Structural Social Work Reflection

Structural social work views social problems as arising from a specific societal context, that being liberal/neo-conservative capitalism, rather than from the failings of individuals (Mullaly, 1997). Structural

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.

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

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

This class/semester is halfway through, and I started to make plans to continue my education at Aurora University. I applied for the Advanced Master program of Social Work at Aurora University; I was accepted first by a notification of an email from the school. Then I attended the Master Program for Social Work orientation. I registered as a new student and received my paperwork making myself eligible to register for my classes that will be starting in January 2018. I can’t express the feeling of accomplishment and joy I felt after completing the next step in my journey.

At present social work practice is at a critical crossroads in time. There are ongoing debates among academicians and practitioners alike, over what should be the theoretical underpinnings, focus and overall purpose of the social work profession. The need for such debates is heightened in the face of changing external forces such as advent in economic globalization, social exclusion and progress in communication technologies. Hence there is palpable need to review and practice progressive theories of social work.

Conventional social work support the ideologies of racism, classism and do not address properly social problems. If my future work environment had a different mission toward social work practice, my structural social work skills will not be taken into account to improve the delivery of social services to clients in need of change and hope. Second, the client-worker relationship would be affected as the expectations of a structural social work do not meet the standards of clients who are accustomed to letting the worker be “the expert” to solve problems. According to conventional social work, the worker was the one with the answers, resources and skills to solve client’s problems leaving the clients powerless without active participation to change their lives. Relations between a client and a worker would not be as productive as desired, unless structural social work is practiced. Structural social work aims to achieve social justice, equity and focus on client’s strength to change. Third, a closed-minded community is another potential barrier to practice structural social work. Structural social work promotes individuality contributing minorities to speak up and encouraging social movements to create a positive change; however, a conservative community will not support such actions. It is important to raise awareness of stories of oppression others might have experienced within the community, to get everyone work together helping their each other, otherwise, the outcome of a close-minded community will contribute to a continued cycle of oppression for the powerless and vulnerable ones and might not produce noticeable changes in

My social work foundation practicum is located at the Salvation Army: Red Shield in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. In comparing the differences between learning from my field placement and in a classroom setting, they are vastly different. For example, in a classroom, I’m learning about theories and evidence based practices of the social work profession. At my field placement, I’m actual experiencing a “hands-on” perspective of social work. The classroom can provide examples of situations with clients. My placement on the other hand, will give me a “real in-person” experience with clients as they occur. In the classroom, I’m learning from a professor and other students’ perspectives from working in the field. With my field placement, I’m learning from the perspectives of clients, caseworkers, Veteran Affairs (VA) representatives, field instructor, and the program director.

According to Yip (2006), “social work students are encouraged to undergo self-reflection. It is a process of self-analysis, self-evaluation, self-dialogue, and self-observation. Under appropriate conditions, social workers’ self-reflection can be very constructive, resulting in self-enhancement. However, under inappropriate conditions, social workers’ self-reflection in reflective practice can be destructive and create problems for their professional and self-development” (p. 777). Self-Reflection is a careful thought about your own behavior and beliefs (Merriam Webster dictionary, n.d.).

The individuals who choose the social work vocation do so with the good intention of helping the most vulnerable communities and individuals. Many times these eager, well-meaning individuals are shocked to stumble into a social work system that quickly challenges their naïve ideals of what “saving the world” actually means. A system that often imposes a factory-like approach to human beings who live in the most difficult of circumstances and have experienced a wealth of trauma, and (internalized) oppression. Social workers inadvertently become complicit in supporting a system focused more on numbers and economic gain and less on actual healing and providing possibility to individuals and families. Furthermore, without careful critical

Growing up in the Chicagoland area, I witnessed many examples of people, agencies, and community groups working to improve our area and ensure all opportunities were at the hands of our community members. Witnessing such actions while navigating life and trying to determine a path for me to take left a mark on me and affected me in ways I never imagined. I had a desire to give back to communities and assist in similar ways like I saw while growing up to offer people opportunities that, otherwise, seemed improbable to them. Everyone deserves a chance at reaching their full potential and I developed a desire to be that beacon of hope.

I met with the two participants individually for face-to-face interviews that lasted approximately 60 minutes each. Through a series of both open-ended and Likert scale questions, the semi-structured interviews focused on the participants’ chosen intentional learning activity. The interview included 19 statements that asked the participants to respond with a number valued 0 to 10; 0 meaning total disagreement and 10 was total agreement. The interviews were audio recorded on my laptop computer and I obtained consent from the participants.

As a social worker, I am aware that though I may choose a particular field to work within, there are few instances when I may pick and choose the specific client population I work with. Since my social work journey began in 2008, a population that has been most difficult to serve objectively and without bias has been the subset of clients that purposefully vote in elections against their own self-interests, in particular, those that vote with the Republican Party. Raised in the evangelical South, the ideology of the Republican Party is not foreign to those of us that live here as, “The South has served as the ideological vanguard of Republicanism for decades” (Hood, 2015).

In Chapter 1 of Social Welfare in Canadian Society there is a section focusing on social welfare programs and services. While reflecting on this section I examined the importance of the ideas discussed and how they will contribute to my future as a social worker. As a social worker, I will be exposed to the social welfare programs and services. Being familiar with the programs and services will be beneficial to myself as a future social worker. While being familiar with these programs and services will prepare me for future contact with them, it will also give myself an idea of what services and programs I believe work and which ones I recommend could use some improvements by looking at them critically. Being critical is important as a social worker due to critical thinking can lead to positive change.

Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare provided me with opportunities to learn by using a varities of learning syles. This course offered many readings, groupwork, discussions and presentations to learn the content needed to be successful in this class. Through this course I learned about the history of social work profession, the code of ethics and how a social worker needs to follow the core values and ethical standards and the roles of a social worker. I also learned about the the theories of social work practice that allowed me to become more aware of the needs of social work profession in diverse areas. Overall, this class has helped me understand the responsibilities a social worker has to the profession and their clients.