Instructors Manual and Test Bank

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Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank For

Social Work: An Empowering Profession

9th Edition

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Chapter 1

Social Work: A Helping Profession

Chapter Summary

As an orientation to social work and social welfare, this Chapter 1 explores the profession of social work and what social workers do, the mission and purpose of social work, the relationship between social work and social welfare, and characteristics of social work as an empowering profession. The discussion frames social work as a human rights and social justice profession.Although social work is only one of several occupations in the social welfare arena, historically, social work has been identified as the primary profession that carries out the mandate of social welfare. Differentiating social work from other human service professions is complicated by the tendency to identify anyone working in the broad area of social welfare as a social worker. Thus, with respect to human services, the general public tends to label individuals with a variety of educational backgrounds, training, and levels of competence as social workers. While these human service employees may identify themselves as “doing social work,” social work requires a particular education to acquire the knowledge, skills, and value base fundamental to professional social work practice.As caring professionals, social workers work with others to resolve problems, obtain resources, provide support, and pursue social justice. As generalists, social workers view human behavior in the context of the social environment, recognize the potential for change at multiple system levels, draw on common processes to organize their work with clients, and integrate direct practice with social policy and research activities.Preparation for professional social work practice requires an understanding of human and societal needs, an assimilation of the values of the social work profession, and the development of skills for facilitating change. The purpose, mission, goals, and objectives of the profession prescribe the behaviors, attitudes, and skills required to effect change. Clients touched by personal and social problems engage with social workers to improve their social functioning through a partnership of planned change. In all fields of practice, the focus of professional social workers is on both people and their social and physical environments, often described as the intersection of private troubles and public issues.Empowerment-oriented social workers set increasing personal, interpersonal, and sociopolitical power as a goal so that clients can access resources and power that will enable them to improve their situations and address their concerns. Common elements of empowerment-oriented social work include focusing on strengths, working collaboratively, critically reflecting on structural arrangements, adopting a human rights and social justice perspective, linking personal and political power, and taking action.

Learning Objectives

 Describe who social workers are and what they do in their day-to-day social work activities  Explain the perspectives of social work, including the mission, purpose, and goals of the profession  Explicate the relationship between social work and social welfare  Evaluate social work as an empowering profession

Lecture Outline The Social Work Profession  Social Work Defined  Social workers help others resolve problems and obtain resources, provide support, and facilitate social responses to needs

- Client systems include:

 Individuals and families  Groups  Organizations  Communities

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Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank For Social Work: An Empowering Profession 9e

 Social Workers as Caring Professionals  Demonstrate positive regard and genuine concern about well-being of others  Personal qualities warmth, honesty, genuineness, openness, courage, hopefulness, humility, concern, and sensitivity  Value working in partnerships

 Teaching Strategy: Through discussion in the class as a whole or brainstorming in small groups, generate examples that illustrate how personal characteristics inform one’s identity as a social worker as well as professional behavior (Ethical and Professional Behavior)

 Voices from the Field: Examples illustrate the integration of practice, policy, and research  Joannie Devereaux - social worker in a nursing home

• Working with residents and families, individually and small groups
• Collaborating with other professionals to work with legislators on state-based funding issues related to

state payments

• Conducting research on the impact of resident involvement in decision-making on their transition to

long term care  Karen Ostlund - legislative caseworker

• Advocating for constituents to address issues they face when dealing with federal agencies
• Networking with a variety of agencies to improve service delivery
• Gathering data within congressional district to evaluate the impact of welfare reform on constituents

 Mike Nicolas - social worker at County General Hospital’s hospice unit

• Providing counseling and support to clients and families
• Participating on a community task force on AIDS focusing on community education, establishing a

befriender program, and collecting data for a grant application  Mary Ann Grant - rape crisis worker

• Counseling survivors and their families, individually and in small groups
• Presenting community education programs on prevention and response to sexual assault
• Working with researchers from a local university on a project about date rape

 Critical Thinking Question: Whereas human needs are the reasons for social work intervention, human strengths are the sources for solutions. In the section “Voices from the Field,” what potential needs of social work clients are represented in the practice examples, and what are the sources of strengths that give direction to intervention strategies with these clients? (Intervention)

 Generalist Social Work  Utilizes generic practice processes  Recognizes the potential for change at multiple system levels - within human systems between systems and among environmental systems  Views behavior in the context of social environments  Integrates direct practice, social policy, and research

 Critical Thinking Question: In every aspect of their lives, social workers represent the social work profession. How does the definition of generalist social work practice inform professional identity and behaviors? (Ethical and Professional Behavior)

Social Work Perspectives  Social Work’s Mission and Purpose  Enhance well-being of all people, particularly those who are vulnerable and oppressed (NASW)  Promote well-being and collective betterment of society (CSWE)  Personal Troubles and Public Issues  C. Wright Mills’ idea: Personal troubles and public issues are separate and distinct

• Personal troubles are private matters 2
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