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Interest in social work profession
Career as a social worker
Career as a social worker
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Social Workers main objectives are to work for Social Justice, and invoke positive changes for future generations. Social work as I have come to know it is a helping profession on many levels. Social work is not concentrated on only one specific area of need, but targets many areas on a larger scale with vast opportunities in the field. As Hick (2006) states Those who choose social work as their profession do so for a variety of reasons. In general, they appear to be motivated by a combination of humanitarian and egalitarian values, and by a desire to understand how society works and how to make it better for everyone. Frequently, a person is motivated to become a social worker following exposure to injustice and oppression.(p.16.) This paper will entail my reflections on three main areas pertaining to my own personal experiences. I will describe the influence of my own life experiences, give my particular world view, and describe what advantages and disadvantages, power, and privileges I will bring to my interaction as a social worker. There are many factors that contribute to the influences of my life experiences. As a child I attended a variety of different schools; from the private school system to the public school system. During my high school years, I was home schooled. Home schooling was the best experience compared to the other alternatives. This positive schooling experience influenced my decision to currently continue my education through distance. My life’s experience influenced my decision to become a social worker. Without getting to far in detail I have experienced both sides of the pendulum. The negative experiences are what made me a stronger person. I have a profound understanding of the destruction of a... ... middle of paper ... ...ain to me as a female in our society. According to Carniol (2005) “The devaluation of women’s reproductive and other roles has involved, among other things, a mix of restrictions: legal, economic, social, and psychological. While different waves of feminism have challenged these complex restrictions, many gender inequalities remain. One of the most dangerous relics of patriarchal privilege is the belief that men have the right to boss women around and to punish them for disobedience.” (p. 24.) As far as power is concerned I have an invisible membership of dominance due to my preferred status as a privileged person. I realize I must be aware of this power and dominance so that I can be sensitive toward others who do not possess these privileges. I am still learning about power in social work. My current understanding is that there are different types of power.
I knew I loved to help others but it was not until I was an emerging adult that I knew what my calling was. My devotion to improve the quality of life for those who are disadvantaged is one of the reasons I have chosen to pursue a Master’s in Social Work. After obtaining my masters, I plan on diversifying my masters by getting licensed and becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I would like to study social work because I feel it will lead me directly to one of the most emotionally fulfilling careers available, as well as giving me the chance to combine helping people 's mental well being with their physical
Social work as a profession strives to help the welfare of those within the community whether its persons or families through advocacy. Often times clients are those who may be vulnerable and disadvantaged. Social workers aim to help people fulfill basic needs in their everyday lives and assist them by providing beneficial resources and intervention counseling. They do more than just help them in their current situation, it’s about helping them to survive and set attainable goals to live a fuller and better life for themselves, and most time for their families.
Throughout the Social Work Program at Winona State University-Rochester, I have been able to expand my knowledge about what it means to be a social worker. Prior to joining this program, when I thought of a social worker, I thought of someone who is highly motivated, compassionate, supportive, and someone who wants to make a difference in somebody’s life. Although this definition is true, overtime I have been able to expand this definition. Now, they are also someone who builds relationships with clients during what are often their lowest points in their lives and they are a person who often will put others needs before their own. Social workers use their knowledge about maintaining a person’s dignity and worth and rely on skills that help them understand people within their environment, and using their training to help people from all walks of life both on the micro level and the macro level.
There are people in our society that have committed their lives to helping people help themselves. Emerging as a profession in the early twentieth century, social work has become a vital component in society. The main goal of all social workers, no matter their area of expertise, is aimed at enriching and enhancing an individual's or a community's social or economic condition. Social workers interact with people and attempt to enhance the quality of life that people in a community live. They help people find the resources they need to help them out with problems they might have on a physical, emotional, or mental level.
According to the National Association of Social Work (NASW), Social work is defined as, “The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal.” As such to pursue a career as a Social worker one must contain some key values. Such values include: one must be able to provide help, resources, and benefits to people so that they can achieve their maximum potential in life, they must also uphold that all citizens should be treated equally despite their socioeconomic background. In addition, they have to be willing to maintain trustworthiness and sound adherence to moral ideals, value the dynamic reciprocal interactions
“The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” Also, stated in the Preamble, “social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients, which refers to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities… Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions to individuals ' needs and social problems. The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession 's history, are
In conclusion of this essay, the decisions that resulted of me studying to become a social worker are related to the modern life span perspective. The events that took place in my childhood have influenced the way I think and feel as an adolescent, and furthermore it has influence my entrance to young adulthood including my career decisions.
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people. Particular attention is paid to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Social work is a profession based on enhancing the capacity of people to participate in society and enhancing the capacity of society to include all people in it. Social workers address problems related to social, political, and economic
In conclusion, our culture seems to value material items over good deeds, beauty over intelligence, and superficial actions over meaningful accomplishments. Luckily for me my morals and beliefs have been instilled in me from a young age. My environment has helped me choose what field of work I want to work in. An individual who wants to become a licensed social worker needs to understand how neglect changes a person, abuse hardens an individual, suffering destroys a person’s inner peace, indifference and injustice disturbs a person; then he or she can become a social worker.
I would to begin this paper with an authentic definition of the Social Work field. Social work practices involves facilitating change—in other words, working with others, not doing something to them or for them(Dubois). Most people and social workers would always use the world ‘help’ in some way or form when defining social workers. Which is true but the confusion come in when asked where they work, who they assist and how they differ from other helping professions. Social workers can be sustain abuse therapists, child welfare specialists, and school social workers. We are not limited to just the department of social services. They can work in nursing homes, hospitals, and even in legislation.
Being a social worker entitles being able to identify those who are in need and helping them to respond to particular crisis such as abuse of a child and or spouse and helping the clients to get use to certain changes in their lives. For example, social workers promote change, problem solving in human relationships and they also enhance the well-being of individuals. To become a great social worker one must first have a heart. A social worker should care about an individual’s well-being and have problem solving skills to be able to help or guide an individual to get help with the everyday stresses of being in bad situations financially as well as mentally and psychologically. Being that social workers deal with individuals that do not necessarily have it easy in life, an individual should come into their life with open arms, ready to accept all the flaws and baggage this individual may have. Life is not easy for anyone, but we all have to remember an individual somewhere has it worse than most.
For years, when I thought of Social Workers, I imagined a person coming into a client’s home and taking their kids away for neglect. Later, I found out that social workers could go into so many dimensions, such as clinical social workers, case mangers, and even administrative positions in agency settings. Furthermore, I realized that I was maturing into an adult. For example, when I began telling people of my decisions to become a social worker, a lot ...
Social workers serve vulnerable populations. Social work as a profession offers numerous employment opportunities that allow one to work in a career field that encompasses one or more of the populations served that piques the social worker’s interest and passions.
Social Workers also approach the clients to not only resolve personal conflicts but to allow the client to function best within their environments. Social Work distinguishing characteristics include the emphasis on the person-in-environment model as well as its emphasis on social justice. Compared to other similar professions, Social Work has differing professional values and ethics that include appreciation to human diversity, understanding of social welfare policy and services, emphasis on both social and economic justice, as well as a strong foundation in education. The importance of Social Work includes numerous of explanations. Social Workers help countless of people navigate through major life challenges or setbacks to find hope as well as options to achieve greater things. Not only do Social Workers help individuals overcome problems but they also stand up for human rights and social justice to assist
families, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social workers are change agents and because of that, they aim to help people develop their skills and abilities to use resources provided to them to strengthen and improve their lives and communities to resolve problems. One of the main goal of social workers is to improve the well-being and lives of the most vulnerable populations, fight against poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and the underserviced population by emphasizing on the person-in-environment and social justice model. The social work profession, considerers the individuals’ internal and external struggles, while working with the individuals to examine their relationships, family, work environment, community, and other things that might impact them and identify ways to help address problems and challenges.