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Importance of social work in society
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Importance of social work in society
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Social Work is a profession that seeks to improve the standard of life for individuals and to effect system-wide change through the pursuit of social justice. This profession is classified under Human and Social Services as a helping profession. This profession is divided into two categories, direct service and clinical, or “licensed”, social worker. Within the two categories of social work, there are numerous of positions that focus on a particular population. Regardless of the variety of achievements and accomplishments done by the profession, some critics cannot understand the importance of Social Work. Other critics condemn the helping profession by wondering why Social Work is not combined with other similar professions, such as counselor …show more content…
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
Social Work is a profession that is committed to the promotion, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement of social functioning. Its focus is to work with individuals, groups, and communities, in helping them use the resources within themselves and the environment to cope more effectively with their problems. At its most basic level, social work is about promoting the general welfare of society by representing those who are most vulnerable. Providing social services can sometimes be a difficult task, wrought with ethical uncertainties and challenges. The Social Work Code of Ethics helps social workers navigate these challenges throughout their careers and provide a framework for the principles and standards a social worker must uphold.
The National Association of Social Workers, NASW, considers the following as its six most core values; service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. The value of service is considered to be a core value because offering help to those in need is a crucial goal for all of those looking to practice in the field of Social Work. These services can include, but are not limited to, addressing social problems, helping those in need, and volunteering their knowledge to those who cannot otherwise afford such help. Social Justice is also an important core value for a Social Worker to develop. As a Social Worker one will encounter many people from several different walks of life, no two cases will ever be exactly the same. Some of these walks of life can leave a client vulnerable, defenseless, exploited, oppressed, and troubled. Therefore it is important to learn what Social Justice is, and how to help people from falling victim to injustice. Dignity and Worth of the Person is one of the most important values that one should uphold. People who need the help of a Social Worker many, but not all, times feel powerless, embarrassed, and worthless because they feel as though they cannot control aspects of their life an...
This includes helping those who are in need as well as to fulfill roles in society. The social work paradigm includes values such as service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationship, integrity and competence (NASW, 2008). The main mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and to help everyone to meet their needs by using all of the social work values. The central attention to social work is the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living. Therefore, as social workers we must help our clients overcome environmental forces by providing them with the resources that this country has to offer. Social workers have a duty to strive to end discrimination and other forms of injustices through “direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation” (NASW,
Social workers focus on the interactions of people and environment in order to improve conditions to help restore and maximize the capabilities to function in society. They must possess the ability to make ethical decisions within various contexts of the profession. This can vary from clinical work in either a mental health facility to child welfare in human service agencies.
Social workers see people within their environment—as part of a family, an employee in an organization, or a community member. The primary focus of social work practice is on the relationship networks between individuals, their natural support resources, the formal structures in their communities, and the societal norms and expectations that shape these relationships. This relationship-centred focus is a demarcating feature of the profession. Using individual, group or family counseling, clinical social workers are skillful in enabling people to gain an understanding of their problems and in alleviating major stresses that impact daily life. As these knowledge and skill areas are emphasized in social work education, social
The ethical value of service is described as a social workers’ primary goal to assist people in need and to address social problems. Social workers promote service to others over self-interest. Social workers use their knowledge, skills, and values to assist people in need and to address social problems. The social justice value’s purpose is to challenge social injustice. Social workers chase social change, predominantly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts are focused on issues of discrimination, poverty, unemployment and other systems of social injustice. Under the dignity and worth of the person, social workers must respect the innate dignity and worth of the person. Social workers must treat each individual in a respectful and caring manner, mindful of individual differences and ethnic and cultural diversity. Social workers must promote clients’ socially responsible self-determination. Social workers must work to enhance clients’ capacity and opportunity to change and to address their own needs. Through the importance of human relationships value, social work practitioners must recognize the importance of human relationships. Social worker practitioners must
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.
What is the meaning of life? Through previous years of study this question was presented to myself at the beginning of a semester; the final assignment, to find the answer. To find my reason, I looked at what gave me purpose. Although a flood of ideas came to mind, I finally reached a conclusion; my meaning in life is to help. More than anything it brings me great joy to help anything or anyone in any way I can. I strive to better myself in ways enables me accomplish this meaning and reach my goals. Attending Westfield State University to obtain the knowledge that comes with a Masters degree in Social Work is one more step I hope to achieve to better myself and further help me reach my meaning. I plan to use that knowledge to gain my LCSW, that I might be more accessible to those in need of help.
"The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession's focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living" (NASW code of ethics).
Social work has existed in many different variations since the beginning of society. Initially, in the preindustrial society, minus a few exceptions, those who couldn’t cope on their own were the sole responsibility of family members. Upon the development of the industrial revolution in the Nineteenth Century, formal social work services emerged to enable society to cope with the major changes in the social system, due to modernity, urbanization, and industrialization. These services grew significantly and were reformed repeatedly throughout the rest of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until the United Kingdom became a Welfare State, in which the state took on the responsibility to “protect the health and well-being of its citizens” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Moreover, social work exists to serve the vulnerable people in the community including, the elderly, the youth, the mentally ill, the homeless, and the poor, along with many others. Although all vulnerable peoples are of equal importance in social works
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.
According to the NASW Code of Ethics (2008), the primary goal of social work is to, “…enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty” (NASW, 2008). Historically, the profession
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.
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.