Human Behavior And Social Systems Development : Case Management, Direct Practice And Advocacy For Policy Development

In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. A Human Service professional has, in its hands, the responsibilities in the life of the clients and families they meet. The tremendous and arduous responsibilities they take on include, but are not limited to, the well-being and care of people and their communities. Such roles can be helping others manage the care of a family member, assisting individuals experiencing problems with family relations and conflicts, dealing with changes that come with growing old, aiding those suffering mental illness and or those individuals struggling with addictions. Briefly

Social workers must strive “for a full understanding of the complex interactions between the client and all levels of the social and physical system as well as meaning that the client assigns to each of these interactions” (Andreae, 1996, p. 605).

Ways in which human services professionals can meet the needs of families and children are to actively listen to each individual’s perception of the problem and address each issue. If the worker is qualified to provide counseling sessions, such as a marriage and family therapist, single members in addition to the family as a whole should receive services. Referrals should be given to the family if the worker cannot provide counsel (Martin, 2011). A family social worker can assist in providing resources for food, medical, housing, child care and utility assistance, support in filling out appropriate paperwork should be offered as well. Professionals can offer referrals to legal assistance offices in order for a single parent to obtain child support. Informing those in this population of the means for furthering their education can help them regain their independence. A school social worker may be appropriate for those children suffering in their academics due to family matters so they can provide support for the child and to determine what further resources are needed (O*Net Online, 2010). Child welfare investigators as well as health care social workers may have to provide investigations as well as working with other professionals to assess patients' medical or physical condition

In the professional field of Social Work, there are many terminologies that individuals outside of this group may not understand. During the process of assessing a problem in a family, there are different theoretical perspectives that helps social workers understand different aspects of family situations. There are eight theoretical perspectives that helps social workers understand family’s dynamic and situations. These theoretical perspectives are; system perspective, conflict perspective, exchange and choice perspective, social constructionist perspective, psychodynamic perspective, developmental perspective, social behavior perspective and humanistic perspective.

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.

As social workers, it is our responsibility to use the most effective method of practice to engage our clients, assess their situation, and help them create goals that will produce positive outcomes. Every client will present a unique set of challenges; therefore, the social worker must be careful in choosing an approach that will meet the client’s needs, compliment the skills of the therapist and are in line with the agency’s mission. According to Robert and Watkins (2009), psychotherapy is a therapeutic interaction between a trained therapist and a client that is

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.

Social worker – These professionals support children, young people and their families who are vulnerable. They get involved when parents need help or if there are any concerns of a child within the home environment. This may also include children who are on the child protection registers or even those with a disability. They offer a range of information and counselling. Social workers also manage and organise care plans for children and their families. They will assess the family’s situation and then use a range of knowledge and frameworks to support them in the best possible way. The recognition and understanding of the family’s behaviour and events that happen overtime are very important in ensuring successful and positive outcomes for everyone

'Social workers have a professional and ethical responsibility to (...) interact and intervene with clients and their environments' (Teater, 2010, p.4). According to this premise, the ecological approach in social work interventions offers an effective method of relating children, young people and their families to their environment. It is an approach that allows social workers to intervene in cases where a child is abused or neglected, while providing a good theoretical framework for social workers' direct work. This essay is going to assess the ecological model within a social work practice directed at children. It will stress the importance of this model, and explain its application in today's child protection work.

Also when becoming a social worker, the job will require that everyone who is involved in the situation is receiving help. According to the Child Care Careers book this may include giving individual help to every person in the situation. Such as, if the mother is a drug addict, she may require some rehab. Or if the father is very ill, he will need medical attention. Or if the parent(s) and a little insane or have brain trouble, they might need to go to an insane asylum.

Social workers are the critical bridge between families and the resources that they need. The job of  those specializing in child and family services may include protecting children and families from domestic abuse, discrimination, and illness. They also help with connecting families with resources like food stamps, homes, and psychological treatments.

Social work within the school system is an important and necessary asset to have. It helps many students with a severity of problems that children and adolescents face, whether it be at home or at the school itself. The role of the social worker is to establish a working relationship between the school and the family. In addition, they also help make sure that the child’s needs are met, whether it be their academic achievement, social, emotional and behavioural competence. By observing the child in its environment, they establish what needs that child might have and they figure out how they can utilize that perspective on the child to ensure that they perform to the best of their abilities academically or socially. We are looking at the different polices and job duties that a social worker faces while working in a school, whether it is a child with mental health related issues or a child with learning disabilities.

“Throughout the social work profession, there is ongoing interest in building a social science agenda that can address the complex practice-based questions faced by social work professionals today,” says Matto and Goltzman (2010). As a social worker it is vital, to use our tools and skills we have learned in order to assist our clients to the best of our ability and knowledge. Social workers can use models and theories such as the bio-psycho-social model, development factors, as well as, theoretical perspectives in order to gain a firm understanding of the individual’s environment and how it effects their development. These theories have helped to attempt us to understand and explain human behavior, relationship, and social issues; however, this theory has taught social workers what we practice on an everyday basis and how we interact and intergrade with society through, evidence based practice helps understand human behavior. Emma is a five-year-old girl who has experienced a significant amount of trauma for her age, in both educational and home environments. As a result, Emma struggles with behavioral issues that have brought forth possible developmental delays. Emma, struggles academically and struggles to communicate effectively with classmates. She has an open child abuse case as well as experiences the effects of parental divorce.

Thus far, I have learned that social workers should view human development as a lifelong process. There is not one stage more important than another in an individual’s life for human development. Instead, growth is an ongoing process that happens across the lifespan and life is viewed as being open-ended. The Humanistic theory supports this idea and looks at development as a lifelong process of moving towards self-actualization. More importantly, this concept is consistent with the field of social work and should be applied to practice.

Community development (CD) has been playing an important role within the society as it is a critical practice that identifies and attempts to address unequal relations of power (Forde & Lynch, 2015). In CD, social capital is an important term as it refers to the networks and norms that enable collective action. In general, social capital is the level of trust between members within the community. Social workers need to understand and empower the social capital to strengthen the community through collective action based on the existing resources.