Assessment on "Social Work"

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I think that I learned early in life that successful relationships have to be based on support from both all people involved. A relationship is a two way street and it takes effort from both parties in order for it to be successful. A family unit needs to have support from all its members. Not only from those in the immediate household, but from all extended family members as well.

3. Describe your memories of your early and later educational experiences. What did you learn to value from your education: How has this been important for your life?

My memories of my educational experiences are good ones. I have always enjoyed school and really like to learn. In school I have always enjoyed taking a variety of classes. I like to learn new things. I have learned to value a good education - one that is filled with diversity and growth. There is never a point that a person can know too much. The more that a person learns the more well rounded that they become. Education has always been important in my life and something that I have great pride in accomplishing. I have come to believe that one can never learn too much and if I haven't learned something new every day then it hasn't been a good day.

4. Describe your experience of growing up as a female or male. How did your early experiences inform your beliefs about gender relationships and identities? How do you think your life might have been different if you were born a different gender?

As I was growing up my father went to work every day and supported our family. My mother stayed at home and raised the kids. This was my first impression of how gender relationships should be. Men worked outside of the home and women stayed at home and were housewives. When I was growing up if women did work outside of the home then they worked in very traditional roles. They were nurses and teachers and not doctors or members of the police force. I don't think that if I had grown up a different gender that my impressions would have been any different, because that is just the way it was. Things are much different today than they used to be and gender roles have changed tremendously. Nowadays, gender roles are a lot less defined from birth and men and women are both doing jobs and tasks now that used to be only for the sex.

5. Describe the ethnic or cultural community you grew up in. What messages did you as absorb as a member of that culture? How did your experience of ethnicity or culture influence your beliefs about race or cultures that are different from your own?

The cultural community that I grew up in was a very diverse one. The biggest message that I picked up from growing in this type of culture was that people are people. No matter where people come from or what their cultural backgrounds are, people are in the end just people. My belief about race or cultures is that everyone has the right to believe in what they believe and they should be allowed to practice these beliefs however they wish. I believe myself to be a very tolerant and accepting person in regards to race and cultural diversity.

6. Describe the early messages you learnt about the meaning of life, the creation of the universe, or the rightness of a particular religion or spiritual expression. Have you continued to accept these messages or have you rejected them and developed a new belief system?

I did not grow up in a very religious family but yet was taught that God existed and was very much a part of our lives. We were not a family that went to church every Sunday and yet we were taught to believe in a higher power and to respect that idea. I have continued to accept these messages. I believe myself to be a religious and spiritual person even though I don't find the time to attend church on a regular basis. I think that everyone has the right to believe what they want and should be able to worship how they want, whether that includes attending church on a regular basis or not.

7. Describe yourself as you are now. What knowledge, values, attitudes and beliefs do you bring with you into social work and human services?

Today I find myself to be a very strong, open minded person. I love to learn and am always trying to find something new to study. I like to help people and always try to see people for who they are and not for how society says that they should be seen. Every person is an individual and no two people are alike. I believe that everyone has the right to celebrate their cultural practices and religious beliefs however they chose to. I hope that my diverse beliefs and notions will help me to be a success in social work. The key to success in any human services profession is to be able to listen to people and then to evaluate every situation on its own merit and then deal with each set of circumstances by itself. I hope to be able to bring my knowledge and beliefs to my profession and be as successful as I can.

Part B

The steady growth, demands, and changes in health care have had a severe impact on the viability and need for social workers in all areas and situations of health care. Access to timely, all-inclusive, and unbiased health care for individuals varies considerably, with major percentages of many populations having only partial access to health care. The expansion in medical technology has offered expectation and improved quality of life to many people and yet, the advances in technology have also driven up health care costs and initiated social, legal, and ethical dilemmas for individuals, families, and health care providers. These psychosocial allusions of health care are what social workers are trained to deal with (Social Work Practice, n.d.).

Presently, health care social workers offer services across the range of care and in a variety of settings. Social workers work in public health, acute care, and chronic care settings. They provide a range of services that include health education, crisis intervention, supportive counseling, and case management. In reaction to critical incidents that are both global and national, health care social workers are more and more trained to provide interventions to get ready for and respond to traumatic events and disasters (Social Work Practice, n.d.).

Professional social workers are well prepared to practice in the health care field, because of their broad viewpoint on the range of physical, emotional, and environmental factors that have an effect on the well-being of individuals and communities. These principles are developed to meet the needs of social workers in numerous health care practice settings and to help the public comprehend the role of the professional social worker (Social Work Practice, n.d.).

Social work is for people who want to help other people, by giving them admittance to the resources they need in order… READ MORE