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Social Work Profession Analysis

Decent Essays

“The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty (NASW, 2015). A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society (NASW, 2015).” This statement says many things to me, but essentially it says that I am to assist a person that is in need and empower them.
Being that I should advocate for the needs of those that have been oppressed by the system within this country I am going to talk about what I dislike about the statement. I believe the terms used …show more content…

What I will not do is exclude those that don’t fit into those three categories from getting 100% from me. I will continue to focus my much of my attention on those serving in the military, veterans, and those that suffered trauma, regardless of their race, gender, class, or oppression or the perceived lack of oppression, privilege or lack there of.
The obstacles that will challenge me are the same obstacles that prevent those in need from having or seeking the services they need. This includes, but is not limited to the policy makers, lack or resources, the stigma, and the assumptions of what social workers do. I feel that is possible that I will be challenged by other social workers, because of how I feel regarding looking past what may appear to be privileges and to focus on the needs of that …show more content…

This comes from statements that have been made to me because of the color of my skin. When you are told, when sharing very real hardships, some which stem from the system, “it’s different, if you won the lottery you would have a better life, your life is still better than that of a middle class or upper class life of a person of color, it’s easier for you to blend in…” it’s very concerning. It’s as if I should accept that someone forms an opinion of me based on the color of my skin and that it is acceptable that I have experienced what I have, because it is “it is easier because I am white.” Well I ask how it is easier to lose a father to suicide because I am white? The physical impact of poverty is not reversible. The impact of rape, physical, emotional, psychological abuse, racial slurs thrown at me for the first 32 years of my life, being threatened with gangs, knowing someone that was murdered, being harassed at work because I am white, being charged with a crime when I had hand prints around my neck, being harassed by the police….We can’t only look at the privileges of a person, because that middle class white male veteran that comes from a stable family may be on the brink of killing himself and if we can’t look past his privileges , then we are partially to blame for his death and

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