Why Is Complex Thinking Important For The Profession Of Social Work? Essay

Social workers in the healthcare field can be very beneficial to an interdisciplinary team. Throughout the semester we have looked at how social workers bring their professional and distinct skill set and beliefs to these teams. There are many stereotypes and biases surrounding social workers and other professionals on interdisciplinary teams. Social workers also have different views than other healthcare professionals and use their skills in communication to help the clients they serve, along with various other skills that are unique to social workers differing from other professional in the healthcare field. A social worker’s skill set can be extremely useful when working with specific populations at risk. The relationship between health

The CSWE and the NASW view research as important to our profession because social workers must use research to advise and support their interventions, thus social workers are held accountable to acquire the knowledge and skills to help all our clients. In regards to research, the CSWE has two policy statements that social worker must adhere by: “applying critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgement and engage in research-informed practice and practice informed research”. These policies ensure that social workers have a basic understanding of research, and how we as social workers can apply research to our

When evaluating practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, it is necessary that Competency 2: Ethical Practice and Competency 3: Critical Thinking are taken into consideration. Competency 2 requires that social workers are able to recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide practice. Competency 3 requires social workers to demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, communities, organizations, and colleagues. By following these competency skills, a social worker is able to evaluate their experience with these different populations without being bias, and can display diversity within the profession of social work.

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.

This section of the paper will discuss the definition of social work, values associated with social work and arguments for and against the use of systems theory in social work practice. Social work can be described as a field of study that encompasses individuals and their environment. Social work can be defined as work trained professionals do to elevate stressors of individuals so they may become more self-sufficient and empowered to live to their fullest potential.

In a research article by Michael Sheppard and Marian Charles titled, Critical Thinking and Interpersonal Dispositions in Those Commencing Social Work Training, the authors examined the importance of these two aspects. With out interpersonal relationships there would be no social work, but that is hardly the only component to this vast and varied field. While relations to others are a highly needed attribute of successful social workers, being able to critically think through a situation is just as important. Social workers encounter people from all lifestyles, most commonly when in crisis, the client may be so distraught that they cannot successfully evaluate for themselves the situation at hand.

In this essay I will discuss what learning from K216 materials has been useful to me whilst working with vulnerable and/or disadvantaged service users in my student placement, and what learning I have applied to my practice. Throughout I will look at how my learning informed what I decided to do, how I went about doing this and my understanding of the practice. I will discuss learning in respect of two areas of social work, which are ‘Communication’ and ‘Working collaboratively’. For ‘Communication’ I will focus on communication with service users with disabilities and/ or additional needs and I will explore a case of a mother who I had a telephone call with who was in crisis and in a highly emotional state. With ‘Working collaboratively’,

Through critical reflection we have a better understanding of power relationships, which makes us mindful of not perpetuating people’s experiences of oppression in our working relationships with them. Deconstruction highlighted how implicit construction of power is disenabling and easily subscribed to as the dominant discourse. Critical reflection allows social workers to silently asking oneself as observing oneself in practice questions such as: What is my part of this feeling of tension or conflict. What can I own, how have I added to it? This helps social workers examine situations of tensions rather than blame other workers and or service users, creating a possibility and space for building more positive working relationships in solidarity. This in turn increases personal agency to create social change. We can get stuck in modernist thinking in scripts of ways of thinking and or doing things. Postmodernism and reconstructive processes through critical reflection, allows new alternative ways to think about the doing in our practice. To celebrate diversity and recognize pain and suffering is also diverse. (Bloom, 2006).

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

In the generalist social work practice, a social worker is a change agent due to the expansive and complex umbrella of social and human services and roles. A change agent works to promote positive changes for the well-being of an individual, family, group, organization or community. In order to fulfill the tasks of a social worker, one should be trained and equipped with a wide variety of skills: such as setting appropriate boundaries, possessing and utilizing self-awareness and the ability to counsel or advocate for clients. In addition to many skills, the generalist social work practice includes a surplus of methods to either prevent or intervene when necessary. A method often utilized by social workers is the person-in-environment conceptualization. The person-in-environment perspective considers factors, such as familial or economic, beyond the individual to better understand the client’s behaviors or situation. Another method is the strengths perspective. The strength-based perspective focuses on the client’s or client system’s positive qualities to build upon those capabilities. And the recognition of strengths helps to achieve goals in a more client-led approach. Generalist practitioners are professionals with a wide range of knowledge and a repertoire of diverse skills in order to enhance the social functioning of all within society.

Self-reflection and correction in social work practice is important for continued learning and professional development. Without self-awareness, social workers cannot separate their personal feelings, values, and attitudes from their professional. This is important because we need to focus on the needs of the client, not what we think they need. Knowing how to separate our personal feelings and values from our professional feelings and values will prevent us from getting burnout and help us maintain professional boundaries.

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 with an imagination can identify a variety of ways to approach and solve a problem. Creative thinking is the integration of diverse facts and information leading to the formation of original ideas. Creativity is important in social work

Fook, J.. (2003). Social work, Critical theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (pp. 45-

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