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An essay on experience as a social worker
An essay on experience as a social worker
An essay on experience as a social worker
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Introduction Being aware of oneself as a social worker is imperative if one plans to be an effective and competent social worker. There will be many incidents and situations social workers may chance upon in their professional work, which may present some difficulty concerning the next step to take in working with a client. Being aware is the first step. Background Information The family subset that will be explored in this paper is a mother and a son dyad that I worked with in my internship last year. The mother, who will be referred to as Ms. Patrick and her son, who will be referred to as Sam were having difficulties at home. Ms. Patrick is a widowed White female in her late-fifties and her son, Sam, is a Bi-racial (African- American/White) 16-year-old male. Sam is the youngest child of Ms. Patrick and her deceased husband. Ms. Patrick and her deceased husband had six children, including Sam. Sam is the only child left, living in the household. Ms. Patrick stated she was “in a battle with her son for control”. Ms. Patrick described her son as disrespectful and disobedient. Ms. Patrick sought therapy first; she wanted her son to join her in future sessions. Ms. Patrick sought therapy, because she wanted to figure out if there was a way she could change herself to fix her son. Sam did come into therapy at his mother’s insistence, in later sessions. Problem Identified During a session alone with Sam, he described his mother as being rash and irresponsible. Sam stated that at times his mother would call him the “N” word, especially when she was extremely mad at him. Sam quickly recovered and stated that his mother was not a racist. At that moment, I could comprehend partially why Sam would not have any respect for his mo... ... middle of paper ... ...ocial work practice, I believe I will encounter not only clients who hold discriminating beliefs, but co-workers, supervisors, and other professionals that I will need to collaborate with on the behalf of my clients. Conclusion Social workers may in their professional careers, be faced with situations which may cause them to question the next step. If social workers uphold their ethical standards, most challenging situations will be handled in a way that is fair to the client. Social workers must be aware of themselves as therapist in order to be an effective professional. References Anderson, R. E., Carter, I. E. & Lowe, G. (1999). Human behavior in the social environment: A social systems approach. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter. Nichols, M. & Schwartz, R. (2008). Family Therapy: Concepts and methods (8th Ed). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Johnson, M. M. & Rhodes, R. (2010). Human behavior and the larger social environment: A new synthesis (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Zastrow, C. H., & Krist-Ashman, K. K. (2013). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (9 ed.). Belmont:
Gladding, S. T. (2010). Family therapy: History, theory, and practice (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Napier provides a crucial exploration of the therapy of a family struggling with battles for the structure of their family and battles to define and grow their relationships with one another. Napier and Whitaker seamlessly and purposely work with each family member, educating and
Nichols, M. P. (2010). Family therapy concepts and methods (9 ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Social workers focus on the interactions of people and environment in order to improve conditions to help restore and maximize the capabilities to function in society. They must possess the ability to make ethical decisions within various contexts of the profession. This can vary from clinical work in either a mental health facility to child welfare in human service agencies.
As a social work professional, you must take into account your own personal values before you can be an effective worker in this field. Social workers sometimes need to put their own values aside when working with clients who don’t share their same ideals. Clients are diverse and are not going to always have the same values that the worker has. Social workers need to be professional and adhere to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) guidelines when working with any client.
Duty, G. (2010, December 10). Family Systems Therapy. Lecture presented at Principles of Counseling Class Notes, Bethany.
Nichols, M. P. (2011). The essentials of family therapy. Boston, Ma.: Allyn and Bacon. (Original work published 5th)
Goldenberg, H. & Goldenberg, I. (2013). Family therapy: An overview (8th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Gehart, D. (2014). Mastering competencies in family therapy: A practical guide to theories and clinical case documentation. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
This journal will reflect how I think family has an influence on how people treat others in a society. I interview my great aunt about race and racism. I expressed how my great grandmother being adopted by white people, shaped our thoughts about other races. I explain how my family is similar to African American families in the United States. I expressed my views on race and racism. Last I discussed how I will make sure my children, and their children share the same views as I about race and racism.
“Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner. Social workers are to be aware of this profession missions, values ethical principal and ethical standards and practice in a manner consistent with them”. (NASW, 2008, p.6). Social workers are to be sure their practice is embedded in the NASW Code of Ethics.
Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2013). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Australia: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Prior to having the class of Professional Values and Ethics, I assumed I understood the basic concepts of what defines a professional who has competence of values and ethics. Nevertheless, by being enrolled in this course, I have gained great knowledge of which professional values and ethical principles must be held by a social worker, which I did not know before. Progressively in this class, by learning professional values and ethics, my motivation to succeed as an upcoming social worker has gotten stronger.