the foundation of a person centred plan (Bailey et al., 2009). Within the family proceedings court the purpose of reviews are to reassess interim plans, and either change them, or confirm they are working for the child(ren). In Child Es case a review was necessary to indicate if living with his father was working, and to discuss if he wanted to change anything about his interim plans, which were introduced three months earlier. Within the court childrens team a review is fundamental to consider what is in the childs best interests, assess what is working and what is not working, and how to progress (considering the childs wishes and feelings). Child centred preparatory work with Child E was fundamental to the review success as it established what was important to him (Smull and Sanderson, 2005). Reflecting on my person centred work last year; I recognised that it was important to have preparatory work with Child E as it promoted choice and options to explore. I had also recognised that the information gathered from the preparatory work could be the foundations of the review itself, especially if Child E felt embarrassed or shy speaking out in front of his family on the day of the review (Smull and Sanderson, 2005) I conducted the review with Child E and his parents present, but reflecting on this it could also have been useful including his school teacher or other friends to have a holistic approach. Throughout the review I feel I was able to engage the participants successfully using goals to focus on, and we were able to create a person centred plan for Child E. During the preparation for the review Child E had expressed that he felt he was having too much contact with his mother, and would like to limit this, he also expressed that this was an awkward subject to discuss with his mother present. I identified this in the review as child E did not wish to. I used skills such as facilitation and communication to show that Child E felt strongly about this issue, and both parents claimed they understood his view point. The review was also useful in presenting the information in court, as the child could not be present and I could advocate on his behalf. On reflection of Child Es review I feel it was a successful measure to determine what was working and not working since plans were implemented from the last court date. I had confidence in facilitating the review, but I did feel I perhaps dominated the conversation as both parents were hostile towards each other, and Child E was shy and unassertive about expressing his feelings. During future reviews I will endeavour to promote communication between parties, while empowering of the child. I will use better use of silences and encourage active involvement. Conclusion: No matter how skilled, experienced or effective we are, there are, of course, always lessons to be learned, improvements to be made and benefits to be gained from reflecting on our practice (Thompson, 2005: 146) I feel this PLO has provided me with learning opportunities and identified my learning needs. It has encouraged me to reflect on my knowledge, skills and values and ensured that I used my reflections to learn from my practice. At the beginning of placement I was concerned I would oppress the service users by having limited understanding of the court process, and unable to work effectively as a result. However, through training, help from my practice teacher and knowledge, I soon realised that the placement was about providing support, not being an expert. I feel I was able to establish a balance of the legal requirements of court and social work role, which has contributed to my learning experience and future knowledge. As my placement progressed I used tuning in and evaluations to analyse my practice, and use them to learn from. My placement has enabled me to improve my court report writing skills, presentations skills and legislation knowledge, which I consider to be invaluable for the future. In terms of future professional development, I will endeavour to challenge my stereotypical assumptions about service users, I will seek advice and guidance from more experienced members of staff, and I will use knowledge and theory to inform my practice prior to meeting service users. Future learning requires me to continue to develop skills in working with children, to use silence as a skill, as listen actively to what the service user wants. Having an opportunity to work within the court system has been invaluable, but I would also like the opportunity to have more experience working with children to enhance my knowledge, skills and values further.