Reflection Of Social Work Direct Practice In My Community

Before beginning the Master of Social Work program at Laurier I figured I had a strong understanding of what social work was. However, I quickly learned that I had only scratched the surface. I knew oppression existed, but I never understood the depth of it. I now know that I was afraid of it. It was easy for me to stay silent, because it was such a comfortable position to be in. Doing nothing meant I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This was influenced by the privilege I had.

I observed many things from the interview with Ms. Pressley, such as body language, eye contact, organization, and the general love for her job and role as a supervisor. I was observing her facial expressions throughout the interview. I have never seen so much excitement from a person in a supervisory role. She truly enjoys being the person others can come to and learn from. One of the specifics that stood out to me was when she said, “Really get to know your people.” (C. Pressley, personal communication. October 23, 2017). I believe this is something all supervisors should do. Along with observing her expressions, I noticed her demeanor. She made me feel welcomed and comfortable by meeting me upon arrival and being present during our

Social work practice works with many people in different situations, needing concise help from professionals. This assistance includes a range of skills such as; identifying the problem or problems, apply and use evidence based practice and theories and critical reflection. All these skills are integral parts of best practice in social work, and are needed by all service users.

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.

The class SW 6030 Human Development and the Social Environment has brought new insights and makes me see some topics in a different perspective. The critical reflection paper number one will integrate different concepts that I learned so far in this class.

This paper is a reflection from the first two chapters from the text, Direct Social Practice: Theory and Skills and it will answer the questions: how do social working professionals differ from other helping professionals? What is the focus and scope of a social working profession? What are the strength and challenges of the social worker professions focus?

State the significance to social work practice and social policy: Food insecurity and malnutrition is an endless pressing issue on the macro level of social work across the nation. This is a significance part of a social workers job is to address these issues on a larger scale. Social workers incorporate multisector strategies to address this issue through different agencies hoping to develop evaluations that would produce results of the need base for nutritional and food security programs, which leads to funding for these programs as well. The social polices of this includes providing food pantries, food banks, healthier options in school systems, and nutritional programs that helps reduce hunger and to address the poor heath concerns associated

Although I was exposed to many procedures and techniques of direct social work practice, there is always room for improvement. During my time at SOAR Fox Cities, I worked with in a macro level of social work practice. This organization may not work with their participants’ on a micro level because they focus more on this target population as a whole group. A professional challenge I encountered while at my internship, was being exposed to social work at the micro and mezzo level of practice. During the assessment process, I learned that challenges in a client’s environment must be identified in order for the social worker to have a successful working relationship with them. While at SOAR Fox Cities, I did not have an opportunity to do case

The paradigms of social work practice are based on the ideologies of social and agency policies to advocate for change, and to make good decisions about people’s lives. “Social work is, by its nature and professional ethics, is concerned with the well-being of all members of society” (Segal, 2013, p. 2). Social policies are based on the principles of social justice, non-discrimination, improving people’s lives, and advocating for social change for improving individual lives to self-determination and self-efficacy. It is apparent that social change has been “influenced by war, economic crisis, demographic changes, and the international threat that affect public and professional sentiment concerning the systematic changes in developing community

Social worker practice involves the application of values, techniques, and practices is involved in helping people, communities, groups, with a family or individual setting. Social work practices require the incorporation of theories and perspectives that have been successful in helping people. Social workers use theories and perspective in every form of their services. Social workers are required to assess their clients and needs provided services that fit the current problem. The assignment provides students to discuss theories and perspective they are currently using and how specific theories can be incorporated into future social work practice.

In this reflection essay, I will demonstrate my learning experience in this counseling session. I will talk about my strength, weakness, verbal, nonverbal expression, including improvements needed to become more efficient in the social work profession. I will also speak about a learning tool called process recording in Social work profession. This process recording was done with the help, with my fantastic Daughter Kendra Shelton as the client and my incredible husband Michael McVay as Video Recorder /producer.

I was faced with a similar question in a previous class, and it was really hard to come up with an answer. Based on personal experiences traveling around the world and learning, and experiencing multiple cultures, it has given me a different outlook on American. These experiences have taught me put myself in another’s shoes, and try to see life through their lens. One’s personal beliefs, values, and actions aren’t a barrier to my ability to perform tasks, or services. I believe that humans are what they are, and that everyone is unique in the way that they think, feel, and want to live their lives. When asking myself, “What bothered me the most about the book?” it allowed me to realize a personal bias that I have. I believe that the worst thing that a human can do is to harm a child. Throughout the book you hear stories of neglect, suffering and trauma. These children are living in unimaginable environments that most people can’t even fathom. Drugs, murder, hunger, and poverty all have very negative effects on development.

One important thing that I learned about this competency is the importance of knowing the history of social work; in addition, the impact that social work has had in enacting social welfare policies. For example, we learned about Mary Richmond and Jane Addams and the great influence they have in social work practice. Mary Richmond helped coined case work in social work, and Jane Addams is the “mother” of social work because she was one of the earliest people to influence social work practice. We also learned about how the Civil Rights Movement helped with the advancement of not only people of color, but it also helped women and other oppressed groups of people in our society. It is important to understand the history of social work because history has helped create many laws and policies to help people that are oppressed in our society. In addition, I learned the importance of advocating for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice. I can use this knowledge in my practice by working for an agency that advocates for the social, economic, and environmental justices.

What does it mean to believe? As I begin reflecting on those things that I believe in, or those things that I have come to know to be true, I feel that I must take a step back and explain where I come from and how my way of thinking is possible. In social work, one of the first steps in getting to know a client is using the person in environment perspective. This is where we get to know clients and their case by getting to know the individual, their problems, strengths, and supports, as well as getting to know the environment they are surrounded by. Likewise, if I am to accurately articulate my faith, I must first start with where I come from and how that has allowed me to be where I am today.

During my junior year of college, I secured an internship at a juvenile re-entry organization, A Better Way, Inc., located in Trenton, New Jersey, the town where I was born and raised. A Better Way, Inc. provides a range of resources to the surrounding community, such as support groups, community service opportunities, specialized job training, and referrals to other programs and resources. Clients varied in age and gender, but the majority were people of color. As an intern, I was supervised by a Licensed Social Worker and specialized in counseling and outreach. My position entailed assisting the organization with intake interviews and also co-facilitating several of their men’s discussion groups. While reflecting on this experience, I realized how much I valued the work I was doing because it positively impacted my community. These feelings confirmed that social work would be a fulfilling career path for me.