Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Social Work as a moral and political practice

Social Welfare is more than Public assistance and government aide. Social welfare touches on any subject that is a social issue that needs to be changed. Before this course, when thinking about social welfare policy, I would thing of the programs that we provide to society as social workers and the ethical standards that come with them. This week’s reading assignments are a great start to the course. The Chu article informs us about social morals and political practice. As a social worker we must be competent of all ethical procedures when working with our clients. The NASW Code of Ethics is the guideline that all social workers must abide by when providing services to their clients. As a social worker, one must conduct themselves according to the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics and be self reflective in the process (Chu, 2009). It world be morally wrong for a social work practitioner to have expectations set fro their clients but their behaviors do not coincide. As a social worker we are to be culturally competent and in all areas to provide social justice to our clients. We must be knowledgeable of all theories and standards and of our clients individual needs to provide what is good for them. What we and the social systems feel are good for clients may not be the same as what the client feels is good for them. 
While working in the Behavioral Health Field, I have encountered many great social workers in the profession. I think that it is very important for individuals to be able to decide where they want to go and for us as social workers to aide them in the process. How can we say that we want to promote independence and we have some programs that are set up in a fashion where the social systems is making the decisions for the clients. While working with children and families in the Mental Health Field, often times ethical procedures and guidelines miss a few steps because we as professionals feel as though we know what is best for the clients. There is a saying "might makes right" and that suggest that because I am the adult and I am big and you are little that you should not have a voice and you are wrong. Children cannot consent to anything but are they undervalued when considering what is best for the child. Working with children we tell them how they are supposed to act based on society, but is that always the answer? I have to always take a step back when working with the younger population because everything is taken for face value. The values and beliefs of children should be valued just as any others. 


5 comments:

  1. Hi Tiffany, I agree, individuals should be able to decide where they want to go and social workers assist in the process. This applies to all age groups, elderly, adults, adolescents and children, they should have a say in the direction they want to take in their lives. I believe as social workers we should walk along side of individuals on their journey of life. I also feel we are there to provide support, guidance and a voice of reason. The guidance and voice of reason are to help individuals to look at their situation and make the best choice for the direction they are choosing to go. In the social work profession we will find many of our clientele are receiving services because of poor decision making due to various reasons, mental health issues which has clouded their judgment, numerous years of drug use and or trauma; both will affect their brain development or environmental situations which didn’t have opportunity for intellectual growth. Our job as social workers is not to judge, tell people what they “should” do or devalue anyone who comes for service. Tiffany I don’t believe it is the right answer, children have a voice and their opinions should be heard and considered in situations involving their well being.

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  2. Hello Tiffany, I really enjoyed reading your post. Before starting this class I thought that social welfare policy was only about programs that were provided to people in society who were poor. Going over the information in class, Susan covered a lot of great information about social welfare. Tiffany I like how you go over what is expected by social workers and what social workers have to abide by. I agree that sometimes professionals get so much into the "whats right for the client" that they sometimes ignore what the client feels is right. It's like you say you want the best for them and want them to accomplish what is put forth, but you might be looking over their needs or what they feel is better for them. I understand what professionals have to do but I think some programs should be inline to get the client more involved in their own independence. I also agree that children decisions are undervalued because of their age and some professionals go with the " I know whats best for the child" instead of really listening to what the child has to say.

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  3. Hey all, I also enjoyed reading this post as it brought up great points about how a social must be competent in all cultures or ways of life. We as social workers must be able to identify with any individual or client that seeks our help, and every single individual will have a different back story or culture upbringing. So, being knowledgeable and familiar with all social theories, societal backgrounds, and walks of life is a necessity for a social worker to be successful in helping all of their clients. I also agree with the fact that social workers should not have any expectations for a client as this will only hinder our abilities to focus on the problem the client is experiencing at the moment. Every individual will have a different journey to getting where they need to be. So, any expectations a social worker may have can hurt the relationship between client and worker, when those expectations are not met. Instead of having expectations, we need to be with the client step-by-step in the process, encouraging their behavior and helping them along the way. It will be the client's responsibility in making the proper steps so we can only encourage them the best we can, and give them the tools they need to take those proper steps. And every voice is just as important as the other, no matter the age, gender, race, or ethnicity, we simply need to listen to the client and help them to the best of our abilities.

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  4. Hey Tiffany I'm late to the party. Thanks for sharing your experience and views. I believe many of us had misconceptions about Social Welfare Policy. It's empowering to be knowledgeable of issues many of our friends, family, peers and colleagues are facing. I also enjoyed many of the additional comments to validate your beliefs. The one thing I will interject by saying is in America we do allow children more freedom of speech than other countries across the globe relatively in the last few decades. I'm concerned that as we are allowing them more responsibilities if they are actually mature to make sound decisions. Aside from that, I think most of what you are saying we share the same thoughts

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  5. Hey Tiffany,

    I feel as though we go to school to get the knowledge so that we can assist people in many their own decision and not making decision for them. However i fee that is why a lot pf social worker get burn out fast because they try to solve everyone problems instead of helping them with their problems or strategize with their client.

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