Social Work: Assisting Individuals to Improve Wellbeing - Essay Sample

Introduction

The social work profession comprises of social workers that are adequately trained to aid clients in maximizing their chances of changing their wellbeing. The clients often include families, groups, individuals, and organizations, among others. Also, the profession is embedded with great emphasis on social justice, understanding of human diversity, and distinct values and ethics.

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I am an empathetic individual where I have shown great care and understanding for individuals who are in emotional distress and worked towards creating an enabling environment where they can redeem their life. Also, I can make myself relatable to the clients, which has enabled them to open up and describe the issues troubling them. Moreover, I can go through complex methods that are useful in understanding different individuals and helping them to achieve their goals. I can work with other professionals from diverse cultural and ethnical populations as a team in developing and implementing plans and initiatives to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Besides, I have great skills in crisis management, child protection protocols, and the ability to follow-up procedures as well as maintaining strong interpersonal communication.

It is instructive to note that my desire to pursue social work has been given impetus by my professional and personal experiences. While working at the Beaufort County School District in Washington, as a teacher assistant, I worked closely with students where I effectively motivated and engaged them in their pursuit of education. Also, I provided guidance and counseling to the students, which ensured adequate enforcement of classroom and school rules. Moreover, I ensure that there is proper communication with the parents and students to enhance their behavior and performance at Pitt County School in Greenville. Besides, while working as a cashier in Zaxby's in Greenville, I provided customer service punctually and addressed their concerns and complaints empathetically. Additionally, as a volunteer, I have provided wheelchair assistance while discharging my duties to patients as well as rounding the patient's rooms.

Advocating for Others

Considering my desire to be a professional social worker, I am always inclined towards identifying and recognizing social injustices that are affecting the people. Notably, social injustices often impede the growth and development in the society where a certain section of the population may feel unrecognized. I had an experience in recognizing social injustice when I encountered a family that was utterly discriminated in the community because of their religion and ethnicity. I realized that they have gone through a lot as a family going by their narration about their experiences. I empathized with the family, and my resolve to pursue social work as a profession was further strengthened. I provided counseling to the family and engaged with agencies in stepping up efforts to address the ethnic and religion that the family was experiencing together with other social injustices in society.

The Bachelor degree in Sociology which I obtained from the University of North Carolina Pembroke equipped me with knowledge and skills that are essential in removing the barriers that are often faced by people experiencing the social injustices in the community. Social injustices are always instigated by the predominant group in society by ingraining the feeling of superiority while keeping the targeted population as isolated as possible. In light of this, my Bachelor of Science in Sociology has provided with the requisite knowledge that can help in developing different methods and strategies that can be implemented to eliminate these barriers. I will utilize my communication skills in providing awareness about the benefits of living in harmony irrespective of social, ethnic, political, religion, and economic status. Furthermore, I will utilize my degree in providing counseling to the social injustice victims to enable them to realize that they are not inferior as being depicted and that they can still achieve the goals through hard work and resilience.

Mission Statement

It is imperative to note that the mission statement of the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work proves to be in consonance with my ambitions as a professional worker. This is especially so because I have been working hard in ensuring that improve the social welfare of different groups of people and helping them live a positive life that can help them in achieving their goals. Moreover, the statement also highlights the need to incorporate leadership skills while executing duties which is in line with my professional experience where I played an integral role in providing great leadership to other colleagues while working as a teacher assistant in Beaufort County School District. Also, I am passionate about the statement as it outlines the need to integrate faith and practice while discharging duties as a social worker. The statement further recognized the difficulties experienced by people, families, and the community in general and the need to work towards resolving such problems in society.

The Baylor's program will equip me with the necessary knowledge in addressing the societal problems that bedevil the society. Besides, the program will expand my understanding about different social aspects and establish how the community is affected when such societal changes are not addressed professionally. Also, the program will provide the foundation of my career goals of creating equitable living in the society regardless of the religion, politics, and gender orientations, among others. Furthermore, Baylor's program will assist me in integrating my personal experiences and the practice in developing an effective strategy that can improve the social welfare of individuals, families, communities, and organizations.

Societal Issue

A societal issue refers to the problems that are considered to have a significant influence on individuals in a society. It is always a common problem that has a considerable impact on society as a whole. In this respect, gender discrimination can be a societal issue where, in some societies, women are considered to be inferior to men and discriminated on this basis (Shastri, 2014). It is imperative to note that this societal issue requires public participation and sufficient resources where people can be made aware of the significant role of women in the society and why it is necessary to stop discrimination based on gender (Shastri, 2014). The society has ingrained this societal problem through thwarting every effort made by different social work agencies by adhering to the traditional believes that women are naturally inferior to men.

Despite the existence of different barriers in solving this societal issue, social workers can utilize their wealth of knowledge and skills in devising different plans and strategies that they can implement to ensure that the gender discrimination is eradicated outright (Shastri, 2014). Also, the social workers can engage the public and carrying out programs aimed at explaining the consequences of allowing the gender discrimination to take root in the society and how the lives of the society can be improved when such discriminations are abandoned (DuBois & Miley, 2013). Also, I would take an active leadership role in forming different groups that would provide necessary support and counseling to the women who are always the victims of gender discrimination and provide a framework that will help in professionally addressing this societal issue. I had a personal experience that made me have a deeper understanding of this societal issue. I encountered a group of women who were affected by gender discrimination in society. Specifically, I met a woman who was chased away from the community for the asking to be incorporated in making some key decisions regarding the family. I empathized with her situations and provided her with counseling to assist her in growing emotionally strong to continue agitating for gender parity in society. This experience about gender discrimination as a societal issue increased my desire to become a professional social worker to address different societal issues that impede the achievement of social welfare in society.

References

DuBois, B. L., & Miley, K. K. (2013). Social work: An empowering profession. Pearson Higher Ed.

Shastri, A. (2014). Gender inequality and women discrimination. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 19, 28.