The Emerging Adulthood of a Homosexual Male Throughout life, each individual is shaped by meaningful interactions and events that he or she encounters. On the other hand, viewing their life from the life course perspective, which entails biological, psychological, and social factors that act independently, cumulatively, and interactively to mold one’s life from conception to death, allows one to understand the individual from a clearer perspective (Hutchinson, 2015). As social workers, we are obligated to enhance the client’s well-being by attending to his or needs while taking into consideration the various factors, such as person-in-environment, biopsychosocial factors, sociocultural factors, or life stages, that influence the client (National Association of Social Workers, 1999). We must be able to use the life course perspective to understand our clients and provide him or her with the essential social services. Hypothetically, a licensed clinical school social worker, who identifies as a Christian and heterosexual, is assigned to work with a client such as Wayne Gleason, an 18-year-old homosexual male who is struggling with his sexual identity. He was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where residents proudly professed their faith of Christianity. His neighbors are very judgmental and do not like the idea of homosexuality due to their belief that it is a sin to be romantically involved or have romantic feelings with one of the same sex. This being said, Wayne’s
In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. A Human Service professional has, in its hands, the responsibilities in the life of the clients and families they meet. The tremendous and arduous responsibilities they take on include, but are not limited to, the well-being and care of people and their communities. Such roles can be helping others manage the care of a family member, assisting individuals experiencing problems with family relations and conflicts, dealing with changes that come with growing old, aiding those suffering mental illness and or those individuals struggling with addictions. Briefly
Being aware of what life course one’s on and the impact of transitions within a person’s life course is important for social work practice. It is important that social workers reflect on both their own and other’s experiences throughout the life course and support this understanding within the various theoretical frameworks. It helps us to understand the common themes which have affected people through the age and helps us understand why people behave the way they do in certain situations.“Understanding of life
Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.
I was only two years old when my mother passed away. Left with an absentee father, I felt a void in my life. I was constantly misunderstood by other family members, which triggered my aggressive behaviors and communication style. Unable to cope with my emotions as an adolescent, I sought help from my school’s social worker. For the first time, it felt great to express my feelings without worrying about being judged. Through our regular meetings, she helped me improve my social development and attitude. She changed my life as I was becoming a better person. In addition, with her assistance, my family and I were able to value communication, understand each other and live in a healthier environment. This chapter of my life has inspired me to pursue a career in social work and be part of a team who continuously helps people overcome obstacles in their lives.
According to Gardiner and Kosmitzki (2008), most recently the ecological perspective has become a leading approach towards addressing the relationships among persons and environment. In Essentials of Human Behavior, Hutchinson (2013) uses a multidimensional approach to better understand social work practice. Using this approach, one can analyze the connection between a client’s person, such as psychologically or biologically, a client’s environment, such as families or communities, and a client’s time, such as their linear time in past, present, or future. Specifically analyzing the environmental component, Uri Bronfenbrenner’s (1999) ecological perspective identifies four levels of systems a client may be associated with: microsystems, mesosystems, exosystems, and macrosystems.
With a master 's level education in social work, I see myself envisioning clients’ health and well-being. As a student, I will study and practice techniques, beyond a generalist perspective, that will allow me to give clients hope and the ability to see something greater than what they are facing. Upon completion of a Master of Social Work direct practice degree and certificates in gerontology and mental health programs, I intend to become a licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I will competently incorporate specialized skills in different professional settings while developing my knowledge of a wide range of social issues and professional standards. With commitment, I wish to develop skills that will enable me to create or find hidden resources and services for my future clients, create platforms through counselling for victims of trauma.
As a social worker, it is extremely important to be aware of the biological factors that are affecting your client’s life. Clients could be suffering from illness such as depression caused by a decrease level in serotonin, or a behavior such as increased aggression caused by higher testosterone levels. It is important to understand that because both of these behaviors are caused by biological factors, they are out of our client’s control (Wormer, 2011). However, it is not only important to be aware of biological factors, it is also crucial to be aware of the person and environment in addition to the biological aspect. The specific perspective that includes all of these factors is known as life course perspective.
In the book Social Work Skills for Beginning Direct Practice talks about the Life Model of Social Work Practice. The principal of the model is to, “Empowerment and as such is particularly sensitive to culture, physical, and social context” (Cummings, et. al, pg. 49, 2012). This model is a way to guide social workers to assess clients in stress levels, coping skills and to be able to seek intervention that will help their client.
Service users expect Social workers to intervene in their lives when they are facing difficult or challenging situations. To do that we have to understand the service user 's life, their relationships and their environment as a whole. In addition to using our professional judgments in dealing with service users and offering support to them, we are guided by theories, models, and approaches. Theories help social workers to describe, explain and predict what is happening in the service user 's life, why it happened and what might happen next. (Maclean and Harrison, 2015 page 9)
This paper focuses on counseling clients a part of the “sexual minority” (Yarhouse, Kays, and Jones, 2013). The information regarding sexual minorities and the techniques to counsel these clients are summarized from Yarhouse et al.’s “The Sexual Minority Client” (2013). The basis for counseling the sexual minority is competence. This shift to competence is primarily from the “multicultural movement” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Two supporting therapies of this movement are and “affirmative approach” and “sexual identity therapy” (Yarhouse, et. al., 2013). Counselors’ beliefs and values are inevitable in therapy. Practicing in an area with similar beliefs and values minimizes ethical issues. Personal reflection shows acceptance of information provided in the chapter except statements from the ACA and APA in which Christian counselors seem discouraged to provide therapy for the sexual minority. Interest exists in the areas of percentages concerning sexual minority, as well as, these individuals claiming an identity. The primary form of therapy to be administered for a sexual minority client is sexual identity therapy. This therapy provides the least risk in regards to ethics. The client chooses the goal and the counselor acts as a support for the client to obtain the goal. Though beliefs differ, the client will be supported even if the homosexual
Once I have become aware of and accepted my morals, next I need to identify if they are coming into play with this client in a negative way. If my morals are coming into play there are several ways this impact the therapy I am doing with this client. The ways in which impact can occur is through building rapport, maintaining a therapeutic alliance, through my approach including treatment planning and goals, through transference or countertransference, and by limiting my ability to help this client with their issue. Before 1973 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders viewed homosexuality as a psychological disorder. This resulted in treatment plans that involved reorienting the individual to be heterosexual (Fontaine & Hammond, 1996). Although this practice is no longer common and has been debunked many times a metaphorical wedge between
Dr. Garzon's presentation on Lesbian & Gay Population addresses the American Counseling Association and Association of Marriage and Family Therapy's about the role and importance of religious identity when working with lesbian and gay clients. Both groups advocate for gay affirmative treatment, but religious identity conflicts with this treatment plan. Religion is a recognized diversity area in the professional ethics code. This could cause an ethical dilemma for many Christian counselors. I like how Stephen mentions Jeff's reminder in that counselors are not to impose their belief systems onto their clients. ACA's code of ethics calls for counseling professionals to respect their client's faith and not impose their values on their clients.
The Strengths Perspective differs from other social work theories by focusing on the positive characteristics of a client and their environment. The Life Span Perspective evaluates a person over their entire lifecycle by evaluating their social, psychodynamic, cognitive, moral, spiritual and biological change and growth. Every different experience from a younger stage affects that person through the rest of her lifespan. While each person is unique, this perspective gives us a framework of the life course and gives us ideas of what to expect from one stage to the next. Because this viewpoint draws from Positivist and Developmental theories, it looks for patterns and similarities.
This methodology encompasses examining the child’s life through many different contexts, such as: demography, history, sociology, biology, developmental psychology, and economics. ( w. website ) The Life Course Perspective takes the combination of the historical and social factors and sees them in an individual’s course of personal development. A life course is defined as a sequence of socially defined events and roles that the individual enacts over time. ( W. website ) The theory loosely follows the sage old adage, “To know where you’re going, you have to know where you have been.” More precisely, the theory explains that the roles, events or transitions in an individual’s life don’t naturally progress in a structures order, but instead but create the sum of one’s life experience. (website) Transitions play an important role in the life experience.
Some scientist and theorist believe that a person 's current position in life is the result of a combination of their experiences and interacting influences. This can occur from infancy through very old age, even before birth. For example, career choices can be affected by personal experiences or inborn abilities. This may be from the individual or the influence of adult role models, which can be positive or negative. According to Sigelman, Rider, & De George-Walker (2013), human development is shown to be very complex, with many interconnected processes through the modern lifespan perspective. This context is based on seven key assumptions, where I will analyse in depth in this paper and will show how the modern life span perspective is relevant to my decision to become a Social worker based on my experiences.