Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Realization and reflection about personal development
Examine the importance of ethics in social work practice
Understanding social work ethics
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Understanding the impact of past experiences, the resulting feelings and beliefs and the resulting impact on how individuals view the world effects the way individuals in a social work perspective approach practice (Chenoweth & Mcauliffe, 2005). Gambrill (2005) argues about the importance of self-knowledge in understanding an individuals own strengths and limitations, while Thompson (2000) expanded on this idea including understanding how the use of self impacts on theory and knowledge. This essay will provide a reflective description and analysis of the impact of important personal and professional practice on my future practice in the social work profession. First a descriptive overview of key past family issue will be provided and a reflective analysis of the resulting impact on my personality development and implications for future practice will be stated. Second a brief overview of volunteering, work and education experience will be described and linked to personality traits and possible influences on future practice. Third using theory, personality traits will be described analysed in regards to implications for practice. Forth theory will be used to link personality traits with potential conflict management styles and the impact this will have on future practice. Finally potential practice frameworks will be identified and justified in relation to my individual personality traits. The impact of spirituality will not be examined in this essay as I do not feel spirituality is an important part of my life. The impact of extended family members will also not be examined because they live interstate and as a result I only see them once a year.
Past Family Issues
Single Parent Family- Absent mother
My parents married when I wa...
... middle of paper ...
...sions and cautions. Social work, 41(3), 296-305. doi:10.1093/sw/41.3.296 Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1992). Effects of optimism on psychological and physical well-being: Theoretical overview and empirical update. Cognitive therapy and research, 16(2), 201-
228. doi:10.1007/BF01173489
Schlenker, B. R., & Leary, M. R. (1982). Social anxiety and self-presentation: A conceptualization model. Psychological bulletin, 92(3), 641. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.92.3.641 Van Willigen, M. (2000). Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course.
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social
Sciences, 55(5), S308-S318. doi:10.1093/geronb/55.5.S308
Yelsma, P., & Brown, C. T. (1985). Gender roles, biological sex, and predisposition to conflict management. Sex Roles, 12(7-8), 731-747.
doi:03600025/85/04000731S04.50/0
Morales, A., Sheafor, B. W., & Scott, M. E. (2012). Social work: a profession of many faces. (12th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
In this article, the author, Esther Urdang, shows the readers how self-awareness is a necessity in the field of social work. She notes that being more self-aware protects social workers from things such as inappropriate relationships, burnout and not following necessary ethics. Urdang explains how specific casework, similarities between the client and worker, mental disability, involvement in a client’s personal life and self-disclosure can aid in developing inappropriate relationships. Towards the end of her article, she further emphasizes how social work education should focus on helping students become more secure in themselves and their experiences so they know how this affects their work (Urdang, 2010).
This class, Social Work Theory & Practice was made to be able to introduce me to social work theories, ideas, and skills needed to work in the social work profession. This class main tool used was a book called A Brief Introduction of Social Work Theory by David Howe which discusses social work theories in a compressive and explainable way. This class is important to my higher learning because it break down the theories that I will need to use during my practice and a...
Professionalism in the social work field goes beyond licensure and expertise (Cournoyer, 2014). According to Cournoyer (2014), social work professionalism encompasses the concepts of integrity, self-efficacy and knowledge, self-understanding and self-control, and social support (Cournoyer, 2014). Embedded in social work professionalism is the person-environment perspective, which posits that our personal attributes, interactions and relationships with others, and environment influence a social worker’s practice. Cournoyer stresses that it is a social worker’s responsibility to acknowledge and regulate his or her personal biases, ideologies, and beliefs when working with clients in order to prevent them from negatively impacting the therapeutic
Thompson, N (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice, Palgrave, MacMillan (Second Edition) Hampshire (Supplementary Course Reader)
In social work profession, it is notably important that a practitioner be able recognize aspects of their decision making that may be motivated by uncontrollable circumstances such as past experiences, family values, and personal values. Uncontrollable circumstances, such as the examples listed above, all attribute to personal biases a practitioner may display when working with individuals, groups, families, or communities. A personal bias is the negative or positive perspective or demeanor, both knowingly and unknowingly, of any particular individual, or group of individuals, based on different diversity factors that may skew the way that an individual interacts or perceives an individual or group (Miller, Cahn, Anderson-Nathe, Cause, Bender, 2013). Therefore, as a social worker, the importance of practicing self-awareness is that it helps the practitioner to shuffle through personal biases, and in return, aid in social justice and be effectively responsive to diversity factors in the practice setting (Bender, Negi, Fowler, 2010).
Assessment is a basic skill of generalist social workers. As my current place of employment does not employ any defined assessment, I will utilize information from a generalist text and a sample assessment. The parameters of a generalist assessment are often defined by the specific practise agency (Birkenmaier, Berg-Weger, & Dewees, 2011). The assessment is utilized to identify relevant information such as demographics and the major areas for work such as the client’s goals (Birkenmaier et al., 2011). Many theories such as psychoanalytic or strengths perspective can influence a generalist assessment based on the assessing social worker’s theoretical preference (Birkenmaier et al., 2011). The sample generalist assessment used focuses on the client’s: living skills; health and disability; educationemployment; legal issues; housing; significant relationships; understanding of the issue; demographics; and crisis management (National Council of Social Service, 2006). The social worker has the opportunity to delve further into those areas if deemed necessary by their agency (National Council of Social Service, 2006).
Working with others and improving own learning and performance are highly essential skills in social work. In this essay I will reflect on how well I have developed these two skills and what I need to do to improve them.
The following paper aims to discuss and analyze the way in which my personal values intersect with the values I hold as most important within the profession of social work. It would stand to reason that these values would stand on common ground; however, there are places where my personal and professional values diverge. These conflicts may prove to be problematic within my chosen career unless I find a way to prioritize my values, or find ways for them to work harmoniously with each other.
Wilson, K. et. al., 2011. Social Work ' Introduction to Contemporary Practice'. 2nd ed. Essex, England.: Pearson Education Ltd .
Combining a passion with a career, such as social work, is a beautiful thing. Social work is a challenging, yet rewarding field of work that many empathetic individuals have taken the role of to make a difference in the lives of people of all ages. The roles of a social worker are to shield vulnerable people, develop relationships, assess client’s needs, and identify people and communities in need of help (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S Department of Labor). Social work is a physically, mentally, and emotionally draining field of work, involves low income, and unappreciative clients, but social workers do not choose this occupation for the income but for the outcome (Paradis 3-4). Helping people discover and determine goals within themselves
Social Work is a profession that prides itself on the ability to cultivate positive relationships with people who may be very different from us. There may be differences in age, race, personality, gender, socioeconomic status, health, sexual orientation, rank, power, and privilege, as well as beliefs regarding religion and politics. The experience of these differences can cause a Social Worker to feel emotionally and cognitively disturbed. The ability to become aware of and consciously attend to these internal disturbances can positively affect the quality of relationship we are able to
The field of social work is one that requires much self-reflection on the part of the worker. In doing so, it helps the worker better understand his or her own emotions and the thought processes that these emotions come from. The goal of this paper is to provide my own self-reflection, relating it to my own emotional intelligence in the domains of relationships, tolerance, flexibility, self-management, and emotional awareness, and my future plans and goals in Widener University’s MSW program.
The social work profession is defined as “a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people (ISFW, ‘Global Definition of Social Work’, 2016).” The definition may be true about the profession but it is more in depth than just that. To me, the profession’s primary focus is to help others through life as much as we can while letting them make their own choices and guiding them. In society, social workers are utilized in many different nonprofit and government roles. They serve the community in many different ways from monitoring parent visits to helping people through mental illnesses. Human beings are so complex and things that happen
My strong interests in music, good food, and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom may seem broad, but they are the essentials for my aspiration in life. These passions are the incentives of how to be a happier and more successful person for me to become.