The Field Of Social Work

These competencies allow beginning social workers to gain a better understanding of what the profession entails, and how to best practice ethically and efficiently. These competencies are laid out to ensure a basic framework for the profession, and allow us to have a focus on certain aspects which are most important. It is clear these competencies interact with one another, and with the other six competencies not mentioned in this

Abstract The roles of a social worker are many and although it may be seen to most as a simple profession, it is of great value. A social worker has to broaden his or her horizon to see things in a new perspective. One must be able to understand, empower and help individuals, families or groups to overcome some of lives most difficult obstacles. As a social worker you are supposed to be able to appreciate the perspectives of all parties involved.

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.

According to the National Association of Social Work, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.”

The knowledge a competent social worker need is diversity, human behavior, social environment, population-at-risk, social welfare and policy, social work practice and interventions, research, economic justice, social work roles, etc.

Every piece is important ranging from how they got here to what they know about their conditions and the resources they have available to them. The social worker must be culturally competent and understand at least the basics of their background, cultural, beliefs, values, and religion. This will greatly help the worker find the right interventions and resources to solve problems they are facing. The next step is to accurately assess the individual they are working with, there are many assessment tools that can be used it depends on the clients needs of what kind will be

Kathleen M. Gilbert is a social worker for Little Flower Children and Family Services in Jamaica, New York. Ms. Gilbert works in the mental health field of social work as a psychotherapist part time where she provides counseling and emotional support on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in the late afternoons and evenings. Alongside social work, Ms. Gilbert is an instructor at Nassau Community College. She has been employed at Nassau Community College and Little Flower Children and Family for ten years. She found out about the agency through a friend that was already in the business of social work. Beginning her college experience, she started out double majoring in both the field of public health and French, after her bachelors she was able to receive her master’s in public health. Desiring a change, she got her masters in social work and was grandfathered in as a LCSWR. At one point, she was also grandfathered in to be a CASAC, which is a credential for substance abuse and alcohol counseling, and aided clients through all aspects of addiction and dependency. Her time as a CASAC was done through a community organization and she was the chairperson of the Brooklyn committee of alcoholism. Aside from providing psychotherapy services, she also gives referrals for adjunct services and makes home visits. Although she is no longer in the public health field directly, she has used her knowledge of counseling and education in public health to aid her in social work.

Social workers are responsible for human physical and emotional well-being. In order to help people, social workers have to make their decisions based on strong moral and ethical values. As claims DuBois B. (2009) “Social Work is a values - based profession. Values reflect preferences and inform choices” ( p.105).

Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise. I ‘ve been able to enhance my knowledge and will continue to build my understanding with future

However, they learn the different theories, principles and skills in which is better to follow when dealing with specific cases but sometimes a case may come their way that critical thinking may need to be applied with theories we have learnt. The skills social worker has is the ability to take excellent notes is extremely important as you listen to your clients and colleagues and develop interventions and strategies. Being organized is very important as you will often be asked to multi-task and the ability to prioritize which work is required to be done in which order is extremely important. Understanding

The role of the social worker is not to change people, treat people, or help people cope, but to nourish, encourage, assist, and unleash the strengths within people. They

#1 A: Social work can be defined as a broad profession, with the sole purpose of improving the lives and relieving the hardships of the members of a population. Social work addresses many problems for the well being of society, including: health care, criminal justice and domestic violence, economic and public policies, child and family welfare, as well as homelessness. Social workers are trained professionals with the education and tools necessary to address problems from several different perspectives, with the intention of helping the masses and not just individuals. Social workers have the ability to inform people in need of resources available to help them achieve a wide variety of goals, whether personal social mobility, or financial independence.

Social workers will use general organizing and planning skills as they put together classes and build a course schedule according to where the clients are at. The social worker will also need to be able to schedule time with the LCSW to provide clinical services, if needed. Social workers should know resources for their clients that they can coordinate with if need be. The social worker will also need to use time management skills in order to fit in a classes and make sure they are using the time to the fullest potential.

The social work profession consists of the six core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These core values are portrayed within the roles of this profession by assessing and evaluating client’s needs, advocating for improving community resources, managing crisis situations, providing therapeutic support, and referring client’s to beneficial services. As well as, developing a dual client relationship to strengthen the helping process and treating each client ethically. Social workers are constantly progressing their professional expertise. They do this

Social Work’s core philosophy and values are centered around social justice and social well-being. Oppression, injustice, discrimination, and violence are antithetical to the social work profession. Social Work believes in strength-based approaches and the person-in-environment perspective to cater the needs and welfare of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society at large. Generally, the target populations for social work are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed people; however, social workers provide services to people with a wide range of problems, such as poverty, addiction, mental illness, etc. to empower them to meet their own needs. Historically, the social work profession started its operation by providing neighborhood