Social Work Reflection

The social worker in this story had many different responsibilities and roles while working in the ER at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His responsibilities include having to put the puzzle pieces together of who the victim is as they are being treated. This is often a taunting task because the staff is in a rush. The Social worker has to find clues like driver listens or anything else that will allow them to better understand who they are working with. Her responsibilities don't stop there. He was also responsible for working with the victims family to ensure that they were informed and comfortable.

On many levels, I secretly desire to be this professional social worker that has experienced many different realms of social work practice. As I maneuver through my first couple days of field, many questions run through my mind as to what’s to be expected of a master’s level social work. Although, I’ve only had the pleasure of working children and families as a social worker; it has broaden my desire to want to know more.

According to Duffy (2016), there are two different types of social work practice when it comes to working alongside a disadvantaged population. The first kind, is used more often and is called conventional social work approach, which focuses its attention on undertaking assessment and ensuring that individuals are families are received the correct support through organised services and support. On the other hand, critical social work, the less utilized approach aims to challenge the inequalities and oppression in society, by targeting the societal structure via activism and research, in order to bring forth criticism and questions on discourses attached to particular marginalised groups. The author proposes that both social work practices are important, however, critical social work should be emphasized on more frequently, especially with groups such as the ageing population as it targets the stubborn discourses (Duffy, 2016). Mattsson broadens critical social work, by relating it to critical reflection. Critical theorists have proposed critical reflection as a method to understand how social work practices can uphold oppression due to seemingly everyday actions, words and attitudes. Therefore, this can have an implication on how social workers execute their practice, as ordinary and structural features of bureaucratic hierarchies may senselessly abide social workers to uphold and reproduce social oppression, even though they might be well-intentioned. Critical reflection

Setting a boundary is an important core value in the field of social work. According to the Social Work Code of Ethics, “social workers should provide and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience” (Code of Ethics of the NASW). Professional helpers are generally compassionate people, but they also need to recognize the value of setting limits. This was the case when I worked as an adjunct instructor, which included providing individual tutoring. Sara Towns (name changed), a student and distant cousin, evoked the possible clouding of boundaries. For new social workers, this kind of reflection may be helpful as they define their roles. Through a series of professional and personal experiences with Sara, I learned that boundaries must be maintained to foster a positive relationship and prevent potential conflicts.

Ever since I was a child, I loved helping others. Whether it was helping my mother take care of my little brother or helping my fellow classmates with an assignment, I was always there to lend a hand. This passion continued throughout my childhood and into early adulthood. When I began my undergraduate degree at Lewis University, I knew I wanted to help people in some type of capacity. I was guided to the path of Social Work because in this field I could combine both my passion for helping others and interest in social justice. After my first day in the Introduction to Social Work course at Lewis University, I knew that I had found my forever home. This career path would allow me to help others in a variety of different settings and capacities.

However as a person, I tend to be more fond of being a young African-American male, artistic, political social worker. These identities combined are significant to me because they express so much of the dynamic being that I am as well as the various parts of me that make major contributions to it. My youth is an aspect of myself that I embrace as I feel it is a strength that I bring as it pertains to a lively perspective, a connection with culture and energy that I bring to every task I put my hand to. My ethnicity is an aspect I cherish specifically as it connects to my gender and age because I am proud to be a young African American male. Throughout my life experience, I have seen these identities portrayed in a view that is less than favorable so I feel that I take on partial responsibility as an ambassador and inspiration for this population. I want to be the individual whose personal narrative of success despite the disadvantages that often accompany my identity as a young African American male provides hope and adjusts the dominant perspective. This identity is important to me as it reminds me of who I am, who I could be, and who I am here for. My identity as a social worker is important for similar reasoning, I know that I am on earth to empower, inspire, educate and serve others. Identifying as a social work professional provides me with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and a proper avenue to complete the tasks that I believe I have been

Social work is a profession that promotes social change, assisting individuals to reach their full potential by connecting them to resources to meet their basic needs and advocating for the vulnerable and those that are oppressed. (Miley, Omelia, DuBois, 2017) As a practitioner in the social work field, it is important to engage in 5 different steps such as engage with a specific population to assess challenges, connect individuals with services, advocate for the needs of your client, participate in social policy, engage and contribute to evidence-based practice. (Miley, Omelia, DuBois, 2017) In the profession of social work the core values that are stated by the National Association of Social work to consume are Service, Social justice, Dignity and worth of the persons, Importance of human relationships, integrity and competence. Subscribing to the specific core values will help with the client and practitioner relationship with the process of successfully helping our clients to reach their full potential and empower themselves to overcome their struggles. (CSWE, 2014)

Upon graduation from the University at Buffalo, there were several pictures painted in my mind about how hands on Social Work was carried out in the “real” world. Several family members warned me about high burnout and nearly discouraged the challenging journey I had worked so hard to begin. Fast forward several years and there has not been a more rewarding yet challenging experience in my life as waking up and going to work with those who sometimes are unable to help themselves or are in crisis. My experience in Social Work has been some of the most rewarding (and challenging) times in my life, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

My interest in the social work profession became apparent during the fall semester of my junior year when I was enrolled in Social Work 205 and sociology. I had finally found subjects that I thoroughly enjoyed and academically excelled in. The events and experiences in my past and the current activities in which I am involved, have helped me narrow my studies to solely social work and has took part in shaping my hopes and plans for my first entry-level position in my chosen career after receiving my degree from WKU.

I have met the leadership team of California’s NASW and listened to their presentations for the analysis of three legislative topics. I was inspired by the powerful speech from Mariko Yamada, the candidate of State Senate District 3. She encouraged social work students to participate at macro practice. I felt motivated and cohesive when I heard she said, “Together, we can change.” Her speech reminded me that I choose social work for making a difference in people’s lives. During the event, I sat together with seniors and students from graduated program. We talked and discussed about internships and the MASW program. At the roll-call of schools, we called out a slogan to represent our school spirit. I was so proud of being a part of our school and a part of social work student, and being a social worker in the future. This roll-call of school provided me a chance to know social work students from 24 universities and the cultures represented for their schools. By talking with students and faculty from other universities, I gained a boarder perspectives of social work, as well as building up my

The values and principles of social work captivated me even before I fully understood what the profession entailed. My experience as a 16 year old junior counselor at the Alamance County Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club allowed me to see the importance of empowerment, as well as the necessity of linking marginalized populations to resources. The majority of the children I worked with were minorities with low income. As I developed rapport with the youth, they began to share their struggles (i.e. family issues, academic challenges, and financial struggles), and my heart immediately went out to them. I had always known that I had a passion for helping others, but this experience at the Boys and Girls Club showed me that assisting others was

Social work has been a passion since I was a young child, advocating for people whom otherwise may not be able to assist themselves. Social work offers empowerment and self-actualization to individuals to accomplish their life’s goals and being apart of that creates a self-reward, I honor with great gratitude. I chose social work as a profession after working with individuals challenged by mental illness; I wanted to make a difference not only in the individual’s life, but in my community. After pursuing an undergraduate degree in social work, I wanted to achieve the highest level of education in my field; therefore going to graduate school was an inevitable career choice.

Social work is not just a profession: it’s a practice. Whether assisting or empowering those in need from a physical, mental, economic or social arena, nothing impassions me more than being a helping hand and brightening someone’s day. The social work mission and core values such as social justice, dignity, competence, and importance of human relationships correlates with my personal values and beliefs. I was once wanted to become a doctor but as I studied biology more, I swayed towards the paradigm shift of prevention is better than cure. Understanding how poverty, lack of affordable housing, healthy nutrition, and the environment play a part in one’s health outcome was detrimental to me.

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.

For this reflective journal, I have decided to draw parallels between approaches to social work that I have learned in my placement, and what I have learned during my academic career at Carleton University. Placement thus far, has been an eye-opening and rich experience, which has taught me about the profession that I aspire to be a part of. I am a third year student, and much of my time spent at Carleton, has been studying theories, and becoming exposed to different schools of thought. Theories are incredibly beneficial, to teach and inform the practice of the next generation of social workers. However, placement has provided me with the opportunity to apply theoretical ideals, to real life social work practice.