Social Work Research Paper

In the book, “The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog” by Bruce D. Perry, M.d., Ph.D. and Maia Szalavitz we are provided insight into the world of traumatized children and the effect in which trauma has on the development of children. Throughout this 263-page book, Dr. Perry provides different situations, methods, solutions and outcomes in relation to specific children who have been exposed to traumatic experiences from birth through adolescents. In this paper, I will provide a summary as well as a critique of the book. I will also include my personal perspective in regards to the contents of Dr. Perry and Maia Szalavitz’s book.

Perry does a phenomenal job of relating to his patients as a human being and not just another person to be “fixed” to get his paycheck. He sees beyond their list of symptoms to the daily struggles they experience and the effect their past has on their daily lives. He does not just slap diagnosis on them and prescribe medication based on a limited chart. He looks for new and inventive ways to help ease their everyday problems and recover from the psychological and physical damage that has been inflicted upon them. Each patient has a personalized treatment plan that is tailored exclusively for them. Dr. Perry does not solely rely on the evaluation of others to construct a road to recovery. He talks to the patients and listens to their point of view without judgement which is one of his biggest assets in my opinion. Overall, Dr. Perry does a remarkable job of balancing the boundary of a professional psychiatrist with the personal relationships between him and his

Dr. Bruce Perry, an incredible psychiatrist, describes some of his many experiences with extremely traumatized children in his novel, “The Boy who was Raised as a Dog and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook”. Throughout this book, Dr. Perry presents just a slight insight into what children all over the world experience: violence, neglect, abuse, starvation. Due to the effects of these harsh realities, many children are viewed as strange or different, but in reality, they are some of the bravest children I’ve ever heard of. Though all of these stories are incredibly remarkable, one of the children that stood out to me the

When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.

In order to work effectively and appropriately with vulnerable and marginalised groups in society such as individuals with mental illnesses, it is fundamental for a social worker to have a comprehensive knowledge base and proficient skills.

A typical day for a social worker consists of helping those that are in need, providing appropriate resources, and empowering their clients. Before a social worker can help their clients, they will need to do an assessment. An assessment consists of learning about the individual and their everyday lives. According to Timberlake, Zajicek-Farber, and Sabatino (2008), “The client system and the social worker conduct an assessment of problems, needs, strengths, and resources; establish priorities and goals; and reach agreement about the preintervention date-collection activities necessary to provide a baseline for evaluating change” (p. 79). It is important for the social worker to collect all this information because it will provide insight on

This is applied research where a knowledge development objective is the end result (Blanche & Durrheim, 1999: 41).

As I observed the N.A. group, I compared Hepworth 's, Direct Social Work Practice, five stages of group development. The Preaffiliation stage involves observation and feeling out the environment of the group; members may be hesitant to speak or test out certain behaviors to see reactions from other members of the group or the facilitator (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, & Strom-Gottfried, 2017, 2013). Returning group members greeted each other with hugs, handshakes, pat on the back, while newcomers sat quietly observing others. The facilitator provided an introduction and instructions for participation. Each member was instructed to introduce the first name, state "I am an addict" and take turns reading from the

For this paper, I have decided to research two social work theories and how those theories apply to residents in long term care facilities. The primary focus will be those residents who are alert, oriented, and showing minimal symptoms of dementia.

Ms. Apple is a 45 year old African American woman who has been a widow for about 4 years. Ms. Apple has three children, whose ages range from 5-12 years old. Ms. Apple has been struggling to keep her family afloat since the death of her husband. Ms. Apple convinced herself that she would not require the extra assistance. However, she realized in attempting to provide alone has not only become very strenuous, but also quite costly. Expenses have become overwhelming for Ms. Apple to maintain, since her husband took care of the finances and was the breadwinner for the family. Ms. Apple has minimal education as she is able to read and write at grade school level. Ms. Apple also has never been employed as she was a home maker. At this

Social Work is a career that you can make a significant impact on people’s lives. Social work is a spectacular career choice. However, working in this profession as a social work it can and will be challenges that will occur. A social worker enhances the welfare of communities, individuals and societies. Furthermore, social work aims to aid social change, development, cohesion, and empowerment. I had the pleasure of interviewing Latosha McIntyre about her work duties as a social worker with Day Spring Behavior Health Service. Day Spring Behavior Health Service is a non-profit- organization that offers a variety of behavioral health services to individuals and families. This paper will enclose Latosha McIntyre job activities, professional

John, age three illustrates tremors and cries uncontrollable. John look as if he is not speaking as he should for his age. His vocabulary is very limited as if he is behind for his age. He is at this time not walking on the level that he should be. John lived with both of his biological parents. In addition, John has not had much structure in his life because he did not have many rules to abide by. Due to the lack of structure, John did not have a set routine of what time to go to bed and he could wonder the house freely. John’s father has had several job. In addition, John’s father also stays out late at night, selling drugs and manufacturing methamphetamines within the home. Even though John’s father sold drugs, there is no reports on him using drugs. In addition, manufacturing drugs in the home may have lead John to be exposed to drugs, which can have an effect on the child’s development. Due to Johns father’s actions, he was arrested leaving John not having a father figure in his life.

Supervision in social work is defined by Barker (1999) as an administrative and educational process used extensively in social agencies to help social workers further develop and refine their skills, enhance staff morale, and provide quality assurance for the clients. The short term objective of supervision is to provide workers with the work structure and agency resources which help to increase workers knowledge and skills to do their jobs effectively and professionally. The long term objective of supervision is to provide clients the most efficient service possible, consistent with agency policies and procedures.

My placement is at Gateway Youth in Elmont. Gateway is a prevention program specializing in working with youth between the ages of 5-17 who are in conflict with their family, in need of academic or emotional support, or who are involved in the juvenile court system. Services provided include case management, crisis intervention, and advocacy with the schools, court, and community. As a social work intern, I am placed at Gotham Ave Elementary School working with third graders. At this school, Gateway Youth provides an after-school program for students that need supervision with their homework and inclusion in activities before their parents can pick them up.

A helping profession is one that nurtures the growth of or addresses the problems of a person's physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional or spiritual well-being.