Metaphor For Social Work

As the social worker, I explored

In this paper, I will assess my identity and my personal history and how it relates to social work professions. I first address my personal history and cultural background, where I came from, as well as my experience in working in the community. I then talk about my overall strengths, both in personal and professional lives. My strengths are listening skills, open-mindedness, respect for diversity and eagerness to learn and improve my weaknesses. Afterward, I discuss my weaknesses, such as nonassertive communication skill and low self-esteem problems, and how I plan to address these issues.

The application of observation methods informs social work processes and provided a reflective learning tool to my own SW values, ethics and anti-oppressive practice. Moreover, it provided ‘in action’ and ‘on action’ reflections from watching others and allowed for greater scope for reflections whilst observing. This method made me aware and observe the behaviours in others and how those behaviours are incongruent SW values and AOP. As an observer, you see things in others, things in yourself that you may not be aware of if

Social work skills, theoretical knowledge and values that has been learnt and obtained through both of my placements has and will continue to be a fundamental component of my emerging social work identity. Work being undertaken, whether that being in a government or non-government organisation, has proven to be at times difficult, as often organisations which state that they provide diversity, social justice and inclusive practice are restricted by funding constraints, hierarchical structures and rigid polices. Personally having had two non-government placements, it has been difficult to be able to first-hand make these comparisons. However, through speaking with peers in my PSAG group and through government agency visits conducted on my previous and current placement, it has reinforced that even though we as social workers are working with such rigid and stricken policies, by using a wide range of practice skills and theoretical knowledge that has been acquired throughout my two

Who I identify as, including identifying as a social worker once I graduate, will have some level privilege and power attached to the chosen identities. Gelfand, Sillivan, and Steinhouse (2002) noted that there are may dimensions that influence our personal and professional relationships with others, and these dimensions shape how we see and interact with, include or exclude them, and ways that we oppress or discriminate against them. As a social worker whose clients share my same identity, we may benefit by my having a shared understanding of cultural norms and expectations to reach a common goal. For clients who share commonalities with me, we may benefit by being able to work more collaboratively and possibly a more trusting relationship than one that must be built over time. However, just as similarities can be empowering, I must remember that the client knows best despite our shared identities that may speak otherwise.

Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).

On a journey, the final destination is everybody's goal, but what about the journey itself? The journey matters more than the destination when you pick up knowledge from all of the experiences and challenges you encounter. When on a journey, one can pick up knowledge about themselves. On a journey, the “hero” may not realize how much knowledge they are gaining about themselves. When Cheryl Strayed was on her journey across the Pacific Crest Trail, she gained an immense amount of knowledge about

Social work is a career that I have recently become interested in pursuing. I spent many years with misconceptions concerning the sector. However, following three years of working close by these experts, I have picked up a more profound comprehension of the significance of the work. I am especially interested in working in child welfare along with terminally ill children. I have got to a stage in my career where I have started to search out instruction that will make me more efficient in creating plans and providing services for vulnerable people.

My passion for helping and supporting those whose economic and financial standings have hindered their growth in our society, has driven me towards social work. I feel I have exhausted every possible avenue in my current degree field. Pursuing a master’s in Social Work, will give me the diversity that I need, while aiding me in bringing my dreams of working more in depth with clients, by helping assist them with their individual needs and issues to reality. The Social work field also offers versatility which allows me to work in many dimensions, such as clinical, case management, and many other composites which enables me to help every population. Becoming a social worker gives me other benchmarks in which I can use to evaluate programs,

Portfolio Part B: Reflection on the overall learning within the module Prior to starting this course the MA Social Work course and the PPSWP module I felt very confident in the aspects of communicating effectively and working with a diverse range of people, and after the reading the professional capabilities framework I believe that I hold the same personal values which is expected of a social worker. The PCF6 talks about the importance of critical reflection and reflective practice explaining that it helps improve accountability, professional development and helps to you understand your own tacit knowledge and gain new knowledge, which improves outcomes and experiences for social workers. (Capabilities within the PCF, 2016) For this reflection

Maintaining all the different aspects and qualities of professionalism will not only portray us as good social workers, but also the more competent and empathetic we are the better we are able to help and assist our clients. Preparing for this in my field work has already showed me how I need to behave and appear to the patients at Hardin

2. What attributes of the effective practitioners in public welfare did you see in Tim’s dealing with Fannie Mae, Jolene, and the boys? Social welfare addresses the general well-being of individuals and families; social workers oversee national programs and systems that deliver social, health and public welfare services, which are intended to enhance the person’s quality of life and to help him or her, achieve the desired standard of living. According to Romanyshyn and Romanyshyn (1971), social welfare can be viewed as the “first line support to enable individuals to cope successfully with a changing economic and social environment and to assure the stability and development of social institutions” Tim display attributes of genuineness,

This is difficult process and should be coupled with use of theoretical approaches. Adams et al (2008) advocates that social workers need to use an eclectic approach to their practice by selecting different elements from theories in order to produce one approach appropriate for the individual’s needs. Epstein (1992) suggests that to overcome the limitations of theories continuous reflection and debate is vital to incorporate complex

Over the semester I have learned many new aspects of social work that have helped deepen my understanding of what social work is really about. This course has taught me things that will help me become a better person and will also help me with my future working with children. Self reflection is a key skill to have when working in social work. We need to understand how we are, and our social location, influence everything we do with social work. My beliefs and values would be beneficial for being a social worker because I have a caring no judgment, personality that allows me to be a neutral and to listen to people.

I feel that my education at the University of North Texas has prepared me for a career in social work because it gave me opportunities to branch out of my comfort zone and become familiar with multiple populations of people. Before entering the BSW Program at UNT I was set on working with the geriatric population. I had worked with geriatrics before and was very comfortable with them, forming connections was easy, and I felt this was the population I was meant to be working with. Once I was accepted into the program though I learned that just because I had experience and was comfortable working with this specific population, it didn’t mean I had to continue working with them. My professors provided us with many opportunities to learn about and become familiar with many different populations.