Free Essay On The Field Of Social Work

Jane Doe

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The decision to seek a career as a social worker is often more complex than one may prepare for. The characteristics and skills of the individual preparing for this field of work require mental, emotional, and intellectual stability. The tasks involved in the role of a professional social worker require a high level of self-control, ongoing education, knowledge of the law, cultural knowledge, open-mindedness, and much more.
The following paper will discuss a few aspects of the social worker’s responsibility in his or her job. The importance of the Cultural Competence Perspective, which will be important for handling cases with refugees and the disabled population, is explored in depth. The personal use of self and its influence on the profession of social work are qualities imperative to the job. Lastly, becoming a social worker shows that the individual has a considerable commitment to society. I will discuss my plans on how to integrate my work towards my obligation and commitment to social, economic, and political justice.

Cultural Competence

A key role of the social worker involves helping a diverse group of individuals. It is often immigrants, refugees, and disabled individuals that will come through the doors of social services. Preparedness in cultural competence will help improve my ability to work as a social worker and offer a more comfortable, safe environment when the individuals come to me for assistance. It takes a sincere effort to become culturally competent because looking at one’s own attitudes and view on people and practices different from our own is often challenging for many people.
The first example I want to provide is of a disabled individual. If a mentally disabled person who is an adult, but behaviors like a young child is a person that I will have to assist, the way he or she acts may be uncomfortable for me. From my experience, disabled individuals may be in diapers; they may drool, or simply act inappropriate for his or her age. As a social worker lack of awareness of the mentally disabled population can make it uncomfortable to sit in a room and interact with the person. Quality of assistance should not be compromised because of the uncomfortable feelings that make come up for me by my inexperience with the disabled population. Exposure to people with these challenges may be a helpful decision in my preparation for my life in social services.
The second group, refugees and immigrants, may be tricky to handle if I am not informed about the challenge. Cultural practices change what is socially acceptable, as well as the variations of priorities people have based on where they come from. In cases that require working with refugees, getting to know the conditions of what a refugee may have gone through will help in elevating sensitivity towards them. Imagining me in their position to have to be forced out of my native homeland would be incredibly difficult and scary. When I bring this level of mindfulness in my meeting with refugees, hopefully I can provide better service for their needs. Often these people will come with so many challenges that the social worker will not be able to relate to which is why advanced preparation would be wise. If the goal is to deliver equitable services to all varieties of the population, then knowledge of the differences among the people is crucial to the job. The article, Assessment of Issues Facing Immigrants and Refugee Families provides an expansive series of scenarios that are helpful to consider in preparing for cases with immigrants and refugees.

Personal Use of Self

My personal experience in my internship working with Cuban refugees allows me to be comfortable with how to handle cases with the refugee population. The internship gave me the opportunity to be exposed to the challenges that many of these individuals had in their acclimation to their life in the United States. The interactions I have had with many of these individuals has shown me that understanding the culture of the people that I will primarily be working with gives me a better advantage in connecting to the people. Knowing the concerns of the refugee population that I work with provides me with a foundation for common issue that will come up in many of these people’s lives. The familiarity of problems common to the group prepares me in the type of services that will be most beneficial to them.
The second area of my life that will be helpful in my career as a social worker is the internship I currently am completing in the state of Texas with the Children with the Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) service program. The internship is providing me with hands on training in working with a wide variety of children who are struggling with various types of mental disabilities. One benefit of this experience is in gaining a level of comfort around people who are unable to handle themselves. Without this introduction to the disabled population of children, I do not think that I could have prepared myself in the hands on experience of working with them once I am hired in a full time position. There would have been a degree of culture shock, but at this point I am extremely comfortable around this group and feel very good about the future when I have multiple cases of assisting the disabled population. Lastly, these groups are desperately in need of programs for health care and assistance in day-to-day activities, which makes me understand how crucial it is for social workers to provide help to increase the quality of their already challenging lives.

Integrating my Career with my Commitments

The primary motivation in my decision to pursue the field of sociology was because of my passion for making a difference. I have highly valued the concept of my life serving a purpose outside my own life. There was no better career choice I could think of that allowed me to make a difference every day and make a living doing it. I will explain how I envision my future of integrating my career with my commitment to social, economic, and political justice.
In my hopes to see the social condition of people improve I can see that my life as a social worker help to further this vision. My belief is that all citizens are entitled to some of the basics in life that are not currently available. Food, clothing, shelter, and medical care are crucial to the functionality of life. As a social worker, ensuring that those in need receive proper aid is a goal that I strongly desire. Not only through my hands on work with the individual cases that may come across my desk, but also through working in programs to elevate the condition of many of the unfortunate citizens of our society. Part of the role I hope to play in my life of social work would be to help inspire more people to give back to society whether through volunteering, organizing or just donating to programs that give numerous people access to services that they could never obtain on their own.
Another area that I hope to work to improve through my work as a social worker is toward economic justice. The imbalance of the socio-economic conditions that are prevalent in our country is an issue that I am deeply troubled by. As I mentioned before, the basic necessities of life should be available to citizens of one of the most developed nations in the world. There is high rate of poverty that many of the American people live in, which is unacceptable for the United States as a world power player who offers assistance globally. I would like my work to help bridge the gap in the socio-economic classes that are common to the American people.
Lastly, it is my hope that my commitment to my field of social work helps to provide political justice. The less fortunate people in our society are often not fairly represented during elections and major political decision-making endeavors. I plan to keep in mind that part of the process in improving the social and economic aspects of many people begins through the political process. If these individuals had the knowledge that their voice matters, then things may be different. Through pushing for educating the people that I serve, I hope to give them power to help participate in letting their voice be heard in the political arena. Sadly, the most well-informed individuals get to help push for the agenda that works in their favor, often these groups of people are in the higher socio-economic range of society. These groups protect their self-interests and often these political decisions are not helpful to improving life for the less fortunate. It is my desire that through various programs the proper information is relayed to begin a change in the social, economic, and political condition of the subordinate portion of the American population.