Commentary On Social Work

Setting a boundary is an important core value in the field of social work. According to the Social Work Code of Ethics, “social workers should provide and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience” (Code of Ethics of the NASW). Professional helpers are generally compassionate people, but they also need to recognize the value of setting limits. This was the case when I worked as an adjunct instructor, which included providing individual tutoring. Sara Towns (name changed), a student and distant cousin, evoked the possible clouding of boundaries. For new social workers, this kind of reflection may be helpful as they define their roles. Through a series of professional and personal experiences with Sara, I learned that boundaries must be maintained to foster a positive relationship and prevent potential conflicts.

Being admitted into the Social Work graduate program is one of the stepping stone to complete my own goals that I have to fulfillment what it means to be an individual that brings social change into the society and will be able to compliment the goals I have step for myself when it comes to academics. Coming into this point within my life has not been easier nor a smooth path, my I am confident that the goals I have for myself will be achieve through a master’s degree of Social Work.

For clients to feel empowered, they need to feel a sense of inclusion and social justice. Social justice is defined as fair and social privileges (Farrell, 2016). This means that people have the same rights regardless of their social status, their wealth, or other factors. Inclusion is also incredibly important. Because we as human beings are naturally drawn to relationships, feeling a sense of inclusion within our social groups allows us to be empowered. Unfortunately, not everyone feels that sense of social justice and inclusion. This is where social workers can assist in breaking down the barriers as to why a client is not feeling this inclusion. Jean

We are all members of the social work with the group class, which is a close co-ed group composed by Simmons social work students between the ages of 23 to 40. We engage int eh group as part of our requirement of the social work master curriculum. Individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, gender, and race formed the group. We have two goals as a group, which are to complete the requirement and pass the class, and the purpose we later create while in class. Also, we are a close group with open communication; we also are allowed to communicate while in the class and outside of the classroom. We, the members, interact appropriately and respect one another ideas. We have adapted to the group structure and have been able to follow the established guidelines. We have to experience cohesion through expressing our thoughts and somehow exposing our emotions.

Boundaries are an important core value in social work. Social workers are generally compassionate people, but they also need to recognize that they have to set limits. They need to accept that they cannot be available to serve everyone’s needs and wants. This was the case when I worked as an adjunct instructor. One of my students took a couple of individual tutorial classes from me. She was a conscientious student, excelling in her school work and at times she would contact me about her academic and career goals. Over the course of her studies, we found out that we had mutual cousins and would share some our family experiences growing up. We called each other “cousin.” However, she had little contact with her nine siblings, which struck me as rather odd. As a social worker, she provided me an experience that was unique, and I learned some lessons from it.

Social work as a whole incorporates several theories and practices that deal with empowering and liberating individuals to improve well-being. Using these theoretical approaches has been helpful in addressing the social systems and providing interventions that allow individuals to interact with their environment. It has been a year and a half since I have been engaged in the process of growth and change. This semester has been a great learning experience, but in every semester, I learned new ways of working with clients, how to navigate the social systems, and the impact of power structure on individuals, groups, and society. When I started the MSW program, I had a vague understanding of what social work is. Through the coursework and

Arman was able to give us an in-depth perspective on how to be a good social worker as he worked for Child Protective Services for eight years and was able to bring home fifty children. That alone is a good career, yet Arman continues to keep on helping. He is a prime example of what a good social worker is. The main lesson he pushed is to always help the child first and to never feel like the bad guy. In the Indigenous social work 377 classes, Arman stated “As social workers it is our job to put ourselves in the shoes of the person we are helping” (personal communication, Arman Kitchemonia, October 2nd, 2017). This means that we must also help the family of the child too. It will also help if we get to know the community and Elders. He also told the class that when an Elder corrects you to always take it as a lesson. We will never know everything, so we have to respect each other’s ways of doing things. The biggest lesson I learned from that presentation was that in life if you do not pray, you will not receive any blessings. Since that class I started praying and it helps a lot with easing the mind.

I had a great pleasure being in this class to learn the different stages of social work process, while reading the books, taking the quiz and in class activities has made it easy for me to understand and try to apply them to my everyday lifestyle. Social work practice has helped me develop the knowledge of the principles, values, and methods of becoming a social work. The first important process of a social worker is the engagement stage, this is when the social worker and the client have their first interaction. As a social worker you need to build the connection with your client to show them that you are here to help them. It is critical for social worker to be open to the client and establish a level of trust, active listening to ensure the clients is heard, and note taking notes. The second process is the assessment stage, this is when the social worker and client come to an agreement to the information shared by the client to develop strategies. Social worker uses this time to clarify with their client about the problematic they have, and work through the problem so they can work together to come up with an action plan. The third one is the intervention stage this point of the process is when you begin to planning. The social worker works with their client, begins to develop a plan with the client in order to accomplish goals that work targeting the issues. To ensure that the goals and objectives are clear to the client and the social worker, that nothing is misunderstood. At this stage the social work and the client execute to ensure their goals are being met. The evaluation is the last stage when the social worker receives feedback from the client about the process, and goal they set together to see if their goals were met. This stage is when social workers help their client independently continue to work on the issues on their own. If client feels that specific issues were not satisfied or addressed correctly than it is necessary to begin the assessment and implementation stage again.

Social workers can have an impact in people’s lives even though their connection is brief. In some social work settings, people may contact agency or hospital intake departments and have no more than brief contacts. This is why social workers, on the front line, need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide effective screening and referral with the intention of a positive outcome. This was the case early in my career as a drug counseling coordinator at an addiction council. This reflection may be helpful to social work students or new practitioners. While on telephone intake, social workers need to utilize techniques to create positive outcomes.

In the social work field, one comes across many kinds of people all the time. It is crucial that all social workers are intact with their biases and understand their competency. When a social worker starts in the field it is important for them to come to realize that everyone has biases they may or may not be aware of, as well as knowing their limitations when working with different kinds of cultures.

It is pertinent to be aware of the disturbing and heartbreaking reality of the cases that we as social workers would come across. I have been working in social services for about a year and a half, and I work with some severe cases that I have had a reaction too but never to a point I am crying after reading my clients backgrounds. This class load of case studies has elicited emotions from me especially the Geraldine case. This is my first time dissecting a case where I have to understand more of the client background to make decisions for what is best for her. Furthermore, reading into the case and learning the details of Geraldine having to be in the house when her mother is killed and how she vividly describes the setting and sounds, of the scene sends chills through my body. I could only empathize with how she feels losing a mother. I could only imagine how lost and empty I will feel if not only I lost my mother but I was there when it happens. Additionally, it saddens me when she makes the statement that God will protect her and she believes her mom would yet again survive the abuse. I personally am a strong believer in God and I count on him to guide me in the direction he wants me to follow. I constantly tell myself when negative problems occur that it is all in God hands but there has been instances that has made me question why he have inflicted pain on me by the causes of situations in my life. In like manner, I could feel Geraldine pain as I am reading the

I’ve now been at my placement for over a month and have experienced many different opportunities. Over the last few weeks I learned about the process of facilitating a care conference with family members and the resident. I learned how to write up notes about the care conference to chart.

In the beginning of the semester we were given the task to complete 25 or more hours of community service. This task was given to be completed for my Social Work Ethics class. We were to volunteer at an organization that was associated with social work and would give us an experience. I was given the opportunity to work/volunteer along with Trio, a student support service at Fort Valley State University.

I have always enjoyed reflections and discussions in online learning. I find that I do more reading and researching when I have to defend my opinions and stands on subjects. This can be seen in my postings. One theme I identified was the central focus I have developed, not only in this course, but throughout my journey in the Masters of Social Work program. This is the importance of self-reflection in my identity as a social worker and in my practice. My postings also illuminate my desire to further my knowledge base and have an ongoing quest for a greater understanding of the correlation between structural forces and individual agency through research and peer-reviewed sources to reinforce my opinions and stances.

Since I was 15 years old I knew that social work was the field that I wanted to pursue. As a lover of diversity, natural servant leader, and a caring person, this was the only career that fit my goals and values. Because of this, I always knew that I would be in contact with people from all walks of life. My college career definitely served as a time for me to develop relationships and understanding with individuals that I knew I would one day work with; interfaith dialogue, LGBTQ+ advocacy, internships, social justice clubs, and personal experiences as a minority served as a way for me to develop a foundation. However, as I reflect on what situations would be difficult for me to work with, I realize that working with mandated clients makes me the most apprehensive.