Personal Essay On Social Work

Social work introduced itself to me at a very young, and tender age. Growing up in foster care, not being able to see my parents, watching as family members died before I could say goodbye, and constantly being called orphan in school, taught me a great deal about the scars I would carry for the rest of my life. While I tried to play the role of a normal kid, hanging with friends, telling stories of happy childhood memories, it was simply a mask to hide that I knew my scars were burning inside me, that happiness wasn’t a luxury I could enjoy. Going from foster home to foster home was a reminder of that unaffordable luxury, and soon I grew to be so insecure that I could not function without having someone tell me what to do, or reassure me that

Social work is a career that I have always been interested in, especially working with children and families. Helping people overcome obstacles and making the most of themselves is a very rewarding and yet a challenging career. I’ll have the chance to meet a variety of different people with different problems from cases of abuse and neglect as well as supporting those in the care system. I am particularly interested in working with children and families who often form the most vulnerable service users, developing a professional and trusting relationship with them, hopefully enabling them to participate fully in society.

On September 21, 2015, I met with Ms. Katie, a student in the MSW program at NCSU, to conduct an interview. We met at Starbucks in Cary, in the crossroads shopping center. Ms. Katie’s responses helped me learn and think about social workers in the child welfare social field. As a prospective social worker, my questions were formed based thoughts that I was concerned about my responsibilities in the social work field..

Within the past twenty-five years, my life experiences have led me to become passionate about social work. Although my journey in social work hasn 't been something I’ve always known I wanted to do when I was young, a combination of personal, professional, and academic experiences has pointed me into the direction where I am today. As the oldest out of four siblings, my family has always worked hard to get where they’re at now. Knowledge of my parent 's personal; as well as, their professional struggle of not having a college degree has led them to work hard for everything they 've received in their life. Acknowledging what my parents have gone through has pushed me to receive my Associates in Liberal Arts so that I will able to graduate with my Bachelor of Social Work in the Spring 2017.

For this assignment, I decided to interview my aunt because she has been a social worker for about thirty years, and has a lot of experience. She attended Dominican college in Orangeburg, New York where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then went to graduate school at Montclair State in New Jersey where she received her master’s in psychology. After this, she decided to go back to school for her MSW, which she received from SUNY Albany. Since she graduated, the only profession she has worked in is social work, and she is now a licensed clinical social worker. She loves what she does and is glad that she made the decision to become a social worker.

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

This section of the paper will discuss the definition of social work, values associated with social work and arguments for and against the use of systems theory in social work practice. Social work can be described as a field of study that encompasses individuals and their environment. Social work can be defined as work trained professionals do to elevate stressors of individuals so they may become more self-sufficient and empowered to live to their fullest potential.

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’,

Social work is a career that finds and chooses you, rather than you selecting it. Social work has always been an immense portion of my life even when I had no recollection of what social work entailed. My life revolved around so many situations that had a social worker stepped in, my life would be totally different than it is today. Many individuals and agencies lack the compassion and empathy for oppressed people. Having been in many circumstances, has given me the experience and background that influenced me to go into social work, as well as the understanding of my role and responsibilities that I will assume as a professional social worker, and my reasons for selecting the program at ASU School of Social Work and thoughts on how the Mission Statement addresses my career goals.

I am interested in the field of social work because l have the confidence to be able to work alongside individuals who are in need of assistance and guidance. It is important that we, as a community, are able to work alongside one another to offer resources to those who need it. With my knowledge of psychology and my experience in the health care field, l hope to have the opportunity to become a social worker who can help people cope with problems in their everyday lives.

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.

I graduated from college with a degree in philosophy and psychology with no idea where I was headed in life. I moved back home and found a job working at Mendota Mental Health Institute (MMHI). After almost two years I was beginning to feel stagnant and restless. I believed that there was more I could be doing with my life. Despite my pessimistic outlook on life, I truly believed (still do) that I could accomplish something meaningful that would leave a lasting impact on another life. The driving force behind this desire for change was the idea of one day being a therapist, but I was unsure how to accomplish this goal.

School social workers work within schools to provide a variety of social, emotional, and mental health services to students to support overall success. The intent of this research is to evaluate the significance of having a school social worker available to general education students within the Owatonna High School setting and to examine the gaps in services that may have appeared since removal of this position in 2009. Various related studies were examined to outline a range of ways in which school social workers are used to support student success. During this study, a total of seven employees of the Owatonna School District were interviewed regarding school social work. As a whole the participants identified a large number of gaps

Social Work is a field of interest to me because of the positive effort it contributes to society. Within the social work profession individuals are striving to improve the welfare of those in need of assistance. Social Workers assist a variety of individuals; from children, young adolescents, older adults, mentally ill, substance abuse individuals, and many other minorities; as in LGBT members, veterans, homeless people, and low socioeconomic status individuals. The broad mix population fascinates me because within this field one will always be able to work in a flexible environment. Social Work is used in multiple settings as in hospitals, nursing skilled homes, mental health and substance abuse clinics, schools, correctional facilities, community centers, child welfare agencies, employee assistance programs, and private practices.