According to A.J. Mills, T. Simmons and J.H. Mills a critical approach is defined as “one that takes as its starting point a concern to address those aspects of organizations arrangements that have a negative impact on people” (2005, p.13). The purpose of the approach is to critically analyze organizations and bureaucracies as this not only allows for a better understanding of social issues but also aims towards the promotion of social justice and equality. The critique ultimately delves the harmful effects organization and bureaucracies can have on people (Mills et al., 2005). Thus, the critical approach will be used to guide me through my analysis of the issue that I experienced at my agency, as it not only negatively impacted the patient but me as a social worker as well. Analyzing through a critical lens allows for a better understanding of the organizational and structural conditions that ultimately shaped my decision and forced me to face an ethical dilemma resulting of the issue at hand. As previously mentioned in my observation notes, my placement takes place at Humber River Hospital’s, Women’s and Children’s Health Program (WCHP). The issue I was faced with was my inability to provide a teen mother with bus tokens and thus she was unable to frequently visit her baby who was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This became more than just an issue, as I was faced with an ethical dilemma that not only impacted me but the patient as well. This dilemma was whether or not to call Children’s Aid Society (CAS) as a result of the patient’s past history with them and her financial instability. I knew that CAS could be involved in a supportive way but I did not want this young mother to be controlled by the child welfare sy... ... middle of paper ... ...f the patient and fails to provide funding for other services that patients may require. This includes social workers. Social workers do not receive any funding which ultimately impacts them negatively as they are limited in services they are able to provide. Furthermore, managerialism also impacted my inability to provide services to this young mother as the final decision was placed in the manager’s hands as opposed to the social worker. These roadblocks created by a neo-liberal state ultimately created an ethical dilemma for me, which consequently impacted my patient negatively as well. In order to bring upon change, a form of resistance is required. Unfortunately, this may not achieve social justice, but it will achieve transformative change in practice. In order for social justice to be reached, organizations need to move away from neo-liberal ideologies.
Social workers have to choose between the individual struggles and society rules. In choosing to help people with programs or challenging the existing state
Ethical Issues in Social Work I will provide practical help for new social workers to help them understand and deal with ethical issues and dilemmas which they will face. There are many ethical issues which are important to social work, but I feel that these are all covered by the care value base. The care value base Was devised by the care sector consortium in 1992, this was so that the workers in health and social care had a common set of values and principles which they would all adhere to. It is important because for the first time the social care sector had a clear set of guidelines from which ethical judgements could be made. The care value base is divided into 5 elements - The care value base covers - Equality and Diversity - Rights and responsibilities - Confidentiality - Promoting anti Discrimination - Effective communication Equality and Diversity Carers must value diversity themselves before they can effectively care for the different races, religions and differently abled people they will come across in their caring 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...
Open University (2011) K(ZW) 315 Critical Practice in Social Work, CDA1, Panel Discussion on Critical Practice (Tracks 1-5), Milton Keynes, The Open University.
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).
Social workers value client empowerment. Empowering our clients involves increasing their personal, interpersonal, or political power so that they can take action to
Through the profession’s Code of Ethics, it is mandated for social workers to challenge social injustice and pursue social change on behalf of the vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups (NASW, 1999). The NASW “works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies” (NASW About NASW, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to focus on Kim Mowatt, and to highlight her area of advocacy and expertise. Kim Mowatt is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and according to the National Association of social Workers (NASW) she is guided by state laws and regulations. In an interview with
Social workers are placed in a unique position to recognize the effects these power imbalances have on the diverse clientele they encounter and advocate for the social change that is required to challenge these imbalances. In the social work profession, so many people come in with issues they cannot overcome alone. The majority of these issues result from a lack of power and resources on their part and/or the oppression they have to suffer through and try to overcome. Social workers must realize that a person’s cultural background, ethnicity, race, and various other aspects of who they are may place them in a minority group that is discriminated against and held down by the oppression caused by the more powerful groups in society. Although social workers will never be able to eradicate every social issue that exists, the important thing is that we try to make social change and work to implement social policy that will, ideally, minimize the gaps that divide people in our
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
“In this essay, we have been asked to critically assess the professional values in the ‘British Association of Social Work’ (BASW). With this the concepts of ethics and how this operates in social work practice and analyse the general role in governing and representatives bodies in social work practice”.
Critical Research is also referred to as the transformative paradigm. Critical paradigms are used in qualitative research methods that include interviews and group discussions; these are techniques that allow for collaboration that can be carefully deployed in a way that avoid discrimination (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006). Critical research analysis and interpretation seeks categories, patterns and themes to result in the data collection. The results are useful to identify ethical integrity and social injustices.
When they are in need we must do everything in our power to make a change. Sometimes this involve advocating for them to see a change in social problems. The definition of a social worker states that they are trained person that carries out work with the aim of alleviating conditions of those in need (12). This often calls the need for social justice. After learning about social workers throughout history, I realize there’s multiple ways to help those in need (11). They’ve been able to implement social welfare for the public.
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
According to Hatch and Cunliffe (2006), there are three major perspectives about the study of organization theory (OT): modern, symbolic interpretive, and postmodern. Each of these perspectives comes with its own assumptions and methodologies. Hatch and Cunliffe provided an introduction text about the concepts and characteristics of the three OT perspectives. Tsoukas and Knudsen also compiled a comprehensive handbook summarizing all facets of the meta-theoretical perspectives. In this post the writer will discuss the basic concepts of three perspectives, present Hatch and Cunliffe’s reasons why a multiple perspectives approach to organization theory is important, and compare Tsoukas and Knudsen’s introduction to the Hatch and Cunliffe introduction in their books.
As noted above, it also poses some limitations and contradictions. Overall, the main components of modern critical social work, to serve oppressed populations, recognize power differentials, acknowledge the influence of larger systems and challenge unjust structures (Healy, 2014, p. 185) provide social workers with a foundation to work from in practice. As the profession of social work is continuously growing and evolving, critical social work should not be seen as a concrete and definitive way to practice, but instead as a base for understanding that should be critiqued and enhanced with the gaining of