One of the most common approaches used today by social workers is the strengths based perspective. Often time when trying to solve a problem, the main focus is on the problem itself and by doing so, there is a focus on the negative aspects and what is wrong. The strengths perspective tries shifting the view of situations by focusing on what the client may bring to the current situation. It tries to focus on the present and what the future may hold rather than what has happened in the past (Miley, O’Melia, & DuBois, 2015, p. 79). The strengths approach consists of observing the qualities and strengths a client has. Often times there are strengths that have not been given enough attention and may need to be released (Miley et al., 2015, p. 76). …show more content…
A client is able to feel empowered depending on how they can interact and communicate with others (Miley et al., 2015, p. 81). At this level, a client who has a musical talent may be connected to a group of other disabled people who share the same talent. Another alternative would be to let that particular strength the person has connect them with opportunities or people who would help enhance it. As mentioned previously, if the client loves music, they could be taught to play a new instrument or master the one they already are able to play. Depending on what the goal of the client is, the client would seek to obtain power by developing new skills and obtaining new positions (Miley et al., 2015, p. 81). As the client’s skills and strengths are increased and used as resources to feel empowered, the next step in the process of empowerment, as mentioned previously, would be to get involved in the bigger issues such as the social and political structures that exist in our society (Miley et al., 2015, p. 81). In this case, opportunities and resources are needed. Certain opportunities and not always available due to lack of funding and support. Maybe the client can use their strength to advocate and bring attention to the lack of opportunities that may exist in their
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.
Social workers address people’s problems every day, but it’s the identification of people’s strengths that provides clues for how to solve their problems and improve their life situations (Saleeby, 2013, pp.17-20).
I am the product of divorced parents, poverty stricken environments, and a blended family, but I refuse to let that dictate the outcome of my life. At the age of ten, I had to assume the role of a fatherly figure to my three siblings, so I missed out on the typical childhood most would have had. I grew up in neighborhoods where gangs and criminal acts of violence were a pervasive occurrence, but I resiliently did not allow the peer pressures of others to force me to conform to their way of life. By the age of 15, I received my worker 's permit, and that allowed me the ability to help my mother financially in the absence of my father’s income. I worked the maximum amount of hours I could while balancing my academics and extracurricular school activities. I was a scholar athlete and triathlete in high school, and although I continuously faced much adversity, I still managed to be accepted to the University of California State, Bakersfield after I graduated from high school in 2005. Sadly, after
Utilizing strengths based perspective with clients enables social workers to focus on the client and family strengths and abilities instead of focusing on the client and family’s problems, bad behaviors and pathologies. The strengths based perspective applies six principles that guide the social worker professional in assisting client’s with the strengths based model; we all have areas of strength, but sometimes it takes an unbiased third party to notice and help others clearly see what they are capable of achieving, even in the midst of their crisis.
This method is grounded in the strengths perspective, a perspective in which the worker center’s their sessions around the clients’ abilities, gifts, and strengths (Shulman, 2016). Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the client, the worker highlights what is right with the client building on their strengths instead of emphasizing their deficits: the client already has what they need to get better or solve their problem (Corcoran, 2008). The role of the worker in this model is to help the client recognize their potential, recognize what resources they already have, and discuss what is going well for the client and what they have been able to accomplish already (Shulman, 2016). Techniques commonly used in this model, although they are not exclusive to this model, include an emphasis on pre- and between-session change, exception questions, the miracle question, scaling questions, and coping questions (Shulman, 2016). These questions are used for many reasons: for example, the miracle question is used because “sometimes asking clients to envision a brighter future may help them be clearer on what they want or to see a path to problem-solving.” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 434) while coping questions are used to allow the client to see what they are already accomplishing, rather than what they are transgressing (Corcoran, 2008). All
Cunningham, M. (2012). Integrating Spirituality in Clinical Social Work Practice: Walking the Labyrinth (1 ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.
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 empowerment perspective, “support[s] the development of innate abilities and recognize differences in a positive manner are also helping social workers increase the individual client’s capacity to learn to use his or her own systems constructively” (Empowerment, 2011). Meaning, it is when social workers would use the positivity of being different races and religions to help the client. For example, it would be recognizing that being black or Muslim is not a bad thing, but that there are numerous positives. To address the impact of classism, a social worker would “Help clients [to] better understand these contradictions [(that media and the world send them of what certain class’s attitudes, schemas and behaviors are like)] may help them understand” (Liu, 2005). Meaning, the social worker would help the client to understand the good attributes of being in a certain class, and how to obtain a higher class. Since the media often sends contradictions, such as saying “saving is important, but you have to spend to succeed” (Liu, 2005). Lastly, an understanding of the social construction of culture will be used in social work practice, since it could help a social worker to get a better understanding of their clients. Being, it could help them to better understand how their clients view themselves or how their clients feel society views them. Which can lead to the social worker understanding their clients lives and who their clients are, in a better
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
The practice example I will use in this essay involved an interaction between myself and a 50-year-old client with a mild intellectual disability. This interaction was regarding the reason the client had not been participating in activities. The presenting issue in this case was the clients dislike for the current activities. The client felt as though she had no say in the activities she is enrolled in by her acre takers and believed she could not change into different programs, she had stated she was only doing these activities because she believes she had too. After hearing this I felt as though an empowerment approach would be most appropriate. As a practitioner my first step was to recognise the oppression in this situation. As a disabled elderly woman, she has been oppressed by both the disability sector and her care workers. In recognising this I also had to take note that in this situation I was working as one of her care workers therefore did hold power and needed to ensure this did not disempower the client. I began this intervention by asking the client what she wanted, what where her goals, to gain a clear idea of what she wanted to get out of the interaction. She responded that she wished to change activities to meet goals of social interaction. I then used questioning techniques to start getting her to question that way of thinking about the amount of choice she has. I
By empowering clients it may change their way of thinking, manage relationship in their life and the way they interact in their social environment (Walsh, 2013). Social workers help clients become aware of the conflicts with themselves and their surroundings that oppress or limit them and help clients become better able to free themselves from those constraints (2013). Those there are also limitations to empowerment practice. Clients may rely on the social worker’s guidance to seek solutions for their problems, referencing the social worker as an expert. Most importantly, a social worker cannot empower their clients if they themselves don’t have power. Social workers must have respect and influence among their peers in the service professions (Walsh,
Social workers are aware that working with children means working with their families and the child’s whole environmental context in a culturally competent way. We are in the front line protecting children who are exposed to neglect, adversity and risk and try to ensure that a safe and protective atmosphere is provided. In fact, social workers have been struggling with child maltreatment for decades, but throughout this time knowledge and studies have informed social workers’ work with children and their families. The very definition of social work is predicated on the importance of human rights, well-being and dignity and UNCRC (1989) elevates the status of children by acknowledging their civil and political rights, their right to express
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
Weick, A., Rapp, C., Sullivan, W., & Kisthardt, W. (1989). A Strengths Perspective for Social Work Practice. Social Work, 34(4), 350-354.
This paper will discuss what empowerment is and how to a person can develop an empowerment mindset. Developing a empowerment mindset will provide an individual with the tools to solve problems, mater skills used for their specific areas of employment, take initiative, and increase the competence of that individual. Developing an empowerment mindset can help in a person career, but it can also enhance your personal relationships.