...in improving the lives of others work through tough life circumstances may want to contemplate a profession in social work. There are several different ways that social workers can help people. Not only do they offer help, but they also give people the knowledge to learn how to help themselves (Discover Social Work). I have chosen this career path because I love being the person to make a difference in someone’s life in any way that I can to help them. Many people think of social workers as just being those workers at their local Department of Human Services offices that removes a person’s children from their homes, but you may actually find social workers working in law enforcement departments, schools, mental health clinics and military facilities. This field is open to many opportunities and there are various steps to take if someone is in preparation for a career in social work. When a person is considering a career in social work they must first self-evaluate themselves to see if they are of good moral character; in other words, are they doing it for the right reasons, because in this field, you are responsible for the lives and livelihood of others. Social workers must be compassionate and considerate of others and all situations. “The social work profession has its own body of knowledge, code of ethics, practice standards, credentials, state licensing, and a nationwide system of accredited education programs (National Association of Social Workers).” In this field there...
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...want to be, and draws upon group or collective identities depicted in their cultural components, which are socially used to define or specify a way of life or being. My social location is easily identifiable as a white female however, due to the dominance of white supremacy, I am not judged by my racial background much like a woman of “color” may be. These distortions on sexism provide awareness, that oppression is not only in terms of sex and in our patriarchal power system, white privilege is a benefit. Social Identity Although sexism is a problem in society, I do not suffer the same oppression faced by women of color. Lorde (1990), discusses the impacts of this built-in-privilege of whiteness and how it forces women of color to become an outsider. As a Catholic woman, I am faced with a similar power relation by identifying as a lesbian in my community, which is neither considered the societal norm nor accepted by the church. This disadvantage I face allows me to be socially aware of the impacts oppression has in society and agree with Mullaly (2002) who states that oppression “assumes a ‘fixed identity’ on the part of both oppressors and oppressed – that the world is divided into two groups and people belong in either one, but never to both” (p. 27). I am aware of the marginality I experience between social groups and the disadvantages of homophobic oppression, that has taught me how to be more racially and ethnically diverse, so that as identifying as a white female, I can...
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...recent changes affecting social work structure and practice have involved: * Increased bureaucracy within social work departments * An increased multidisciplinary approach * Domination of social work by performance related indicators leading to a tick box culture. * Increased use of the private sector. * Decreased contact between frontline managers and clients. * Greater focus on budget management then on clients. * Social worker /client relationship (due to increase workloads) based on control and supervision and not care. The changes that affected social work came about because of a fundamental reconstruction in its relationship to the state and to the social work client. This is because social and political attitudes toward welfare provision and the welfare client changed in the late 1970s with the coming to power of the Thatcher government. Government policy wanted to introduce a move from a Welfare State system to a system of welfare markets and non-statutory providers and also changed the role of the state from provider to regulator. These policies were also followed by “New” Labour when it came to power in the 1990's This has lead to a welfare organisation that is fragmented. The principle of “universalism” i.e.the view that all should be dealt with equally has been replaced by the policy of targetting those most in need which some argue has lead to discontinuities and inconsistencies in provision of social work support. The Joseph Rowntree...
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...Generalist Practice Concept Paper Why did I choose social work as my profession? I ask myself that question often these days. I love working with families and seeing them succeed, but social work is a hard job, and the decisions we make can change people lives forever. So let’s start the paper by talking about what is a generalist social worker. A generalist social worker is an individual who is skilled to work with individuals, families, and their communities on many different levels. Generalist social worker can work in areas like substance abuse, aging, child welfare, work with families, health care or mental health (Raymond, Teare, & Atherton, 1996). Generalist social workers are able to make decisions on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Generalist social worker uses a person-in-environment perspective to help their clients. Meaning that a generalist social worker knows and fully understands how their client’s environment impacts their lives, and makes the best decisions in order the serve their clients accurately. They incorporate diversity into their practice and are expected to advocate for human rights and social justice (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, Strom- Gottfried, Larsen, 2010). I currently work at Dougherty County Department of Family and Children Services, in the social services department as an investigator. I’ve worked with DFCS for past four years. I have worked as an investigator for the past 7 months. So I can totally relate and understand completely...
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...Practice and policy in the Human Services is a course that is designed for students that are currently in the field of social work or Human Services or for students about to embark on the journey of becoming a practitioner. There are two books needed for this course that will be included in the introduction package. It is important that all the contents of the package are present upon receiving it. The first book is titled “Doing anti-oppressive practice – building transformative politicized social work” edited by Donna Baines which focuses on suggesting new and innovative ideas to approach anti-oppressive practice. The book is a completion of ten authors, all with wide-ranging experience in front line and social justice practice. Each author focuses on his or her own individual experience, which would range from health-care to childcare while analyzing the problem and avoiding applying “band-aids”. The authors through their experiences would attempt to solve and understand the social problem rather than attempting to cover it up. The second book titled “Connecting policy to practice in the Human Services” by Brad McKenzie and Brain Wharf is written to prompt readers with an understanding of the impact of policies on the Human Services rather than within the Human Services. HRSV 311 is a course that takes everyday situations, and challenges its students to think beyond the boarders of oppression, globalization, cutbacks and inequity. This is to provide clients with a better life...
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...Intro In my perception, group work is a method of working with people in groups (two or more people) for personal growth, the enhancement of social functioning, and for the achievement of socially desirable goals. Furthermore, groups are mostly presented with a team leader or a social worker who facilitates the group to guide and accomplish one or more goals. Although my interpretation of group work are very similar from the textbook, that I was assigned for class, my family, school, church, and social experiences also played a huge part in helping me construct it. In addition, those experiences not only gave me further knowledge, but skills to help me facilitate and accomplish group work tasks. As a facilitator and as a future social worker, my idea of a successful/effective group would be a group with a positive dynamic; where each individual in the group are able to open up, share and embrace their culture, interests, stories, and backgrounds. That way the group is able to trust and support each other and respect each other based on their values and ideas. Moreover, many people benefit from group work; a few are domestic violence, sexual abuse, anger management, etc. Groups like these and countless more are very crucial in our society because it provides structure for our communities to build on, as well as, meeting the individuals own socio-economical needs and/or accomplishing a goal that is set. Not to mention, improving yours and your group’s ideas so that the task becomes...
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...Social work 200 Mid-term paper Professor Donnell Phillips 10/12/2015 This paper discusses the different fields of social work zoning in on Clinical/medical social work, the educational requirement, the different functions of a Clinical/medical social workers and a couple of challenges they face in their field. Many may ask why social work is important or why it is in existence, however with the alarming rate of dependency in todays’ society we have come to see that social work is an important piece needed for the society to function. With purposes such as being able to remediate social problems such as provide counseling, job training for a displaced worker, enhance social functioning such as creating programs for the youths in the community providing parent training programs and prevent social problems from developing we can see that social workers are able to keep our society together. Social workers are able to identify problems, provides resources and suggestions on how those problems can be solved; furthermore their versatility covers areas such as foster care, mental health, drug abuse, counseling, clinical/medical social workers and its likes. Amongst its many disciplines the discipline which intrigues me is the clinical/medical social worker, they help with the emotional, social and financial needs that come with health care issues. They often serve as advocates helping patients and families adjust with their illness and treatments. Most medical social workers...
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...care in social work is a continuously growing and evolving field; the social work profession has embraced the challenge that comes from interaction with the dying process across multiple systems levels. A report from The Social Work in Hospice and Palliative Care Network stated the important role social work plays in end of life care: “Given the broad scope of practice and unique perspective, social workers bring to the field of palliative and end of life care, and to multidisciplinary teams their unique expertise in ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity; family dynamics; and social support networks. Their expertise in this field includes interventions for dealing with advanced chronic illness, trauma, grief, bereavement,...
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...Forensic Social Work? This paper explores the many facets social work provides in collaboration with the criminal justice system escaping widespread notice as well as the roles played in the judicial court systems. This paper takes a look at the point and the many purposes of forensic social work. Covering their role in multidisciplinary mitigation teams and collaboration between social workers and lawyers in criminal defense also the type service social work practitioners provide to inmate populations; the active involvement in an inmate’s daily life both during their sentence as well as the service and assistance a forensic social worker will be providing following an inmate’s release and reintegration back into society Forensic social work is the application of social work to questions and issues relating to law and legal systems. This specialty of our profession goes far beyond clinics and psychiatric hospitals for criminal defendants being evaluated and treated on issues of competency and responsibility. A broader definition includes social work practice which in any way is related to legal issues and litigation, both criminal and civil. Child custody issues, involving separation, divorce, neglect, termination of parental rights, the implications of child and spouse abuse, juvenile and adult justice services, corrections, and mandated treatment all fall under this definition. Forensic social workers are specialized professionals who are able to apply their social work knowledge...
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...Social Work Pioneer Biography Monica Quinn University of Southern Mississippi Abstract Mary Ellen Richmond and Whitney M. Young, Jr. were both social work pioneers that changed the face of the social work profession. This essay discusses their backgrounds, challenges they faced, and the road to their success. It also discusses the contributions they made to the field of social work as well as their awards and achievements. Their backgrounds, though very different, led them both to the same calling - helping those in need. Social Work Pioneers Introduction of Pioneer Mary Ellen Richmond, an essential part in the organization of the Social Work profession, was born in Belleville, Illinois in 1861 to Henry and Lavina Richmond. At the age of three, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother and two aunts after both her parents died of tuberculosis. Richmond's grandmother was a spiritualist and a radical therefore; Richmond was exposed to "discussions of suffrage, racial problems, spiritualism, and a variety of liberal religious, social, and political beliefs" (Szymoniak, n.d.). Her family disapproved of the traditional education system so Richmond was home-schooled until the age of eleven. According to Rev. Phyllis L. Hubbell, the only reported education she received while being home-schooled was from reading books that were loaned to her by an aunt with the requirement that she would give an account of what she had read (2007). Surprisingly, her dedication...
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...CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SOCIAL WORK By Student's Name Course Code and Name Professor’s Name University Name City, State Date of Submission Q1. The effect of globalization has resulted in complex economic and social networking among people of the world. One of the main elements of globalization is the movement of people from one area to another area for various reasons. In most cases, people move to more industrialized and peaceful countries in search of better opportunities and safe environments. The 21st century has seen the increased migration of citizens of one state to another, a period termed as the age of Diasporas (Helman, 2007). The research will focus on immigrants, mainly asylum seekers and refugees with particular emphasis on the 72 asylum seekers from Lebanon who perished off the coast of Indonesia while heading to Australia. The research will address the plight of asylum seekers as one the most vulnerable populations. Migration to another country may be voluntary or voluntary. The involuntary migrants include asylum seekers, refugees, returnees ad internally displaced persons (IDPs). The primary cause of this category of people changing their location could be political upheavals, wars, natural disasters and poor states of the economy. The voluntary migrants migrate to other countries in search of employment and new ventures for personal growth. However, the involuntary migrants have multiple psychological, physical and social vulnerabilities due to their experience...
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...Social work Theory Essay Introduction This essay will explain how Social work is about dealing with various problems within society and how Social work theories provide a framework which enable Social work practice find an effective solution to the issue at hand. It will explain how Social work theory draws on linking those theories and putting it into practice and that the relationship between the two aspects are imperative. The interrelationships between Theory and Practice. Social work is about dealing with society and the issues they have in their daily life. Society is complex and therefore having theories to work with can empower the Social worker as much as a client. The theories shape the course of action taken or the practice. Theories are described in Payne (2014) as generalized ideas that can describe our knowledge of situations and the world in which we live in an organised manner (p.3). Specifically in relation to social work theory, Payne (p.5) simply states it helps us do or understand social work. Nash, Munford & O’Donoghue describe how theory informs practice which in turn informs theory in action and describes it as a ‘map’ (p.15). Without being able to understand Social work, let alone do it in practice you would not assist the client and therefore is a key piece within the jigsaw of Social work. According to Payne (p.9) there are four different ways to approach theory; Perspectives which allows you to look at situations from different points...
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...Drug Abuse and Social Work Drug Abuse and Social Work There are many reasons why people use drugs. Drugs have been use throughout the nations in the 1960. In 2003 roughly about 9% of the total U.S. population ages 12 and higher deal with substance abuse. Advancement in technology, changes within a society, money; low income are some reasons why people use drugs. Drugs were known for the cure to all life problems. Marijuana and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) are known drugs used by young Americans worldwide. Peer pressure and advertising are known facts why people use drugs. Today, drugs are being used because individuals do not want to feel left out by their friends or from people their age groups. In addition, there has been an increase of divorces which has been known for another reason why people use drugs to cope from real life problems. Cocaine and steroids have been used by many musicians and athletes. Steroids and Cocaine have been used by many teens, actors and athletes. Athletes and musicians used these drugs to better them at what they do. Many youths look up to athletes and musicians as role model; youth’s continue to use drugs because athletes do. Former Lady Nancy Reagan, Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush created programs preventing youths to use drugs. These programs did end up preventing some students.44% decreased in 1990: 23 million people who used drugs drop down to 12.9 million. However 5 years later, there...
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...making ethical decisions as a social worker. The purpose of this case study is to identify ethical dilemmas social workers may be faced with. This paper provides available ethical strategies and models to utilize in determining ethical resolutions. What are the ethical dilemmas presented in the case example? Provide a rationale for why you identified specific issues as an ethical dilemma. In the social work profession it is inevitable that as social workers we will be faced with ethical dilemmas. Social workers are responsible for maintaining the commitment to be ethical, and the promise to ensure each client’s well-being. An ethical dilemma involves two or more conflicting issues. Being culturally diverse and understanding the NASW Code of Ethics are two methodologies that can help to identify your ethical obligation as a social worker, and hopefully help you make the right choices when faced with an ethical dilemma (NASW, 2007). There are a number of key concepts to consider pertaining to the duty and obligations of social workers (Roberts, & Watkins, 2009, p. 115). In case study 1.7 Believing an Emotionally Disturbed Child, the social worker is faced with several dilemmas. One of the main dilemmas is whether or not to report the abuse allegation described to the psychologist by seven year old Mary. The psychologist reported the allegation to the social worker rather Children Protective Services (CPS). Not only does the social worker have an obligation to protect...
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...Marlynda Bishop 9/25/15 Weekly Reflection “If social work practice is a house we build, then theory is its blueprint. Explicitly and implicitly, formally or informally, theory is ever present in our practice. Never the less, say the word “theory” to many social work practitioners and be prepared to hear its irrelevance outside the classroom” (Finn and Jacobson pg.164). What is Theory and what does it mean in relevance to my practice? In what situations do I choose theory over reality to solve a problem? After reading this chapter I have learned that theory is used for everything to make sense of your practice. There are many definitions of theory but what stuck out to me the most was Robbins approach of theory. His approach was that theory is created socially from birth. The thing that we learn from birth to adult hood shapes our reality and everyone’s reality is different so that’s where different cultures come in to play. Every culture has different customs, values and beliefs and they raise their families under those core concepts. By knowing that theory is what helps you make sense of your work and that it is socially constructed it helps me to make sense of what I need to do as a social worker and how I should operate. The problem that I believe I would have on my journey of learning the ins and outs of being a social worker is that professional aspect of it. I already have the skills of listening and helping with the resources that I know...
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