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Social work values and personal values
Social work values and personal values
Social work values and personal values
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Before reading the chapter written by Allan Barksy, I had a different understanding of my values. Entering into the social work profession is providing a different outlook and definition regarding values. In the social work profession values are not only personal, they must also include my client’s values. For example, I will be working at Child Net during my field internship. Child Net is a facility for children that are abused, neglected, molested, and other situations that I will be exposed too. These families may have values similar to mine, but their values may be viewed differently. Emotional security was one of my highly desirable values for Table 1.1. After giving this some thought regarding the situations I will be working with, emotional security will be hard to maintain working at Child Net. I say this because my …show more content…
I have always made this my number one priority. From the time I had my first child, I believed children do not ask to come into this world and it is the parent’s responsibility to take care of them to the best of their ability. In the field of social work we will be faced with many situations and some, I am sure, will cause great anguish. For example, in the news media within this past week social workers have been put on the spot for children being murdered by their parents. One of the parents was a father that had custody of his children with a good job and a good provider. This parent killed all of his children. Did the social worker look at the father and assumed based on his/her values that the children were in safe hands because he had a job and provided for the children? Would the social worker have felt differently about the situation if the parent was living in poverty? It is important not to let my values or personal thoughts get in the way of similar situations and to be alert or a sense of
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
Handon, R. M. (2014, December). Client Relationships and Ethical Boundaries for Social Workers in Child Welfare. The New Social Worker, (winter), 1-6.
According to Erin B. Comartin and Antonio Gonzalez-Prendes (2011), authors of the article “Dissonance Between Personal and Professional Values: Resolution of an Ethical Dilemma” the six core values of the social work profession are, “service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence” (p.1). As professionals in the field of human service, personal values of a social worker will not always be congruent with the core values of this field. As Comartin et al., (2011) suggests “social workers benefit from understanding that growth occurs when these conflicts are acknowledged, explored, and resolved” (p. 11). Having worked in the substance abuse field for nearly a year, I find that my personal values have conflicted with the core value of “dignity and worth of the person” on numerous occasions. One specific situation that I continue to struggle with the most are women who continue to abuse illicit substances despite discovering that they are pregnant. Though I have personally not had the opportunity to provide therapeutic services to a expecting mother abusing illicit substances, I have had the opportunity to observe fellow therapists manage such situations. As a counselor, if I had the opportunity to work with a mother using illicit substances during
The National Association of Social Workers, NASW, considers the following as its six most core values; service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. The value of service is considered to be a core value because offering help to those in need is a crucial goal for all of those looking to practice in the field of Social Work. These services can include, but are not limited to, addressing social problems, helping those in need, and volunteering their knowledge to those who cannot otherwise afford such help. Social Justice is also an important core value for a Social Worker to develop. As a Social Worker one will encounter many people from several different walks of life, no two cases will ever be exactly the same. Some of these walks of life can leave a client vulnerable, defenseless, exploited, oppressed, and troubled. Therefore it is important to learn what Social Justice is, and how to help people from falling victim to injustice. Dignity and Worth of the Person is one of the most important values that one should uphold. People who need the help of a Social Worker many, but not all, times feel powerless, embarrassed, and worthless because they feel as though they cannot control aspects of their life an...
These are the values that all social service workers must follow. I feel that the most important value that underpins social care practice is trust. It is very important that the person being cared for trusts you as their social service worker. The best way to do this is to develop a strong relationship with the person so that they know that they have someone they can speak to if they ever have a problem. This value is described in various different ways within the SSSC codes of practice. One of these codes states that as a social service worker should be seen as “being reliable and dependable” (SSSC,2009:2.4) if you are always there for them then they will be able to trust you. Another value that is related to the SSSC codes of practice would be the value of respect. All clients want to be and deserve to be respected by everyone especially their social service worker. This also means respecting their personal belongings as well as them as a person. As a social service worker your role includes “treating each person as an individual” (SSSC,2009:1.1) this just means that everyone should be accepted for who they are and treated with the utmost
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.
The following paper aims to discuss and analyze the way in which my personal values intersect with the values I hold as most important within the profession of social work. It would stand to reason that these values would stand on common ground; however, there are places where my personal and professional values diverge. These conflicts may prove to be problematic within my chosen career unless I find a way to prioritize my values, or find ways for them to work harmoniously with each other.
Among an array of Values from The Code of Ethics (TCE) of social work Value 1 dictates that as social workers we must respect the dignity of our clients and refrain from passing judgement onto them (Canadian Association of Social Work, 2005, pg.7). As a social worker, it is important to follow this value as it prevents the distancing of the client from the worker as the client will have a better chance of opening up to someone who does not instantly tell them what to do or reprimand them for their actions or non-action in their lives. Oppression relates to the TCE in that it says the social work profession’s main purpose is to raise their clients who are vulnerable, oppressed and/or living in poverty (CASW, 2005, pg.7). Taking this into account
Values are described as set of rules and guides in the right and wrong decisions we make. Values facilitates the decisions in recognising what is worthy and valuable, with this, weighs out the important and less important, when there is a conflict of values. Ethics is set of moral principles of values, and these contribute to individuals and what groups live by. Ethics consists of factors being culture, religion, and these continuously effect a person’s beliefs and ethics. As individuals continues to develop and there adapt different values with ethics. This is through past experiences and the expectations as our life pattern changes. Core values in social work practice are the code of ethics informing our understanding of the difference and diversity. Social work profession is evaluated by a whole set of guidelines, measures put in place by regulatory body, giving the movement to put in place new governmental laws and guides within this field.
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.
Life is precious. When someone is down, we raise each other up not because we can but because it is our duty or service. Our service is to give clients dignity and worth. Which we do by understanding the importance of human relationships. This connects to my value of human connection. We can only achieve these things by having integrity with our clients or as I said, sincerity. All of this can only happen if we have the competence to do all of this. My values do not disagree with those of the social work program but when thinking of what my values were, I did not think of some of the values the social work program holds. Values such as service, I do not hold close because the true definition of service is the action of helping or doing work for someone. I do not hold to any political affiliation but am conservative in the respect that people should help themselves to the best of their ability. That being said, getting help is within the best of their ability, therefore, service is not limited to the social workers as the values are perceived but it is up to the client to provide the opportunity to obtain a service. This is evident in the case of simply finding the nearest “salvation army” or social worker in the yellow pages but allowing workers to provide a service (such as placing an elderly into a home). There are three common sayings that support my ideal, “you can lead a horse to water, but can’t make ‘em drink”, “God helps those that helps themselves” and lastly, “help me help you.” Overall service starts by the initiative which I believe those that need help should take (however we make services known.) Differences in my opinion or value in service can hinder my ability to take initiative or understand that in a case, there may be underlying problems that need to be resolved. If I am under the belief that because they did not ask for help then they will not receive
As an upcoming social worker I understand there are certain traits I portray that are strengths in the social work field. I also understand that were there are strengths, there are weaknesses. I did not realize what my strengths and weaknesses were until I began to practice in the field. Some strengths I have found in myself are good listening skills, ability to handle stressful situations, and time management skills. Along with those strengths I have found my weaknesses are speaking what I believe about a situation, procrastination, and taking on too much responsibility.
Research is a necessity when it comes to providing services. Social Workers need it to be able to determine their clients ' needs, to see what resources/services they have access to and if their client doesn 't have much access where can they get it. Research is also used to see how effective an intervention is and whether it would be a right fit for their clients. It provides social service agents with ways to identify problems within their clients, communities, organizations, and the government. Also it helps them to create ways to aid in effective change. It is very beneficial when a social worker needs to "assess the needs and resources of people in their environments, evaluate the effectiveness of social work services in meeting people
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
There are certain ethics that social workers must follow and is a guidance for professional standard of work. However sometimes people are not aware of their own values, though the more fully conscious someone is about their values, the more people are able to ensure that their actions are consistent with the values. As a social worker it is vital to know the dangers of not taking account of values and the ethical dimension of practice. A social worker should see their client for who they are and not just another object that is unclear by their own emotions hence why self-awareness is a key to