Arc VXI Fort Washington, Inc. is the agency I am presently doing my internship with. The agency is located in Washington Heights; the exact address is 4111 Broadway, New York, NY 10033. Washington Heights is a large neighborhood in the Northern area of New York City. The agency is a not for profit agency that services voluntary clients. Its main funding source comes from the Department for the Aging (DFTA) and from donations and contributions being made to the agency. The agency was established in 1970. According to their website “Arcseniors.org” (2014) the mission of the agency is “To enable older people to remain in the community and live with dignity and self sufficiency and sense of well-being”. The purpose of my agency is to help improve the quality of life for the aging population. The function of the agency is to provide social services to aging adults within the community. By providing social services Monday- Friday from 9am-4pm, which includes helping members/clients with food stamp applications/ re-certification, Medicare/Medicaid assistance, health …show more content…
Though I think there are many social work values that are not being addressed in my agency some of the core social work values that according to the mission and purpose of the agency along with my perception that are being reflected by my agency are service and social justice. The reason why I identified these three core values is because the case workers in my agency are always seeking ways to service the clients in the agency, though at times I think its due to meeting standards and quotas. However, I have seen many workers in this agency commit to promoting social justice, by rallying and standing up for elderly rights. Even with my own agency, the landlord refuses to renew the lease and the agency is being forced to move but the executive director is putting up a tough battle that has kept the agency from moving until further
Working as a social worker although challenging, is a rewarding career. Social workers assist people and families to cope with problems they are facing in their lives. To understand more about social workers, I caught up with Margaret Jones, who is on a charitable mission in the country. Margaret, as she prefers to be called, was born in Haiti but after the devastating earthquake, which saw her lose four close relatives, decided to relocate to the United Kingdom where she got her current job.
According to NASW (2010), values are descried as the mission of the social worker in which this includes service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. An essential value that is applicable to my practice setting is the service value. This value is define as the social workers’ priority to help people and addressing social problems in the environments As an intern, it has been a priority to provide services to our client depending on their specific needs. There has been times that client have needed transportation in order for them to attend monthly events, clothes’ donations, and mentoring services. Another importance value that
There are a few reasons why people select a certain profession. One possibility in choosing a particular career based on a personal experience, personal values, or significant relationships with people. These factors play an influential role when guiding one to decide what profession will best fit him or her. For instance, one who has dealt with a rare disorder such as Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition that weakens the and affects the nervous system, may desire to be a doctor or a physical therapist and provide assistance for those with rare disorders. Regarding social work, there have been factors which guided me into choosing this field as my future profession.
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...
Strengths and Limitations of Social Work Practice in Colombia: A View from Canadian Social Work
Social justice is a core value in the social work field. We define social justice as, “all citizens would possess equal fundamental rights, protection, opportunities, obligations and social benefits (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015, p. 29). Unfortunately, we understand there are many members in today’s society that are not receiving social justice. Some may not want help and believe that s/he is able to do it on their own and then there are the individuals that we may not know about that could really use our help. Our jobs as social workers is to help those who need help no matter if they are rich, poor, disabled, white, Hispanic, it does not matter because everyone should be treated equally. As NASW states, “The original mission of social work had much to do with championing the rights of society’s most vulnerable members, from children to homeless people to the physically disabled” (NASW: National Association of Social Workers, 2015, para. 1).
First, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics Preamble (2008) states, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people.” In RCT, the goal is also to enhance wellbeing through the basic need for connection and growth-empowering relationships which is based on mutual empowerment for all people (Banks, Jordan, & Walker, 2011). Further, the NASW (2008) lists their core values to be: “service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.” All of these values define RCT, because it emphasizes human relationships and the “five good things” (Jordan, 2008, p.2) that promote authenticity, respect, self-esteem, dignity, equality, and acts that promote relationships that empower others for an inclusive society (Banks, Jordan, & Walker,
According to the National Association of Social Work (NASW), Social work is defined as, “The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal.” As such to pursue a career as a Social worker one must contain some key values. Such values include: one must be able to provide help, resources, and benefits to people so that they can achieve their maximum potential in life, they must also uphold that all citizens should be treated equally despite their socioeconomic background. In addition, they have to be willing to maintain trustworthiness and sound adherence to moral ideals, value the dynamic reciprocal interactions
The six core values that are described in the Code of Ethics by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) are social justice, service, importance of human relationships, dignity and worth of a person, integrity, and competence. According to the NASW (2016), these core values are the foundation for the purpose of the social work profession. It is essential for social work professionals to be able to put aside their personal values, and embody these core values when working with clients.
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
Social work practice is a profession where it works alongside the ‘code of ethics’, which consists of formal statements which represent values of the professional community. National associations such as Britain state the core values within this field are human dignity and worth, social justice, service to humanity (human rights), integrity and competence. The professional field is regulated by the British Association of Social Work (BASW). The core values within social work are human rights, human dignity and social justice.... ...
The six core values of social work should guide and impact how social workers act and treat their clients. A social worker must show anyone who they come in contact with that they are valued by serving, standing up against injustices, letting them know they have inherent worth, teaching them the importance of healthy human relationships, having integrity, and being competent. These values are necessary to apply not only to the professional areas but in our daily
One of the most important values I have learned in this course were these specific core values in social work. Social work seeks to provide service and have social justice. They understand the importance of individuals and their worth. In whatever they do, they do their work with complete integrity and competence (4). These values can be applied onto other things
Social workers challenge social injustice. Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. The meaning of this value is to ensure that individuals going into the social work profession pursue change, most importantly with, on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals, and with groups of people. Additionally, this social work value forces social workers to constantly affect social change primarily focused upon issues of poverty, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice by creating activities that seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic
Social work is a profession which promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and enhance well-being. It is important to acknowledge the history of social work and the purpose of social work and why it exists. Social work is a questioned theory with different perspectives on what it is and how it should be practised. Social work helps people to deal with personal and social problems so that people can overcome or adjust to any personal difficulties. Social work is a combination of social stability and social change. Social stability promotes individual and social welfare and social change seek to change negative aspects of society. Values are implicit within the law and policy and these tend to reflect the values within society. Personal values can influence the way social workers interpret and implement their profession.