What Do Williams And Bell ( 2015 ) Say About The Image Of The Social Work Profession? Essay

According to (Dulmus & Sowers, 2012, p.106), the history of social work is one of an old religiously grounded ethos of offering, aid and comfort. This shows that social work has been around for quite a long time, helping the unfortunate and it has developed more throughout these past centuries. The profession was largely shaped by Westerns idea and events. (Chenoweth &McAuliffe, 2015, p.32). The ideas and events included could have been war, poverty and other social reforms. That is when social welfare was needed to give aid and help solve these issues. Social work largely expanded in England in the 16th during the Elizabethan poor laws and later on in America between 17 and 18th century (Dulmus & Sowers, p.6). This essay is going to focus on how social work has evolved or changed for the better from the 1960s till present.

Before beginning the Master of Social Work program at Laurier I figured I had a strong understanding of what social work was. However, I quickly learned that I had only scratched the surface. I knew oppression existed, but I never understood the depth of it. I now know that I was afraid of it. It was easy for me to stay silent, because it was such a comfortable position to be in. Doing nothing meant I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This was influenced by the privilege I had.

While as a Candy Striper at Memorial Regional Hospital, she developed an interest in Social Work from a health perspective but her main interest began when she read a book “Black like me” which was about a white male who was interested in race relations in the country where he would take drugs to make his skin darker and travel to different areas to try to experience what a black male would experience. Because of this, she chose to be in the Social Work Program.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics preamble states that “Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice”. What I believe I have found in my internship with the Methodist Home for Children, Inc. (MHFC) is that the program seems to promote the wealthy, white, male dominant culture and promote oppression of other cultures.

In our world today, many individuals are faced dealing with oppression, exploitation, social exclusion, and injustice. As a result, this makes it hard for those same individuals to prosper. It leaves them powerless, hopeless, and at a disadvantage. It’s said, “These individuals generate a sense of blame, distrust, alienation, vulnerability, and disenfranchisement” (Dubois, Miley, & O’Melia, 2015, p. 83). It is up to social workers to empower these individuals, give them a sense of hope and bring forth their strengths that society fails to uplift.

Reality set in when I hit the streets of the most impoverished neighborhoods of New York. My eyes were opened to the realities of the justice system. Privilege, poverty, oppression, race, and power struggles became themes that I encountered daily. Aspiring to be a social worker, I realized that my job title didn’t fit the description and that my hands were tied. I could help people, but there were so many other things to consider. I was there to enforce the law and do it tactically. Sometimes, with no time to have any other form of

Respect for diversity is a well-established tenet of social work practice. Understanding ourselves and the people we work with, both service

In order to deliver effective services it is necessary that professionals are able to work with culturally diverse populations successfully. Social workers must commit themselves to the profession’s enhancement and to their own professional growth in career long learning (National Association of Social Workers, 2010).

Social work research is a systematic and objective inquiry that uses the scientific method to solve human problems and creates new knowledge that is generally applicable to the social work profession (Grinnell, Jr., Williams, and Unrau, 2016). There are two approaches one can take when conducting research: a quantitative or qualitative approach. Quantitative examines things that can be measured. Qualitative examines the qualities of a specific topic. In the case of this paper a qualitative approach would be most effective. The qualities of African American men who experience mental health issues because of childhood emotional trauma is being examine. Social work research is important for two basic reasons: 1) it can guide social workers to

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.

In today`s society, social work as a profession has changed enormously over time. Many interviews, samples and surveys from individuals have been taken over the years about the perception of social workers. Earlier samples of surveys and interviews have shown that social work was not always a popular profession, but now social workers are popular publicly. The public as in people now has a better understanding of social work. Studies showed that numerous of people do not quite have a full understanding of the role of social work. Many people mistake social work as someone who just take someone kids away, and break up happy families. Listen to people problems, and deal with people with lower income or government assistances.

One important thing that I learned about this competency is the importance of knowing the history of social work; in addition, the impact that social work has had in enacting social welfare policies. For example, we learned about Mary Richmond and Jane Addams and the great influence they have in social work practice. Mary Richmond helped coined case work in social work, and Jane Addams is the “mother” of social work because she was one of the earliest people to influence social work practice. We also learned about how the Civil Rights Movement helped with the advancement of not only people of color, but it also helped women and other oppressed groups of people in our society. It is important to understand the history of social work because history has helped create many laws and policies to help people that are oppressed in our society. In addition, I learned the importance of advocating for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice. I can use this knowledge in my practice by working for an agency that advocates for the social, economic, and environmental justices.

The role of a Social Worker in contemporary society has become a hot potato in today 's social and political world. The speech presented by Michael Gove at the launch of the fast-track Social Work training programme 'Frontline ', proposes the age old debate surrounding the purpose of Social Workers. Gove (2013) addresses Social Workers to stop viewing individuals they work with as 'victims of social injustice ', suggesting this 'robs individuals of their power of agency ' (Gove, 2013). All causation of behaviour is reduced to simply personal factors such as 'substance abuse, domestic violence and personal irresponsibility '; renouncing any possibility of economic and structural influences (Gove, 2013). This approach to Social Work has been evident throughout the 19th Century, demonstrated through the work of Octavia Hill (Price and Simpson, 2007) and Mary Richmond (Kam, 2012). This individualistic approach presupposes that change should come from within the individual, encouraging Social Work to target these 'individual issues ' to strive for a overall 'better individual ' (Leighninger, 2008). Social Worker 's adopt the role of a 'technician '; predominantly focusing on the best solution from the options they are given (Simpson and Connor, 2011). Although a 'technician ' can be invaluable within practice, this theory has been largely criticised as it can focus too heavily on the reductionist deficit model (Kam, 2012).

Social work as a practice and profession originated from the nineteenth century in England. It has modern and scientific origins and have emerged out of three strands which are as follows; 'Individual Casework, Social Administration, and Social Action '. As the industrialisation emerged with new societal problems which were the results of urbanisation. As early

In “ The Afro-Centric Perspective”, Lloyd Yabura writes “ The Afro-Centric Perspective first and foremost is characterized by the fact that blacks are leaders in the interpretation of the black experience reality and must therefore take the responsibility of defining it within the framework of objective reality.”(Unpublished document pg.1) The Afro-Centric perspective was given in response to the challenge from council on Social Work Education (CSWE) for Schools of Social Work to define and identify their own models of social work practitioners. This challenge that the Atlanta University School of Social Work participated in on Integrative Teaching and Learning with seven other schools to develop its module included three integrative components. These three integrative components were stated as: 1) Autonomous Social Work Practice; 2) Humanistic Values and 3) The Afro-Centric Perspective. The educational concept of social work practice emerged as a social work module during the academic year of 1968-69 (Autonomous Social Work Module).