Violet

During my years practising first as a Mental Welfare Officer, then as an Approved Social Worker and then as an AMHP, I’ve been in a few tight spots (being chased round a bungalow by an old man with dementia brandishing a shotgun being one that springs to mind). However, I have only rarely been actually physically assaulted.

I like to think that’s because I know how to keep myself safe and de-escalate potentially violent situations, but perhaps luck also has something to do with it. When I look at the situations in which I was assaulted, generally I can recognise that I’ve made mistakes of judgment (although sometimes they are completely unpredictable).

The Masked AMHP tells the sorry tale of when he was ambushed by a little old lady in his latest YouTube channel video. A warning to always be vigilant during MHA assessments.

June: An Assessment Under the Mental Health Act 1959

As the British Association of Social Workers has been celebrating its 50 years of existence, there has been a lot of discussion about whether or not social work was better back then. (By the way, I joined BASW as a student member in 1978.)

Over the years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve written several posts about my experience of social work in the early years of my career (which started as an “Assistant House Parent” in a children’s home in 1975).

This post is a description of an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1959 Act that I witnessed in 1976, when I got my first job as an actual social worker.

A comparison with the way in which assessments by AMHPs under the MHA 1983 are conducted today shows the huge changes in philosophy and practice that have taken place over the intervening years.