I believe all the classes in Austin Peay State University (APSU) social work department are intended to help prepare the students for social work practice. The classes that stand out the most are Generalist, Micro and Macro classes. In these classes we spent a great amount of time experiencing real world scenarios or going into the community to gain knowledge on issues within that community. These classes provided a sneak peak into social work practice. The classes also showed us how diverse social work practice may be depending on the area of social work.
Generalist classes provided us with a workbook and within this workbook we had many assignments in which gave us a scenario and then asked us as a social worker how I would address these issues. For example I remember one example asked if I had a client who was terminally ill and asked me to help them commit euthanasia, would I and what else would I do in that situation. I used the ETHICs model to help me answer this question. For me I determined that it was not only against my values, but the values of the company I would be working for and that his life was more important than allowing the client to commit euthanasia. In this example I also indicated that I may be lawfully held accountable and could loose my license. I came to the conclusion that because I would not have had much practice knowledge, that I would take this up with a supervisor to gain more insight on the situation. Although I would respect their decision if they decided to commit euthanasia I would not be able to be apart of this process.
In Micro class the instructor brought in various scenarios from their practice knowledge. The students were given roles and the scenario to act out in class and then ano...
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...e resident and see what may be the issue. The facility is teaching be a great deal on accommodating my interview to the resident. This takes a continuous effort of analyzing and processing the interview and how I perceive the resident is taking the information or question being asked. Many times I will need to ask the questions a little differently depending on how the client responds to the question. For example, I may ask what are some of your past occupations and the resident may give me a look and then I will ask again what were some of the jobs you have performed in the past. Being able to ready and adjust the interview helps me to get all the information that is needed from the resident. Many times I have found if I visit with the resident before I have to conduct the interview they are more willing to share their information to help me answers the questions.
Identify and explain the three major sources of conflict and misinterpretations in social work practice: culture-bound values, class bound values, and language variables.
As the social worker, I would apply social work ethical principles to guide my professional practice by making sure that am knowledgeable of the liability and standard/duty of care issues as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics, be able to articulate and demonstrate social values, ethics, and principles, open to being challenged on the values and beliefs; have the ability to manage conflict regarding ethical issues, being able to reflect understanding of how to integrate ethics into practice, and recognize my personal values in a way that would allow my professional values to guide my practice (NASW, 2015).
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.
The National Association of Social Work's Code of Ethics is not only something that is crucial to someone in the field of Social Work but can also be applied to everyday life. These values in which the Code of Ethics mandates professionals to use are very important in knowing how to help clients in bettering their lives, and in help society as a whole become a better place. Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence are all the core values of Ethics and should be learned and practiced by all, not only Social Workers (NASW, 2008).
Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality; that is, about concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice, and virtue. The NASW Code of Ethics is intended to serve as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of social workers. This Code includes four sections. The first Section, "Preamble," summarizes the social work profession 's mission and core values. The second section, "Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics," provides an overview of the Code’s main functions and a brief guide for dealing with ethical issues or dilemmas in social work practice. The third section, "Ethical Principles," presents broad ethical principles, based on social work 's core values, which inform social work practice.
As a student new to social work, The Code of Ethics written by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is in the forefront of my mind whenever practicing my freshly learned skills. According to the Code, these rules were written as the “values, principles, and standards to guide social workers’ conduct” (Code of Ethics - NASW, n.d.). Within my most-recent session, certain aspects of this code were relevant, including informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, a commitment to the client, the dignity and worth of a person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competency of the worker, and social diversity.
Social workers are increasingly recognized as an inevitable part of interdisciplinary teams in addressing the needs of clients who seek for legal remedies and services. The relationship between social work and law has been developing since 1917, when Mary Richmond, an architect of modern social work, acknowledged the role of legal authorities while developing her conceptual model for casework (Forgelson, 1970). Later, Mary Richmond drafted an early social work code of ethics in the early 1920s (Reamer, 1987). However, from the development perspective, all 50 states in the US have passed statutes requiring professionals from certain disciplines, including social work and law, to report any abuse or crime happened in the past or is going to happen in the nearest future if there are good reasons to believe that is true. Dubose and Morris (2005) stated that very few states passed similar mandatory reporting statutes for attorneys. It is not surprising that only a few states accepted these statutes because of the presence of the attorney-client privilege statute, which is true for all states. Due to differences in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and NASW Code of Ethics, professionals from the respective disciplines may have conflicts while both provide social and legal support to the same client from a domestic violence organization. There are two main reasons that allow the tension to happen, social workers are mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect but lawyers, on the contrary, have an ethical responsibility to maintain client confidentiality (Taylor, 2006).
Social Work is a profession that seeks to improve the standard of life for individuals and to effect system-wide change through the pursuit of social justice. This profession is classified under Human and Social Services as a helping profession. This profession is divided into two categories, direct service and clinical, or “licensed”, social worker. Within the two categories of social work, there are numerous of positions that focus on a particular population. Regardless of the variety of achievements and accomplishments done by the profession, some critics cannot understand the importance of Social Work. Other critics condemn the helping profession by wondering why Social Work is not combined with other similar professions, such as counselor
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
The social workers in both videos gathered information regarding each of the client’s issues. Another common denominator in both videos is that both of the social workers repeated what the client had said in their own words to allow the client to feel heard and understood. In the first video, social worker Karen asked direct questions relating to Mike’s alcohol addiction while also addressing how the addiction impacts his relationships including his marriage. Karen also addressed inconsistencies with the client doing so appropriately and quickly. It appears that in the first video, Karen focuses on the reality of the issue at hand to assist the client with establishing and accepting
Social work practice requires many skills, which need much practice themselves. This needs social work students to be open to trying within safe environments and scenario’s for mistake, such as with their peers and with emotional safe scenarios such as stress at University. This begins with a requirement to do 5 minutes of interviewing with a peer which includes many social work skills such as active listening, encouraging, paraphrasing, being/creating a welcoming and safe environment and other such basic and beginning skills.
Social work is a multifaceted, ever adapting profession, which has had many purposes and identities through the years. It is imperative for the vocation to constantly evolve alongside the social climate and the new ways in which we identify and treat those who are in need of support. Social workers can be required to take on the role of counsellor, advocate, case-worker, partner, assessor of risk and need, and at times (as the government seeks to push social work further and further towards the health and education sectors) a servant of the state. The profession is dramatically subject to affection by societal change, thus demanding social workers have a duty to be up to date with the latest developments in understanding how and why people get to the point of requiring social work intervention, and how best to prevent and cater for it.
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a variety of many things regarding social work. These things vary from learning how to help oneself to understanding how to help others. Not only were the textbooks very useful, but also the materials that furthered this textbook learning. The in class presentation, activities, and guest speakers gave us insight and a different perspective on the material we were learning. I feel like this course has given me a good foundation and prepared me as a future social worker (1).
The profession of Social work is a unique and diverse field in that it has the capacity to reach many different individuals in many different aspects of their lives. Growing up with six siblings and being confined to a small three bedroom apartment, while my mother worked multiple jobs to provide for her children, often times I became reliant on others to guide me. In retrospect of my childhood, I have personally been affected by social workers, and each of them treated my family with such professionalism. These individuals who impacted my life, did not realize the blessings they were bestowing upon me. Little did they recognize, they forever enriched my life. I desire to do the same for others. I yearn to not only become a professional at promoting the well-being of others, but also making a long-term difference for others.
Throughout this course, I have learned essential ways to behave as a social worker. Prior to having this class, I was caught in an ethical dilemma at my former job. Without prior knowledge of ethical decision making models, I was able