Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group A current focus and conversation around physical restraint on the political agenda/radar, in the media, and in social media, stimulated the original interest in having a plenary presentation session at the Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care Conference (SIRCC) in June 2019.
Presented by Dr Laura Steckley, a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Strathclyde, the plenary aimed to:
- facilitate consideration of physical restraint from multiple perspectives, including care leavers, direct practitioners, close-in managers, external managers, care inspectors
- help audience members hold some of the complexities around the practice of physical restraint in a meaningful way that aids understanding
- energise a collective will that turns into a collective endeavour to reduce and where possible eliminate physical restraint in residential child care establishments; and where physical restraints do occur, to increase the likelihood that they are experienced as an act of care rather than brutality
Following the presentation, a group of individuals came together and formed the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG). This Group, made up of people with care experience, practitioners, leaders, managers, policy leads and university colleagues, is examining what is happening now, what else needs to be known, and what else needs to happen in children's houses, services, policies, and wider systems to ensure the eradication of the harm caused by physical restraint.
In this video, produced for SIRCC 2020 online, Dr Laura Steckley from the University of Strathclyde and Lorraine Sillars and Gordon Main from CELCIS discuss the complexities of physical restraint, and reflect on the first year of SPRAG.
For SIRCC 2021, members, including a young person, produced this video outlining the history of the group, its current actions and share their reflections, beliefs, hopes, and aspirations regarding physical restraint in Scotland. They challenged SPRAG to think about next steps.
Physical restraint is an emotive subject, therefore some of this content may be difficult to watch.
Filmed for SIRCC 2022, members of SPRAG reflected on the progress and action of the group over the previous year and outlined the group’s aspirations for the year ahead.
SPRAG is a member-led group and has grown to its current size with representation from over 70 organisations from a range of sectors and perspectives, individuals and organisations across Scotland.
SPRAG is hosted by CELCIS.
SPRAG activities
The group is involved in a variety of activities designed to positively impact efforts to reduce and/or eliminate the use of physical restraint, while avoiding unintended and more harmful consequences. Activities cover the broad categories of ‘impact’, ‘influence’, and ‘outcomes’.
Vision
This vision statement reflects common ground – there are and will likely continue to be, healthy differences in perspective within the group.
‘We are committed to bringing about more effective, empathic, loving ways of holding children, young people and the adults who care for them in residential child care–in relationally rich environments, populated by adults who are properly equipped with requisite skills, knowledge and ways of being with children in the way that children need.
We will work towards making coercive forms of holding less or even unnecessary and, when children are restrained, it is carried out relationally and with care’
The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group
Priority areas for 2023
Priority focus areas for SPRAG in 2023 are:
- Continue to build close alignment with The Promise, building on key links with the Scottish Government, the Care inspectorate, policy makers and other sectors such as education, health, Scottish Police, Scottish Prison Service as well as related groups including Social Work Scotland & RRS. This includes collaborative working, for example previous piloting of the Care Inspectorate self-evaluation tool, and progressing efforts for consistency in the recording of restraint data and shared definitions.
- Continue to develop and implement a research agenda. Currently in action via the Physical Restraint Appreciative Inquiry (PRAI). This also supports the progression of developing opportunities to ‘measure the right things’ in relation to restraint and restrictive practice.
- Continue to develop SPRAG Reflection and Learning Forum (RALF). A regular, reflective and safe space for practitioners and managers to come together to focus on practice relating to restraint and co-regulation of children in their care and of the adults who care for them.
- Continued development of a suite of free, high-quality learning resources. Current efforts are focused on developing resources in relation to the complex themes of serious imminent harm and last resort.
- Increase our efforts around involving and listening to children, young people, and adults with care experience, and their families, and develop more robust, creative ways of doing this.
SPRAG and The Promise
‘Scotland must strive to become a nation that does not restrain its children’
As a group SPRAG was motivated and energised by the publication of The Promise – it consolidated and reaffirmed many of the conversations the group were having.
The Promise is represented on the group and Scottish Government have referenced SPRAG as close working partners in their recently published Keeping the Promise implementation plan.
Reflection and Action Learning Forum
In December 2022, SPRAG was successful in an application for The Promise Partnership funding to develop a Reflection and Action Learning Forum (RALF).
Hosted and facilitated by CELCIS and the University of Strathclyde, a steering group of SPRAG members will collaboratively support this forum between 2023-2025.
What is RALF?
RALF is a reflection and action learning forum that combines action learning sets (groups of people within a workplace that meet with the specific intention of solving workplace challenges), with reflective practice. It is a structured, facilitated space that uses reflective processes to challenge and creatively expand members perspectives and problem-solving capabilities.
Participants are not given advice, but the opportunity and ability to develop new ways of thinking around responses to children and young people's distress and the efforts to reduce or eliminate the use of physical restraint. Skilled facilitators will be trained and supported to provide Reflection and Action Learning Forums for cross-organisational groups of staff working in residential child care across Scotland and this model will cascade.
A steering group will be developed to shape the work, as well as track, measure and evaluate the impact.
What is the challenge RALF is responding to?
In listening to children and young people, they consistently tell us that they want to be loved, supported, and feel that those adults who care for them are always there for them.
The impact of restraint is significant on everyone involved and can be really damaging to the relationship between a child and the adult and could contribute to or re-trigger past trauma. In the busy and sometimes unpredictable environment of residential child care, spaces and structures for staff reflection can get easily side-lined by other demands and there can be no regular safe opportunities to reflect, learn and build solutions and alternatives to restraint.
A workforce supported through reflective practice, can respond, react, and build more supportive, loving relationships with the children and young people in their care.
What difference will RALF make?
By working through the process of reflective and active learning, leaders and managers will create organisational cultures, that support reflective practice and individuals and teams will have an increased capacity for reflection. This will allow them to remain in and improve relationships with the children and young people in their care and respond helpfully when children and young people are in distress. This will result in a workforce which feels increasingly valued, motivated, and confident in their ability to provide loving relationships, and ultimately there will be further safe and effective reduction of restraint across Scotland.
Sustaining RALF long term
SPRAG plans to develop guidance, tools and resources based on the learning from ongoing evaluations of RALF, with the learning and behaviours embedded within member’s own settings. This has the ability to facilitate transformational change across residential child care, and across social care.
How do I join?
The Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group meets online 6-weekly with the option for members to become involved in additional sub-group activities as they arise.
If you are interested in finding out more about SPRAG and how you might become involved, please get in touch with a member of our team at celcis@strath.ac.uk putting 'Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group' in the subject line.