INTRODUCTION
Personal beliefs, values and principles
As a practitioner, social work requires specified qualification, as it determined that without this, an individual cannot call himself as a social worker. Further, according to Beckett, Maynard & Jordan, (2017) the ethical foundation is provided by values that in turn informs professional principles & practice. I have learned that applying positivity and anti oppressive value will have a number of implications for my work practice. Moreover, principles and values that underpinned my framework are confidentiality, voluntary participation, continuous professional development and responsibility.
Throughout my experience as a social worker in PG community, I have learned that these above mentioned principles, practice and values are central as a professional social worker. As per the views of Greene, (2017) , every practitioner has their values and principles that enhance their behaviour and understanding of the community. So, it is important for me to reflect on these values as my future decision will directly affect my services. For example, during my placement in human service organisation after I have experienced an incident through which I realised that I should have helped her without any discrimination. This because, she was from South side of Brisbane and our organisation used to give priority only to the local people. Based on these principles and values and my role as a social worker and so far based on my experience, I learned that I have to fight for the rights of others & work to acquired needed resources. Also, as a social worker it is my responsibility to concern for those who are in need or are incapable to stand for themselves.
Cultural knowledge and beliefs
In my opinion culture in social work practice is an ability to communicate, understand effective interact which persons across culture. Further, it is an inbuilt pattern of individual's behaviour that includes actions, customs, values, belief, ideas & institution of religious, or social group. I have learned that, cultural competencies enable social workers to become more adjusted with & sensitive towards individuals, groups or families. As Payne, (2015) stated that, this leads to provide services & support that are more culturally competent. I will develop my cultural sensitivity by:
- I will understand culture & its functions in society and further, identify the strengths that are available in all cultures.
- I will make sure to have knowledge base of my client's cultures & be able to express ability in the delivering of services that are sensitive to their cultures.
- Lastly, I will acquire an understanding of social diversity & oppression in relation to national origin, colour, ethnicity, status, etc.
These competencies are considered important as a social worker, as this will allow me to obtain my own perspectives regarding my own cultural identity, also how people view us. According to Kluegel & Smith, (2017) , by having these understandings and sensitivity of other's culture will also help people to know about different views. My future aim is to promote social justice and to end discrimination or bias. For example, as mentioned earlier about one of my worst experience that happen during my placement which was also based on discrimination and inequality. Therefore, for my future the most important goal is to become the voice of my clients.
Professional practice skills
Professional practice skills, refer to those skills which a social workers needs to develop in order to provide effective service to vulnerable people. Further, Sue, D. W., Rasheed, M. N., & Rasheed, J. M. (2015) discovered some key skills that are developed internally, also some skills are learned through professional training which are also considered extremely important. Skills that I have developed till now are :-
- Organisational skills :- I think, being well organised is very essential as I can be asked in future to perform various tasks. These skills allow me to schedule my work that which work is need to be done first.
- Empathy :- this quality refers to an ability to experience client's situation by keep own-self in their shoe. This allow me to easily understand & solve their problem as it is a cognitive and emotional process.
- Boundary setting :- during my placement I have learned that setting boundaries for work is important. This allows me to accept the limits of what can be finished during a given time period (3 Principles for Effective Social Work Case Management,2016).
Skills that I need to develop for future:
- Social perceptiveness :- I have learned that, to receive verbal information, I have to be sensitive towards my body language, implications, & cultural patterns of behaviour. This is because, I have seen that many clients state their needs clearly but there are also some clients that find it difficult to express themselves.
- Co-ordinations :- this is an ability to co-ordinate communication among various parties as it will help me to connect clients with services.
Professional knowledge
At this stage of my career and based on my past experience in human service organisation, the professional knowledge is consists of that work of social practitioner is to empower people's rights and promote their well-being. My strategic priorities are :
- To understand & meet the priorities of the government.
- Make the service delivery & governing functions as effective as possible, at the time of providing effective & government & client outcomes.
- Look for opportunities to promote efficiencies & increase my service effectiveness by partnering with non profit organisations.
- Moreover, I have learned that I need to respect the human rights as demonstrated in international conventions derived from declaration of human rights.
- My profession is committed to maximise the well-being of individuals, society and communities. I take into consideration that, individual, society & community well-being are derived by socially comprehensive communities that emphasis principles of social justice.
I will continue to develop this by acquiring training in different fields of social works and in different organisations. I will discuss, analyse and consider ethical problems in collaboration with colleagues or experts to enhance my knowledge. Continuous review on my practice will serve as a motivation for social work action. Save time and buy assignment writing services online from professional writers.
Theory and research
Research is considered as an important process through which formal knowledge is developed. According to Epstein, (2018) it is helpful in both positive & negative ways; in the sense of positive new knowledge is obtained through research activity. Also, in this social workers practice can be benefit from the fresh understandings gained. Whereas in negative sense, it can help us to move ahead by revealing false presumptions. Therefore, they stated that research is considered as a valuable part in assisting to promote an informed approach to human service practice.
Theories that underpin my framework are:
- System theory :- this theory demonstrates human behaviour as the intersection of the influences of various interrelated systems. There is an inbuilt involvement of individual issues, organisations, families, societies and other systems. Based on this theory, Padgett, (2016)stated that all systems are interconnected parts & each system affects other parts of the whole.
- Interaction theory :- it refers to an approach on how one clearly understands another person. This theory helps me to know and understand client's mind through our embodied interactive relations.
- Social Learning theory :- according to Greene, (2017), social workers in every field face challenges that occur due to, trying to understand client's behaviour. This theory, therefore, allows me to observe and experience new behaviours of other people.
In my opinion, evidence based practice is a procedure in which the practitioner joints well researched interventions with ethics, client's needs and culture, in order to guide the service delivery.
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Organisational context
As per the views of Fook, (2016), when the social worker functions both as helper & controller, the issue that arises is that, the link between these two opposite aspects of social work demands a clarification based on an explicit choice of values so that mixing up of motives can be avoided. Further, the responsibility of social worker practitioner is to protect the client's interests, that will easily come into conflict with demand for efficiency and also this issue is becoming crucial with the establishment of information technology, within the social work organisation.
The above mention theories, principles, values & beliefs will help me to solve these issues. Further, strategies that will help me to deal with this are:
- Building trusting relationship :- as per National Association Of Social Workers, the link between client and social worker plays a key role in case management. This is because, making this kind of relationship will help me to engage them effectively.
- Making use of evidence based practice :- this strategy is considered as an important approach for social workers, and is a process that I will use to guide the delivery of my service.
- Empowering my client :- this strategy focuses on recognising social worker's relationship with their clients as a partnership rather than only helpers. Therefore, this will empower them to meet higher level of life satisfaction.
REFERENCES
- Beckett, C., Maynard, A., & Jordan, P. (2017). Values and ethics in social work. Sage.
- Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
- Fook, J. (2016). Social work: A critical approach to practice. Sage.
- Greene, R. R. (2017). Human Behavior Theory and Professional Social Work Practice. In Human Behavior Theory and Social Work Practice (pp. 31-62). Routledge.
- Kluegel, J. R., & Smith, E. R. (2017). Beliefs about inequality: Americans' views of what is and what ought to be. Routledge.
- Padgett, D. K. (2016). Qualitative methods in social work research (Vol. 36). Sage Publications.
- Payne, M. (2015). Modern social work theory. Oxford University Press.