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Social work concepts and theories
Environment influences human behavior
Social work concepts and theories
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Comment Powered by Social work is a very unique field in that it covers many areas; all of which are vital to accomplishing the goals of the social work profession. Social work as a profession is geared towards assisting the public by improving their quality of life overall. As a result, social workers are equipped with many different skills to use depending on the issue they are facing with any given level of work. While many professions hone in on specific areas of expertise, social workers are required to possess multiple skills preparing them for varying situations even within their area of work. Within the social work profession, there are three levels of practice: micro- practice, mezzo-practice, …show more content…
In order to effectively improve the client’s quality of life, the social worker must meet them where they are. From the counseling perspective, just outside of the individual themselves is the environment (or the microsystem)—particularly the peers, family and friends— according to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. As one who believes a person is …show more content…
As Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and model suggests, the order of influence an environment has on someone is from furthest to closest (1979). With that in mind, tinkering with the environment (which is a big factor in social work) will eventually trickle down to the client themselves. However, the benefits of improving the quality of the environment and the social services do not stop at one individual. Changing the environment affects everyone involved. Although it would be less beneficial than individual counseling, from a utilitarian perspective it provides more good. Social workers also can work with the environment in a less direct way by ensuring the client is making the most of the social services other social workers have worked so hard to make available and beneficial. Most situations a social worker would work within the casework or case manager position are situations where the client has issues beyond his control. In order to maximize the quality of his life, meeting the client where he is at is vital. Not everyone has
Social workers level the playing field for individuals and families that have experienced hardships, terminal illnesses, mental health disorders and other adverse environmental situations that inhibit their ability to thrive within society. Social workers accomplish this by providing individuals and families the resources necessary to ensure that their needs are being met. Social workers serve an essential role to the functioning of our society, as they are committed and dedicated to increasing the quality of life for underprivileged community members. I fully intend on actively contributing to this endeavor, as I believe social workers have the responsibility to ensure that all community members have their needs met and the opportunity to
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.
Social Workers main objectives are to work for Social Justice, and invoke positive changes for future generations. Social work as I have come to know it is a helping profession on many levels. Social work is not concentrated on only one specific area of need, but targets many areas on a larger scale with vast opportunities in the field. As Hick (2006) states
Perhaps one of the most versatile and diverse careers is social work, as this career works with individuals struggling with substance abuse, low-income families, and homeless individuals. Social work is a profession that is concerned with solving personal, group, and community relationships (Farley, Smith, & Boyle, 2011). Among some of the most important aspects of social work are the restoration of impaired social functioning, the provision of social services, and prevention (Farley et al., 2011). Reducing problems in human relationships and improving human interactions among individuals are the major focuses of this profession, regardless of which people group the social workers are serving (Farley et al., 2011). Even though it is a relatively new profession, social work has existed in various forms throughout history. However, the beginning of social work’s development as a profession was primarily European in origin, with the ideals spreading to the United States
To familiarize you with what social work is exactly I’ll provide you with a brief history about the career. I will not go too deep into it because I do not like to bore my reader. Social work began in in 1898 when a class was offered at Columbia University. It was a hit! Fortunately, the beginnings of social work paved the way of developing private and charitable organizations to the people who needed it the most. Until this very day, social workers are continuing to serve our society with their needs and recognizing our nation’s social problems and bringing them to the
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
Social work practice is usually associated with working directly with a client in a facility or providing a home for a child. However, the social worker also associated themselves on a more larger scale to address issues and make changes in their community or even the world. In a macro-level, social workers focus on the community and the more large-scale like issues in the community. As a macro-social worker, they tend to work with large groups of individuals, communities, or major organizations. Therefore, endeavoring in a workplace is a concern for social workers as becoming competent in organizations is an important aspect of this type of social work.
Social Workers also approach the clients to not only resolve personal conflicts but to allow the client to function best within their environments. Social Work distinguishing characteristics include the emphasis on the person-in-environment model as well as its emphasis on social justice. Compared to other similar professions, Social Work has differing professional values and ethics that include appreciation to human diversity, understanding of social welfare policy and services, emphasis on both social and economic justice, as well as a strong foundation in education. The importance of Social Work includes numerous of explanations. Social Workers help countless of people navigate through major life challenges or setbacks to find hope as well as options to achieve greater things. Not only do Social Workers help individuals overcome problems but they also stand up for human rights and social justice to assist
Although social work may be categorized as many things I believe what sets it apart from other occupations is the need to promote social justice. Barusch (2015) explained social justice for social workers is working towards an end goal for their client’s.
I would to begin this paper with an authentic definition of the Social Work field. Social work practices involves facilitating change—in other words, working with others, not doing something to them or for them(Dubois). Most people and social workers would always use the world ‘help’ in some way or form when defining social workers. Which is true but the confusion come in when asked where they work, who they assist and how they differ from other helping professions. Social workers can be sustain abuse therapists, child welfare specialists, and school social workers. We are not limited to just the department of social services. They can work in nursing homes, hospitals, and even in legislation.
Social workers serve vulnerable populations. Social work as a profession offers numerous employment opportunities that allow one to work in a career field that encompasses one or more of the populations served that piques the social worker’s interest and passions.
Social work can be a stressful, time consuming career, but that has never made me second guess that it is the career for me. In my eyes, social work is more than a profession, it is a way for me to channel my passion for helping others. I am dedicated and determined to improve society’s overall wellbeing by advocating for social justice, social cohesion, and social change in the lives of vulnerable people. Social workers may not have the highest salaries or sense of power, but social workers are given the chance to empower others to be the best they can be, and that is all I could ever ask for in a career.
Social is a broadly defined profession many kinds of profession who serve people in need. Social workers are unique in the way that they look at many different aspects of a problem, from the individual to the physiological, to the political. Common ways of serving clients including providing counseling, or therapy as well as connecting clients to appropriate public or private resources.
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
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.