Dr Ungar's Strengths

“The strengths perspective embraces the principle that all clients possess them. Strengths can be the client’s willingness to accept help, the client’s positive attitude, their ability to overcome hardships in the past…” (Arnold, 2008, p. 1) In the strengths perspective, the strengths of a person to resist the stressor and problem areas in their lives are what the focus is on. (Hutchinson, 2016, p. 111) What this means is that it is assumed that regardless of who the person is or what they have done, they have strengths that can help them

The people in the world that we live in are extremely diverse, in terms of the nationalities, religions, gender classifications and physical abilities. Social workers must have a clear understanding of the consequences of diversity and difference and the mechanisms of oppression and discrimination as they relate to human development. The range of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds that social workers will practice in is huge. Because of this, social workers must have an understanding of the values and attitudes of a multitude of different cultures as well as an understanding of their own attitudes and

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

Similarly, Jake keeps looking back in his past and resents the time's people have wronged him, particularly his father. The narrator states that “He [father] had a way of making it harder for me [Jake]” and how “always when I [Jake] was around him[father] I did things to make me ashamed”(35). So instead of learning from his past and his father’s shortcomings he latches onto them and does the same with his daughter and family. This demonstrates Jake’s unforgiving nature and how he has trouble accepting his former and current life. Throughout the story Jake is shown to be irresponsible as he spends his wife’s support check getting drunk, he constantly comments on everybody’s negative nature but never seems to embrace their positive side. He is heedless of his daughter’s life and is seen when he asks her how school is and she replies by saying that “It’s holidays”. Jake is an ironic character in the way that he doesn't like to communicate with people but he works as a salesman, he wants people to remember him but he keeps doing things that would make one forget him. Jake is very morose and has suicidal thoughts, one instance is when he thinks of his beer bottle as a gun. “His hand taking the gun to his mouth because he had nothing left to say and no reason to go on living”. Jake’s telephone symbolizes a choice, he can use the phone to reach out to people or have it disconnected which would mean him giving into his solitary life and perhaps commit suicide. But things seem to change when Jake has to save his drowning daughter’s life and he himself has a near death experience while trying to save her. This causes Jake to have an epiphany and rethink his approach to life, he decides that the time has come where he has to choose between hiding behind his telephone or using it to reach

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

Social Work is a career defined as “work carried out by trained personal with the aim of alleviating the conditions of those in need of help or welfare”. Social work varies in several fields, social workers work as part of multi-disciplinary teams with child welfare organizations, adoption and foster care agencies, hospitals, schools, prisons, mental health institutions, and more. Social work may leave the impression that it’s an easy field because it is assumed that all social workers do is serve others and manage paperwork but that is only a small chunk of the job. Social workers must deal with the ethical and emotional aspect of helping others. As a social worker, it is critical to comply with the National Association of Social Workers

The use of certain assessments can be particularly effective in the development of a client’s narrative, one of which being

Social work may not be the most respected profession but it’s a recognizable one. Social workers help people or groups identify their problems, determine their skills and capacities, what they are doing well, and how that was accomplished, and then analyze ways that those strengths might be applied to the identified problems. Social workers are helping professionals.

In the generalist social work practice, a social worker is a change agent due to the expansive and complex umbrella of social and human services and roles. A change agent works to promote positive changes for the well-being of an individual, family, group, organization or community. In order to fulfill the tasks of a social worker, one should be trained and equipped with a wide variety of skills: such as setting appropriate boundaries, possessing and utilizing self-awareness and the ability to counsel or advocate for clients. In addition to many skills, the generalist social work practice includes a surplus of methods to either prevent or intervene when necessary. A method often utilized by social workers is the person-in-environment conceptualization. The person-in-environment perspective considers factors, such as familial or economic, beyond the individual to better understand the client’s behaviors or situation. Another method is the strengths perspective. The strength-based perspective focuses on the client’s or client system’s positive qualities to build upon those capabilities. And the recognition of strengths helps to achieve goals in a more client-led approach. Generalist practitioners are professionals with a wide range of knowledge and a repertoire of diverse skills in order to enhance the social functioning of all within society.

“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.” (1)

Everyone can help one another but it is not everyone that has the necessary skills to help people properly. Competency is very important when working with people and being in the school of social work, we are taught the nine competencies and how to use them. Poulin & Matis, S. (2015) wrote, “According to Drisko (2014), competence refers to “the ability of an individual to perform a task,” further adding that “the task must be performed fully and properly” (p. 416)” (p. 1). Not everybody can call themselves a social worker because for them to be able to do that, they have to be able to perform the tasks of a social work to properly and in order to do that they have to go through different sets of training and course for them to be able to execute the job right. Training is not just a one-time thing; it is an ongoing processes that professional have to go through in order to grow in the field. Poulin, J., & Matis, S. (2015) also wrote that “McKnight (2013) proposes that competence is an “ongoing ability” to “integrate knowledge, skills, judgment, and professional attributes in order to practice safely and ethically” within one’s professional scope (p. 460)” (p. 1). It is a way to build on to what you have already learn and by doing that your knowledge will increase, judgment call will increase and you will be able to “practice safe and ethically.”

Social Work is a discipline that can be a very rewarding experience for both the worker and the client. The practice involves working with individuals, families, or groups who are struggling to cope with life`s challenges. The social worker must combine his or her personal qualities, creative abilities, and social concerns with the professional knowledge in order to help client’s social functioning or prevent social problems from developing (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 34). Social work practice seeks to promote human well-being, while addressing the processes by which individuals and groups are marginalized or diminished in their capacity to participate as citizens (Ian O'Connor, 2006, p. 1).

Empowering our clients should be the main focus, although providing clients with resources and helping with their immediate issues are important empowerment reins all. The clients that social workers will encounter will be some of the most disempowered people. Adversity will allow people to feel powerless and will ruin people’s self-esteem. The feeling of being powerless will make clients to become hopeless as a social worker it is our job to reassure and help the client realize their strengths and power.

Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. “Clients” is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and application, education, research and evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. They also seek to promote the

Social Work’s core philosophy and values are centered around social justice and social well-being. Oppression, injustice, discrimination, and violence are antithetical to the social work profession. Social Work believes in strength-based approaches and the person-in-environment perspective to cater the needs and welfare of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society at large. Generally, the target populations for social work are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed people; however, social workers provide services to people with a wide range of problems, such as poverty, addiction, mental illness, etc. to empower them to meet their own needs. Historically, the social work profession started its operation by providing neighborhood