This book provides social workers with theoretical and practical information on the health, education and social care of black children. Phinney, J. S. and Rotheram, M. J. (eds) (1987) Children's Ethnic Socialization: Pluralism and Development (London, Sage). .This comprehensive book discusses black children's development. Robinson, L. (1995) Psychology for Social Workers: Black Perspectives (London, Routledge). An essential introductory text for all social workers in training and practice. 8 ■ Personal and professional development JOYCE LISHMAN Introduction Social Work involves entering into the lives of people who are in distress, conflict or trouble. To do this requires not only technical competence but also qualities of integrity,,,^enuineness.'.andi„g,eif awareness. (Lishman, 1994) Discussion of personal and professional development must be set in the uncertain, demanding, complex and changing context of social work. The current emphasis on vocational training and the achievement of discrete technical competencies in a culture which promotes market forces, consumerism and managerialism (Holman, 1993; Banks, 1995; Clark, 1995; Dominelli, 1996) is at the expense of fundamental aspects of social work including: • a concern about individual people and the enhancement of their lives and relationships; • a commitment to social justice and the eradication of poverty and discrimination; • a cornmitment to social work as a moral and ethical activity; • an holistic approach to practice, -where relationships and process as well as outcomes are addressed; • a commitment to partnership and involvement with users in ' developing services to meet their needs; • a commitment to evaluating practice as a means of developing it; • a recognition that the worker's use of self is integral to social work activity. Examination of personal and professional development in this chapter is based on a definition of social work which includes these z/u }\j\j\s\s u^ipiimi» fundamental aspects. We cannot, however, ignore the tensions between this holistic approach and the current culture and context in which professional definition and identity are being challenged both by the political ideology of the New Right, with its adherence to manageriaiism and efficiency savings, and by a competency-driven approach to training and professional development (Banks, 1995; Sheppard, 1995; Vanstone, 1995). This chapter examines both the context of personal and professional development in social work, and essential elements of personal and professional development. In particular, our_motivation for social work, and our capacity to manage complexity, change and uncertainty, involve both personal and professipnal development, and each is discussed in turn. Three critical aspects of professional development are then examined: the use of sjupjrvislon, the articulation and promotion of_good practice along with the development and evaluation of models of practice and service provision, and the need for commitment to the next generation of entrants to social work. The context and nature of personal and prof essional development in social work The ideological, political, economic and financial context has already been alluded to and is hostile to the concept of reflective professional practice on which this discussion of personal and professional development is based. The complex and uncertain nature of social work, with its ethical base, legal accountability, responsibility for complex decision making and risk assessment, public profile and constantly changing legislation, requirements, structures and organisation requires social workers to engage in ongoing development, personal and professional, if they are to survive, respond effectively to users and clients, and manage the uncertainty which is endemic to the profession. The ethical issues in social work summarised by Banks (1995) involve lensions between in^ and structural oppression; they lead to mpral dilemmas and a balancing of rights,.duties and respgn^sibilities for which there may be no 'right answer'. An ethical response may conflict with financial accountability and resource availability; it may inform or conflict with legal accountability. Social workers engage in complex decision-making, often about relative risks, safety, harm and protection. They do so in the context of a breakdown of consensus about social and collective responsibility and a rise in the value accorded to individual choice and responsibility. Paradoxically, 'society' is simultaneously experiencing wide- spread economic insecurity and increasing marginalisation and vulnerability, in particular in relation to people who are unemployed, in poverty or homeless, or have mental health problems (Parton, 1996). Social work is closely interlinked with these changes, and social workers' dilemmas and actions reflect and symbolise wider preoccupations with insecurity, safety, marginalisation, risk and control. Such inherent complexity in the social work task is compounded by the pace of change which social work has experienced. Change is not unique to social work, although we may feel we have been bombarded by it! Since the late 1980s, policy and legislative change has included: the National Health Services and Community Care Act/1990; local government reorganisation, 1996; The Children Act, England, 1989; The Children Act, Scotland, 1995; and the overall reorganisation of social work into child care, community care and criminal justice (with the loss in England and Wales of probation as part of social work training) (Criminal Justice Act, 1991; Children Act, 1989, 1995). In social work education and training, new initiatives for qualifying training were introduced in 1990 and changed in 1995 (CCETSW, 1995). This history suggests that the external environment of social work will constantly change. Internally led change and development in practice and service delivery which is responsive to user/client views and based on the evaluation of practice and service delivery is also essential. However, such rapid policy, legal and organisational change adds to the uncertainty and complexity we experience in our practice. The context of social work practice has not been favourable to j2ej[sonaLOT_jprpi As Pietroni (1995, p. 38) argues 'a short social work basic training, no nationally recognised career path or consistent professional development structures, an inhibition or an antipathy towards individual authority and excellence and a context is produced.which is intrinsically antagonistic to thoughtful practice'. Other barriers to professional development and learning include: • a tension between a local authority's requirement for a teAriically competent worker, and a professional requirement for critical refl£ctiye.practicey which may include criticism of the agency practice; • a lack of agency recognition in terms of pay and status for the achievement of professional development, the practice teaching award being one example; • a lack of time allowed for professional development; • a lack of access to professional development; for example, Dominelli (1997) raises issues about access to higher education for women which are also relevent to professional development in social work and social care, where women with family commitments may have difficulty in terms of finance and time in pursuing relevant professional developments. We may ask why we should undertake any_grofgssigrial development when it may not be organisationally valued and is unlikely to be financially rewarded. Professional .development js_gsgentiaLig develop, use and promote more effective models of...pjactke_and service delivery in a context of rapid change of policy andjegislatiori. Personal development is j:ssential_to underpin..profgssjonal.development since our use of seif is part of the service we,offer„tQ_users._and clients. The need for continuing professional development is not the prerogative of social work. Qualifying training, in any profession and whatever the length, is inevitably limited in input, both breadth and depth, and in opportunities for application to practice. Professionals also need to update their expertisei as knowledge .and, methods .change_and deyelqpj One central purpose of continuing professional education is to bring practising professionals into contact with new knowledge and ideas Sometimes this is conceived in terms of general updating, sometimes as a stimulus to critical thinking and self evaluation, sometimes as the dissemination of a particular innovation, sometimes as part of the process of implementing a new mandatory policy... (Eraut, 1994, p. 25). Put briefly, but too simply, tivr^ontrasting .models, appear to influence continuing professional development: the competency-]ZM?d.§EE.ro.?.?ii-uncierpinning the National Vocational system and adopted to some extent by CCETSW for both qualifying and post-qualifying awards, and arijupprqach wW^^ and the learning process, and stresses the role of the professional as a reflective practitioner (Schön, 1987). The 'competency' model is based on functional analysis which breaks the job down into functional units and the units into elements each of which has to be separately assessed to cover a range of situations according to a list of performance criteria' (Eraut, 1994, p. 118) This model is inappropriate for education, training and professional development in social work because it results in fragmentation of the complexity of social work and lacks an holistic approach to the necessary integration of knowledge, values and skills and the processes whereby these are integrated and applied. This chapter bases professional development on the second approach, the reflective practitioner model. Schön (1987) acknowledges the need for academic rigour but also its limitations in the messy reality of practice (see also Payne, Chapter 10 and Adams, Chapter 21). By reflection and analysis, we can adapt and develop the theories we use to new, complex and out-of-the-ordinary situations. Our motivation for social work Why do we become social workers, and why should this be relevant to our personal and professional development? Motivation for social work, like social work itself, is varied and complex. Cree (1996) found that reasons for entering social work training were family background, significant life experience..of...loss, Ulnessj)r^sability,_arid adult choice including social work as a_. tion to care for individuals, as a means of 'changing_the_system' and promoting social justice or as a career. Rochford (1991) drew attention to the experience of loss,.both normal and exceptional, as a major factor in motivation for social work. Cree (1996) also highlights gender differences in motivation for social work. Men are entering a profession in which their promotion prospects are high but the qualities and abilities required of them are not stereotypically male. For Women, the opposite is true. Why does motivation matter, and why should it be an issue for / personal development? Think about your own motivation. Was it '*-• political, was it your experience of racial or gender discrimination, or /{/.$-did it arise from your personal experience, as a child or as an adult, ß* How do you think it influences your practice? "'' " \ We_need a personal elernent in motivation for social work whether it arises from our experience of structural oppression or of personal difficulty. It can give us compassion, empathy and insight into the lives of people with whom we work and a commitment to challenging injustice and discrimination. However, wemust not.be driven in our practice by our personal experience, attempt to impose the experiences which motivate us on our clients or users, or work out our agendas (personal or political) through their lives. How may we harness the positive and empowering aspects of our motivation „and ..avoid the potential danger of using our clients or users to meet our own needs rather than responding to theirs? Developing and rnaintaining self-awareness is one way, supervision, potentially, another. Self-awareness and reflection We need to develop our self-awareness and capacity for critical reflection in order to_ensure that our motivation and past experienceare.used ,/TC I L/ W ťl^ j—lt-urt to enhance our practice. Self-awareness is also necessary if we are to recognise our^impact on others. Do we convey authority and expertise where required? Do we convey a non-judgemental attitude to aspects of clients' lives which are potentially shocking, for example violence, abuse or deprivation? What sense of empowerment do we convey to our users? How do we remain aware of our impact on others? Self-awareness and critical self-reflection are also necessary to ensure confidence that our responses arise from the client's or uspi 's situation rather than our past or needs. This requires self-awarěness" and 'awareness of situations and topics which generate most personal anxiety to the worker since intense anxiety is likely to leadioinatien-tiqn, jpoor listening, and inappropriate_.res|)ojiafiS_Jtmi._jactíon' (tishman7l9947pT60)r"......... Finally, we need to use self-awareness and reflection to meet the complex demands of social work.; Carter et al. (1995) suggest that we experience in social work a tension between the -uniqueness of each situation and the need to develop generalised responses to 'familiar social work problems'. 'We have to think things through" for every case is unique. When we forget this, problems arise. If we simply label people as a "housing problem" or whatever, and then go through our "housing routine" we are liable to miss all sorts of things... Of course, we rely on routines: it would be intolerable if we had to work things out from first principles for each and every situation. However, ťhesej;Q.utine_s jhave to be open to feedback from Jjfr,e.situatiQn' (p. 8). They argue that lids"" requires both 'reflecting in action' and 'reflectiQiL.Q.n,ai:ttQnI. We need to develop a discipline of reflecting on what we have done and how we have behaved, 'reflection on action' (Schön, 1987) in order to learn, confirm good practice, analyse mistakes and develop alternative actions and responses. Questions contributing to reflection on action include: • How did I engage with that person or in that situation? • What previous experiences influenced me? o What did I do? • Why did I do it? • On reflection, how might I have responded differently, if at all? By practising such discipline, we may increasingly be able to 'reflect in practice', where questions have a more immediate focus and may include the following: • What am I feeling? • How am I presenting? • Do I need to change my approach or focus? • Why do I feel uncomfortable? Managing complexity We have noted the complex demands of social work, but its very essence is complex and ambiguous, involving tensions between a focus on the alleviation of individual distress and misery and on challenging structural oppression and inequality, and between meeting individual need, promoting empowerment, ensuring the protection of vulnerable children and adults, and carrying out functions of social work control. Practice is equally complex. For example, faced with families in poverty, in isolation, with difficulties in child care and control (Walker, 1995), what out of the range of relevant knowledge and theory do we draw on? What.focus_do we select? What methods do we employ? Equally, how do we manage the complexity of our feelings, of being overwhelmed, of feeling inadequate and helpless, of empathy, of frustration? Such complexity and need 'stirs up powerful and primitive feeling in all professionals' (Trowell, 1995, p. 195). One danger is that we become paralysed by attempting to manage all the complexity and by our inability to do so effectively. Walker (1995) warns of the dangers of the wish to be omnipotent: 'the belief that I could or should be brilliantly effective' (p. 56). An alternative danger is that we attempt to limit and simplify the complexity, for example, by: • providing 'concrete responses' such as providing a service or aid but ignoring the feelings and relationships which surround the problem; for example, providing a Zimmer frame may be necessary for the user's functioning but not sufficient for their well-being, because issues about dependency and anxiety about 'failing' may need to be addressed. • 'splitting' and 'projection'. 'Splitting arises from the existence of utterly contradictory feelings that seem impossible to countenance simultaneously and which are therefore kept in separate compartments... Projection occurs when a feeling or characteristic which in reality belongs to the self is first externalised and then ascribed to another person' (Brearley, 1991, p. 52). Splitting and projection are defence mechanisms which began in infancy in order to cope with the powerful good and bad primitive feelings and can be helpful essential mechanisms in coping as adults. As workers, however, if we use splitting and projection in relation to * our clients, users and work, we are in danger^^ .of ,.dis.tDXting.-.a complex reality. We have to be able to contain, for example: worry and concern for a mother on her own, depressed, in debt and without the very basic material props of parenting, for example a.washing machine; our anxiety about her child's emotional and physical needs; our anger with the political and social security system which allows if not promotes this;1 and resonances with our past and our childhood experience of need and dependency. If we split, for example by focusing entirely on the child's needs and vulnerability, or project, for example by rage at the system, we cannot manage and balance the complex task of addressing ways of improving resources and parental care, and, improving the ways in which the parent's and child's needs can be met. Jä_c_w_can___we_d^^^ manage such complexity? In part, we need to recognise this as a continuing area of .personal and professional^ deyelppment;,in part, it requires a commitment to the maintenance and development of self-, awareness; in part, it requires a capacity for reflection in and on action; and, in part, we need to be able to_emalyse_practice and there-_fpre_ learn ..from and build on previous experience. Practice supervision may offer the opportunity to examine our responses to complex cases with real needs, vulnerability and risks and engage in the same processes fór personal development and learning. We also need to be allowed to make mistakes and get things 'wrong' provided that we learn from the experience and are not dangerous to our clients. Managing uncertainty Uncertainty faces us in a number of ways. We face uncertainty about our value base asjwe are challenged to examine, for example, how racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism and other forms-of oppression may influence us, without; bur necessarily recognising this. In working with users andclients, we face uncertainty about how to respond appropriately, how to choose the 'right^_resp0nse. to the myriad of feelings, impressions, theories and experiences which form our working practice. Uncertainty is not unique to social work but is a component of 'professional' activity. More specifically, uncertainty in social work: arises because individuals. and their ...problems. ..are unique, there is no set causal link between a problem, a response and an outcome, risk assessment is problematic. (Kemshall and Pritchard, 1996), the organisational context has been constantly changing and the political context is hostile but unpredictable. Dealing with uncertainty means realising that_pften there is no right response, although there may be a wrong one. The danger here is that, again, we. try to simplify, which may involve: e demanding certainty and answers where none are available; • giving answers and information which are definite but may be wrong; • dealing.with the discrete parts of a problem which may have an immediate solution and ignoring the more messy and uncertain areas. Such strategies for denying uncertainty can be dangerous as they may lead us to impose 'certain'but. wrpngaction pnpur chentsor. users,.. How may we better deal with uncertainty? Perhaps we first have to recognise it as an essential part of life, not just social work! We need to consider how we deal with uncertainty in our lives, vvha^helps and what hinders. 'We need to avoid jumping to closed conclusions and .keep open the possibility of change as a result of reflecting in action and dialogue with others' (Carter et al., 1995, p. 9). We need to use the experience of training, of supervision and of our colleagues to help us examine our own ways of dealing with uncertainty and, where we find they are inappropriate, to explore and practise other ways. Managing change We have seen that the recent context of social work has been of rapid, constant and externally imposed change. Change_._is_ja.oJ; unique to social work. In_ ojor[.personal,. lives,. weJiaye_._tQ_adjip_t.to changes of biological maturation and ageing, and life cycle social and emotional changes. _ More generally, we need to be aware (Marris, 1974) that any major djange, bé it voluntary or imposed, will involve loss for the participants - aninitia].loss oftheirprevious 'taken for granted' view of the world, sense of security and established sense of meaning and purposes. Such loss is met with ambivalence, analogous to grief, involving conflict between contradictory impulses: tp remain...the same and keep what is valuable from the past,, and to.rnpye. oň, Marris argues that the management of change necessitates the _?_>_pres-_^. sion of ambivalence and conflicting impulses before the participants can move on to accept the change (whether it involves new perspectives, skills or organisational structures) and integrate it intoa^onti-nuity of. experience and meaning. Such an analysis helps us to understand why change, even where we can see that it brings rewards, is met with apparently irrational resistance. While such resistance to change is not intrinsically bad — for example, it may delay ill-thought out or ill-advised changes (Coulshed, 1991) - change is essential if an organisation is to be responsive to its environment ^nd to develop and thereby survive, and in order to develop better services and practice. In our personal and professional development, it is important to pay attention to how we manage change. At the extremes, do we 98 Joyce Lishman totally.resist.it or embrace it without thought for the past? We need to examine our personal responses because they will influence how we respond to clients or users who are facing change, for example in relationships, dependency or physical íocation, how we respond to changes in the organisation and delivery of social work, and how open weare to new ideas, without discarding hard-earned knowledge and skills from the past. Managing complexity, uncertainty and change is demanding and stressful, and it is impossible to prescribe methods and techniques to do so 'successfully'. What can help? At a personal level, we have seen the need to develop and maintain an awareness of our own .strengths and weaknesses, a capacity to tolerate and contain our irrational feel-ings and responses, and a discipline of self-critical reflection. To support and help us in this, we can use specific training courses, discussion with colleagues, mulling over particular cases and incidents, recording, reflection and evaluation, and perhaps, potentially most importantly, supervision. Supervision Supervision is an effective tool for professional staff development which managers would be foolish not to consider. However, many managers subvert the supervision process into a means of controlling or instructing staff,Jnstead of as a means of developing staff.„(Turner, 1995,'pľl27) ........................................ The above quotation indicates the potential dilemma and danger of supervision. It can become a management topi .of jaccotmtability_ari.d efficiency. Equally, it can..be us^ ment and thereby practice and service provision. What should you expect of supervision? Ideally, it should be provided on a reg^ar^andj'eliablejb^sig. It should involve mutual trust and an awareness _ofissues of_authpri^_Emd.rggp.Qngibilit5ii.it should provide support and an opportunity to express feelings and to_goJbelow the surface' in the analysis of problems and situations. It should address particular issues which.workers identify as_ problematic, including facing pain, anxiety, confusion,. vipÁenee and stressTlts content and process should be antij^ppressiye and anlin discriminatory, with a professional development focus of empowerment. It shouldJqcusjon yearning. There is a gap between what should happen and what actually does happen! Areas of discrepancy which will hinder professional development include: • the unavailability of supervision; • the abuse of power, for example where the dissemination of infor-■ mation is controlled or supervision is used to exercise the supervisor's power or control as negative power, for instance by blocking and restricting, or by punishment (Grimwood and Popplestone, 1993); • a lack of emotional or feeling support: 'Supervisors often cut off from the pain in clients' lives. The worker, unable to share and thereby receive support from her line manager, is lej?ťon her own with the loss and grief of her clients' (Hanmer and Statham, 1988, in Grimwood and Popplestone, 1993, p. 47). • a lack of acknowledgement and support in issues connected with violence: often as workers, we are left to deal with fears of and responses to violence as our personal responsibility rather than - being offered support and the opportunity for reflection, process and analysis in supervision. It is important to seek good supervision. In particular, it can help us to manage anxiety and confusion. Turner (1995, p. 126) argues that 'Many workers feel they must appear, to be coping, well. with, their work at all times. What they see as their less acceptable thoughts; feelings and actions are suppressed, denied and avoided, for fear of being seen as not a good enough worker. It is important for supervisors to demonstrate in supervision their own capacity to contain anxiety and remain thoughtful about whatever the worker brings, rather than avoiding the painful issues, rushing for solutions, or giving "neat" packages of instructions.' Such a Rapacity for containment,, empathy, reflection and their encouragement of analysis in depth can help us to cope with the pain, violence and anxiety we may encounter. It can also help us to become more able to take responsibility for pur own work, to_make pur.own.judgements and then to improve them. As Brown and Bourne (1996) argue, supervision is time for exploration,reflection, learning and problem-solving. Promoting and developing good practice and service provision The development of good social work practice and service delivery is a_collective ..;responsibility of all,qualified social workers. We need constantly to examine critically and review practice and service delivery. We need to identify what arethe..ingredien^pjjgwd^prac- tice' and how can they be applied elsewhere. We need to identify .areas for improvement and gaps in service delivery and responses to JLUu juyce juisnmun user need, in order to begin to change services and provide new ones. This is, of course, within a context of lack of resources. Community Care (1996) found that most social workers had to; refuse s.ervi,cgs„that clients neededbecause of a lack of resources. However, Community Care also regularly provides examples" of innovative developments in practice and service delivery to meet gaps in service provision or unmet need. We need to develop and maintain ways of learning from others: we should not in each unitary authority or voluntary organisation be reinventing wheels. How can we keep abreast of new developments which we mayusefully be able"toäpplý? One problem is the overload of information we receive an1a"ffiěTTěečl to select from it. Conferences and training courses are specific and therefore targeted clearly for us in terms óf application to our particular practice and service development needs, but they are expensive. However, they can put us in touch -with otiier workers' relevant experience in relatively informal but productive ways.......... We can learn by reading. Community Care provides relevant articles about good practice and service development. It also reviews relevant literature from "which we can select what may best apply to and develop our current expertise. More general texts may be useful at post-qualifying level (see further reading). We can engage in the formal post-qualifying training continuum. CCETSW sets out a framework for post-qualifying training which involves two levels: post-qualifying and advanced. The requirements are difficult to summarise and the details are set out in CCETSW Paper 31 (1990),. soon to be revised. The main features of the post-qualifying level are 'the development of competence, confidence and professional credibility beyond the qualifying level' and either the development, of specialist expertise in one area of practice or the responsibility for the management of an aspect of social work. At the advanced level, candidates may be assessed in practice, education and training, management or research, but all candidates have to demonstrate a range of competence including the analysis of practice .and seoice_deliyery,.the development and improvement.of services, the .critical evaluation of values, meqries, models, methods and policies, and the management ofinnovative change. -We. need, as the post-qualifying framework requires, to articulate gur_practice. We need to do.this, for example, in supervision in order to learn from what we do and change and develop our practice. We need to articulate our practice..to. colleagues from. ..otfrer_disciplines. We need to articulate our practice so that other social workers ..can learn from what we do.We may be working on behalf of our users andclients in excellent innovative w do not articulate this practice, others cannoy_earn from it and have to j. o/auTí-wt ťtrtw. L/njjťooiurLvti w-cL/ottyiy/rtcřn. jlvjl reinvent the wheel. V^ně^dtojarticulate. practice... f or ..the. political survival of the profession and our users, in order to demonstrate to the government, press and public what we do well (even though they may not necessarily listen). We need not^ur^y_toX4?.ntiíy-gQQ.d..practice, butalso tQ...eyaluate ,it. As Ian Shaw (1996) argues, evaluating practice has historically been a problematic aspect of social work. However, there are good reasons why we should engage in the evaluation of practice and service delivery. Evaluation examines our effectiveness and can help us improve it, can increase our accountability to users arid clients, develops our knowledge and identifies gaps in knowledge, and helps us develop new models of practice and service delivery. If we develop a new method, project or service, we need to examine how well it works for its users. More problematically, the continued funding of innovative projects is often linked with the evaluation of effectiveness where definitions of effectiveness may not necessarily be shared by runder and the project and its users. Evaluation, we need to recognise, can be part of a political and resource context. Nevertheless, we need to engage with it: as Ian Shaw (1996) argues, 'it holds the promise of keeping social work honest'. How to evaluate our practice can appear threatening, with connotations of scientific experimental method, although as Everitt et ah (1992) suggest and Everitt argues in Chapter 9 of this volume, the social work process of finding and collating evidence, hypothesis-forming and assessment, intervention and hypothesis-testing, review, further assessment, revision of intervention and further review is not dissimilar to qualitative research methodology. Educating and training the next generation There are inevitably many valid reasons for not becoming a practice teacher or providing input to social work eduction, including a lack of financial or career recognition, a lack of resources including staff, space and time, and a lack of organisational support where management is preoccupied with service delivery and cuts in resources. In such circumstances, educating and training the n.ext.gener.atio.n carjLbe-^een_as_.a luxury. Why should you become involved in practice teaching or any other teaching input to social work courses? Good r£asons_include the need to ensure the continuation of professional .service delivery to clients and users, the professional and. value_ component of generativity (Erikson, Í965), that we should put back into the profession as we have received, and the enhancement of our .. learning and expertise. Students question and challenge us in ways that ensure we explore, examine, reflect on and evaluate our practice. Teaching others often provides the^gtj)pj?orturd^.io_artículate our own practice, to question and examine what we do and why, and, if we are open to challenge, to identify gaps and failures in practice and provision. Students then provide a challenging external scrutiny of what we do. By educating and training them, we provide the future development of our profession, and workers who can learn from and develop our experience. Conclusion Personal and professional development, in this context, is a very broad agenda: it lasts a lifetime and depends on_djefiWtions. of jspdalj^ork and its functions. It can be undermined by ideology (for example, the emphasis on technical competence or managerialism), by a lack of access (by gender, class or ethnicity), by a lack of organisational support and reward, and by a lack of resources including time. This chapter "focuses on themes of sä|^^renessI^jreíIeČtÍoil and critical self-evaluation which underpin both personal and professional development, and not on models of development involving discrete technical competencies because social work is a complex, uncertain and vaiüe-based activity in which we work with people from different backgrounds who are likely to have experienced structural oppression, discrimination, personal difficulty, loss or tragedy. Despite the barriers identified, we owe it to our users and clients to maintain our personal and professional development and thereby contribute to the development and improvement of the social work practice and services they receive. Further reading Brown, A. and Bourne, I. (1996) The Social Work Supervisor: Supervision in Community, Day Care and Residential Settings (Buckingham, Open University Press). This book, although focusing on supervision, is invaluable in drawing attention to issues of proféssionaldevelopment and support for social workers and potential blocks to them. Carter, P., Jeffs, T. and Smith, M. K. (1995) Social Working (Basingstoke, Macmillan). This edited collection of chapters by practising social workers identifies major issues in professional development by analysing social work practice from the perspective of experienced social workers, including the main processes: a 'hands-on' approach to examining and articulating practice and learning from it. Eraut, M. (1994) Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence (London, Falmer Press). • This book contains a valuable multidisciplinary analysis of issues in professional development and pressures which deal with complexity. Shaw, I. (1996) Evaluating in Practice (Aldershot, Arena). This book presents a model of evaluating a practice based on the reality of social work and recent developments in qualitative methodology for doing and learning research. Yelldly, M. and Henkel, M. (1995) Learning and Teaching in Social Work: Towards Reflective Practice (London, Jessica Kingsley). This edited collection addresses issues in the post-professional education of social workers and related professionals/examining the concepts of professionalism, competence, knowledge and anti-racism, with an emphasis on how professionals learn and maintain a self-critical and reflective approach to practice.