1.What is social work?
Social work practice consists of the social work values, principles, and techniques, such as, helping people obtain tangible services, providing counseling and psychotherapy for individuals, families, and groups; helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services. For example, social workers assist people by helping them cope with issues in their everyday lives, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problems. Some social workers help clients who face a disability or a life-threatening disease or a social problem, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, or substance abuse. Social workers also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving child or spousal abuse. Some social workers conduct research, advocate for improved services, engage in systems design or are involved in planning or policy development. The practice of social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior of social, economic, and cultural institutions. Social Work is a profession for those who have a strong desire to help others improve their lives.
2. Why are poor people poor?
There is no real justification of why people are poor, meaning there is no single cause of poverty. Personal and environmental factors may determine why a person or family is poor. Some examples of personal risk factors are, substance abuse, ex-convict, education, attitudes, and beliefs. A person who suffers from a drug addiction may cause them to spend their money on drugs instead of basic necessities of life. Many people who get released from prison usually do not have a stable place to live, and it is much harder for an ex-convict to find a job. One person’s belief may not be the same as another person’s belief which may affect the chances of someone receiving a certain job. Sometimes a person’s morals and values may also affect employment opportunities.
Some examples of environmental risk factors are, family income, sex race and age discrimination, geographical region, and health care access. There are many people living in our society today with households full of children that parents cannot provide for simply because his or her income is below average. Although we are living in a free country some people still tend to discriminate against a persons ethnicity and sex. A lot of families in our society today are not able to receive the proper health care benefits because of low income.
Some of the main causes of poverty are rising costs of living which make poor people poorer. Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food than richer people. Some people really don’t have a choice and children end up being born into poverty. Childhood poverty is a large problem in the U.S. It is said that the poorest people in the United States are the children of the lower class. Childhood poverty could lead to a number of problems such as hunger, violence, physical and mental disabilities, educational problems, homelessness, family stress, sickness, and too-early parenthood. The sad truth is that living in poverty lowers a child’s chance to grow into a healthy adult who will contribute to society.
3. Cycle of Poverty?
The cycle of poverty is a way that some people may view why people are poor. It is a set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention. The cycle(s) of poverty has been defined as a phenomenon where poor families become trapped in poverty for at least three generations. These families have either limited or no resources. There are many disadvantages that collectively work in a circular process making it impossible for individuals to break the cycle. The cycle of poverty is a false interpretation of why people are poor and why people remain poor.
4. Value Questions
Value Question #2
Considering that Beth is a clinical social worker she should attend to the social work value confidentiality. Confidentiality is an agreement between a professional and a client that the professional will maintain the private nature of information about the client. It is very important for Beth to follow this social work value because her client may have decided not to share her secrets, personal concerns, and thoughts if they believed the information will be revealed to others. It is also important for Beth to follow this principle because she can be sued by the lady if she discloses information to Carmen. It may also affect Beth’s client chance of being hired as a babysitter for Carmen. Beth should tell her friend Carmen that she cannot discuss any information like that with her, and she should switch the subject or ask her a question about the concert.
Value Question # 12
The social worker should never force anything upon the client. Her client has the right to self determination. Self determination implies that clients should be made aware that there are alternatives resolving the personal or social problems they face. The Native American lady should be able to make her own decision, based upon the choices and consequences her social worker provides to her. It is ok for the social worker to explain sterilization to the lady but she should also give her consequences and other options. The worker needs to recognize that the client owns the problem and therefore has the chief responsibility to resolve the problem. The role in social work in helping clients involves building a helping relationship, exploring problems in depth with clients, and exploring alternative solutions with clients.
5. My freshman year of college I was skeptical on what I wanted to study. My major was English because some of my peers told me that it was the best major to consider taking besides Political Science in order to get into Law School. So I studied English for a while but I soon realized that is was not for me. I was not interested in English because it was not something that I loved studying so it became a burden. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed doing. So I did some research on Social Work and began asking people about the Social Work program Tuskegee University. When I found out information such as, the profession of social work and what it actually consist of I became very interested in the program. So I switched my major from English to Social Work. I am glad that I switched my major to Social Work because now I feel content on what I actually want to do with my career in the future. I want to start my own group home and practice Family Law. The Social Work program has had a huge impact on my decisions.
Making social work my major has made me more aware of women issues, disadvantaged groups. For example, many women suffer from violence. Women and girls are often victims of violence because of their sex. The topic of violence against women finally gained U.N. attention in the mid-1980s. It has since garnered enormous notice in a wide range of areas of concern including domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse, sexual harassment and trafficking in women.
Some of the major influences in my social work education are social work 354, and my grandparents. My grandparents have been influential because they own group homes and take care of children who are need of the basic necessities of life. Looking up to them has greatly influenced my morals and values. The course social work 354 has influenced me because I learned many different roles and techniques in social work 354. not only did I learn about different skills and roles I was able to act them out.
I feel comfortable practicing as an advocate, and evaluator. I like doing these roles because as an advocate I can fight for the rights and dignity of people in need of help, and as an evaluator I can gather information, and assess problems very well. Some of my professional strengths are staying well organized, tolerance of different opinions, and listening. My main weakness is not being assertive. I recognize a need for a personal change increasing my assertiveness.
