Social work practice emphasises the importance of understanding individuals’ experiences. Social context and family experience should be considered as major influences of a person’s journey. Understanding the context to where my values and practices have come from also provides insight of the development of personal and professional identity. Lived experience of three generations (1920-2016) Early marriages and large families were dominant trends for the generation living through World War II, my grandparents included. The definition of family was simplified, a mother, father and their children. Conservative ideas such as family structure were preserved and favoured by the state. Biblical principals greatly informed the culture of families, …show more content…
My own unique experience is part of the wider social influences that have been experienced by myself and my ancestors. Christianity was invested into my grandparents generation on both sides influencing the heritage I have received. As a culture normalcy, biblical principals and values were kept by my grandparents out of expectation and set onto their children. Keeping these values and adopting their own christian faith, my parents reinforced them onto their children. Today, this connection has been part of my spiritual journey adopting the same practices myself. This strong heritage has been an influencer in my passion for people, influencing my decision to study social work at university. It connects to my values, how I choose to live and likely will be shared with future family. For three generations, my family has settled in the same rural western community. Practices of community work and service has also been a heritage from my historical journey. From my grandparents, helping and contributing to society has been a fundamental part of their lifestyle in careers, communities and family. Living in the same area contributes to security and community values I have now. This is acted upon through maintaining old friendships and servicing people through the church and other outreaches. The frugal approach adopted from past history including World war II, the recession and my grandmothers childhood has contributed to a parsimonious attitude held today. Responsibility of money is an important value upheld in the
Over the centuries, these methods have changed. These methods are changed because of events in history. Such events like the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, WWII, and mass numbers of Immigrants are said to be the cause for the loss of the "traditional family. Coontz states, "The Industrial Revolution destroyed the traditional family." The Industrial Era provided work for younger ages. With the age of the work force lowered, children had less time to play; the roles for women were redefined, causing more individuality with in a family. This was not the style of the traditional family, when the wife cooks the meals, takes care of kids; the husband goes to work, and supports the family, traditionally.
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...
Now, Reamer (2006) lists those keys to social work practice in which I find to be where I like to walk the path in and in which I was just talking about above. These include the following “commitment to enhancing well-being and helping meet basic human needs of all people, client empowerment, services to people who are vulnerable and oppressed, focus on individual well-being in a social context, promotion of social justice and social change, and sensitivity to cultural and ethnic diversity “ (pg/ 49-51)
Professionalism in the social work field goes beyond licensure and expertise (Cournoyer, 2014). According to Cournoyer (2014), social work professionalism encompasses the concepts of integrity, self-efficacy and knowledge, self-understanding and self-control, and social support (Cournoyer, 2014). Embedded in social work professionalism is the person-environment perspective, which posits that our personal attributes, interactions and relationships with others, and environment influence a social worker’s practice. Cournoyer stresses that it is a social worker’s responsibility to acknowledge and regulate his or her personal biases, ideologies, and beliefs when working with clients in order to prevent them from negatively impacting the therapeutic
Thompson, N (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice, Palgrave, MacMillan (Second Edition) Hampshire (Supplementary Course Reader)
Several changes have occurred since the 1920s in traditional family values and the family life. Research revealed several different findings among family values, the way things were done and are now done, and the different kinds of old and new world struggles.
Entering the field of social work you must be prepared to encounter many personalities. Knowing this, you have to become aware of people with different backgrounds and morals. By doing this you will be able to help your clients to the best of your ability, without forcing your personal beliefs or values on to them. A value is a set of rules or or beliefs that affect your every day decisions (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2011). Applying your personal values to every situation is very important, however, you must learn to separate what you know and what is in actuality the best outcome for your client. I will be discussing the ways I feel about the “Vignette’s”, while also incorporating different things I have learned from the readings and class discussions.
From a young age because of my compassion and empathetic nature, I knew that I wanted to work inside the human service field. I wanted to use my personal characteristics to improve individual’s lives. Social work was my calling because of the many different areas in the field that are all primarily focused on making a difference. I am interested in clinical social work, working with individuals and families. Other helping sciences like psychology offers clinical groundwork. However, I knew social work would be a better fit because of its focus and influence of persons-in environment perspective opposed to the more individualized psychological perspective.
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.
Watson, D & West, J 2006, Social work process and practice: approaches, knowledge, and skills, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York.
Social work practice is a profession where it works alongside the ‘code of ethics’, these consist of formal statements which represent values of the professional community. The national associations such as Britain state the core values within this field are human dignity and worth, social justice, service to humanity (human rights), integrity and competence. The professional field is regulated by the ‘British Association of Social Work’ (BASW). The core values within social work are huma...
The case work process and situation let me understand the complexities involved in social life. It does not only act as a helping relationship for the client but the case worker as well. Overall, the feeling of being able to help someone in the field gives me immense satisfaction. Though the process is tedious and long, it requires long- term commitment by the social worker to go through this process and make a positive impact on the lives of individuals.
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
The work of a social worker is complex and all encompassing. Social workers work in many capacities seeking justice, liberation, and equality. There work is global, as they work to put policies in place to govern practices. To keep up with societal shifts and generational changes there learning is continuous. As new questions rise so does the need for the continuation of research, not only to answer these questions but to implement into
Social work is a profession which promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and enhance well-being. It is important to acknowledge the history of social work and the purpose of social work and why it exists. Social work is a questioned theory with different perspectives on what it is and how it should be practised. Social work helps people to deal with personal and social problems so that people can overcome or adjust to any personal difficulties. Social work is a combination of social stability and social change. Social stability promotes individual and social welfare and social change seek to change negative aspects of society. Values are implicit within the law and policy and these tend to reflect the values within society. Personal values can influence the way social workers interpret and implement their profession.