The Job Of A Social Worker

The people in the world that we live in are extremely diverse, in terms of the nationalities, religions, gender classifications and physical abilities. Social workers must have a clear understanding of the consequences of diversity and difference and the mechanisms of oppression and discrimination as they relate to human development. The range of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds that social workers will practice in is huge. Because of this, social workers must have an understanding of the values and attitudes of a multitude of different cultures as well as an understanding of their own attitudes and

Social workers’ commitment to social justice means they want everyone to have a fair and equal opportunity to an assessment. In line with fairness, social workers should tell carers about their right to refuse an assessment as their permission, and not the person receiving care, is needed before the carer’s assessment can commence. In addition, social workers, bound by legislation regarding confidentiality and information sharing, must reserve the carer’s right to privacy whilst uphold their right to a fair hearing. This is achieved by only disclosing carer’s personal details to 3rd parties with consent, unless a safeguarding concern arises.

The NASW Standards for Cultural Competence addresses the standard of empowerment and advocacy, which I find both reassuring and admirable, because, as a social worker becomes more culturally aware of their clients, they need to have the desire to ensure equality for all of them. From the text, social workers become specialists in understanding the effects of demeaning social policies against their clients, where they find the medium between aiding in producing positive change without imposing their own beliefs. Mastery of this standard requires the cohesion between a social worker and client to seek minimal changes in social policies to prove that advocacy imposes change before shifting towards revolutionizes social policies and laws.

As a social worker an individual must understand that diversity characterize and shape human experience. In diversity the key words that a social worker should pay attention to is cultural awareness, self-awareness, ethno-conscious practice and sensitivity. Having cultural awareness is being aware of individual’s cultural and values. Self-awareness is being aware of personal biases and values when working with diverse groups. Ethno-conscious practice is being concern with social justice and equality. Sensitivity is understanding the difference in assessment, intervention and evaluation when working with diverse groups.

IntroductionThis paper discusses and explores both case studies in order to find the powers and duties a social worker acting in a statutory capacity might exercise in these cases, how might they be exercised and how might wider principles of welfare law impact on their decision making? It also analyses the tensions and dilemmas that may exist, referring to specific legislative provisions, and identify how anti-oppressive practice might influence the resolution of these case studies. It also demonstrates an ability to study relevant law in social work practice and have a critical and analytical understanding of the service delivery standards and powers and duties of social workers, demonstrate a working knowledge and understanding of key

My role while working with Sam is to be a teacher and an enabler. As a teacher I will be educating Sam about the benefits of joining AA and how it will help to better his life situations and to reach his goals. (Velten, 1996). I also will help Sam enroll himself in AA, which will help him to heal on not only a physical level, but also on an emotional level. It will also connect him to other resources and others that are experiencing some of the same struggles as he is. (Velten, 1996, p.105). I will also be teaching him how drinking can contribute to homelessness. (Polcin, 2016). I also want to have a discussion with Sam; about how his diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder can impact his day-to-day life. (Wanklyn et al., 2016).

In order to be a competent social worker one must know the community that he/she is serving. There is a need for cultural competence because knowing the families and communities you are working with is more important than ever. Where we live is growing and changing everyday, which can create a challenge but also great opportunities. This paper will examine a small little town in Montana called Helena and will show how different populations can be.

Part of a social worker’s job is to be culturally competent and to be able to work successfully with people from diverse backgrounds. In the field of social work, being culturally competent is crucial for many reasons. For example, cultural competence requires social workers to inspect their own cultural backgrounds in order to expand awareness of their own personal assumptions, values, beliefs, stereotypes, biases, and attitudes. Being aware will help with client relationships. Cultural competence can be seen and discussed in the journal article, Cultural Competence and Social Work Education: Moving Toward Assessment of Practice Behaviors, by Jayshree S. Jani, Philip Osteen, and Stacy Shipe (2016).

Having knowledge of different cultures and how it affects people is utterly important for social workers. Cultural competence for me, means having an understanding and acquiring knowledge of different cultures in order to effectively serve different clients and to understand their complex needs. Social workers should routinely review the professional literature and participate in continuing education relevant to social work practice and social work ethics (NASW, 2008).

In the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, there are many standards a social worker should uphold in order to promote a healthy and helpful relationship with the client. One such aptitude is Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, which is in section 1.05 of the NASW code of ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). There are three sections associated with this competency “Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths in all cultures”. It is assumed that “social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients”. As a

When providing services, it’s vital to ensure the intake process is comfortable for the client. Being culture competent and social diversity awareness enables me to respect the cultural norms and allow me to recognize the strengths within the culture. By understanding the family dynamic and the roles of each individual, I can thoroughly accommodate their needs. The resources I as a social worker provides culture competently are beneficial to the Sanchez’s.

Firstly, the National Association of Social Work Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (2015) under 1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity states that social workers should strive to

It is imperative that social workers become knowledgeable about their clients’ cultures and are culturally sensitive. In learning about their clients’ cultures, social workers need to be aware of how powerful and significant culture is in relating to clients’ behavior, values, and beliefs. Becoming culturally competent requires the ability to integrate awareness, knowledge, and skills while maintaining a positive working relationship with the client (Sue and Zane, 1987). Today, the concerns regarding cultural competency continue to accentuate the importance of preparing social workers for a diversified society.

School social workers work within schools to provide a variety of social, emotional, and mental health services to students to support overall success. The intent of this research is to evaluate the significance of having a school social worker available to general education students within the Owatonna High School setting and to examine the gaps in services that may have appeared since removal of this position in 2009. Various related studies were examined to outline a range of ways in which school social workers are used to support student success. During this study, a total of seven employees of the Owatonna School District were interviewed regarding school social work. As a whole the participants identified a large number of gaps

Law has come to play a very important part in social work practice. It can be said that the understanding of law underpins and provides duties and power, whilst understanding the statutory legal requirements is essential for effective, fair, anti-discriminatory practice (Brammer 2007). Due to the shear amount of laws and legislation that have been passed or updated over the last decade, the role of the social worker, metaphorically speaking could be said to have become somewhat of a chameleon, forever adapting to their legal environment, whilst trying hard to remain true to the traditional values of the role of a social worker. It is this conflict between law and social work values that will be analyzed in this paper. From looking at the values that underpin the modern day social worker and then looking at some of the main legislation relating to adult services such as the Mental Health Act 2007, the Community Care Act 1996, Mental Capacity Act 2005 the relationship between these Acts’ and how they sit with social work values will then be discussed.