Social Work Approaches To Mental Health

Social workers have several responsibilities. They have to provide service, justice, and dignity to a client. They have to possess integrity, competence, and patience. Social workers need to possess knowledge of human rights, and how to perform scientific inquiry. Social workers occasionally have cases in which problems ensue and a solution is not found within a certain time frame. Social workers must be able to act on an issue quickly and effectively. Situations can vary depending on the case, the client, and the persons involved in the case.

Mental illnesses have a high prevalence amongst the United States population. Each year, tens of millions of individuals suffer and are affected by mental illnesses (National Institute of Mental Health, 1). These illnesses range from anxiety disorder, eating disorders, major depression, personality disorder, and many more. Yet, with the existing knowledge, mental providers and professionals, and the DSM-5, mental illness remains a growing mystery to the public. Literature has played a significant role in how mental illnesses are defined, their characteristics, and the portrayal of those who are mentally ill to the public eye. From memoirs on mental illness such as Susanna Kaysen 's Girl, Interrupted to Daphne 's Scholinksi 's The Last Time I

The basic purpose of social work is to help individuals improve the quality of their lives. Social work is a helping profession and, resultantly, social workers are oftentimes referred to as change agents. They empower individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations to reach their full potential and enable them to make the necessary changes in their lives. They encourage clients to be self-determined and reinforce their ability to change and to focus on their own needs. Social workers strive to make contributions to the knowledge base of this profession. Social workers abide by ethical principles that are based on six core values which include service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships,

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2009) Code of Ethics is a guide to social workers’ practice by offering standards, values, and principles. The Code of Ethics is useful in facilitating the social workers’ decision-making process when he is presented with complicate ethical issues. Ethical issues arise with conflicting values, principles, and standards. These conflicts may occur between the social worker and his clients, agency, or institutional policy, other social workers, professional in other disciplines, or the social worker’s personal values.

Mental health is a state of psychological well-being. According to World Health Organization (WHO) mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others." (Organization, WHO 2001) However, cultural differences, race, ethnicity, personal background, subjective assessment, and socioeconomic status all affect how mental health is defined. This variation in definitions of mental health between different sects of our society further causes drift in methods of treatment, and may cause the burden of mental health to be greater on some cultures.

An ethical dilemma happens when two or more ethical principles conflict with one another. Ethical dilemmas are problematic situations in which it is not clear which choice will be the right one. The CP is stuck as to what to do next because there is not just one outcome that will satisfy the ethical principles as stated in the Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW) Code of Ethics (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012).

According to the National Alliance of Social Workers (NASW), social justice is one of the primary ethics which social workers must uphold. Empowerment is a social work theory rooted in social justice, with a main goal of reducing social inequalities through community building and redistribution of access to power. The basic premise of empowerment is "to change the environment, change yourself" (Van Wormer & Besthorn, pg. 212). However, in order to change one 's environment or self, there must be options available and opportunities for individuals to have control over their own decisions. Empowerment theory also aims to build community through citizen participation, collaboration and engagement among community members. This theory also seeks

The person is always a central axis in the process of social work. A person who becomes a client of the social worker is unique, his life history is unrepeatable. When a professional social worker affiliates a relationship with his client, he knows that his personality is violated, so they together have to try to restore a mutual beneficiary interaction between this person and the society. A social worker can accomplish this purpose just if his activity is conducted by highest values. In the activities of a social worker who is creating a relationship of helping the main aim is to reach personal respect for a person and his dignity. The social worker firstly has to stimulate the

My understanding of the social work profession is that it’s a career path that concerns itself with the welfare of people from all backgrounds. Individuals in this career field have the wherewithal to handle with the continuously changing demographic in which they serve. They also assume responsibility for the development, implementation, and management of social services that they provide. The social work profession employs the world with skilled workers that use the tools and resources available to them to advance the lives of others. Individuals in this career field are capable of ethical decision making and are advocates for positive social change for the oppressed

Mental illness is an important topic that is rarely spoken or taught in today’s society. About half of people in the world have a mental health disorder, yet most people don’t know what it really means to have a serious health problem. There are numerous theories on why these disorders happen; additionally, some disorders in the world are still a mystery to the science community and also millions of people share these personal experiences through writing.

Social Work values: The theories embody the core social work values such as valuing the dignity and worth of our client, their self-determination and protection as the first priority.

I remember when I was little girl and I would always ask myself what the meaning of life is and is they’re really a god. But I was never able to answer my own questions until now. I was born and raised in a Christian household and we was taught never to ask questions of that of nature or doubt our faith. The world is the way it is because that is how god made it. I’m quite religious, so I tend to find meaning in life through service and allegiance to god. We all have our personal thoughts and view of philosophy of life.

Work to uplift the society by helping people, their families and communities by correcting their problems and try to work for their betterment. Social work is a profession and people doing social work are skilled professionals with good command on their subject. This practice requires an understanding of human. Social work professionals are found in every facet of our life. Example, education institution, companies, healthcare organisations to name a few. This profession requires a diverse range of skills and right attitude and behaviour to handle the clients. Active listening, being tolerant and empathetic, critical analysis of the situation and immense strength and determination.

What attributes of the effective practitioners in public welfare did you see in Tim’s dealing with Fannie Mae, Jolene, and the boys?

Nowadays, it is not easy to describe professional work and never talk about ethical principles and values that guide it (Guttmann, 2006). Social work because it is a profession it has its own principles and values that guide its ethical conduct. In addition, Guttmann (2006) argues that the knowledge and skills we have acquired as social workers cannot guarantee an ethical conduct in practice alone. Ethical conduct is an important aspect of social work practice. It involves following and respecting the rules or standards for right conduct, especially the standards of a profession. A professional social worker who has a good ethical conduct must act in ways consistent with what the profession, society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behaviour in social work tends to involve demonstrating respect for key principles that the profession upholds. This paper seeks to critically discuss the importance of ethical conduct in professional social work practice. In doing so, I will explain the philosophical principles that guide ethical conduct in social work. Examples will be used to illustrate this.