Experience, Background and/or Relationships Influence My mother’s eyes were lonesome and uncertain. They revealed a sense of darkness and, even though she tried to hide her despair with a fake smile, I knew something was troubling her. “I’m sorry, Emily. You can’t get your hair cut today because your father has been out of work for a few months, and we have run out of money,” she said with a trembling voice. I was young, naïve, and did not understand the seriousness of my parents’ financial problems. “It was just a haircut. How could they not afford that?” I thought. The previous fixation I had on material objects quickly vanished after I was left only with the bare necessities. This story about my family’s financial struggles reflects the most profound time in my life. Within four months, I went from living in a middle class family in one of the richest …show more content…
It is not about simply “helping an individual,” it is about empowering the person to make their own decisions based on what they feel is best for their situation. Social workers assist by linking them with the tools, resources, and support needed to do so. Through high school and college, I have completed over 3,500 volunteer hours. I have volunteered and partnered with a vast amount of social service agencies such as: Children’s Home Society, The Salvation Army, United Way, National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), and Center for Independent Living. My desire to give back through social work and volunteering stems from what I have endured throughout my life. The truth is, by helping myself and family overcome pain and poverty, I have been able to guide and empower others. Understanding of Roles and Responsibilities of Social Work
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
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
1. What relationships and/or experiences influenced your decision to enter the field of Social Work? A personal experience that influenced my decision to enter the field of social work is when I joined the military after high school. While serving, I was able to assist the Director of the Combined Federal Campaign. This is a major campaign that is sponsored by the military and United Way, and it is geared towards raising money for nonprofit agencies. I enjoyed visiting various agencies, organizing events, as well as educating people about the available resources within their communities. This was definitely a season of growth; furthermore, after careful research I discovered the field of social work was the best profession for me. This was
Most people in hard situation are not looking for a hand out, but a hand up. Giving people the options to improve their living situations with services available for health care, food, child care, housing, and education betters that person's chances at have a successful personal welfare. In bettering personal welfare I must also eliminate how I treat racial and ethnic minorities differently. In the social work field, we cannot look at the person differently just because of their skin color or their culture, they are just a person is in need of a hand up; Black, White, Asian or Hispanic its our job is to get them the options to succeed. As a social worker, you must assess and get to know your clients on a personal level, but still keep it professional. By assessing and getting to know your client you will get a better picture of why they are seeking professional options for help; allowing you to provide the best personal welfare for your
Social work as a profession strives to help the welfare of those within the community whether its persons or families through advocacy. Often times clients are those who may be vulnerable and disadvantaged. Social workers aim to help people fulfill basic needs in their everyday lives and assist them by providing beneficial resources and intervention counseling. They do more than just help them in their current situation, it’s about helping them to survive and set attainable goals to live a fuller and better life for themselves, and most time for their families.
Social Services will allow that extra support that a family may need to face issues head on. Without social services these families would have been without proper services. Social services and counselors allows homeless families a second chance at life. Social services provide this second chance for families in our communities to function in today's society. The reason for social workers is to give individuals hope and show the individual that they are capable of overcoming the most difficult events in their lives and still be productive to society.
I obtained my Masters in Social Work (MSW) degree from India in the year 2006. As with most countries around the world, the emergence of social work in India was from charity aiming to eliminate poverty. Gradually it shifted from philanthropy to rights based approach and then to organized social work. Community organization surfaced as the most central method of social work practice along with practice of casework. Although social work is much more structured in nature now, it still operates along the conventional perspective of social work. Social work is not even recognized as a profession in India. An indicator of an occupation being publicly recognized as a profession is exhibited by
47). Social workers advise clients how to attain resources, rather than just providing them. The idea is to include clients in their journey to success and feel a sense of control in their life. I personally believe encouraging empowerment is a critical aspect of a social worker’s roles and responsibility. Engaging clients in setting their own goals is essential, and ultimately more beneficial to them. Clients should be able to access resources on their own; additionally, they can use the assistance of friends, families, communities, and organizations. One of the core values of a social worker is, Importance of human relationships. According to the NASW, “Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process” (The National Association, “n. d.”). Empowerment and advocacy are closely connected. I want to advocate for clients, furthermore, I want clients to be able to advocate for
My interest in social work stems from a love of volunteering that I possessed ever since I was a young child expressing great enthusiasm for church and school service events. As I grew older, I began volunteering for many other community events, such as serving over 200 hours at a local hospital, helping with free cancer screenings, and fitting children with free bike helmets. I even created my own donation drive for a local women’s and children’s shelter. I feel the best when I am striving to create positive changes in my community and for struggling, marginalized individuals. Social services have been a part of my life for a very long time, and I want it to continue to be on a professional level.
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people. Particular attention is paid to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Social work is a profession based on enhancing the capacity of people to participate in society and enhancing the capacity of society to include all people in it. Social workers address problems related to social, political, and economic
Social Work is a discipline that can be a very rewarding experience for both the worker and the client. The practice involves working with individuals, families, or groups who are struggling to cope with lifes challenges. The social worker must combine his or her personal qualities, creative abilities, and social concerns with the professional knowledge in order to help the client’s social functioning or prevent social problems from developing (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 34). Social work practice seeks to promote human well-being, while addressing the processes by which individuals and groups are marginalized or diminished in their capacity to participate as citizens (Ian O'Connor, 2006, p. 1). There are many different perspectives and approaches reviewed by the practitioner to determine a suitable approach towards intervention.
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.
The National Association of social workers (2008) defines the unifying primary mission or purpose of social work as “enhancing human well-being and helping meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” (Dubois & Miley, 2014).
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
families, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social workers are change agents and because of that, they aim to help people develop their skills and abilities to use resources provided to them to strengthen and improve their lives and communities to resolve problems. One of the main goal of social workers is to improve the well-being and lives of the most vulnerable populations, fight against poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and the underserviced population by emphasizing on the person-in-environment and social justice model. The social work profession, considerers the individuals’ internal and external struggles, while working with the individuals to examine their relationships, family, work environment, community, and other things that might impact them and identify ways to help address problems and challenges.