The Profession of a Social Worker from Past to Present to Future Perhaps one of the most versatile and diverse careers is social work, as this career works with individuals struggling with substance abuse, low-income families, and homeless individuals. Social work is a profession that is concerned with solving personal, group, and community relationships (Farley, Smith, & Boyle, 2011). Among some of the most important aspects of social work are the restoration of impaired social functioning, the provision of social services, and prevention (Farley et al., 2011). Reducing problems in human relationships and improving human interactions among individuals are the major focuses of this profession, regardless of which people group the social workers are serving (Farley et al., 2011). Even though it is a relatively new profession, social work has existed in various forms throughout history. However, the beginning of social work’s development as a profession was primarily European in origin, with the ideals spreading to the United States …show more content…
Helping the poor and needy in the forms of providing free eating houses, distributing second-hand clothing, giving alms to the poor, and establishing asylums for wounded soldiers and abandoned children were some of the primary concerns of these civilizations (Farley et al., 2011). In 1536, England established laws for the collection of alms on Sundays (Farley et al., 2011). With the establishment of the Elizabethan Poor Laws, welfare became the federal government’s responsibility (Farley et al., 2011). This law contributed to the development of social welfare and assisted both those who were able and incapable of working. However, those capable of working were to be provided with work, and if they refused to work, they were imprisoned; orphaned and dependent children were to be apprenticed until they could care for themselves (Farley et al.,
This essay aims to explore the characteristics that make a good quality social work assessment in child care. Martin (2010) stated that there was “no single agreed definition of social work assessment.” Coulshed and Orme (2006, p24) did not offer a formal definition but they described assessment as “…a basis for planning what needs to be done to maintain, improve or bring about change in the person, the environment or both.” According to the Maclean and Harrison (2015) good assessments must be “purposeful and timely.” This is because practitioners need to be clear about why they are carrying out assessments and what it is they wish to achieve at the end of that assessment.
Introduction There have been some challenges in trying to figure out the right approach to follow in a research study, and this semester is more of an eye opener that reveals the expected ways in conducting research, which has been a very interesting and tough process. Dudley (2011). The four major search strategies available for locating references related to the chosen topic issues: (1) consultation, (2) searches in subject indexes, (3) browsing, and (4) footnote chasing. Researchers need to be aware of all of these strategies in information gathering. Question 1: What have you learned about research?
Social workers play a very important role in many situations. Most people can only help an individual up until a certain point then they have no clue what to do to help the individual. A social worker comes up with a plan to help an individual that cannot help themselves. Without social workers many individuals will not know how to manage certain situations. They will come up with an idea that they believe is suitable and move on without thinking about it. Social work has come a long way from when it first began. Comparing then and now, social work is much better and very well organized. The people that are in need whether they are mentally ill or someone that cannot support themselves, are being taken care of properly. It is known that years
Many people don’t know that social workers deal with more mental health than any psychologist, psychiatrist and psychiatric nurses combined. Interesting right? I would definitely have thought otherwise. Social work is a very unique field that is overlooked and should have quite a bit more appreciation than it does. Making it in the real world is tough but thanks to social work peoples civil rights are protected, people with mental illnesses are now able to afford humane treatment and society is more in tune with preventing child abuse and neglect. To be successful in the field of social work you have to care about what you are doing, have ethics, and have empathy… social work is not all about the money.
A day in the life: With her business-formal pencil skirt, blazer, and briefcase; the social worker walks into the courthouse determinedly. The past month of case research floods her mind as she prepares to explain to a precious little boy that he wouldn’t have to go home with his abusive parents today. Even though being a social worker can be a stressful, difficult occupation; I find it appealing because through this job you can improve the lives of others and make a real difference in the community.
My strengths definitely stem from my passion about helping others and social work. Becoming a mother and overcoming tough challenges is also a strength of mines. That experience made me stronger and shaped who I am today. I definitely intend to encourage my clients that anything is possible and you can do anything that you set your mind to do. Being around my family and the obstacles that we have overcome has definitely gave me a broader perspective of life and the situations that current that can impacts us in many ways. As a social worker it is important to listen, communicate, build rapport with boundaries with our clients in order to be an effective social worker. Being a social worker requires certain core skills. Many of these I learn during my education and internships, others I have learned from different areas of my life. You are required to orient yourself to the ethical codes for social work in order to provide top-notch services to the people you treat in therapy. You may also find it helpful to understand common elements of good therapy. Certainly there are many different skills and traits that you help you succeed as a social worker. Some of the main skills that will help you in the counseling profession include,
Social workers are viewed by the world to be “fixers” in society. The general public sees social workers as just “people who work in child protective services”, they do not know about the other things that social workers are also involved in. I interviewed, Stuart Brewster, a therapist for children and families, he graduated from the university of Washington with a masters degree in social work.
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
There are many reasons why I decided that I wanted to work in the social work profession. When I first enrolled in college, I was a nursing major with the mindset of becoming a neonatal nurse. When that did not go as planned, I decided to become a social work major because I knew I would receive the same reward of helping someone out and providing an individual with a better opportunity by lending him or her a hand. This was my first reason for choosing this career because I saw so many benefits from this profession. My second reason for was due to the fact that I want to help people during their time of need. There were times in my life where I needed guidance and it felt great to have someone there being compassionate and caring towards me.
After completion of the social work program I would like to work in a clinical setting. I would really like to be in a mental health center or a hospital working with military members. I don’t have and preference on the kinds of issues that I would like to work with. As long as I am helping veterans, I will be happy. The reason that I prefer to work under these condition is because I have a passion for working with military members, since I am prior military I feel like I can relate to them and I understand what they are going through. I know that it is very hard for military members to talk to civilian about their problems because civilians just don’t understand, no matter what they say. I will be required to have a diverse set of qualities
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
"Do not become a social worker. You will not make any money and you will be stressed out all the time." My maternal grandparents were foster care parents from the 1980 's until April of this year. In that time they hosted over 250 children from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. As a child, I spent much of my time at my grandparents house and was exposed to the multiple aspects of the foster care system. I became close with the social workers who came to my grandmother 's house and when it came time for me to make a career choice, they all discouraged me from becoming a social worker. Despite their warnings I graduated with my Bachelor 's of Social Work from Saint Louis University in 2013 and began to work on my Master 's in Social Work in August of 2014.
I believe social work is valued at my agency not just because the staff is nice to me, but because my supervisor follows the Code of Ethics when it comes to clients. When dealing with clients in substance abuse, some of them might think they can come in and manipulate staff because that is what they have been used to doing during their addiction. I believe one staff member used the term “devious” to describe how some clients can be when they first come to Shepherd’s Shelter.
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