The Public's Perception Of Social Work

Another negative aspect from seeking a social working profession is the annual salary. “The annual salary for a social worker varies based on exact employment and geographical location, but the median salary is just above $44,000.00. This is lower than other comparable professions and the salary for social workers is not steadily climbing” (Medical Articles and

The role of the Social worker is varied as it involves the facilitation of change and empowerment of the individual through social, cultural and environmental influences. Between 1910 and 1970, the role of the social worker was significant due to the impact of the Stolen Generation on Australian society. The Stolen Generation was a dark period in the Australian history where many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were often taken without consent from their homes and families by the government, police and welfare authorities. The children were taken from their homes in order to try to ‘"civilize" them by assimilation into white society’ (McCarthy 2000). The impacts of this period often resulted in severe psychological consequences for the children, the loss of identity, social isolation, depression, alcohol abuse and an increased level of violence. The role of the Social Worker was significant during this period as they were often involved with removing children from their homes and were also required to participate in the reconciliation process to improve the relationships between Indigenous peoples and the wider Australian community. One of the lasting effects of this practice is the distrust of indigenous people towards the social welfare profession.

Joshua considered the salary as “mediocre” compared to other professions. Individuals in this profession should get paid more because of all the work that is put into the job. Another negative is when you want to relocate to a different state, there is different requirements for your licensure. This process can be time-consuming for a social worker and may feel like you are starting all over from the beginning of your career. An additional negative would be how the job outlook is increasing. As this may sound like a positive aspect, however this means there will be more individuals becoming qualified to have the limited opportunities available for social workers. The last negative is that social workers, or any human services professional, can become “burnout”. The unhappiness that burnout causes can threaten the career of these professionals. Burnout can not only effect their job, but their relationship and health as

The readings assigned to this class are interesting and the author of the book Human Behavior for Social work Practice a Developmental-Ecological Framework does a good job on different topics. For example in the book Haight and Taylor discuss the Historical context of social work in the United States stating that “Social work originated in volunteer efforts to address issues resulting from the paradox increasing poverty in the increasingly productive and prosperous economies of Europe and North America” (Height, 2016, p. 4) I think that the book does acknowledge that the prosperity of these countries are based on the industrialized economies that took place in that time, but at the same time I think that if the social work profession was created with an economic system that impoverished people and we still have the same economic system and we still see people falling through the cracks as I see it on my practicum site where there are several patients that ended up in the ER because they were trying to take on their lives because life is too much for them. These clients do not have a place to live, they do not have jobs, they are mentally ill, and they lost their families. So if we still see people going under a great deal of stress and facing life in a different way that the elite people do, how can we say that the system works if we see that the system only works for some millionaires but for the majority of the population do not work.

I am in agreement with your claim that the salary of social workers alone is not cause to initiate a policy or program to bring about change. The need for social change lies within the Social Work Reinvestment Acts proactive forethought to addressing the developing increase need for social workers to assist the growing population of individuals in need of services. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for social workers will increase by the year 2018 (Social Work Reinvestment Act, 2013). I find it a strength that the policy acknowledges that in order to serve the growing population of those in need of services, social worker salaries must be addressed based on the current trend that the profession is declining due to poor salaries,

Clark Gable stated “You won’t be doing any worse with an education; you might do a lot better.” Other than ensuring a higher salary, why do people go to college? They go to college to prepare themselves for the learning skills needed to succeed today and tomorrow in this changing world. According to The National Center for Education of Statistics, enrollment in a degree- granting institution has increased by 15 percent, between 2002 and 2012; enrollment increased 24 percent from 16.6 million to 20.6 million. I was in this statistic and have returned to continue my journey. As of May 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic on Occupational Employment, the salary, wage to become a Social Worker is $28.08 per hour; and the Mean Annual wage is $58,410. This will varies from state to state across local government.

What do Williams and Bell (2015) say about the image of the social work profession in the African American community?

Modern social workers participate actively in helping people to obtain rights, services, benefits and opportunities that they might not otherwise obtain through micro policy advocacy, ?often prioritize the needs of vulnerable populations when they engage in advocacy? (Jansson, 2016, p. 21). Through community immersion, the social worker gains an understanding of the community attributes and desiderata, requiring them to utilize their experience and expertise to advocate policies that will satisfy the client?s needs (NASW, n.d.). Furthermore, when social workers immerse themselves in the community, it becomes an act of care and concern to serve the community. Compelling them to implement new changes, depict workable intervention schemes, and generate attainable treatment plans to satisfy the needs of the individuals, families and community.

Setting a boundary is an important core value in the field of social work. According to the Social Work Code of Ethics, “social workers should provide and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience” (Code of Ethics of the NASW). Professional helpers are generally compassionate people, but they also need to recognize the value of setting limits. This was the case when I worked as an adjunct instructor, which included providing individual tutoring. Sara Towns (name changed), a student and distant cousin, evoked the possible clouding of boundaries. For new social workers, this kind of reflection may be helpful as they define their roles. Through a series of professional and personal experiences with Sara, I learned that boundaries must be maintained to foster a positive relationship and prevent potential conflicts.

In this paper, I will be discussing of an organization that caters social services and contributes to the social work field. In addition, I will go in details where the organization is financed from and what is the mission of the organization. Moreover, I will discuss of the structure that the organizations conduct to accomplished their missions and explain the organization 's different services provided under their organizations umbrella. Furthermore, I will discuss of the organization accountability to their services, overall impact, and the power in organization. Lastly, I will explanatory the workers role in the organizations and discuss of my overall experience referring to my future social work profession.

The article I have selected is; ‘Baby P and Victoria Climbie tragedies synonymous with reforms to system’. The reason I have selected this article is because I found these two stories very interesting with the fact these two names have been reported about so many times across the media with the horrific child abuse they incurred. I also like the fact that after these two tragedies occurred there has been many reforms to the system to ensure fewer tragedies like these can occur in the future for example, social workers are making more frequent visits to children who may be at risk of any child abuse. I will structure my essay with beginning to explain the complexities and rewards for social workers then refer to the two children; baby P and Victoria on their backrounds. Afterwards, I will analyse references and how their impact effects the social services and viewers also. Finally, I will link all my findings together and I will discuss how my understanding of social work has changed as a result of undertaking this essay. Throughout my assignment the aspects I will focus on are how the media has reflected social services in these two cases of baby P and Victoria and how this effects viewer’s perspectives and the social work dilemmas and ethical issues raised by The Telegraph article.

If there is one specific lesson I could take away from life it would be helping others. Everyone in this world is born for a reason and sometimes we are not able to discover what specifically brought us here. I was born to help others in those of difficult times of needs. I was born to learn from others and inspire human beings to do better for themselves. One of my favorite quotes is by Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He once said “All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Danny Thomas’s quote inspires me to help others in order to be successful in life. If the world didn’t have professions that required helping others, humans would never be able to learn from mistakes and promote social change. Social work is a profession that requires helping others. Not everyone can be a social worker, and those who are fortunate enough to be a social worker have the opportunity to learn something new about others every day.

Media prejudice and negativity. The medias representation of the social work profession, generally regarded to be negative, even displaying prejudice against social work has shaped what the public perceives social workers and their roles (Beddoe, Staniforth, & Fouche, 2017, p. 3). Negative perceptions from the public results in social workers who feel poorly understood as a profession, revealing a lack of clarity about the varied social work roles and settings (p. 3). Although many studies have been conducted about the negative image represented in the media about social workers, a study done by Davenport and Davenport (1997) argued that many of the stories in television did not portray social work in a negative light (as cited in Beddoe, Staniforth,

Social workers should always evaluate their work, as this helps them to assess the areas that are working in their practice and what areas could be improved upon. Social workers can evaluate their own practice, the efficacy of a program, or how their agency is doing. However, there are a multitude of different ways that social works can evaluate their practice and work. During my internship at Wright County Health and Human Services, I chose to evaluate the children’s mental health outreach program.

My vision of the social work field is being able to help people in need and being the person that people can look back on and remember as a huge help in time of need. I think my core values and beliefs will help me be an effective social worker and help me succeed in this field. It is in my belief that a person should never be knocked down when they are going through hardships, and rather empowering them. I also believe that not everyone could be a social worker because it takes a certain kind of empathetic and self-aware person. I truly believe that my upbringing has humbled me to understand and not be judgmental of people’s issues since I’ve seen a lot in my short twenty-one years.