Poverty, parenting and social exclusion: e-learning course
Published: 2008 | Free to use | Learning Management System compatible
Poverty is one of the most common features of families whose children come to the
attention of social workers, yet many of the issues associated with poverty may fail to
be properly recognised by professionals dealing with these families.
Poverty can make peoples' lives much harder and excludes some people from life chances that others take for granted. Poverty makes parenting a greater challenge and can impair the health and development of children. It is accepted that families living in poverty are over represented as users of some children’s and families’ services, including those of an involuntary rather than voluntary nature.
It is therefore essential for all child welfare workers to have an understanding of the nature and impact that poverty and social exclusion have on parenting, in order to facilitate access to the 'right services at the right time'.
This e-learning course has not been updated since October 2008. It may not reflect current policy but still provides valuable practice guidance.
Course modules
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Poverty is... Open
This resource introduces the idea of social exclusion as well as formal definitions of poverty and service user definitions of poverty.
A series of video interviews with service users.
This learning object will help you to:
- describe some of the practical ways in which poverty and social exclusion affect the lives of families with children in the UK
- describe some of the emotional and psychological impacts of poverty and social exclusion on the lives of families with children
Full description
Understanding the various definitions of poverty is a very complicated task, but this e-learning resource is designed to help you see beyond technical definitions and to understand how poverty changes people’s lives.
After looking at formal definitions in the introduction, you will then be asked to complete the phrase: 'Poverty is...' in a number of ways. You will then watch a group of family members who have experienced or are experiencing poverty complete the phrase.
You will be asked to compare your answers and reflect upon: a) the different aspects and implications of poverty and social exclusion on the day-to-day lives of families and b) how social workers may make judgements about people’s circumstances and behaviour.
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Choices... what choices? Open
This resource follows a case study of a family and explores some of the difficult choices faced by parents in poverty, as well as the support services that are available parents.
An interactive case study.
Following the completion of this learning object, students will be able to:
- develop your understanding of the ways poverty and social exclusion impact on the lives of children and families in the UK
- describe some of the support services and networks that can help families living in poverty
Full description
Parents living in poverty face a complex set of issues at individual, family and community levels that make parenting more difficult.
This e-learning resource explores a case study of a family to try to gain an understanding of some of the difficult choices faced by parents in poverty, as well as support services that could help parents cope.
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What is ‘povertyism’? Open
This resource introduces the concept of ‘povertyism’ and includes video accounts from service users giving examples of how they feel 'povertyism' can be perpetuated by professionals and agencies.
Service user opinions on discrimination.
This learning object will help you to:
- explore 'povertyism' and some ways in which people living in poverty in the UK experience discrimination and oppression
- develop your understanding of ways in which social work practitioners and agencies can compound 'povertyism'
Full description
Poverty affects children from very different backgrounds. Discrimination on the bases of disability, race or immigration status means that some sections of the population are significantly over represented amongst poor families. However, many families living in poverty also report facing discrimination on the basis of being poor. This is compounded when involved with child welfare services.
This e-learning resource explores the way this discrimination works and seeks to help make practitioners aware of some of the implications. Users will examine ways socially excluded individuals may be discriminated against for being poor (or ‘povertyism’).
Users will then watch some family members present some ways in which they feel povertyism is being perpetuated by professionals and agencies. This is followed by a conclusion and a final video message.
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Service user perspectives on good practice Open
The main focus of this resource is on the qualities that families value in professionals which help to promote positive relationships
A series of video interviews with service users.
This learning object will help you to:
- understand how good practice with families living in poverty is built on positive professional attitudes
- understand how fundamental attitudes, such as respect and trust are valued by parents
- explore some of the steps practitioners can take to promote positive relationships with parents
Full description
When using services, parents have reported that they encounter discriminatory attitudes from some professionals on the basis that they are poor. This e-learning resource seeks to help you understand the positive steps that can be taken to build good relationships with parents in poverty.
When using services, parents have reported that they encounter discriminatory attitudes from some professionals on the basis that they are poor. This e-learning resource seeks to help you understand the positive steps that can be taken to build good relationships with parents in poverty.
Users are then asked to look at some of the steps that families feel practitioners can take to make a positive difference in their work with a family that is living in poverty. This is followed by a conclusion and a final video message.
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Values, parenting and professional roles Open
This resource focuses on the personal values that practioners can bring to their daily role and seeks to help make them aware of the impact and implications that these can have.
Self reflection activity.
This learning object will help you to:
- develop an understanding of the values that you bring to working with families in poverty
- reflect on how these values might impact unhelpfully on understanding parental behaviour
- become aware of your responsibilities for ethical practice as supported by your professional codes of conduct
Full description
All of us who work with families carry into our work a whole set of beliefs and values about family life and how children should be cared for. This e-learning resource is designed to make users aware of these personal values and how they might impact on their practice.
This e-learning resource explores the way that personal values can effect the way that families are dealt with and seeks to help make practitioners aware of the impact and implications that this can have.
The user is asked to capture their initial thoughts relating to three case study images depicting different aspects of family life. Afterwards, three child care professionals discuss their thoughts on each case study and the care that they would provide.
After listening to these extracts the user is asked to reflect upon whether these individuals allowed their personal values and beliefs to affect the way that they responded to each case study. This is followed by a conclusion highlighting the codes of practice for child care professionals.
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Incorporating an understanding of poverty into assessments of children and their families Open
This resource focusses on highlighting some of the complex issues of poverty and social exclusion that can arise during assessments of children and their families.
An interactive case study.
This learning object will help you to:
- develop your understanding of the ways poverty and social exclusion impact on the lives of children and families in the UK
- describe some of the support services and networks that can help families living in poverty
Full description
Practitioners often have to undertake assessments of children and their families who are living in poverty. To help improve the consistency and quality of these assessments the Government introduced the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families.
This e-learning resource lets you explore the framework and its many dimensions. With the help of Barbara, a social worker, users will use the framework to assess a family, to help you to understand the needs of children and families in your daily role.
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What resources can you access to help you support families? Open
This resource uses a case study to look at an assessment of possible neglect and the support services that could be of assistance.
An interactive case study.
This learning object will help you to:
- reflect on the impact of poverty on parental capacity and child development in the context of safeguarding children
- develop your understanding of resources to support families living in poverty
- increase knowledge of access to and availability of resources to support families
Full description
Research on families involved with child protection services in the UK reveals that many share the common experiences of living on a low income, suffering housing difficulties, and social isolation.
The children and families experiencing these factors may often feel that they have few choices available to help them.
This e-learning resource explores the complex issues that often surround these children and families. Through a case study, users will have the chance to reflect on an assessment of possible neglect and support services that could be of assistance to them. Users can then compare their reflections with the findings of the social workers who undertook the assessment and find out more about the possible services available to the family.
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How sensitive to poverty and social exclusion are you in your daily practice? Open
This resource uses six different scenarios to help assess the users’ level of sensitivity to poverty in their daily practice
An interactive survey based on six different scenarios.
This learning object will help you to:
- develop your understanding of the values that you bring to working with families living in poverty
- reflect on how your values and behaviours might impact on families living in poverty with whom you work
- explore sensitive ways of working with families that are consistent with anti-oppressive, partnership-based practice
Full description
Despite poverty and social exclusion being common characteristics of families involved in the child protection system, there is evidence to suggest that professionals struggle to truly incorporate an understanding of the impact of poverty in their assessments and interventions.
In practice, social workers and other professionals continue to have difficulty in making sense of the complex interplay between poverty, social deprivation, parental capacity and children's development.
This e-learning resource will enable users to explore their own sensitivity to poverty with the help of six separate scenarios, each highlighting a different issue faced by families living in poverty. After they have worked through the six scenarios, they will be able to see their level of sensitivity to poverty and social exclusion. Users will then be able to match their responses to our examples of how to deal with the situations in a sensitive manner, reading our ideas behind each approach.
The e-learning resource concludes with a short video clip of a family member relating the importance of a sensitive attitude towards poverty.
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How can your agency support you in accessing and using knowledge to be poverty aware? Open
The main focus of this resource is to explore the different types of knowledge that exist to help make practioners ‘poverty aware’.
Self-reflection activity.
This learning object will help you to:
- understand key aspects of the potential role played by the agency as well as an individual member of staff in maximising understanding and addressing the relationship between poverty, social exclusion and parenting
- identify the agency and organisational support on which you should be able to count in your work with parents
- be able to feel confident in exploring, along with colleagues, a number of ways in which your agency can increase it's capacity to be 'poverty aware'
Full description
It is now increasingly understood that there are different types of knowledge, all of which contribute to the ability of people working in children’s services to do their jobs well. Understanding the types of knowledge that are available, and having access to this knowledge is an important aspect for anybody who is working with families that are living in poverty.
The first part of this e-learning resource explores the different types of knowledge that exists to aid users in their day-to-day work.
Having been introduced to the different types of knowledge, a series of questions will enable users to rate how their agency performs in allowing and encouraging them to access and disseminate the different types of knowledge. Once they have reflected on this they will be able to see our suggestions on how to enhance the performance of their agency in the areas that they felt could be improved.
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Additional resource: Mo Roberts video interview Open
A key aspect of the development of these e-learning resources was the opportunity for families living in poverty, or who have experienced poverty, to share their experiences with us through a series of video interviews.
In one such interview, we talked to Moraene (Mo) Roberts, who has worked with the charity ATD Fourth World for many years and who has worked with many families in poverty. While we have included excerpts in the e-learning resources from other family members, we thought her experiences and insights into the issues of poverty and social exclusion warranted the inclusion of her entire interview here. It provides a very useful overview of the issues facing families living in poverty and some key lessons for practitioners who are in contact with these families.
Follow the link below to watch Mo share her experiences of living in poverty and working with families who find themselves in poverty.
The interview is unedited and lasts approximately 20 minutes, covering many areas, some of which are highlighted below:
- What is poverty?
- The impact of poverty on individuals.
- Negative attitudes received from social care workers as a result of living in poverty?
- How do you improve practice when dealing with parents living in poverty?
- What positive attitudes can social care workers bring to working with families in poverty?
- What difference can changing ones approach towards families living in poverty have?
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Additional resource: Quiz - Poverty and social exclusion amongst children and families in the UK: facts and figures Open
During the production of the learning resources we have put together a collection of facts and figures relating to poverty, parenting and social exclusion, which we have turned into a fun and easy to use quiz.
We hope you will use these to support your learning and to increase your background understanding of the topic.
On completion of this learning object you will be able to:
- describe the concepts of poverty and social exclusion and the different ways these are defined
- outline key statistical data on the extent and nature of poverty and social exclusion in the UK for families and children
Course details
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Who they are suitable for Open
These resources are suitable for students studying towards the Social Work degree, educators and practising social workers.
Project background Open
SCIE would like to thank ATD Fourth World, and Matt Davies and Mo Roberts in particular, for helping SCIE to successfully involve the families in this project. We would also like to thank all the families themselves, who peer reviewed the resources, advised on their content and allowed us to film them in a series of video interviews, where they shared their insights into living with poverty.
Please visit the ATD fourth world website to find out more about their work.
Terms of useOpen
All material in these resources, including text, graphics, photographs, video and audio is copyright of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), unless otherwise stated. Use of these resources, and import of the resources into Learning Management Systems for educational purposes is freely permitted, but commercial use of any of SCIE’s learning resources is not authorised unless permission is first obtained in writing.
Please note these courses are provided free of charge on an ‘as seen’ basis. Although SCIE’s courses have been used over many years with almost no reported problems, SCIE cannot provide technical support for their implementation or to investigate or fix any reported technical problems, nor does it warrant that they are fully compliant with all or any technical platform.
Any known issue with an individual course is noted on the opening page of that course.
This course was developed using a technology called Adobe Flash, which is not compatible with any Apple/Android platform, and may not work on any mobile device.
Learning Management System compatibleOpen
This course is fully SCORM compliant. That means they can be loaded into a Learning Management System (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), such as WebCT, Blackboard or Moodle, and accessed locally.
Please note that this course was not designed to export any scores or track progress throughout the resource. Therefore, this course can be freely accessed by users, but there will be no tracking or grading functionality.
To obtain the SCORM-compliant version of this course, please contact us.
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