Chain of love/Gender and Labor Markets (video & article)
How is social work a gendered profession and how will other intersecting identities (like race, class, nationality, ability, etc.) shape your practice and your opportunities for practice?
• Social work is a gendered profession because it is a woman dominated profession. In theory, when compared to men, women’s willingness to help others is greater because than that of a man’s. Women are often associated and, in some cases, expected to express a caring personality towards others because of the idea that “women are sensitive and are more willing to show sympathy towards others.” In other words, women have kinder hearts. This idea often results in women to become underpaid in their professions
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.
The Withlacoochee River Park lies on four-hundred and six acres of land, however, the area it is essentially part of is much larger system known as the Green Swamp, a 560,000 acre area that supplies a massive amount of drinking water to our state’s population. In addition, the swamp provides habitats for a plethora of Florida’s native wildlife, including alligators, white-tailed deer, and black bears. The Green Swamp is also contains one of the largest cypress swamps in the state of Florida, meaning Withlacoochee River Park is a highly important ecological asset to Florida’s natural environment.
“Time for your daily pill” shouts the nurse kindly. Though it’s hard to believe people are nice,
I have yet to encounter a social worker who entered the profession for acclaim or prestige. It is a demanding career with long hours and ceaseless paperwork. Social workers are frequently overburdened in addition to being underpaid. Occasionally, they witness agonizing tragedy, fundamentally changing them. Having worked in social services for a number of years, I have had these experiences.
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a national association of educational programs and individuals that confirms and improves the quality of social work education to become a professional job. CSWE puts in a countless amount of effort to strive for this mission by setting up a bachelor's and master’s degree programs in social work. On the other hand, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with approximately 132,000 members. To be more specific, NASW has a determination to intensify the maturity and developmental process of its members. The main goal is to retain professional standards and to create fair social policies. NASW progresses
I have often exaggerated the workplace and lifestyle of a social worker. After meeting with a fellow social worker, I am now able to understand their busy lifestyle. A social worker has to consider the struggles clients have experienced and hear their narratives. At the same time, these social workers need to keep their life in order in a professional and healthy way. A social worker I had the chance to meet, has endured four years of training at Thompson Rivers University: he received a bachelor degree off social work with a child welfare specialization, and two practicums, as well as regular training introduced by the government; that broadened his understanding on domestic violence, child welfare, and interview training. He stated six particular duties: provide child safety, child welfare, family care, community development, assisting individuals and being a go-to person to fellow clients (personal communication, January 27, 2016).
Now this work will attempt to examine the different approaches that feminists apply to social work. According to Collins English Dictionary, “social work” means “social services that give help and advice to the poor, the elderly, and families with problems.” (www.collinslanguage.com). It is very hard to define social work as its work is so varied and sparse within society today. Feminist social workers tend to work more with women and help them to understand and alleviate their problems. Dominelli (1997: 246) postulates “ I define feminist social work as a form of social work practice which takes gendered inequality and it’s elimination as the starting point for working
It is clear that social workers play an important role in society; it would therefore make sense to ensure that the working conditions of social workers are kept to a high standard. Without these good working standards it is likely that social workers might be affected by the job related stresses that are inherent to jobs dealing with troubled people. These high job stresses may lead to greater turn over and unwillingness amongst students to become social workers. Consequently the methods by which social workers and their respective employers have been discussed in this essay and include things like being given greater autonomy over their own scheduling and how they choose to deal with clients. Social workers may also be able to improve their
What do I want to be when I grow up? This is a question I have often asked myself. What would I be good at, what would I enjoy, what would be a good career for a family? After careful consideration and much research, I have reached a conclusion. The career that I would enjoy, be good at, and be good for a family is dental hygiene.
When working in a field of expertise the experts in that area need to know what defines that field. Social work, with its roots over a hundred years old, started out simply offering assistance to others, has grown and changed, and is currently reconnecting with its roots (Bisman, 2004). Bisman (2004) emphasizes the importance of being an advocate of justice and keeping the field focused on the “social” part of social work. This push to keep social work focused on the needs of others defines social work today. Social work focuses on providing aide to the needy and increasing awareness of those that are oppressed.
Further, my experience in life has influence my interaction between my social identities and becoming a social worker. As a multiracial female I have experienced both target and agent status. This experience will assist in my journey and growth in becoming a social worker. I will have the knowledge and skills to help individuals escape the stigma of a particular social identity. In time my growth in the field of social will give me a different perspective on topics I am bias towards. As a social worker certain values are demonstrated to assist the client in receiving adequate service. Dedication is a value I admire in the field of social work, but at times clients may feel differently and a conflict of interest can
In Barbara Graham’s “The Future of Love”, she says long-term fairy tale romance inspires true love believers and their perspective towards love itself. Graham expresses the idea that to her, a lot of relationships fail because both partners in the relationship fall in love with an idealistic view of who the other person is. She explains that couples jump into relationships thinking their significant other was this perfect image they made him/her out to be only to come to realization that it was a figment of their imagination. Graham also defies the sappy happy endings that she says everyone believes in since heartbroken romantics oversee a lot of the incompatibilities and faults in a relationship to make it more
Consequently, in the professional literature, there is a wide gap to be filled in the need for a critical perspective within the profession. We feel that the important contributions made by outside groups- Gay liberation, the women’s movement, mental patients’ union, trade unions and tenants’ associations- reflect lack of confidence in social workers, usually with good reasons. It is not intended to demoralize those social workers who are themselves conditioned and controlled by the very institutional structures, in which they work, but to make them aware of contradictions, and to assist them to develop critical action.
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
The Feminist theory is a movement that acts as an activist in advocating for women’s equality concerning power and gender differences. Even though the feminist theory advocates for women equality, it involves all other issues that affect different people and all genders. Feminist theory attracts the thought of wholeness and accepting differences within the society. According to Robbins (2012) , some of the contemporary issues women face includes intimate partner violence ,human trafficking ,sexual harassment to name a few. Social work practice have the need to understand human behavior to be equipped with knowledge of why people behave the way they do so as to effectively help them and Feminist theory happen to be one of those theories that apply to the Social Work practice in understanding people’s behavior. The feminist theory applies