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Why social work is important
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Why social work is important
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What is “Common Sense” According to the Council on Social Work Education Statistics, As of 2012, there are 52,798 full-time social work majors and 453 educational social work programs across the United States. So why place an educational Program such as Social Work in just being based upon common sense? So what is Common sense? “Common sense is based on implying to logical reasoning, and is often misinterpreted as rational and accurate.” (Council On Social Work Education, 2012) The next question is Social Work just being common sense? I highly disagree. What about the hard knowledge of learning the fundamentals of Social Work? How would common sense help future social workers apply knowledge to Field practice? For instance, Common sense doesn’t come with sense on how to treat other cultures, and how to handle diversity. Common sense isn’t very common within individuals, not everyone has it. Not everyone can be social workers, just like not everyone can be doctors or lawyers. I believe that its more than “90% common sense and 10% of good heart”; It more about the passion to learn, gain knowledge, and applying the knowledge to your work. Once you have that, the role of being a social worker don’t feel like work, it feels more about doing something you love and wanting to make a difference. Social Work As a Profession To begin with, Jane Addams also known as the mother of social work, gain her inspiration into social work from England and its settlement houses. Because of her drive toward helping those in need, she built a settlement house of her own in 1889. Common sense didn’t drive Jane Addams towards the less fortunate individuals in Chicago; it was the desire to help people. (Farley, O. W., Smith, L. L., & Boyle, S. W., 2012) ... ... middle of paper ... ... common sense, then social workers wouldn’t be needed for helping others; if social work was based on common sense, knowledge wouldn’t be needed to be granted with any type of degree. The National Association of Social Workers, The Council on Social Work Education, & Schools Of Social Work wouldn’t exist if common sense was the main focus of Social Work. One Religion/Spirituality wouldn’t matter, as well as one background because people common sense will determine about one difference from another. To be specifically clear, Common sense isn’t that common in our world, we all are different in our own way. It just wouldn’t make sense to assume that common sense will be the base of Social Work. Behind the Knowledge, the practice, behind those who came before us and created Modern Social Work for what it is; nothing about the Social work world deals with common sense.
From the humble beginning of Social Work there have been many people who have tirelessly worked, fought, and dedicated their life advocating for the people in our world who are disadvantaged. Furthermore, many of these people have been women who not only were strong enough to fight for the rights of others, but also had to fight the forces whom thought that women where in some way second hand citizens themselves. These women were brave and determined enough to break out of the box that society placed them in, and stand up for the social injustices that they seen taking place, and try to make a difference. Of the many women from the early days of Social Work none fought harder for social reform than Grace Abbott. Grace Abbott spent her life fighting to enact legislation for the betterment of society as a whole. This work would eventually earn her the nickname “the mother of America’s forty-three million children.”
Two Works Cited Victoria Bissell Brown's introduction to Twenty Years at Hull-House explains the life of Jane Addams and her commitment to insight social change to problems that existed during the turn of the 20th century. As a reaction to the hardships of a changing industrial society, Addams decided to establish a settlement house in the West side of Chicago to help individuals who had suffered from the cruelties of industrialization. Rejecting the philosophies that stemmed from the Gilded Age, such as social Darwinism and the belief that human affairs were determined by natural law, Addams was a progressive who wanted government to be more responsive to the people.
From that day forward, Jane knew that something had to be done. She was an amazing woman and loved being able to help the less fortunate. Works Cited Addams, Jane, Twenty Years at Hull House, New York, Macmillan, 1910. Women’s History website #1. Women of Hull House http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/addamswomen/index.htm>.
As usual, women and blacks were taken away the chance of change from their original state. Women continued to endure suffrage by being perceived as an inferior and being pressed with the challenges in the home and workplace. Similarly, blacks continue to be obscured of rights, being treated as a non-humans and given the worst possible situations in any job or social matter. However, Jane Addams, founder of the Hull House, always seemed to have an open door to those in need. She worked to solve problems and provide better living and working conditions and advocating for workers. She also helped immigrants, setting an example for all people, regardless of the places they go (Doc 3).
The primary issue that was addressed in the Journal article, “Moral Reasoning of MSW Social Workers and the Influence of Education” written by Laura Kaplan, was that social workers make critical decisions on a daily basis that effect others. They influence their clients’ lives through giving timely and appropriate funding to them and their families, through deciding should a family stay together or should they have a better life with another family, or connecting the client with appropriate resources that can enhance their lives. The article addresses data from an array of students from various universities. The researcher posed these questions; “Would social workers use moral reasoning (what is right and what is wrong) more prevalent if it was taught through an individual class during your MSW graduate studies, or if you obtain any other undergraduate degree, or if the ethic course was integrated in the curriculum?”
She grew up without a mother, but had a prosperous father. Addams assisted with bringing attention to the opportunity of revolutionizing America’s approach toward the poor. In 1889, alongside her friend, Jane Addams, founded the Hull House in Chicago. The Hull House assisted underprivileged people who needed help, care and love. One of the challenges that Addams faced and wanted to overcome was to mandate legislation on the local, state and federal levels. By doing so it would allow all individuals to receive the assistance needed in spite of race, sex, religion or social class. Her desire was to be a self-sacrificing giver to the poor and advocate for women’s rights and change laws that would help put a stop to poverty. Addams advocated for anti child labor laws to limit the hours that a woman can work, mandate schooling for children and she wanted to protect immigrants from exploration. Addams took action to the needs of the community by starting a nursery, dispensary, playground, and gymnasium and provided kindergarten, day care facilities for children of working mothers and accommodating housing for young working women. In the reading, Democracy and Social Ethics, Addams identified that she saw that there were people being excluded in different aspects of society and was therefore actively involved or proactive in attempting to establish inclusion and equal opportunity for
In the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, there are many standards a social worker should uphold in order to promote a healthy and helpful relationship with the client. One such aptitude is Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, which is in section 1.05 of the NASW code of ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). There are three sections associated with this competency “Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths in all cultures”. It is assumed that “social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients”. As a final point “Social workers should obtain education” in order to understand cultural diversity and oppression in people (NASW, 2008, p. 9).
Image there was a career that revolved mainly around helping people; making sure they they have a place to sleep, food to eat, or just for moral support to motivate them to take that extra step. That career exists and it’s called social work. Social work is a job for advocates who help those lesser achieve whatever it is they need to live a better life. Today there are around 700,000 social workers in the field, but that wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Jane Addams (Boman 2). Jane Addams can be credited with starting the career of social work, and in the span of her life, has made many contributions to our society. Throughout her life Addams was the co-owner of the Hull House, a community home that housed immigrants, classes, and
Jane Addams was an important figure during the progressive era. For her, she believed that personal action will help in the search for solutions to the socia...
Richmond has made several contributions to Social Work, which is why she is known as one of the “founding mothers” of the profession. While Social Work has progressed and changed methods throughout the years, many of Richmond’s contributions are still utilized today. Specifically her ideas of scientific casework and the Person-In-Environment, or Systems theory, she was just beginning to uncover. Richmond is one of the main reasons Social Workers are so highly educated today. She took the charitable volunteer work of upper class women and created a greatly needed profession out of
Social work practice is a profession where it works alongside the ‘code of ethics’, which consists of formal statements which represent values of the professional community. National associations such as Britain state the core values within this field are human dignity and worth, social justice, service to humanity (human rights), integrity and competence. The professional field is regulated by the British Association of Social Work (BASW). The core values within social work are human rights, human dignity and social justice.... ...
As the police adapt to the social climate, teachers try new learning methods and those in the medical profession use new medicines, social workers must too adapt and develop with the times. Everything was once an experiment, and there cannot be progression if Social Workers are not prepared to alter their mind-sets and practice according to new evidence and research. Being research minded, and able to question yourself and the things you are taught is integral to being a good social worker, and one who will be able to enable and protect the service users they work for through an ever changing, developing society.
It is my belief that in order for someone in the social work profession to serve vulnerable populations it was intended to serve, it is imperative to use critical thinking and ethical decision making in tandem to achieve the optimal result. The balance is a delicate and often complex. It requires a close examination or critically thinking, of all the issues not just within yourself, but the community as a whole, the individuals within it, and the client population that the social work serves. The social work profession is built on the foundation that each individual has equal worth and individual rights to self determination. Some mistakenly believe that this means simply doing what is right, but then the decision making is not based on critical thinking and ethics but one’s personal beliefs and does not keep in guidelines with the ethical guidelines that governs social work practice. As stated on the web site for The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University (2009):
Many individuals from communities have devoted their time and efforts to do social work, a lot of these volunteers did their practice in churches before it was recognised as a profession. It was through social investigation and attempts to understand family situations that social work began to develop a profession. A lot of people such as teachers or lawyers believe that what they do is also ‘social work’ that is why social work is a very broad context. Social work is more than just ‘doing good’ and
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