Have you ever felt so happy after lending your helping hand to some people? Do you ever get that overwhelming feeling after opening the door for an old woman, after giving your leftover to the street children, after gladly helping your classmate with their homework and such generous acts? Well, I hope so because every time we do things to help someone with willingness, there is this certain feeling in our chest, that burst of joy coming from our hearts because we know for a fact that we actually did something kind and genuine despite living in a chaotic world.
DEFINITION
According to the Canadian Association of Social Workers, Social work is a profession concerned with helping individuals, families, groups, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being as well as the quality of life. It aims to help them develop and enhance their skills and abilities to be able to use their own resources to resolve personal and community problems. The social work profession also promotes social change, problem-solving when it comes to human relationships and the empowerment of each individual to enhance their well-being. Unlike other ‘helping jobs’ social work puts emphasis on social justice and also looks at the person’s environment. Social work is not just concerned with a person’s individual well-being but it is also concerned with broader social issues such as poverty, unemployment, and domestic violence.SETTINGS AND AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Social workers cover a range of fields that they would mainly focus on. They can also work in the government, school, private companies, civil society and in the community. It depends on where they want to work and who are the people they want to help.
1. Family and Child welfare include services to be able to help families and to guide the parents in raising their children.
2. Health
includes social workers helping patients and their families. Social workers also help them in gaining access to different health care services especially those who are poor.
3. Mental health is about social workers dealing with patients or individuals with mental and emotional shortcomings.
4. Corrections is the area social workers are concerned with the prevention of crime and the healing or rehabilitation of the criminals.
5. Schools - social workers who are employed in schools focus on helping students with disabilities or who are having mental health struggles. They also help the students who are having difficulties in school.
COMPETENCIES
As a social worker, you must have these competencies to be able to be an effective social worker.
1. Think critically - to give proper and well-educated judgments to your clients
2. Build and sustain relationships – to be able to establish rapport with colleagues and your clients
3. Execute empowering processes- encourage your clients and teach them new skills for them to be empowered and effective members of society.
4. Use practical method – complex problems do not always need a complex approach, therefore, you should know simple methods that can help their problems.
5. Analyze policies – for you to know what else can be done or implemented to help your clients and for you to advocate changes in these policies especially if they do not serve their benefits.
6. Communicate effectively – communicate properly with your clients for them to fully grasp what your trying to comprehend
7. Strong cultural and intercultural competence - as a social worker you will be dealing with different types of people that have different cultural backgrounds.
8. Good computer literacy – in the age of technology social workers must know how to use technology in an efficient way to help their clients.
9. Conduct research – research is important for you to discover new approaches to handling your cases.
10. Do social planning – to create a healthier community and promote unity among each other.
11. Perform crisis intervention – to know how to help clients when it comes to their problems and provide temporary solutions.
12. Sound time management - balance your time well because there will be cases of emergency that you will be called.
13. Detach yourself – at the end of the day, you need to separate yourself from your job.
CORE VALUES
Of course, it is also essential for Social Workers to maintain good values within them which they then apply in their lives and profession as well.
2. A social worker must have the value of service and they must perform their work not just for the sake of doing it.
3. Social workers must perform their job while taking into consideration social justice. They must ensure that everyone is to be treated equally.
4. Dignity and work of the human person is a value that makes sure, social workers treat each person with respect no matter what or who they are.
5. Social workers should give importance to human relationships since they will be working with other professionals and also establish relationships with their clients.
6. Social workers must value integrity and maintain their professionalism to avoid further conflicts.
7. Social workers must have competence because it separates social caregiving from social work professional practices.
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As HUMSS students, one of the privileges we have is the chance to visit different communities and places showcasing the life of a SOCIAL WORKER.
MARIKINA YOUTH HOME
Marikina Youth Home is a well-known establishment in Marikina City where juveniles, who committed delinquent acts, are temporarily placed in as a consequence of the violation(s) that they have done against the law. Moreover, most of its clients are either boys or girls, belonging to the minor age group which means that the people placed here are 18 years old and below. It somewhat serves as a rehabilitation area wherein it aims to help the children to reintegrate themselves by strengthening their values through different activities and to help them become productive members of society once again.
Ms. Shelly, a social worker in the said establishment, shared some of her experiences in Marikina Youth Home and some additional information about her chosen profession. Based on observation with regards to her job as a social worker, she is very committed to it and she does her job passionately and professionally. Knowing that she deals with minor people it can be concluded that being a social worker is not an easy thing to do since it requires more patience than you could ever imagine. It also involves more understanding since you should know how to manage and treat each individual well. She also mentioned some cases that most of the juveniles are involved in, cases which are associated with issues in the usage of drugs, robbery, addiction, rape and etc. But she also shared that the children are not entirely to blame for their violations and that despite all these mistakes, they would still like to help these children, who were “naligaw sa landas,” because she believes that the youth are really the hope of our future.
At first, it is hard to accept and to think that these minors are capable of committing such crime but come to think of it, one reason as to why they have done unexpected crimes is the fact that they are the unfortunate ones who grew in an environment that did not show them enough love. With that thought, there is this sudden realization of appreciating whatever it is that you have in your life. Not all of us are privileged enough to be loved by our own parents and to grow up in an environment that is safe. Not all are lucky to be taught such values that would help to build ourselves. The adolescents there at the youth home lack so much in their lives and hearing their personal experiences and stories gives us no right to complain about our struggles in life, which now leads to the thought of acceptance. We all know for a fact that each and every one of us has a different story with different experiences. It is now our responsibility to know these stories in order for us to be educated and to be aware of these types of situations. Knowing their stories would now help us to accept them and consider them still as normal people like us regardless of their wrongdoings and violations. They are just like us in a way that some of them still have goals and dreams in life as well. We must then accept the fact that they are not entirely different from us and thus also needs special care. One lesson which can be acquired as well with this is to never forget the values that we have learned throughout our life and to outlive them.
As citizens, it is our obligation to think of the welfare of each and everyone most especially the youth. As young as we are, it is beneficial for us to be socially aware on the different kind of issues evident in our community concerning not only politicians, employees, but also the youth and the minor for it to be an eye-opener to all. It will help to see the reality of what life is. As the privileged ones, it is also our duty to share what we have with them. But at the end of the day, we can only be the support that they need because it is them who can truly help themselves.
CAMILLUS MEDHAVEN
Camillus Medhaven was formerly known as the St. Camillus Home of Charity. Before it was a shelter or center for abandoned people with disabilities but today, it is now a popular nursing home or shelter for the elderly located in Marikina Heights.
Aside from being a shelter for the elderly, it promotes as well the welfare of the disabled children within Marikina City and through Rehabilitation Programs it helps the children with their rehabilitation process. When it comes to other activities, there are times that they would a holy mass and some of the clients who are strong enough and are able to move still would participate. Additionally, some of the elderly placed in the center are those whose families do not give that much attention to them, the reason for these elderly to be put in the center instead. Others, however, decided on their own to stay in such nursing home since they do not want to be a burden to their family by providing their needs and taking care of them. But despite being abandoned or left there by their family members, they are still given their basic needs such as food, shelter, and medication by the caregivers.
ST. MARIA DE MATTIAS CENTER
St. Maria De Mattias Center is a non-governmental organization which was a center before that only accepts minor girls in their institution. After some time because of a deaf baby’s arrival in their place, they now provide services also for non-hearing girls. Their services include free education for the girls by paying their tuition fee until they are in Senior High School. For the deaf girls, they only accept limited ones since education for deaf people is expensive. Tutorials in Math, English and even musical instruments are also given to their clients. Providing education will help them prepare for the future to become more independent as they are released from the center.
They also provide basic needs such as meals which are given every day. The food that they usually serve for the girls are fresh vegetables harvested in their garden. In this way, it can be concluded that they really feed their clients with healthy and fresh food. The leftover foods are then used as fertilizers in the garden as well which concludes that their community is eco-friendly, it was also observed that they use recycled materials. Moreover, they also give services to the parents by teaching Christian values formation. However, there are also rules in their center and one is that the girls must maintain high grades in school in order to continue having free education and two, the parents should at least give a contribution to the community. Some of the clients clarified that St. Maria De Mattias Center is not really an orphanage since they are not staying in the center 24/7, meaning they still go home and it is the responsibility of the parents to secure the safety of their children.
One social worker in their community, Sir Jonathan, shared his experiences with his profession. He told the students who were able to visit the area that he wanted to become a seaman at first but then realized that he is not that happy being a seaman, the reason for him to study again which then leads to him becoming a social worker. Despite the thought that he receives a lesser amount of salary as a social worker he still chose to become one and now, he helps the oppressed and marginalized. This simply proves that money cannot really buy true happiness.
With his story, it can be said that being a social worker also involves selflessness since they think of others first before themselves and they are not greedy in a way that they only think of the salary that they receive. They would focus more on the outcome of their clients through their help rather than their income. One value that can be acquired as well is that we must know how to treat each other as a family by showing compassion to one another because through this, we can all live in peace and harmony.
To be a social worker would be such a rewarding feeling. Every day you will be able to feel that burst of happiness in your heart, knowing that you were able to help someone be in a much better situation. Sure this job is hard and there are times that you will get burnouts or you could fail your cases but every job has their pros and cons. In the world today that is wrapped in so much evil we need people who can help those in need, challenge the unjust system, & eliminate prejudices in society. Being a social worker will help you feel as if a modern-day hero because of the work you do for others. A social worker may as well be any job but the significant difference is that for the majority of your job you feel as if you’re not doing it for yourself, but you’re doing it for others. That overwhelming feeling of your heart exploding in happiness will never go away if you be a social worker. To be a social worker is not easy but it is for sure worth it.
To be a social worker would be such a rewarding feeling. Every day you will be able to feel that burst of happiness in your heart, knowing that you were able to help someone be in a much better situation. Sure this job is hard and there are times that you will get burnouts or you could fail your cases but every job has their pros and cons. In the world today that is wrapped in so much evil we need people who can help those in need, challenge the unjust system, & eliminate prejudices in society. Being a social worker will help you feel as if a modern-day hero because of the work you do for others. A social worker may as well be any job but the significant difference is that for the majority of your job you feel as if you’re not doing it for yourself, but you’re doing it for others. That overwhelming feeling of your heart exploding in happiness will never go away if you be a social worker. To be a social worker is not easy but it is for sure worth it.
References:
- https://casw-acts.ca/en/what-social-work
- http://cdn.basw.co.uk/upload/basw_95243-9.pdf
- https://www.socialworkguide.org/
- Sampa, E.M. (2017). Disciplines and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences.
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