Social Work Practice

Section One

            In the social work practice, professional application of principles, social work values, and techniques is essential. These aspects of social work practice help people obtain tangible services, which direct their goal of connecting with their communities, families, and other groups (Parker, 2017). However, all these achievements are affected through rigorous personal development exercises. In that regard, setting goals for oneself is the starting point in achieving these values and principles.

            One of my goals in this course is to speak freely without retaliating much, especially in class. I believe developing this attribute would allow me to have a seamless career in the future. I am expected to interact with people from different backgrounds and different opinions. The second goal is to understand the social work process by the end of this module course. Understanding the social work process would breakdown affective skills and knowledge that one would require to enhance competency in organizations, as an individual, and in families.

            Based on this module, applying generalist practice skills in social work practice would be my first choice in the learning process. Furthermore, through the course, I will gain knowledge and skills to establish beneficial relationships with clients, family, and friends. This aspect would eventually add value to my life. Also, I would like to be capable of engaging people on a personal level to understand their needs, challenges, and skill levels. In that regard, the knowledge and skills obtained would help me generate sufficient intervention mechanisms to address people’s needs and challenges.

Section Two

            From how I describe myself and some from my close friends and family members, I am a private person. Often, I find it hard to disclose my secrets to people I have not related well with. In that regard, most people that want to become my friends may discover my world dull and full of intuitive actions. However, on engagements, I have found my strength in engaging with most people personally. People have revealed their secrets to me and shared some of their down moments in their lives. In this way, I have helped some of my friends to deal with stressful situations. From my interactions, I believe I am intelligent in the sense of being able to understand the context of a problem and creating solutions for it. Therefore, to most people, I come out as a lover of genuine and deep friendships, which helps me develop interpersonal skills.

            From the above description of myself, I have realized that my character has changed over time as I grow older. Being a private person, it has enabled me to have peaceful moments and enough time to reflect on some of the experiences that I have been through. Through these experiences, I have often connected well with my past and always obtain essential lessons. In that regard, I can appreciate my development journey and all those that positively contributed to it. My strength in engaging people on a personal level makes me feel good about myself. This is because I have always envied the outspoken people in school and some of my other social circles. Sometimes this feeling made me feel insufficient and wanting to be someone else. However, growing older, I have understood that people are different, and my journey is also different. As a result, I have appreciated myself now more than before.

            In social work practice, the ability to engage people during conversations and other interactions is crucial (Greene, 2017). Social work can be at the community level, organizational level, or at the national level. The practical application of social work knowledge and skills is the ability to quantify experiences and connections one has with other people cognitively. This includes the relationships that one has built in organizations, families, and groups. The above understanding of myself significantly contributes to this practice. For instance, understanding that I am intelligent and creative, I will have the confidence to recommend practices that are beneficial to people (Parker, 2017). Also, I can be a champion of programs that alleviate people’s conditions to betterment. Therefore, I believe that my experiences and personal values, including talents and abilities, would effectively be integrated into social work processes. This integration would enhance performance and extensive positive outcomes.

Section Three

Part A

            Social work practice involves working with people from different facets of life. One of the greatest strengths in dealing with people is interacting with them on a personal level. I enhance this aspect through keenly listening to people and allowing them to express themselves in the freest way they can (O’Hare, 2016). I believe that this strength is essential in the social work practice based on the interventions the profession allows one to make into other people’s lives. This will enable one to address problems that the world has experienced relating to social cohesion, social justice, human rights, and respect for diversities existing currently.

In a world where stereotypical aspects are used to drive population realities and perceptions, social work practice has numerous functions to destroy some of the social dangers that exist. With the skill of engaging people and understanding their problems, I can integrate the social work values, principles, and techniques in helping people to obtain counseling and psychotherapy sessions while also improving the social and health services (O’Hare, 2016). Therefore, more learning from this practice will help me learn human development knowledge and behavior essential in cultural, social, and economic institutions.

Part B

            During people’s interactions, it is essential to understand the social triggers and tender spots. Usually, most actions are triggered by something or concerning an event that happened in the past. When a person is aware of their triggers and tender spots, they can control their actions by analyzing and factually quantifying their benefits. One of my triggers is the fear of being left alone. As a private person, I often felt that people would not want to be around me. Some of the times I went out of my way to impress my friends and to prove that I can interact at their level. However, I felt this draining, and I was losing my identity. In that regard, I have been omitting things and practices that I cannot relate to personally. Similarly, I am skeptical about people’s characters, and until I know a person well, that is when I can engage them.

            In social work practice, some of these aspects about myself will perhaps need to change. For instance, I will need to be diverse and accommodate more people despite their ideologies, characters, and personal orientations. I will also need to be more self-aware. This is because, in the social work practice, it is easy to be drained and exhausted with engaging people, mainly when they express stressful situations that one is supposed to relate with to offer a solution for them. Being self-aware in these situations would help me develop a barrier between the client’s experience and my heart safety, but simultaneously being able to connect with them efficiently.

Part C

            In the social work practice, the NASW recommended a code of ethics offer guidelines on the expected professional conduct. In the value-based social work code of ethics, I believe a conflict of interest would be a challenge to my engagements. According to the NASW code of ethics, social workers should be alert and avoid conflict of interest when they arise. The main objective of preventing conflicts of interest is to ensure professional discretion and protect clients’ interests (Knott & Scragg, 2016). Some of these practices may push one to end their professional relationships with their clients. However, in my case, I take relationships too personal, and I may often cross the professional line set by this body.

            When engaging clients during social work practice, I tend to get into the details and understand them. I usually like interacting with them within all facets of their lives, including religious, political, business, and personal interests. In that regard, I maybe knew the client to the extent where I reach out to them to understand how they are doing. For the most affected, especially the emotionally let down, I can find myself too caring, which is not recommended in practice (Hingley-Jones & Ruch, 2016). Some of the time, I can even help them with my finances to see them thrive. Therefore, it may not come out as professional according to the guidelines of the regulatory body.

Part D

            When growing up, there were numerous stereotypes about black people, the Jews, and the Hispanic people. For instance, black people were believed to be violent, Jewish people were purported to be corrupt, while Hispanic people were seen as inadequate. Additionally, the white people were seen to be careless because these stereotypes existed (Dominelli & Lorenz, 2017). They were perceived to be hardworking and focused on their course. However, in our family, I have been taught to appreciate diversity and to consider every person as an equal. Growing up, I understood the similarities between human beings and their needs: to be loved. Therefore, in my family, loving everyone for who they are was starting to see life from a different angle apart from what has been portrayed by media.

            In the current world, sexual orientation, mental wellbeing, and class are all differences that we have to appreciate. Appreciating and embracing these differences have allowed me to connect with numerous people and relate to the challenges they have faced over their lifetime. In that regard, the nature of a person should define their original identity. In my opinion, this identity should not be altered or forced to be a particular way because of societal pressures. As a result, more significant outcomes can be realized from this. In this process, I have learned to appreciate myself the way I am, my abilities and talents, weaknesses and strengths, and future goals. However, I am still striving to become a better version of myself, which should happen as I grow older.

References

Dominelli, L., & Lorenz, W. (2017). Beyond racial divides: Ethnicities in social work practice. Routledge.

Greene, R. (2017). Human behavior theory and social work practice. Routledge.

Hingley-Jones, H., & Ruch, G. (2016). ‘Stumbling through’? Relationship-based social work practice in austere times. Journal of Social Work Practice, 30(3), 235-248.

Knott, C., & Scragg, T. (Eds.). (2016). Reflective practice in social work. Learning Matters.

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. https://socialwork.utexas.edu/dl/files/academic-programs/other/nasw-code-of-ethics.pdf

O’Hare, T. (2016). Essential skills of social work practice: Assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Lyceum Books.

Parker, J. (2017). Social work practice: Assessment, planning, intervention, and review. Learning Matters.