The Corner Stones Of A Social Work

This essay will focus on how contemporary social workers work to balance the competing demand of care and control. It will start by outlining the nature of the contemporary social work and what it is like and how it works within society. The discussion will then move on to look at and discuss the key professional values of social work practitioners and analyse its relationship to their own personal values, this will also bring into account how these values and views influenced the relationship a social worker can have with both service users and other agencies. Lastly it will explore the range of challenges and dilemmas that are faced by social work practitioners in everyday practice when it comes to trying to balance the demand of care and control and how they work to overcome these problems in order to ensure an effective and fair service to all who avail of it.

In our world today, many individuals are faced dealing with oppression, exploitation, social exclusion, and injustice. As a result, this makes it hard for those same individuals to prosper. It leaves them powerless, hopeless, and at a disadvantage. It’s said, “These individuals generate a sense of blame, distrust, alienation, vulnerability, and disenfranchisement” (Dubois, Miley, & O’Melia, 2015, p. 83). It is up to social workers to empower these individuals, give them a sense of hope and bring forth their strengths that society fails to uplift.

qualified to wait until I have obtained my certificate and have the tool of higher education under my belt. The specifics of what exactly I hope to accomplish by jumping as far as I possibly can in my professional life are to simply be the best social worker for addicts and their families that I can possibly be. The issues plaguing these people and their families are catastrophic, and I understand firsthand how damaging and divisive the effects can be. If I can help even one family understand and shape their family environment into a safer and more constructive one and to give back to even just a single individual who needs the kind of guidance and support that I needed (and thankfully received), then my life will be more than well-lived. However,

According to the National Association for Social Workers (NASW), the social work profession was founded in social change (Advocacy, n.d.). They explain that throughout the profession’s history, social workers have sought to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources and opportunities that allow them to meet their basic needs (Advocacy, n.d.). In Paul Loeb’s book, Soul of a Citizen, throughout his own words and the words of others, he is able to express the significance that individuals, social workers, can have on others.

I find that being an upcoming BSW it is essential for social workers to advocate for our clients and how to do that comes in many ways. Many times, a person thinks they are not capable of making a difference because they are just one person. In

Social work refers to the profession in which there is a “distinctive emphasis... on the interface between individuals and their social environment” (Toseland & Rivas, 2005, p. 5). The profession was created as a response to a need or concern (Johnson & Yanca, 2010, p. 4). Common human needs include: food, shelter, clothing, health care, opportunities for emotional and intellectual growth, as well as meaningful relationships (Johnson & Yanca, 2010, p. 6). As Johnson and Yanca (2009) state, social work is only one of several social functioning professions and continues to develop from influences from the past and present (p. 10). The profession itself mainly focuses on social welfare, as its purpose is to “promote human and community well-being” (Schriver, 2011, p. 3).

M.Lang has worked with older adults in a variety of positions for 7 years. Her educational and professional experiences include working as a physical therapy assistant, assisted living activities director, and activities specialist (M.Lang, personal communication, March 5, 2017). Depending on either her role as director or specialist, the number of clientele served at a time ranged from 20 to 40 individuals from the young old to the oldest of old (M. Lang, personal communication, March 5, 2017). M. Lang advice for someone entering the field is two-fold. “First you must be the best version of yourself in order to care for others. Self-care is paramount- to keep your body and mind optimal.” She also

Social work embodies diverse theoretical structure that can be applied in the practice. However, there are two current approaches that are guiding social workers’ performance in a conventional or progressive practice. A conventional approach tends to maintain the social order, and thus it is aligned with societal values and institutions. On the other hand, a progressive approach criticizes “the status quo”, and aims to change social structures.

Social workers unlike before are now agents of social control maintaining the social systems. Due to the arise of social change, this new requirement has them taking on something with little to do with their actual job of being an advocate of people in need. They now find themselves in surveillance mode over society instead of working to actually support the people through an active role. In turn, they now have to have a general awareness towards situations they didn’t have to have a concern about. A social worker’s role has always been an active role working with service users, but also within this agent of social control they have a lot more responsibility resulting in a lot of casework for themselves.

Q.1 Social workers in an advocate role will attempt to advance the rights of their client while simultaneously attempting to empower them. The advocacy role requires the worker to collaborate with the client to identify gaps between where the client is, where they need to be and identify barriers where support is required. The worker may advocate by speaking on behalf of the client or by linking the client to resources. Advocating for clients on micro, mezzo or macro levels provides an opportunity for Social Workers to link their practice with the profession 's requirement to pursue social justice. Advocacy can take many forms such as; developing strategies that reduce poverty, identifying and eliminating oppressive practices, improving living conditions, addressing unjust social policy, highlighting discriminatory practices or advancing human rights.

When revisiting my personal essay from the beginning of the quarter, I am firstly amazed at how many spelling and grammatical errors I did not catch. Secondly, I still believe that I chose social work because it is heavily rooted in social justice and advocacy. However, throughout the course, I thought about the difference between “professional” social work advocacy and personal activism. Originally, I conceived they intersect, and in some degree they do, but I’ve determined that social work advocacy is safe, or as Johnson (2006) may say, the path of least resistance (pg. 80). That does not mean that safe advocacy is not effective, as stated by McNutt (2011), “even if there were grave doubts about its effectiveness, social workers would find

Consequently, in the professional literature, there is a wide gap to be filled in the need for a critical perspective within the profession. We feel that the important contributions made by outside groups- Gay liberation, the women’s movement, mental patients’ union, trade unions and tenants’ associations- reflect lack of confidence in social workers, usually with good reasons. It is not intended to demoralize those social workers who are themselves conditioned and controlled by the very institutional structures, in which they work, but to make them aware of contradictions, and to assist them to develop critical action.

Advocacy is a grand aspect of the social work field, as a social worker it is imperative

Student social workers must draw from their knowledge, values and skills within the learning process because these are the factors that make up the ‘self.’ According to Ward, “the self is our primary tool of practice – it is the means through which we experience and conduct our practice.” Therefore, this concept combines our personality and identity, including our knowledge, values and skills which affect the way in which we respond to service users. Social work is a relationship-based role and consequently, it will make demands on the ‘self’ of the social worker which is why it is important to develop an awareness about ourselves. Hochschild calls social work “emotional labour” on the grounds that social work practice requires experiencing a range of emotions that is not typical of other professions. The ‘self’ is important in this respect because we need to be able to understand why we respond in a specific way to provide the appropriate help for the service user. In addition, it will also allow us to disconnect from such emotions at the end of the working day and continue with our private lives. Due to this large emotional context in social work, it is a profession that is more concerned with the relationship one has with a service user. In this way, relationship-based practice links both emotional intelligence and use of the ‘self.’

Social workers work holistically with people and families in complex social circumstances. Often, there are no clear answers. Recognition of value judgements and the ability to understand conflicts of interest are essential skills which social workers must possess to achieve the best possible results for people. Effective communication, a non-judgemental approach, building trust and maintaining strong relationships are crucial to enabling change. Social work is therefore practised, whenever possible, in partnership with children, adults, families and communities (Brody, 2010)