As discussed in my previous reflection on what makes Social Work critical, the document An invitation to narrative practitioners to address privilege and dominance was useful in assisting me with understanding what privilege is in regards to Social Work. In this reading, the term “privilege” is used in a different way; to “describe unearned rights, benefits, immunity and favours that are bestowed on individuals and groups solely on the basis of their race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or other key characteristic” (Denborough, Raheim & White p.24). It discusses various types of privileges from which I learned that there are multiple factors involved when it comes to recognizing personal disadvantages. It is …show more content…
I had adapted the exercise in a way that was relevant to myself. I am privileged in ways such as being financially supported, having the opportunity for education, and living in safe environmental conditions; all of which most peoples in third world countries are not. I am more privileged than many people just because I was fortunate enough to grow up and live in a first world country. Near the beginning of the year, my family and I went on vacation to the Philippines where we are originally from. During our stay, we resided with my grandparents instead of a hotel or resort. This way, I got to experience living like an average Filipino for a month. It helped me realize just how many privileges we are presented with living in a first world country and how we take numerous things for granted. The environment was polluted and there was garbage strewn in piles along the street, so their environmental conditions were not ideal. Many of my cousins could not afford post secondary education and have to depend on their parents for financial support until they can find a job. I felt guilty after my visit and the section from the reading “Unpacking shame and guilt” helped me consider why it is that I felt guilt. I felt guilty because the ways in which I am more privileged than them seem like basic human rights to me. It brought my attention to the fact that we have no control over these privileges we are or are not presented
Being given the opportunity to intern with the staff at the Family Resource Center in the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) has been a tremendous learning experience thus far. The opportunity has truly surpassed my expectation of what I imagined the journey of internship would be like and how it would help me to evolve into the professional arena as a social worker. I see myself transforming and viewing the community in which I live, the clients served, those deprived, and the tremendous job that we as social workers are tasked with to advocate for those in need from a more open-minded perspective. By enhancing and developing my personal and professional skills, such as active listening, observation, and professional comportment, I will be
This paper is about a reflection on a class interview for a senior social worker. The teacher gave every student ten minutes for this interview. The students did not have an idea of what their situation was about until couple minutes before the interview. This paper will focus on the limits of confidentiality for the client, potential assessment for the client, engagement with the client, and evaluation of the social worker.
Through reading this paper you will learn about the key points from the article, A Social Worker’s Reflection on Power, Privilege, and Oppression written by Michael S. Spencer and the article White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh. Then the paper will include my personal beliefs on the topic of privilege and even some of my own personal privilege that are in my knapsack and that have helped me along my way in life. Finally, There will also be a point in the paper where I will have the ability to informed you about how privilege affect people and how they can positively affect people who do not receive them. Privileges impacts many groups of people in many different ways. They can be effected by
As a social worker, I have been able to use my skills I have learned in the field and my college education. I have values, beliefs, and ethics that I have used to center my social work career around. I also acknowledge as a social worker, I cannot push my values, beliefs, and ethics onto others. Every person does not share the same values, beliefs and ethics.
In order to broaden my perspective on health care, I decided not to interview an occupational therapist. I wanted to hear the health perspective of another professional, therefore I chose to interview a social worker. I believed it would be interesting since social work is one of the disciplines that influenced occupational therapy. Claire Fultz was able to give me a glimpse of the social work profession and corresponding background during our interview. Fultz is a psychiatric social worker employed at Mindoula Health Inc. who began working in the human services and social work field back in 2001. Prior to her professional work experience, she completed two Master’s programs while majoring in four specializations. She explained how her experience
According to the National Association of Social Work (NASW), Social work is defined as, “The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal.” As such to pursue a career as a Social worker one must contain some key values. Such values include: one must be able to provide help, resources, and benefits to people so that they can achieve their maximum potential in life, they must also uphold that all citizens should be treated equally despite their socioeconomic background. In addition, they have to be willing to maintain trustworthiness and sound adherence to moral ideals, value the dynamic reciprocal interactions
"Expanding the Definition of Privilege: The Concept of Social Privilege. " Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 33.4 (2005): 243-255. Web. The Web. The Web.
Throughout the Social Work Program at Winona State University-Rochester, I have been able to expand my knowledge about what it means to be a social worker. Prior to joining this program, when I thought of a social worker, I thought of someone who is highly motivated, compassionate, supportive, and someone who wants to make a difference in somebody’s life. Although this definition is true, overtime I have been able to expand this definition. Now, they are also someone who builds relationships with clients during what are often their lowest points in their lives and they are a person who often will put others needs before their own. Social workers use their knowledge about maintaining a person’s dignity and worth and rely on skills that help them understand people within their environment, and using their training to help people from all walks of life both on the micro level and the macro level.
Working with others and improving own learning and performance are highly essential skills in social work. In this essay I will reflect on how well I have developed these two skills and what I need to do to improve them.
Among an array of Values from The Code of Ethics (TCE) of social work Value 1 dictates that as social workers we must respect the dignity of our clients and refrain from passing judgement onto them (Canadian Association of Social Work, 2005, pg.7). As a social worker, it is important to follow this value as it prevents the distancing of the client from the worker as the client will have a better chance of opening up to someone who does not instantly tell them what to do or reprimand them for their actions or non-action in their lives. Oppression relates to the TCE in that it says the social work profession’s main purpose is to raise their clients who are vulnerable, oppressed and/or living in poverty (CASW, 2005, pg.7). Taking this into account
One must consider the nature of oppression and how it is present within social work. The nature of oppression infiltrates all aspects of life. Social work theorist, defines oppression as “relations that divide people into dominant or superior groups and subordinate or inferior ones. These relations of domination consist of the systematic devaluing of the attributes and contributions of those deemed inferior, and their exclusion from the social resources available to those in the dominant group”. When humans experience a perceived threat to their personal identities and lack the ability to maintain and affirm a unique identity, they exclude others by contrasting themselves against a constructed, and inferior, identity of the other. To 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
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 field of social work is one that requires much self-reflection on the part of the worker. In doing so, it helps the worker better understand his or her own emotions and the thought processes that these emotions come from. The goal of this paper is to provide my own self-reflection, relating it to my own emotional intelligence in the domains of relationships, tolerance, flexibility, self-management, and emotional awareness, and my future plans and goals in Widener University’s MSW program.
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.