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Why pursue a social work profession
Implications of social work practice
Implications of social work practice
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Social Work is an umbrella term as it can be broken up into several concentrations. Before I got into social work I only knew the perception that society held for these individuals. Many individuals believe social work is about removing children from homes and tearing families apart. This is not even close to the truth. We must be aware of these perceptions to have an effect on the community and make a difference. My perception of social work is defined as a helping profession that involves a number of tasks depending on the focus and route one takes. There are three main responsibilities that social workers do. They are advocates, resourcers and researchers. Advocates: Being an advocate is one of the duties of a social worker that stands
out to me. Advocating means being the voice of people who do not have one. Growing up, I have always considered myself as an advocate. When issues were presented I always wanted to do the right thing. Resourcer: When I think of social workers, resourcer also comes to mind. This means finding the proper resources around the community for individual client circumstances. I truly enjoy this role as I am always wanting to help people. I love connecting individuals to resources and providing them with some kind of relief. Researcher: Part of being a social worker also includes continuous research. I believe it is a social workers duty to continue taking in new information to keep up to date with policy and best practice. All my life I knew that I always wanted help people. There was nothing I enjoyed more than the feeling of being there for someone in need even if I did not receive a thank you. I never needed a thank you to feel a sense of happiness and peace. My first experience with volunteer work was sophomore year of high school. For a class, I was to do 12 hours of volunteer work. I decided to work at my church’s food pantry. My next line of volunteer work was from March 2014-May 2014 at Banneker Community Center at Fairview Elementary in Bloomington, IN. I provided structured after after-school programming to youth between the ages of six to eleven. This was wonderful experience as I was working with many children from lower-class families. I tutored kids one on one and in groups as well as monitoring kids during group activities. This was the first volunteer experience where I was witnessing true hardships these children were facing not only in school but personal life. Although I had a great experience working with these children, I wanted to expand my volunteer experience with a different population. After working with Banneker Community Center, my next opportunity for volunteer experience landed me at Interfaith Winter Shelter. This is a low-barrier shelter for the homeless population during winter months. This was eye opening to me as I saw the struggle these individuals have been through. To get turned away at other shelters I was happy they were able to find some relief at Interfaith. I realized that these individuals all have incredible stories and from my experience they were all very genuine and nice. The guest at this shelter truly appreciate having a warm place to sleep. It really changes the perspective most people have of the homeless population. Currently, I am senior at Indiana University in the Social Work program. I have had some wonderful influences in my life that have led to my decision to go forward with my masters in Social Work. I did not want to wait simply because I have the motivation and determination to complete my masters as soon as I can. I am eager to expand my knowledge and gain more experience with this major. I feel like the timing is perfect right now and I am looking forward to it.
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.
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.
To familiarize you with what social work is exactly I’ll provide you with a brief history about the career. I will not go too deep into it because I do not like to bore my reader. Social work began in in 1898 when a class was offered at Columbia University. It was a hit! Fortunately, the beginnings of social work paved the way of developing private and charitable organizations to the people who needed it the most. Until this very day, social workers are continuing to serve our society with their needs and recognizing our nation’s social problems and bringing them to the
"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. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession's focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living" (NASW code of ethics).
Their job is to mend situations best way possible. Most people believe social workers are horrible because how they are portrayed. They are always seen taking someone’s child(ren) with a parent fighting to keep them. It does not help that social media gets involved making matters worse just so that they can receive a bigger audience. An individual does not see many things on social media about all the good things social workers do for others. I feel as though if individuals were more open minded they will be able to see the good deed that is accomplished all the time. In order to want change there has to be individuals working for that change, instead of just talking about
This paper will explore what the primary mission of social work as a professional means to me. Through self-reflection of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, I will delve into why I chose social work as a career, the type of social worker I want to become, and ponder what challenges and obstacles may impede my chosen path.
Social work practice requires many skills, which need much practice themselves. This needs social work students to be open to trying within safe environments and scenario’s for mistake, such as with their peers and with emotional safe scenarios such as stress at University. This begins with a requirement to do 5 minutes of interviewing with a peer which includes many social work skills such as active listening, encouraging, paraphrasing, being/creating a welcoming and safe environment and other such basic and beginning skills.
Strengths and Limitations of Social Work Practice in Colombia: A View from Canadian Social Work
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.
When they are in need we must do everything in our power to make a change. Sometimes this involve advocating for them to see a change in social problems. The definition of a social worker states that they are trained person that carries out work with the aim of alleviating conditions of those in need (12). This often calls the need for social justice. After learning about social workers throughout history, I realize there’s multiple ways to help those in need (11). They’ve been able to implement social welfare for the public.
My understanding about the social work profession is one that works with a diverse group of people to better their well-being in all aspects. Social workers requires: responsibility, passion, and knowledge. The social worker has to understand their own personal cultural values, beliefs, and appreciate the multicultural identities of different people. The profession of social worker requires a lot of skills because they have different tasks and responsibilities. They are aware of social policies and programs for the diverse clients advocating.
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
I obtained my Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree from India in the year 2006. As with most countries around the world, the emergence of social work in India was from charity aiming to eliminate poverty. Gradually it shifted from philanthropy to rights based approach and then to organized social work. Community organization surfaced as the most central method of social work practice along with practice of casework. Although social work is much more structured in nature now, it still operates along the conventional perspective of social work. Social work is not even recognized as a profession in India. An indicator of an occupation being publicly recognized as a profession is exhibited by
Social workers level the playing field for individuals and families that have experienced hardships, terminal illnesses, mental health disorders and other adverse environmental situations that inhibit their ability to thrive within society. Social workers accomplish this by providing individuals and families the resources necessary to ensure that their needs are being met. Social workers serve an essential role to the functioning of our society, as they are committed and dedicated to increasing the quality of life for underprivileged community members. I fully intend on actively contributing to this endeavor, as I believe social workers have the responsibility to ensure that all community members have their needs met and the opportunity to
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