Many aspects of my identity have prepared me for work as an advocate in social work; I am a daughter of a Mexican immigrant and daughter of an incarcerated father. The social work topics that I am passionate about are women’s rights, especially women of color, and the justice system because of the events in my childhood. My personal experiences also molded my personal qualities such as critical thinking, patience, compassion, and I would argue anger, but for now, I will call it passion. For example, growing up witnessing my mother struggle economically shaped the way I think about welfare, social programs, and community resources. Even more, who is considered worthy of those resources, where the resources are located, and how many one group or individual can receive before being stigmatized as poor or stereotype as lazy. During adolescence, as an escape from what I could not control, I started an animal rights club in school for vegetarians and vegans. I felt that not contributing to the killing of innocent animals was something I could control and make a difference. I truly believe that the activism I have done around animal rights enlightened me about other human and environmental issues because they are all connected. I recognized the importance of activism and advocating and felt that social work was the only profession that permitted it. As an undergrad, I studied multicultural Education because I wanted to teach in low-socioeconomic Latinx communities like the one I
Further, my experience in life has influence my interaction between my social identities and becoming a social worker. As a multiracial female I have experienced both target and agent status. This experience will assist in my journey and growth in becoming a social worker. I will have the knowledge and skills to help individuals escape the stigma of a particular social identity. In time my growth in the field of social will give me a different perspective on topics I am bias towards. As a social worker certain values are demonstrated to assist the client in receiving adequate service. Dedication is a value I admire in the field of social work, but at times clients may feel differently and a conflict of interest can
Alot of people do not notice the mammoth problem drug abuse is in the United States, and how fast it is increasing in our society. Billions of dollars are spent each year to combat drug treatment but more are spent on buying and selling narcotics. Many people think they
I began college in 2014 at the age of 58 years-old. I want to change my line of work and do something that is far more interesting to me, working within the social services field. I am sure the fact that I was brought up by two extremely dysfunctional parents and the engaged in relationships that were of that same caliber, has much to do with why I believe I have something of positive significance to offer today. In short, I married at 19 years-old and had 5 children. I married an alcoholic and abuser of all forms and although I knew he drank and was abusive, I did not understand what I was dealing with back then in 1975; I did not understand abuse then as I do today. I grew up in it; I was very accustomed to it, it was normal to me. Ten
Social work is a profession that is centred around people - from babies through to older people. The BASW Code of Ethics defines social work using the international definition of social work.
I was talking to caseworkers that were in the office. Some caseworkers are with the Redeploy program and some are not. I talked with caseworkers in schools and some are investigators for child services. I was comparing their stories to what I have read and saw in the field. They all stated that they had to build a relationship with the children so that the children could open up and be honest. There are some caseworkers that are only in the career field just for a check and they do not help the child. When they all told me this I felt surprised because many people say that caseworkers/social workers do not make any money. Majority of the caseworkers here are White females. There are a few African-American women and two men. I wished that I
When I think about what social work means to me I think of a life of service, humanity, social justice, human dignity and worth, integrity and competence. You are stating that you have and desire to improve the lives of people less fortunate and/or unable to advocate for themselves. You understand the value of every human life, regardless of their background or belief. This is a profession that is above reproach where integrity and ethics are most important. That means something to me.
Social Work to me is a very rewarding job and career to go into without actually getting a reward, but being okay with that because it’s all about giving in Social Work. I get great feeling of warmth when I get the opportunity to help someone in need, so I’ve always believed that this was my calling. Social work is the only major I can even see myself going into, every job I’d like to do leads to it. It not only takes an open hearted, kind person but it also takes someone who knows that perfection is not the key. The key is being open minded because the world is so diverse. I’ve learned everyone handles crisis situations and life events in different ways, never assume everyone handles it the same way you do. There is a lot of things that take effect into how people handle situations including: Culture, Race, and Family. So being in Social Work you should always stay open minded, alert, and almost ready for anything. One thing for sure about Social Work is you should never go into it for the money, because you will wind up disappointed. Soon to be Social Workers are reminded by outsiders every day that it’s not a good income job, and it’s heartbreaking, or they assume you just can’t handle it. I believe it takes a special person to want to be a Social Worker, but I also believe it takes a lot of work. With all the assignments we have throughout the semester we will become more knowledgeable with Social Work. The volunteer placement I believe will give us a real life experience of what we will be dealing with, and the online Social Work scavenger hunt will help us become more aware of all the outside resources we have all around us. I believe the self-reflection exercises will really help us keep the information in mind
Sociology is a broad major with several career outlets such, social work. I was not an avid learner during my younger years, therefore, early on I knew a career in the science field was not an option. Later, during High School I developed my passion for helping people, specifically children of all ages. Through strong dedication and hard work I aspire to establish a program or non-profit organization to aid to children who suffer from mental illness such as, depression and suicide. Correspondingly, Emile Durkheim wrote a book called “Suicide: A study in sociology”, which focused on the issues with suicided in society and motives that to suicide. Equally important, including my findings in Durkheim’s theories on this matter I will expand my understanding on suicide and apply this knowledge to my career.
16. Why do people leave this field or company? People do and have different reasons for leaving their jobs. It's hard to sum up why people leave the field of social work because different thing happen to different people causing different outcomes in their life. But two reasons kathy could think of on the top of her head was low paid and high stress. At the start pay is low but increase well you move up. So some people don't have the patience to wait and move on to different jobs. Well being a social work is often stressful with the things that happen and the things that we have to do and see. So some people can't handle it and move on to new things in their life.
The social work profession to me provides help, resources, and benefits so people can achieve their maximum potential in life. Growing up, I felt so challenged by watching the people around me not able to achieve their potential and frustrated that I couldn’t provide the help they needed to navigate their problems. Consequently, I took it upon myself to lift their voices and to advocate for the rights of oppressed communities, and I know I can do this best as a social worker. In a perfect world, all citizens would have identical rights, protections, opportunities, obligations, and social benefits regardless of their backgrounds and membership in diverse groups. Because the world is not this way, social workers are essential. As a future social
Social workers should be helping others without being judgmental and cultural biases in order to conduct effective and ethical practice. In social work practice, understanding diversity and individual differences are the very important tools to be closely connected to people in need. As a matter of fact, social work strongly emphasizes cultural competence due to the delivery of services to people with different cultures. Cultural competence allows social workers to increase the ability to understand viewing situations and be able to provide effective practice to individuals, families, groups, and communities.
A sociology major has many things to offer in aspects of careers. Such concentrations can include social work, community and youth work, counseling and therapy, and education. For me in particular, I am focusing more on the social work aspect of a sociology major. Having a social work concentration means you having a focus on certain core values. Some of these values include: service, social justice, integrity, and dignity of the individual.
Law has come to play a very important part in social work practice. It can be said that the understanding of law underpins and provides duties and power, whilst understanding the statutory legal requirements is essential for effective, fair, anti-discriminatory practice (Brammer 2007). Due to the shear amount of laws and legislation that have been passed or updated over the last decade, the role of the social worker, metaphorically speaking could be said to have become somewhat of a chameleon, forever adapting to their legal environment, whilst trying hard to remain true to the traditional values of the role of a social worker. It is this conflict between law and social work values that will be analyzed in this paper. From looking at the values that underpin the modern day social worker and then looking at some of the main legislation relating to adult services such as the Mental Health Act 2007, the Community Care Act 1996, Mental Capacity Act 2005 the relationship between these Acts’ and how they sit with social work values will then be discussed.
A) I would describe social work as a profession that seeks to help individuals, families, and groups in multiple ways. Social work takes into account benefits of society as well as individuals and therefore seeks for a solution to a problem that would be the most moral and right thing to do. The social work profession has multiple careers that assist with several issues such as adoption, mental health, addictions, poverty and homelessness, hospice care, and immigration and aboriginal treatment. Each of these areas have a rage of careers within them, or social workers can have a career as one of the broader categories. A social worker is not simply a career, it is also a way of thinking and being. Social workers must have certain values to make them the best they can be at their careers. These values include: respect for human rights and dignity, promotion of social justice and human well-being, self-determination, recognizing the worth and uniqueness of every person, the importance of community, and confidentiality. I shall go over each of these values to explain them more thoroughly. Respect for human rights and dignity means that the social worker needs to understand that every person deserves to be treated equally and with dignity. They must put their judgments and prejudice aside and help each client to the best of their ability and knowledge. Second, the promotion of social justice and human well-being means that the social worker must be able to do things based on what
The social work profession provides humane and effective social services to individuals, families, groups and communities for the purpose of enhancing social functioning and the quality of life for all people. Social workers work in a variety of settings, locally, nationally, and internationally, for example, in hospitals, public and private social service agencies and schools. They provide services in areas such as health, mental health and child welfare. The roles of professional social workers vary depending on the agency with which they are employed and the type of position they hold; however, typical duties might include intake, assessment, intervention, case management, group work, outreach,advocacy, counseling, community planning and organizing.