Social work is one of the most diverse fields in that there are so many distinct areas that social workers can specialize in such as family, children and school social work; community social work; health and medical social work; mental health and psychiatric social work; substance abuse social work; hospice social work; military social work; as well as positions in policy, administration and research. Because the field is so varied, there is no one size fits all leadership style. Each of these distinct subdivisions of the social work field calls for different leadership styles. Also dependent on the most effective leadership style in any given work environment is the employees themselves, as some may need a more transactional approach where as other may work better with a non-transactional laissez-faire style of leadership. Taking this information into consideration, it would seem that full-range leadership would be the best approach when discussing the broad field of social work. The leader would need to be knowledgeable about the many different styles of leadership so that they would be able to apply the right leadership style to the appropriate situation or to fit the employee’s personality or level of expertise. The full-range leadership model is composed of both transactional and transformational styles of leadership, with the knowledgeable leader applying the appropriate style to match the situation and or employee. Bass et al. posits that the leaders that are most
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.
d different leadership styles, such as: the trait approach to leadership the behavioural school (McGregor, Blake and Mouton) the contingency or situational school (Fielder, Hersey-Blanchard, Tannenbaum and Schmidt, Adair) leaders and followers (Servant Leadership, Team Leadership, Transactional and Transformational) dispersed leadership The key responsibilities of the leadership role in terms of: taking responsibility contributing to overall vision and goals setting and providing guidance on values setting direction for significant programmes or projects stimulating innovation and enterprise anticipating, planning for and leading change overcoming obstacles delegating setting objectives for teams and individuals communicating and motivating supporting and developing programmes, projects, teams and individuals modelling appropriate behaviour representing the team and feeding back its experiences and views protecting the team and its members Assessing the impact of different leadership styles Organisational values and acceptable standards of behaviour in the organisation Organisational values and organisational purpose, vision and mission Management Standards Centre (MSC)
Social work requires a diverse and demanding range of professional, emotional and cognitive skills. This shows that social work is a challenging and varied profession Most people have a natural ability for these skills however this report shows that social workers must have the basic set of skills and qualities in order to function well in any situation and to excel in their
When developing a template to assess which leadership styles are best suited to mitigate the effects of a decline in financial compensation, it is imperative to understand leadership theory. One of the first pioneers in leadership theory was Kurt Lewin. Kurt Lewin (1890–1947), was a prominent figure in psychology in his generation. He provided a solid foundation to the teachings of organizational development. In many circles he was known as the father of organizational development. He was best known for the development of field theory. Field theory was essential because it allowed business professionals to understand why undesirable behaviors was produced. It also taught how to bring about desirable behaviors. Field theory was developed in part because Lewin wanted to address organizational employee turnover.
As well as management, managerialism can be seen to have many other positive impacts on the delivery of social care and social work services. Managerialism implies that there are specific core functions and techniques of management which can be applied and transferred across all contexts, noted in Coulshed and Mullender (2006b, p.14). This includes private, public and voluntary sectors. The objectives may vary slightly from one agency to another but overall the general aim is to engage and relate to service users, help others to achieve their goals, helping to maintain morale and consulting a wide range of sources to encourage decision making and problem solving (Coulshed and Mullender 2006c). These transferable skills and core functions can be applied not only to the groupwork in organisations and services, but the group work that was taking place on my placement. On my placement, in a rehabilitation centre for
One must also be able to adapt themselves to their public. “Social workers have a comprehensive knowledge of community resources and are able to tap them to meet the needs of their clients” (Skidmore, Thackeray & Farley, 8). Becoming a social worker does not mean that you work with just one type of person with just one type of disability. “Some communities need more practitioners with expertise in working with small children or with clients diagnosed with both mental disorders and developmental disabilities. Clinical social workers should target those areas and develop effective practices and directly market themselves in experts in these areas” (Roberts and Greene, 7). It is very important to be able to utilize the community resources to help solve problems. According to Holly Hill Children’s Services in Cincinnati, Ohio, (2002) one must be “flexible and capable of setting firm limits and boundaries...must be able to function in a leadership capacity while working as part of a team.”
Social workers are knowledgeable, resourceful, intense in responding to evolving organizational, community, and societal contexts of all levels of practice. Recognize the context of the method is dynamic, use of knowledge and skill to respond to take charge. The final method ten, engage, assess, intervene and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. A professional process involving the dynamic and collective processes of obligation, assessment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple levels. Some of the practices knowledge are, promoting social and economic justice, developing, analyzing, advocating, and leadership of policies and services.
In the reading “The Work Culture of Latin Domestic Workers” By Pierrette Hondagnu-Sotelo it discusses how the interaction between the domestic workers and the importance within a social setting and how it impact the work culture. Often immigrants arriving to the United States have a difficult time finding employment creating an environment of connection spreading through word of mouth by friends and family to help seek opportunities. Women who did not have these connections and attempting to find employment “unable to break into domestic work, or languished on the margins of the occupation” Many workers having difficulties finding a job were able to find a profession under subcontracting arrangements. This is where individuals subcontract their
The information for this presentation was derived from the following databases: Google Scholar, La Trobe Library, and the Child Protection Intranet. This paper focused on journal articles and resources referring to disclosed child sexual in the sacraments of confession. The Royal Commission into Responses to Institutional Sexual Abuse was the main reference conspicuously utilized throughout this paper, as well as the Betrayal of Trust Enquiry and the Criminal Justice Report III and VI.
During my mental health and psychiatric clinical rotation, one of the tasks I had to perform was assembling a group meeting for the patients on the unit. This type of clinical was completely different than previous clinicals. In the past, clinical consisted of medical interventions such as head to toe assessments, administering medications, and helping a patient ambulate. The focus of this clinical was quite different. Interventions focused more on the patient’s mental well-being and having the ability to not only interact with patients, but make them feel comfortable enough to express all and any type of feelings. After weeks of conversing with different patients, there were a few overall recurring concerns each patient had. They felt it difficult at times to turn negative situations or thoughts into positives and in turn this contributed to elevated levels of stress. With this in mind, I decided to conduct my group around cognitive behavioral therapy, reframing thoughts, and positive affirmations. These three topics combined not only could help the patients change their negative thought processes, but they can be used as a guide to help them in the future.
The six core values of social work are integrity, social justice, competence, dignity and worth of the individual, service, and importance of human relationships. It is vital that a social worker shows that they have integrity, meaning that they should have trustworthy tendencies. Social workers must entice social justice. They should assure that social change is okay and be there for those who are considered oppressed. Social workers should always remain competent and be willing to expand their knowledge and use it to the best of their abilities. Having dignity and knowing the worth of the clients is very important. Social workers should always remain respectful no matter the situation. The goal of a social worker is to provide service
A social worker’s field placement and internship experiences are the uttermost integral components of his or her social work education. This experience can vary in both quantity and quality depending on the type of leadership and guidance the social worker is receiving. Supervisors play a fundamental role in the guidance and training of a new social worker during his or her internship. Having similar work styles as your supervisor can lead to a satisfying field placement experience.
This paper summarizes the article written by Cam Caldwell, Rolf D. Dixon, Larry A. Floyd, Joe Chaudoin, Johnathan Post, and Gaynor Cheokas regarding the need for a new type of leadership in today’s social work environment, defined as Transformative leadership. The article itself varies in the definition, however in a broad sense Transformative leadership is maintaining good moral standing and sound business ethics among employees and individuals inside and outside the workplace. However, in order to reach this theoretical level of business related moral and ethical leadership known as
A Social Work Officer is not just a Social Worker or an Officer. It is the embodiment of a leader and caregiver; an individual whose career is dedicated to the taking care of soldiers, their families, and the Army itself. This concept may tear at the ideology of the NASW, as several of the ethical guidelines may be skewed as the requirements of the Army culture differ from the civilian counterpart (Tallant & Ryberg, 1999). Principally, a Social Worker strives to take care of the client at all times (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). A major influence and difference for Army Social Workers is the need to take care of the organization primarily. A Social Work Officer will do everything they
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