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.
Introduction Integrating theory into social work practice is essential in defining why social work is needed and how to practice it effectively. This paper will discuss two theories; intersectionality and life course theory, as I believe that these two theories are collectively suitable and effective in interrupting the cycle of oppression. I will draw upon both my own experiences and literature to analyze the strengths and limitations of intersectionality and life course theory. This discussion will exemplify how intersectionality and life course theory enhance each other and can work synergistically to inform my social work practice. Intersectionality Intersectionality is a macro theory, which looks at the complexity of an individual’s identity
The aim of this case study is to use a knowledge of human growth and development to critically assess some of the theories a social worker might employ to understand a child and family. These theories will be applied to two members of the family, Sarah (single parent, 21years old) and Hannah (child 5 years old). Within this essay these theories will be critiqued in terms of how a social worker would assess and justify a form of intervention and if there are any limitations to these theories. In addition as to why it is so important for a social worker to have psycho-social stance when Anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive stance will underlie the critique and has been determined as “a form of radical social work practice which is informed
Social work practice has been altered, revised, and rewritten as society begins to acknowledge the acceptable oppressions and attempts to change the current circumstances. Every situation, when working with a service user, is different. Therefore, a plethora of theories, practices, and perspectives must be considered. There is not a definitive way to practice social work; multiple theories are considered per case to best accommodate the service user in the least distressing and oppressive way possible. A practice that has recently become popular in social work is anti-oppressive practice.
Social workers understand that, because of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim. Social workers also understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values, including social, economic, political, and cultural exclusions, may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create privilege and power (2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards). (2015, July 15). My personal and
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
Considering that, the situation is difficult, as the object of social help is personality that is understood as a unique and solid system which is dynamic in itself. So the social worker in the process of social help encounters himself with the challenge to help a person to primarily restore his worthiness which would let him to solve his problems and not, conversely, resign and live with them. Yet the social work actually still impresses with its aspirations more than with concrete and tangible achievements or prestige (Kavaliauskienė, 2005). The objective of a social worker is noble, but often he confronts himself with unsolvable tasks. This situation raises because of the twofold orientation of social work: on one hand, it is directed towards a person, but on the other hand, to the society; that is, the direction goes towards a whole and towards its part – the community and the individual – by trying to reach their interaction and consistency.
Introduction This paper outlines the person-in-environment’s concepts and the advantages of this approach. In the following part, I will also share the experiences that how the concept affected me when I was facing any life challenge and how it influences me in coping the problems. The Understanding of Person-In-Environment’s Concepts After learning about the person-in-environment’s concepts, it is believed that these concepts can be applied across social work practice and guide the social workers seek to recognize the interaction between the clients and the environment. In person-in-environment perspective, the concept of person describes service users' developmental and functioning abilities in the society, which based on the environmental
Higher rates of incarceration in minority communities have lead to the destruction of the family
By establishing a worker/client relationship, this will provide Laura with a secure base to operate from in the future. She will be able to confidently explore her historical, current, and future relationship with her mother knowing that she can receive comfort and reassurance from me, her social worker. Once she recognizes this secure base, I will assist her in discovering how she currently handles her relationship with her mother. During this relational discovery process with her mother, I will also allow her to explore her relationship with me, showing Laura how her previous ways of dealing with others could be positively changed through the change of her various internal behavioral models. Through this social worker and client relationship exploration, Laura will discover how her current perceptions of her mother are connected to expectations from their relationship when she was a child, providing her the opportunity to view the current relationship differently.
This is as to how the social worker and the population interact. It involves the people making sense in their interaction. This theory enables the social worker to study the behaviour of the people he or she is involved with. This is demostrated on her role as a consellor and educator.
McBride, Elizabeth Cincotta, Solomon, Amy L. Familites Left Behind, The Hidden Cost of Incarceration and Reentry. http://www.urban.org/publications/310882.html . Accessed May 1, 2014 American Psychological Association. Webpage. Washington, DC 04 01 2014 http://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/ Alex D Thio, Jim D Taylor, Martin D Schwartz.
In social work practice, applying an ecological approach can be best understood as looking at persons, families, cultures, communities, and policies and to identify and intervene upon strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between these systems. Holistic thinking can provide a paradigm for understanding how systems and their interactions can maintain an individual 's behavior. Bronfenbrenner (1979), suggests four levels of ecological components as a useful framework for understanding how individual or family processes are influenced by hierarchical environmental systems. Evaluation of approach. Demonstrate critical thinking by using our discussion of theory and EBP to critically appraise the strengths and limitations of the approach at your first field placement.
African Americans who were born in the 1970s and grew up during the American prison boom, the chances they are going to serve time in state federal prison if they dropped out of high school is about 70%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Currently, 1.2 million (1 in 9) African American children have a parent who is incarcerated, and there’s evidence that kids who experience parental incarceration have behavioral problems and low achievement. This creates the risk that incarceration becomes an inherited trait, and recidivism induces. The underlying issue is how the U.S. criminal justice system marginalizes African Americans relative to other ethnic groups. There has been an incredible increase in arrests and incarceration over the past four decades, mostly from the war on drugs.
This must, in many cases, have a large, negative affect on families and their economic stability. It is difficult to be a single parent and if a parent is suddenly forced in this position when the other parent gets incarcerated, the family may have to move or drastically change their lifestyle to compensate for the lower income. This loss of income can be extremely damaging to