Social Justice And Self-Worth Analysis

I believe every social worker is required to possess strong values while creating their career. They have to be passionate about these values and truly understand them while working with every individual. There are no right or wrong values to believe in, however there are values that will be more beneficial to a social worker more than others. Two major values I find the most important is the idea of social justice and self-worth. These two values have be instilled into my life for as long as I can remember. I will continue to carry them with me throughout my career journey.
The first concept I strongly agree with is the concept of Social Justice. According to Havig (2013), “Social justice in a society is represented by fair and unbiased

treatment, freedom from discrimination, the elimination of institutionalized domination and oppression, and the redressing of inequality for members of historically oppressed groups through the creation of equal opportunity” (p. 1). While I believe this is a great definition, social justice to me, is fighting for the population that is unable to fight for themselves and giving them the power to know that they are no less of value than anyone else.
In my life, my family has always put a strong value on giving back and volunteering with my church group in order to help people who are in need. I have had amazing opportunities to change people’s lives for the better and provide them with the resources to help better themselves. I am thankful for these opportunities and I hope to be able to continue to give back in the future as a social worker.
As an adult, I see society in a different way than I did as a child.

Back then, I was innocent, and believed that the world had little to no tragedy. However, as I grow older I realize that there are so many aspects of a person’s life that prevents them from finding happiness as easy as I once thought it was. This has taught me to never judge a single person for what is happening in their life because they may be doing the best the can, but society is still failing them. This is what I believe the idea of social justice comes in. These are the people we have to work towards helping them, because no matter what their situation, they are still human and deserve to find their own happiness in this

world.
As a social work, I believe this value will carry me very far because I will be working with individuals who have issues finding happiness and I will have to look at their environment and see what is affecting their lives so significantly. I will need to advocate for them when their voice is among the unpopular and unheard. Havig (2013), wrote about the Empowerment theory, and the idea that the social worker is the ‘model of lived empowerment’ meaning they need to be the voice in both the, what and how of social justice. These individuals who are struggling and need help are not being heard, and it is our job to make sure they will be.
Self-worth, to me, is the imagine of yourself you store in your head and the greatness you could potentially amount to.

I believe that self-worth can either be positive or negative which is most greatly influenced by the environment around you. I also believe that self-worth is constantly changing depending on the roadblocks in your life or your successes. It may be difficult to create a positive self-image, but with the right tools and support, individuals can change their perspectives of themselves. Ryan (2013), defines self-worth as “The level of regard individuals have for themselves as a person and is viewed as an important outcome in its own right, given that it is an essential component of mental health that is associated intricately with how people think, feel and

behave.”
Growing up, my parents always did their best to provide me with all the resources to become anything I wanted to be. I had a constant reminder that as long as I put in the work, I was able to achieve every goal longed for. This is a very positive and motivating atmosphere to grow up in. However, even with support of your parents there is a struggle to keep a positive self-worth while going through middle school and high school. There are many changes happening in your life that will affect your self-image. Ryan (2013) explains the results from his experiment of middle school children and their self-worth throughout these changing years. A result I found interesting was that even when the student’s grades showed to be lower, the students were reporting back to their teacher that their academic performances were good, but their self-worth their peers did not change a lot. I believe this is because the students become more comfortable with their peers through the years and these are the people they can relate to the most since they are all going through the same changes together. The students do not want to admit to their teachers that they are not confident about the materials. They keep these feeling inside for their own self-image instead of sharing them with their teachers.
I have learned throughout the years that I will never be able to be great at everything, but I do have many strengths in my life. I have taught myself the importance of focusing on the positives rather than the negatives and that is what has improved my self-image in the long run. I can say now that my self-worth is at an incline because I know I am valuable and I refuse to let people take away my value.
As a social worker, I want to be able to create an atmosphere for individuals who are struggling with their self-worth to feel free to express themselves in a judgement free zone. I want to help them receive the resources to amount to everything they believe they can be to react their full potential. It is hard to keep a positive self-image when everything is going against you, however I believe that each individuals have their own strengths and the keep to positive self- worth would be to highlight those strengths. The negative thoughts will keep a negative self-image and therefore prevent an individual from wanting to change because their sight of the potential they have becomes blurry.
Both of the values of social justice and self-worth are major aspects of becoming a social work. I believe they are important in the everyday career as a social work because focusing on the positives of a person and eliminating the biases to treat everyone equal will create any individual that you are working with to trust you and make it easier for you to help them help themselves.