Environment For Direct Social Work Practice Essay

Having the opportunity to hear from a variety of professionals in the social work field was the perfect addition to our course syllabus as many of my classmates are approaching their helping careers. For me personally, these speakers were able to reinforce what I desire to study during graduate school. The speakers were also able to provide me with different avenues I may want to study or pursue for a job opportunity once I have my masters degree.

I am a self-directed volunteer as a peer community worker for disabled people in Toronto GTA. I am willing to speak with you, in groups or publicly any time about it. Nonetheless; when rough times have fallen upon my life and health in the past, I have always responded with humor and generosity since, my gratitude is the state of mind of thankfulness. Most people can describe me as being direct, humorous, down to earth and caring for the fellow humans. At this moment in time, I am the founder and manager of Peer Community Hub, as well as a social entrepreneur whose ideas, tasks and values are to build peer to peer community drop-in center for disabilities who are directed by disability people. History of street life, disability, and cornice

As a social worker an individual must understand that diversity characterize and shape human experience. In diversity the key words that a social worker should pay attention to is cultural awareness, self-awareness, ethno-conscious practice and sensitivity. Having cultural awareness is being aware of individual’s cultural and values. Self-awareness is being aware of personal biases and values when working with diverse groups. Ethno-conscious practice is being concern with social justice and equality. Sensitivity is understanding the difference in assessment, intervention and evaluation when working with diverse groups.

Social work agencies strive to provide access to services that promote well-being for those most in need in society. Different agencies may vary in regard to their specific purposes, missions, or foundations. Two agencies that provide assistance in diverse ways to individuals in need are the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and The Mayhill Hospital. The following discussion will explore comparisons and contrasts between these agencies with regard to their focuses, interventions, and roles.

The journey towards the attainment of the Bachelor of the social work degree has been an enlightening and educational experience, as the individual is exposed to the realities of many social and political issues in the society. As a student, I ventured into the degree, with minimal insight as to how the degree can influence and shape the way I perceive the social world, and the way I relate these matters to myself. However, throughout my endeavour, which encompasses years of theoretical studies, and two intensive placements at two drastically different organisations, I believe I have accumulated the bare minimal knowledge to possess a solid foundation about the unfairness and inequality that people in disadvantaged conditions face. Social workers are predominantly found in welfare organisations which Howe (as cited in Limber, 2015) suggested largely influences the practice, direction and values of the social worker, and impacts on their ability to act autonomously (Lymbery, 2015). During my placements, there was a dominant theme that frequently stood out and enticed my attention. This was the accepted practice of focusing on the individual’s problem, as opposed to the social problems that existed and the lack of acknowledgement about the social restrictions of the human agency that limited self-determination. The realization that organisations were managed this way was important in ensuring that I made a proactive effort to understand and untangle the reasons behind such

In this essay I will discuss what learning from K216 materials has been useful to me whilst working with vulnerable and/or disadvantaged service users in my student placement, and what learning I have applied to my practice. Throughout I will look at how my learning informed what I decided to do, how I went about doing this and my understanding of the practice. I will discuss learning in respect of two areas of social work, which are ‘Communication’ and ‘Working collaboratively’. For ‘Communication’ I will focus on communication with service users with disabilities and/ or additional needs and I will explore a case of a mother who I had a telephone call with who was in crisis and in a highly emotional state. With ‘Working collaboratively’,

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.

According to the National Association of Social Workers (2016), “social workers help people overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges: poverty, discrimination, abuse, addiction, physical illness, divorce, loss, unemployment, educational problems, disability, and mental illness. They help prevent crises and counsel individuals, families, and communities to cope more effectively with the stresses of everyday life”. Through the lens of a professional, these are critical qualities and experiences that assist social workers in understanding people and the community, which they live in. In addition, it is very significant for social workers to identify and familiarize themselves with the neighborhood’s history, culture, customs, and issues and most importantly, the people. By being conversant with the background information, it will help social workers communicate more effectively while in the process of building and establishing relationships with the people in the community.

My time in my internship has exposed me too many direct social work practice procedures and techniques. I have gotten opportunities to write grants, practice ethically/professionally, and learn how to use community resources. During my time at the BSW program, I have learned the process of assessment and how it is important in identifying the challenges that exist in the clients’ environment and how to alleviate these challenges. My past employment has helped me understand the qualities of leadership and professionalism.

Cornerstone Youth Center is where I am currently placed for my DFS, and it is an after-school drop-in center that caters to grade 6 to 9. Most of my clients are a mixture of at-risk and non-risk youth from the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, refugees and youth that have mental illnesses. On a daily basis, we served approximately 20-30 youth during programs; however, upon the completion of the program, this where I interact with my clients by implementing a less formal one-on-one with the youth. During my one-on-one interaction with my client, I continue to build rapport by asking what positive or negative situations occurred in their day; what they enjoyed at school or what they needed help with. Although many of my clients face difficulties in their life, my agency also emphasizes on the positive outcomes to promote balance.

At the beginning of the session, the social worker went over the terms of a contract. The social worker explained the purpose of a contract is when an agreement is eventually put into writing, then the statement is more likely to be a term of the contract. Social worker continued to explain a contract means that each of the parties is obligated, or required to perform a duty under the contract. Social worker continued to explain the contract that will be presented today will contain five goals and five treatment objectives. Social worker stated the contract will also include the worker name, family name, date of initial intake, date of treatment plan, day/time of sessions, anticipated number of sessions and method of payment. Social worker

Lying on a school assignment is something I’ve never done until now. My thought process that lead me to lie on my field exercise assignment was the pressure of being a student who complete all work assignment on time and the pressure of dealing with family issues at the time when finals were approaching. I didn’t think about the outcome of my actions I just wanted to finish my work and be done with class work, so I could focus on my finals. When I received my paper back from Dr. Nsonwu I thought I was in the clear; when I flipped to the back page to see what grade I was given my heart sank when I saw a note that read “please see me”. Walking down to Dr. Nsonwu’s office my heart was racing and I feared the worst.

It is the purpose of this paper to logically and critically identify the importance of the role a social worker plays in the life of a student named Rachel. An ecomap will be utilized as a tool to help understand Rachel in the context of her environment. It is a social worker’s responsibility to enhance the well-being of all individuals, including that of Rachel, through the ecological, theoretical approach using the solution-focused model. Therefore, facilitating a comprehensive assessment of Rachel’s biological, psychological, social, cultural, and overall environmental conditions will help provide a more focused and in depth picture of Rachel and her environment. As a social worker in Rachel’s case, it is important to participate in policy

This perspective can relate to the generalist social work practice because the client’s environment and what is happening around them will always affect them. For example, if you are working with someone with a drug addiction, their environment of being around other drugs and drug addicts, can continue them down this path. Therefore, to resolve the issue, you must work with them and the environment they are in to help them. The community that anyone lives in is the community they are comfortable with. This perspective with help the social worker also gain knowledge over different types of communities and societies, as well as help their clients.

In the Macro level of social work, communities are the primary settings for human behavior. Communities are clusters of people who have something in common. A major social work perspective views communities as entities where citizens can organize or be organized in order to address mutual concerns and improve their over-all quality of life. Throughout this paper I will discuss four conceptual perspectives of communities. I will cover the following, Human Ecology, Socio-Psychological, Structural, and Functionalist.