Interview About A Young Homosexual Man From Raleigh, North Carolina

“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

Appleby, G A., & Anastas, J.W. (1998). Not just a passing phase: Social work with gay, lesbian and bisexual people (pp. 3–43, 44-75). New York: Columbia University Press.

Social workers are often on the forefront in the fight against any form of oppression as against the marginalized society. These demanding but oftentimes unappreciated efforts are often addressed through the conscious use of skills and knowledge of the problems being solved against. When such oppression is however committed against them within the organization where they work, the social worker seems to be mum about the situation, or their efforts perhaps are rendered inutile. North America social workers experience this form of oppression within the social service institution. For this reason, I examine the arguments why the social workers need to be aware of the existence of this unique form of oppression. In order to eliminate oppression in the social welfare workplace, the social workers, in their pursuit of social change, must have a competent understanding of the theory around racism and oppression.

Largely, individual variables within the LGBTQ community can consists of race, ability, gender identification, age, or in this case, age. The cultural competency trainings are based on a “Cultural Humility” meaning change occurs as a lifelong process of learning, this includes self-examination and refinement of one’s own awareness, knowledge, behavior and attitudes on the interplay of power, privilege and social contexts (Joo, Margolies, & McDavid,

Race is a particularly powerful way of maintaining the dominance of the social group in power. The construct of race is about stratification, which puts a racially justified hierarchy among people in society to keep the dominant social group in power. Stratification can influence the resources an individual receives. Therefore, social workers sometimes use a theoretical approach called, Critical Race Theory (CRT), to guide their work in making certain general assumptions about issues of power, race, ethnicity, and racism. This is because CRT is an alternative theory that offers a radical lens to make sense of racial inequality in society, which could prove useful when analyzing a client’s situation. The

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) falls within societal minority groups such as low income, people of color, and disables (AHRQ, 2011). Due to their gender identity, discrimination, violence, and even denial of human rights and healthcare services is a common challenge among LGBT population. LGBT still faces many health disparities primarily related to the historic bias of healthcare professionals anti-LGBT manners even though society acceptance has been favorable. According to Ard and Makadon (n.d), “until 1973, homosexuality was listed as a disorder…, and transgender still is.” This stigma prevents healthcare professionals to openly ask questions in a non-judgmental manner related to sexual identity. On the other hand, if the patient senses that the healthcare environment is discriminating they may be reluctant to disclose important information as their sexual orientation; thus, missing important opportunities of been educated about safety and health care risks.

In a recent podcast regarding a transgender high school student being forced to change in the nurse’s office instead of in the locker room with other students addressed the controversy regarding the treatment of members of our society who identify as LGBTQ. Throughout the podcast, multiple individuals have voiced support for the school’s decision to isolate the transgender student when changing. Do to the opinions voiced in the podcast regarding this case, I realized that the treatment of the high school student is only one example of the existing discrimination towards those who identify as LGBTQ. As such, I intend to explore the controversy of LGBTQ and our obligations that we have as members of the same society. Throughout this paper, I

What are the client’s strengths and how can you apply these strengths to appropriate interventions?

In conceptualizing diversity, a social worker needs to adopt an extensive social background that includes institutional or structural arrangements, identify the connection of multiple identities, and incorporate an unequivocal social justice course (Ortiz & Jani, 2010). Conflict theory informs advocacy efforts, policy formulations, and macro-level practice, striving to end oppression and discrimination (Hutchison, 2013). A social worker explains persistent social inequality and social conflict in the effort to help a client rise up against oppression in the critical race theory. These theories emphasize the impact of power structure, power differentials, and institutionalized inequality on individual lives versus internal

One of the most challenging professions for African American males is social work. As a social worker, I have realized that I have to work under two domains. The first one is to work under the race identity and the second one is to work as a class identity. Although I am proud of being an African American, I usually feel sorry for myself being from unprivileged social class in the American society. The identity of being an African American male has affected my social work in many aspects. This is because it has made it impossible to carry out my professional duties because of negative perspectives and discrimination in the society. African American social workers are considered to be incompetent by the rest of the society hence making it impossible to delegate duties without any form of discrimination. This paper provides my own reflections as an African American male in the field of social work and how this identity has affected my practice in community work and advocacy duties.

Kevin Nadal begins by discussing the history of LGBT activism. He explains that while it may seem that heterosexism has decreased in society, in actuality it has only become subtler or less visible. While the LGBT community has certainly made strides away from the blatant homophobia that existed in the 1900s and under President Obama there were many gains, there are still predominant issues that affect individuals from this community every day. Probably the first type of discrimination that comes to mind is interpersonal discrimination, such as verbal or physical assaults. However, equally important and harmful are types of institutional discrimination. Nadal describes several examples of this, noting that in many states there are laws that

Individuals who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) are often discriminated against due to their sexual orientation. Hence the reason why the APA council provided guidelines for psychologist to follow when dealing with an LGB client. The guidelines includes some aspirational principles to supplement the APA ethics code, it also offers a frame work that psychologist should follow when working with LGB clients. These guidelines are intended to educate psychologist and provide recommendations about professional conduct when dealing with an LGB client. Prejudices and judgmental attitudes on the part of the psychologist sometimes contributes to the negative attitudes towards their LBG clients and reinforcing the view that their sexual orientation is problematic. Standard 3.01 on unfair discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited and psychologist needs to respects peoples rights and dignity as described in Principle E (Respect for People's Rights and Dignity).

Rachael Miller is a case worker at CMHS. She works with a multitude of mentally ill individuals ranging from low-functioning white women, to high-functioning, gay black men (2015). Most of these mentally ill patients are understanding that they are oppressed; and with that, understand the oppression of others that surround them. For instance, almost all of Miller’s patients are completely tolerant toward other races and those of other sexualities; however, there was one individual, cover-named “Tim”, that was both homophobic and racist when he began his

Client Strengths: P.C is very caring and compassionate person. She enjoys learning in school, being creative, and being active. She has a strong support system through her family and Grandparents.