Contemporary Employment Perspectives: Looking into the Essence and Implications of Social Work - Essay Example

? CONTEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT PERSPECTIVES: LOOKING INTO THE ESSENCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK By 15 February Contemporary Employment Perspectives: Looking into the Essence and Implications of Social Work Introduction As a form of supporting social excluded individuals and groups, social work dates back to the beginnings of the human history. In the ancient times, philanthropy and sponsorship exemplified the two most popular forms of social work in the human society. However, it was not before the beginning of the 20th century that social work was conceptualized and systematized, to become a separate profession and, eventually, science. Today, social work comprises a variety of functions, skills, and obligations. The nature of social work is essentially about dealing with the most serious social problems and reducing the scope of social exclusion, to promote positive change and enhance individual and social well-being. Childcare social worker: Job specification That social work is an indispensable component of social reality and progress cannot be denied. Burducea (2010) is correct in the origins of social work are modern. However, most, if not all, world civilizations were engaged in various social work activities, from sponsorship and personal financial assistance to philanthropy and the development of the sophisticated insurance systems. Although the role and importance of social work in the globalized work is well-documented, little is known about its functions. Childcare social workers are professionals with a Master’s degree in social work, dealing with problematic individuals and population groups, including homeless youths. The goal of a childcare social worker’s job is to work in community, with individuals and families, who need professional assistance and face considerable emotional and social problems. Childcare social workers fulfill broad range of obligations and perspectives, including participation in multidisciplinary teams (Healy 2008). Childcare social workers deal with service users, assess their situation, and provide social and counseling support to those in need (Lyons & Carlsen 2006; Payne 2005). Homeless and runaway youths are rightly considered as one of the most socially vulnerable groups. The key tasks of a childcare social worker include analyzing and addressing new requests for social and emotional assistance to children, visiting their young clients at home, representing children in courts, and taking all actions that are appropriate for promoting children’s well-being. Childcare social workers are expected to contribute to the development of their service and work in multidisciplinary teams of social work volunteers. They must be prepared to work extra hours and pursue high degree of flexibility in job performance. Therefore, the job of a childcare social worker is essentially about detecting and finding runaway youths, assessing their situation and providing counseling support, to promote social inclusion, enhance their wellbeing, and guarantee that young people can meet their social needs. Childcare social work: theoretical underpinnings Social work is usually defined from the two different perspectives: that of science and that of an institutional arrangement with a solid normative and practical architecture (Burducea 2010). The key elements of social work as an institutional structure include benefits and beneficiaries, social work and normative systems (Burducea 2010). As a science, social work exemplifies a complex network of theoretical and methodological approaches to social problems (Burducea 2010). Social work as a profession uses multidisciplinary systems to assess the impact of the existing and emerging social problems on people and reduce their complexity (Burducea 2010). The social work paradigm is unique in the sense that it deals with the existing social problems “without violating the principles of social justice and human rights” (Burducea 2010). It would be fair to say that social workers serve a reliable buffer between socially excluded individuals and social problems – they empower people in their way to improved wellbeing and social stability. Social work: the workloads perspective Childcare social worker’s obligations are associated with considerable workloads and displays severe inconsistencies in how cases and obligations are allocated. Gupta (2010) studied the ways and patterns of time use in social work in the U.K. According to Gupta (2010), at least 9 percent of social workers in the U.K. work nine and more hours over their contracted hours. Social workers devote 26% of their time to working with service users, whereas case-related paperwork accounts for not less than 22% of working time (Gupta 2010). The caseload of social workers is one of the most frequently discussed topics in social research: manageable workload is an essential precondition for achieving relevant professional performance results (Yamatani, Engel & Spjeldnes 2009). Apparently, with 22% of time devoted to paperwork, social workers cannot meet the goals of their profession. Many children remain beyond the boundaries of social inclusion and support. Childcare social workers report being overloaded with unnecessary cases and obligations, whereas children suffer the lack of professional attention (Interview 2011). The situation with the social workers in children-related services is particularly problematic. The process of detecting and dealing with runaway and homeless youths imposes additional obligations on social workers (Interview 2011). That social workers in multidisciplinary teams take additional cases and deal directly with clients impedes their professional development and bears heavy consequences on the quality of their workplace performance (Gupta 2010). More often than not, the system of social work and the assumptions of the homeless youth dynamics are oversimplified (Staller 2004). Childcare social workers claim that the social system does not account for the complexity of the social factors that make children leave their homes. Their obligations and functions send the message that, by running away to shelters, children can escape family pressures and hide themselves from the social realities of life. The shelter-oriented social work policy turns thousands of runaway youths into homeless adults, before they reach maturity (Staller 2004). Unfortunately, due to increased workloads, childcare social workers lack professional and individual opportunities to develop new methodological approaches for children and, more importantly their parents. The case of homeless youths, who face a variety of family and school-related problems, is particularly problematic (Kurtz & Jarvis 1991). Childcare social workers provide homeless individuals with food and shelter but do not target the factors leading to homelessness, including family abuse and poverty (Kurtz & Jarvis 1991). Childcare social workers support the need “for a flexible, coordinated, community-based continuum of immediate, intermediate, and long-term care to provide for the basic needs, psychological growth and career development for homeless youth” (Kurtz & Yarvis, 1991, p.314). In the meantime, they feel neglected and underrepresented in broad policy decisions and lack voice in the creation of better, balanced conditions of workplace performance (Interview 2011). Helping skills and the role of communication in social work Social work is about integrating social workers’ helping skills into their professional obligations and private lives. Hepworth et al (2009) write that social workers who have not embedded their helping skills into their professional and private lives and have not assimilated helping as a definitive feature of their professional style cannot deal with the social problems of runaway youths effectively. Childcare social workers are expected and even required to develop and sustain personal competence and self-actualization, which shape the basis for developing effective helping skills (Hepworth et al 2009). Surprisingly or not, childcare social workers exemplify one of the biggest barriers to developing effective helping skills: many of them perceive new skills and models as a serious threat to usability of the long-established models of social care provision (Interview 2011). Social workers are increasingly concentrated on correcting their mistakes and dealing with paperwork, instead of working with clients and developing new knowledge and skills. The development of new social work programs and curricula does not improve the situation: childcare social workers complain having little control over their workplace conditions and losing autonomy in their decisions regarding caseloads (Murdach 2007). Today, childcare social workers must (a) have knowledge and understanding of social work and its principles; (b) develop collaborative ties with community organizations and programs; and (c) develop and use skills to effectively communicate with a broad range of service users. Helping skills needed to succeed in a childcare social work job include but are not limited to crisis counseling and attentive listening, conflict resolution, confidentiality, and advising. They must have the basic knowledge of the helping process, which begins with the exploration of the problem and proceeds through the implementation of the solution, to termination (Hepworth et al 2009). Childcare social workers need to have sufficient time and utilize balanced approaches to direct service provision, to ensure that they have time and opportunity to develop new knowledge and skills. Social work and emotional labor That social work incorporates customer service and emotional labor cannot be denied. In childcare social work, emotions and cognitive skills are separated but, nevertheless, related aspects of professional performance (Newman, Guy & Mastracci 2009). It is through communication between childcare social workers and service users that emotional labor comes into play (Newman, Guy & Mastracci 2009). Young childcare social workers report having serious emotional concerns about their clients (Interview 2011). They hold a belief that emotions produce profound effects on the quality and complexity of their policies and decisions (Interview 2011). Clients’ emotions serve an effective prism for analyzing the seriousness of each social problem (Interview 2011). In case of homeless and runaway children, emotions are almost always an indispensable component of the social workers’ daily routine. This is one of the reasons why social workers, especially women, find it difficult to maintain emotional stability when dealing with the social issues of children and homeless youths. Like physical work, emotional labor requires experience and skills; it is subject to labor divisions and external controls (Newman, Guy & Mastracci 2009). However, not clients but the nature of social work is at the core of emotional difficulties that burden social workers. The prevailing majority of childcare social workers are women, and emotionality poses a challenge to the quality of their workplace performance. On the one hand, women do not want to look cold and distanced from their clients (Interview 2011). On the other hand, excessive emotionality reduces the effectiveness of professional interventions with clients (Interview 2011). Simultaneously, professionals in social work cannot always reconcile the need to help socially excluded individuals with the need to re-establish the dignity and pride of their profession. Needless to say, the salaries and benefits of the childcare social workers do not always correspond to the complexity of their obligations and workloads. As a result, social work professionals fight hard to balance their dedication to homeless and runaway youths with the crusade for maintaining a well-paid position in society (Freud & Krug 2002). Today, social workers report being paid between $20,000 and $35,000 on average which, obviously, cannot meet their emotional and social needs (Interview, 2011). Female social workers are frustrated at the fact that they serve the mission of social inclusion and stability but cannot serve their personal needs. Security problems further complicate the situation: aggressive service users do not leave social workers a single opportunity to protect themselves from the risks of verbal assaults and abuse. Childcare social workers and its implications for security in the workplace Security is one of the key concerns for childcare social workers. The nature and social status of service users make social workers, especially women, extremely vulnerable to the risks of violence and abuse in the workplace. The significance of the issue cannot be overestimated, as far as almost 80 percent of social workers are assaulted at least once in a lifetime (Spencer & Munch 2003). In the United States, 81 percent of professionals in social work reported being abused, harassed, or attacked by their clients at least once in their career (Spencer & Munch 2003). Two-thirds of abuse and violence incidents occur in the process of agency work (Spencer & Munch 2003). “Verbal threat remains the most common form of violence against social workers” (Spencer & Munch 2003). Harassing phone calls and property damage are the issues of serious professional concern in social work (Spencer & Munch 2003). In the United Kingdom, the issue of cross-cultural intimidation is particularly relevant (Spencer & Munch 2003). Social workers confess that they have constant fear of being attacked by service users (Interview 2011). Those who experienced violence from service users say that many service users display unpredictable behaviors and take unexpected decisions (Interview 2011). They lack emotional stability and have no fear of consequences of their aggression and violence against social workers (Interview 2011). However, social workers often underestimate the effects of their decisions on service clients. Experienced social workers know that over-criminalization of youths and homeless children is difficult to overcome (Interview 2011). Young social workers often perceive runaway youths as potential criminals. Consequentially, homeless and runaway children experience frustration and cannot do anything to re-establish themselves in their society other than committing an act of violence (Miles & Okamoto 2008). Unfortunately, social workers lack voice and representation in policy decisions (Berzin & O’Connor 2010). Multilevel cooperation and stronger representation of the social workers’ opinions in policymaking are nothing but a myth (Interview 2011). Young social workers lack training and skills to deal with runaway youths effectively (Interview 2011). Experienced professionals suggest that it is due to the serious inconsistencies in educational content that young employees fail to achieve the purpose of social work (Interview 2011). Simultaneously, the lack of attention to security issues contributes to the burden of emotional problems in a social worker’s daily routine. Little is done to change the profession and update the knowledge and skills of social workers. As a result, they cannot promote social change and liberate runaway youths from their social traps. They find it difficult to protect the rights of homeless youths and improve their well-being. Conclusion Social work comprises a variety of functions, skills, and obligations. As a profession, social work uses multidisciplinary systems to assess the impact of the existing and emerging social problems on people and reduce their complexity. Social work is associated with considerable workloads and displays severe inconsistencies in how cases and obligations are allocated. Due to increased workloads, social workers lack professional and individual opportunities to develop new methodological approaches for runaway youths. Social work incorporates customer service and emotional labor. Like physical work, emotional labor requires experience and skills. . The nature and social status of service users make social workers, especially women, extremely vulnerable to the risks of violence and abuse in the workplace. Unfortunately, social workers lack voice and representation in policy decisions. As a result, they cannot promote social change and liberate runaway youths from their social traps. Social workers lack growth and self-development opportunities but demonstrate entire dedication to the purpose and mission of their profession. References Berzin, SC & O’Connor, S 2010, ‘Educating today’s school social workers: Are school social work courses responding to the changing context?’, Children & Schools, vol.32, no.4, pp.237-249. Buzducea, D 2010, ‘Social work in the new millennium: A global perspective’, Revista de asistenta sociala, no.1, pp.31-43. 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Yatamani, H, Engel, R & Spjeldnes, S 2009, ‘Child welfare worker caseload: What’s just right?’, Social Work, vol.54, no.4, pp.361-369. Read More