Assignment Summary This paper attempts to examine York’s School of Social Work’s mission statement and how elements of the critical theory, values and history shape the framework that is adopted. The theory consists of six principles that help shape the profession and its core values. The paper attempts to study each principle in detail. The use of history and values that defines who Canada is today, both in and out the profession, will be reinforced to help better apply the theory to understand the mission statement. Together, the examination of history, values and critical theory, will serve as guiding threads that build up York’s School of Social Work mission statement and the framework it dominates. Critical Social Work practice …show more content…
York’s School of Social Work believes through research, curriculum and critical pedagogy the school will develop a critical appreciation of the social construction of reality. The way in which reality is constructed is done through subjective experience. As critical social work practitioners, there has to be consideration of both the subjective experience of the individual and the objective experience of society in regards to the situation. The treatment of Indigenous people in Canada was a gruesome act of social injustice that has deep historical context. From society’s perspective, the ‘specialized’ treatment for Aboriginals was a way to ease their transition in assimilating into the mainstream Canadian culture. Through the Indian Act, it was and still is today, a piece of social legislation that regulates and controls every aspect of the lives of Indigenous peoples. This includes the government’s guardianship over Indian lands, and socially controlling the process of enfranchisement, whereby Indian’s can only attain Canadian citizenship by relinquishing their ties to their community. For Aboriginals, this was just the beginning of cultural genocide, in which they were stripped of their rights and cultural identity. The social construction of reality from an Aboriginal’s perspective is to be seen as a marginalized individual through the unfair treatment …show more content…
In Thomas King’s lecture “Truth About Stories”, he states that the truth “is all we are, it’s turtles all the way down”. As individuals, we are carrying the world on stories, developing our own social construction of realities, yet a key element is one’s own interpretation of values and ideologies in these stories, as often many pieces of these stories are left out, it is not a solid foundation. As critical social workers, one must break those stories down, and engage in self-reflection. Being a non-indigenous practitioner working with Indigenous groups and community, social work practitioners must look at the values of empathy, respect and past experiences dealing with power and oppression that influence interpretation of the
Canadians are just recently beginning to realize the detrimental aftermath of the years of trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples of Canada, such as the survivors of the residential school system. It is often difficult for these people to overcome the impact that follows. Undoubtedly, it requires help and support from others, but these people must make their personal healing journey themselves. The passages “Rock Bottom” by Steven Keewatin Sanderson and the “Legend of the Sugar Girl” by Joseph Boyden prove that although trauma can significantly undermine groups of people, they can overcome their difficulties. Both authors illustrate how trauma negatively affects characters, causes them to fall victim
This class, Social Work Theory & Practice was made to be able to introduce me to social work theories, ideas, and skills needed to work in the social work profession. This class main tool used was a book called A Brief Introduction of Social Work Theory by David Howe which discusses social work theories in a compressive and explainable way. This class is important to my higher learning because it break down the theories that I will need to use during my practice and a...
Social work pursues to meet the demands and addresses the changing profession of fighting for human rights, improving social policies, and practice. I agree with the Abramovitz article that we have to know and understand the history of the social work profession. If people go without learning and comprehending the past, people cannot make accommodations for the future. Knowledge of the past will keep history alive, it will guide workers and their efforts to reform. The past also helps society in understanding programs that did not work. Society needs to understand the values that historical knowledge can bring positive changes in the future. Advocates for early social workers and their issues and concerns are still relevant in today's
Yellow Bird, M., Chenault, V., (1999). The Role of Social Work in Advancing the Practice of Indigenous Education: Obstacles and Promices in Empowerment-Oriented Social Work Practice. In Next Steps: Research and Practice To Advance Indian Education (pp. 201-229)
The Indian Act no longer remains an undisputable aspect of the Aboriginal landscape in Canada. For years, this federal legislation (that was both controversial and invasive) governed practically all of the aspects of Aboriginal life, starting with the nature of band governance and land tenure. Most importantly, the Indian act defines qualifications of being a “status Indian,” and has been the source of Aboriginal hatred, due to the government attempting to control Aboriginals’ identities and status. This historical importance of this legislation is now being steadily forgotten. Politically speaking, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal critics of the Indian act often have insufferable opinions of the limits of the Indian Act’s governance, and often argue to have this administrative device completely exterminated. Simultaneously, recent modern land claim settlements bypass the authority of the Indian Act over specific groups.
Her book focuses on the myriads of issues and struggles that Indigenous men and women have faced and will continue to face because of colonialism. During her speech, Palmater addressed the grave effects of the cultural assimilation that permeated in Indigenous communities, particularly the Indian Residential School System and the Indian Act, which has been extensively discussed in both lectures and readings. Such policies were created by European settlers to institutionalize colonialism and maintain the social and cultural hierarchy that established Aboriginals as the inferior group. Palmater also discussed that according to news reports, an Aboriginal baby from Manitoba is taken away every single day by the government and is put in social care (CTVNews.ca Staff, 2015). This echoes Andrea Smith’s argument in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” that colonialism continues to affect Aboriginals through genocide (2006, p. 68). Although such actions by the government are not physical acts of genocide, where 90% of Aboriginal population was annihilated, it is this modern day cultural assimilation that succeeded the Indigenous Residential School System and the Indian Act embodies colonialism and genocide (Larkin, November 4,
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.
Similar to other marginalized groups affected by colonialism due to the government in power, the Indigenous peoples of Canada have struggled as a nation due to the unequal treatment they have encountered in the past. The governing bodies that control these Indigenous communities have continued to have colonialistic tendencies that attempt to put the ‘white man’s’ needs before the Indigenous peoples.
The following paper aims to discuss and analyze the way in which my personal values intersect with the values I hold as most important within the profession of social work. It would stand to reason that these values would stand on common ground; however, there are places where my personal and professional values diverge. These conflicts may prove to be problematic within my chosen career unless I find a way to prioritize my values, or find ways for them to work harmoniously with each other.
Therefore, the theories I used in my work with the clients were psychosocial, ecologically-oriented, competence-centered and completely client-centred (Mullaly, 2007, p. 48). My practice at SEWA was aimed at studying and addressing the correlation between clients and their “impinging” environment as a cumulative to the problem in question (Maluccio et. al., 1992, p. 31). For example, in addressing maternal health issues of a rural pregnant woman, as a social worker I would probe her existing knowledge and access to health. Thereafter, I would provide her information about services in the vicinity. In the process, I would also recognise case-relevant factors such as husband’s decision making power and help her address it by providing awareness to husband. In this manner, my role as a social worker was to identify and deal with social issues as a collective of individual and environmental problems. However, SEWA was a revolutionary movement and therefore as social workers we were encouraged to address such grassroots issues as system issues from feminist and anti-oppressive viewpoints. As a result, I was also responsible to collate and present these experiences at policy advocacy forums. Besides, defence, collectivization and personal change practices (Olivier, 2010) were also practised at
(2009) Critical social work: Theories and practices for a socially just world. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Wilson, K. et al. al., 2011 - p. 78. Social Work: 'Introduction to Contemporary Practice'. 2nd ed.
This paper will explore what the primary mission of social work as a professional means to me. Through self-reflection of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, I will delve into why I chose social work as a career, the type of social worker I want to become, and ponder what challenges and obstacles may impede my chosen path.
One of the most important values I have learned in this course were these specific core values in social work. Social work seeks to provide service and have social justice. They understand the importance of individuals and their worth. In whatever they do, they do their work with complete integrity and competence (4). These values can be applied onto other things
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