Dignity and the right live safe environment

RCC 13 Support the development of socially aware behaviour with children and young people in residential childcare.

1.2 Explain the links between positive relationships and socially aware behaviour

1.3 Explain why a child or young person might actively seek out negative reinforcement through socially unacceptable behaviour.

When a child seeks out negative reinforcement through socially unacceptable behaviour they are using it as a means of drawing attention to themselves as a result of their needs not being met. By displaying socially unacceptable behaviour the child or young person causes a disruption that will elicit a response from the teacher or carer in an attempt to address the issue. A child or young person may also display socially unacceptable behaviour if they have a poor understanding of the subject being taught, have learning difficulties, due to low self-esteem issues or because of a lack of educational aspiration. The socially unacceptable behaviour may also be a learned behaviour or one that has previously elicited positive outcomes for the child or young person. Ac child or young person may also display socially

1.4 Summarise organisations own policies and procedures to support socially aware behaviour.

Bradstow schools own policies and procedures support the children and young people to be socially aware of their actions and actively focuses on assisting the young people to engage with their peers and the wider community. Bradstow School aims to provide daily informal access to community activities and the home staff run and supervise various group activities during the evenings and weekends with a focus on participation and building relationships between the young people. All staff also provide regular access to formal social activities in the community, regular education links in the community and work experience
opportunities for all children and young people within the school .The school uses a whole school approach to achieve in supporting the children and young people to become socially aware with their behaviour as both day side and home care side participate in providing life skills and strategies to enable the children and young people to express their needs and wants.

1.5 Explain the importance of using own actions to model socially aware behaviour

All professionals should model and exhibit socially aware behaviour in their actions and dealings with children and young persons as children learn about positive behaviour by watching others. Acting as a positive role model reinforces positive behavioural expectations and encourages the child or young person to copy that behaviour. To achieve this we should use positive language to give praise and to encourage children and through good and effective communication we also reinforce the development of socially aware behaviour.

The Children’s Act 1989 states that Physical Interventions and restraint can only be used where the level of support meets the individuals personal needs and where staff are correctly trained and competent in restraint to deliver interventions ensuring that the young person is not hurt.The Human Rights Act 1998 is legally enforceable and establishes important protections from abuse by state organisations or employees where the use of restraint, holding still and containing children and young people is concerned,staff must consider the rights of the child and the legal framework surrounding children’s rights, including the Human Rights Act (Human Rights Act 1998) and the European Conventions on the Rights of the Child, Consent and Capacity Assessment (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989

All UK countries issue guidance on restrictive physical interventions relevant to school, children’s homes and detention centres. The British Institute of Learning Disabilities publishes a code of practice for the use of physical interventions (BILD, 2006).

• To prevent injury to any person, including the young person being restrained

• To prevent serious damage to the property of any person including the child being restrained

* The size of the young person

* Any disabilities or mental health disorders the young person may have

When a physical intervention or restraint has taken place then it can have impacts on the values and relationships within a childcare setting. One of these impacts could be in the form of affecting the relationship of a child with staff as a direct result of a physical intervention being used . On occasions it can take staff and young people a long period of time to build strong and trusting relationships. When staff have to use a physical
intervention or restraint the young person may feel that the connection or trust between them has been broken after experiencing a physical intervention and they may become angry or upset about being restrained and may believe that the restraint was not justified. The young person may also find it very difficult to re-engage with that member of staff after

the incident has occurred so this would undoubtedly have an impact on their relationship in the long term . The young person or child may also have the view that during the physical intervention that excessive or unnecessary force was used and this would result in the child or young person finding it hard to express any future worries or concerns they have to that member of staff. The child or young person may not understand why a physical intervention or restraint has been required so it would be important to give the young person an opportunity to discuss the incident shortly after for staff to explain or justify why the restraint or physical intervention was used and discussing what could be done differently to avoid a physical intervention or restraint or to reduce the risk of interventions being used in the future.

Using a restraint or intervention without an acceptable justification is breaching the young person’s rights and is therefore using unnecessary force to restrain a young person. All children and young people have a right to be protected from harm and abuse so if a staff member restrains a young person without sufficient cause or reason this can be classed as physical abuse and is abusing the child’s human rights.

6.4 Describe the post incident support needed for a child or young person after an instance of restraint

Gaining valuable feedback from the young person can help to minimize the risk of interventions being used in the future and can help to de-escalate future situations which may occur.

Recording and logging feedback helps staff to gather important information that can be used to analyse previous incidents, staff can become aware of behaviour patterns or certain triggers of behaviours that could lead to an incident. This will enable staff to develop specific and accurate strategies to de-escalate behaviour and prevent physical interventions from being used in the future. The young person or child can inform staff of situations that make them feel vulnerable or prone to exhibiting violent or self-injurious behaviour. Staff can then look to alter the environment or give support to the young person in order to prevent the incident from occurring.