Deconstructing Definitions
In this reading, it states that there isn’t a clear definition to what social work is. I believe that definitions, including the CSWE one, does maintain the status quo because of how it shows what social work is and how people understand what social work is. People can have a deeper understanding to what social work is and what it means. These definitions can seem true to some, but false to others. If I wanted to expand the definition that could be revolutionary that effects systemic change, it would be a career that can provide hope, support, change, involvement, and development within children as they deal with any sort of issues or traumas that they might have as they grow up. If there can be a such thing as an alternative definition for social work, it would be a profession that involves working with minors when they need help.
Competency-Based Frameworks
Besides the competency-based education framework, the education framework can include experiencing a social work case first-hand, past experiences in social work, a person close to you involved in social work, studying social work cases or workers closely, or even researching the history behind the whole thing. Competence within social work isn’t something that comes ‘natural’, there are things that are needed to be that someone that is the ‘best’ at their job. I believe that competency is very sufficient in the development of social workers. Although, to be competent in it you should know the history and what social work is. Although, there is a difference in working to make a change in the field and being in the field for your self interest. With competency, there can be self-confidence involved, to where social workers can be over confident doing their job, even when they have ample competency.
The Dialectics of Hope
I believe hope is needed to thrive, especially when you are going through the negative aspects of life. Do I think hope can sometimes create a cycle where systemic issues are not adequately addressed because hope is used as a buffer against despair? Yes, because systemic issues should be addressed so people can be aware, and not be blind to what the truth is. Despair in life happens, but hope can come to you eventually, as long as you begin to see more of the positives in life. A more critical lens on hope can empower social workers and clients by providing them with a better view on how systemic change can be positive and important in the world. Having a revolutionary lens on hope can empower social workers and clients by providing information on how much hope can be involved in different aspects of life, especially in social work issues.
Personal values and Professional Practice
Personal values, worldviews, and beliefs can have a part in why you chose social work. Your values, worldview, and beliefs can show how you can be involved in the field of social work. When you start to think about if you want to have a career in social work, your values can provide sort of a guideline to how you can be as a social worker. Your worldviews show how you plan on wanting to make a change and how you are going to make that change. Your beliefs provide you with a sense of how you think or know how social work is in the world and how you see social work as a person. Maintaining your ideals in this field, can be as simple as sticking to your values and beliefs. Or with everything changing in society, those values and beliefs can change and your ideals either can stay the same or change. If your ideals change, it can mean how much you have experienced and how social work changed you as a person. A social worker may use their values, beliefs, or worldviews to maintain ideology on social work as a whole.
Professional Use of Self
Being in social work, means you are working within a system. Within this system you are believed to be a professional worker that follows the system and does what they are told. Being a social worker you show your genuine, political, ethical, and revolutionary self. Going in depth with your political self can show how politics affected you going into social work. Your ethical self can show how you are going to perform as a social worker. Your revolutionary self can show how you want to be involved in systemic change. Your genuine, political, ethical, and revolutionary self all portray how you can use professionalism in social work. When you want to be a revolutionary social worker, there are risks and rewards that come with it. You would have to possibly work more to the point where you don’t really have a ‘break’ in life. But, that can mean you are just aiming at being apart of the systemic change. Social work will not be easy for you and it may not be rewarding all the time but aiming at changing the system is a going to be a huge reward. Bringing your whole self into practicing social work shows how much you can care about helping people or being involved in providing hope.
Abbigale Wheeler
Hey Dilyn, I have always thought that having a somewhat firm definition on social work would be helpful is letting the public understand what social work is and hopefully lead to more funding and more vocal support of the profession. But I do understand your view that by having a firm definition for social work we could be reinforcing a status quo, maybe without even realizing it. I agree with you that hope can be empowering in social work but can sometimes also just act as a buffer, hiding one from facing the truth. I believe too that hope is wonderful to have, as long as we can remain somewhat realistic.
Dilyn Martin
Hey Abbigale, I agree with hopefully leading in the direction of more funding and vocal support for social work. It is needed, especially in this day and age.
Brendon Mowery
Hey Dilyn,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and I think you did a great job. I agree that there isn’t really a good definition of what social work it. I think that is one of the reasons why I had never heard of social work before. Honestly, I am not even totally sure what all social workers do. One thing that I did want to ask was about your alterative definition of social work. You said it was “a profession that involves working with minors when they need help”. Is it only limited to helping and working with minors? Is it only working with people who need help? Or could it be like spreading awareness and information to the public? I really like this quote from your blog “There is a difference in working to make a change in the field and being in the field for your self interest.” Way too often people do the right thing for the wrong reasons. If you’re only helping people because you want the praise or want the attention or even because you want to clear your conscience, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. I strongly believe that people should help others regardless of what they get out of it. They should want to help others without expecting anything in return. I think that hope is a severely underrated thing in our society. I think it is extremely overused and misused and like you said it often is used as a buffer to avoid dealing with issues. I especially liked your section on personal values and professional practice. The whole reason I chose to take this social work class and really how I even heard of social working in the first place is because my morals, beliefs, and ideals all seemed to line up with what social workers do.
Great job on your post, very well done and thought out. Keep up the great work!
-Brendon M.
Dilyn Martin
Hey Brandon, the answer to your questions is that social work can be for minors and adults, anyone who is in need of help in life or in need of a sense of hope in life. Social work can spread awareness and information to the public on top of providing help. I liked how you stated that you didn’t really know what social work was/is. I also don’t really know what it is, so I am taking this class to receive more information on it!
I also agree with how you stated people do the right things for the wrong reasons. If you do study social work, you should be in it for the right reasons only.
Thank you for your comment!
Brendon Mowery
Hey Dilyn,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and I think you did a great job. I agree that there isn’t really a good definition of what social work it. I think that is one of the reasons why I had never heard of social work before. Honestly, I am not even totally sure what all social workers do. One thing that I did want to ask was about your alterative definition of social work. You said it was “a profession that involves working with minors when they need help”. Is it only limited to helping and working with minors? Is it only working with people who need help? Or could it be like spreading awareness and information to the public? I really like this quote from your blog “There is a difference in working to make a change in the field and being in the field for your self interest.” Way too often people do the right thing for the wrong reasons. If you’re only helping people because you want the praise or want the attention or even because you want to clear your conscience, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. I strongly believe that people should help others regardless of what they get out of it. They should want to help others without expecting anything in return. I think that hope is a severely underrated thing in our society. I think it is extremely overused and misused and like you said it often is used as a buffer to avoid dealing with issues. I especially liked your section on personal values and professional practice. The whole reason I chose to take this social work class and really how I even heard of social working in the first place is because my morals, beliefs, and ideals all seemed to line up with what social workers do.
Great job on your post, very well done and thought out. Keep up the great work!
-Brendon M.
Brendon Mowery
Hey Dilyn,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and I think you did a great job. I agree that there isn’t really a good definition of what social work it. I think that is one of the reasons why I had never heard of social work before. Honestly, I am not even totally sure what all social workers do. One thing that I did want to ask was about your alterative definition of social work. You said it was “a profession that involves working with minors when they need help”. Is it only limited to helping and working with minors? Is it only working with people who need help? Or could it be like spreading awareness and information to the public? I really like this quote from your blog “There is a difference in working to make a change in the field and being in the field for your self interest.” Way too often people do the right thing for the wrong reasons. If you’re only helping people because you want the praise or want the attention or even because you want to clear your conscience, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. I strongly believe that people should help others regardless of what they get out of it. They should want to help others without expecting anything in return. I think that hope is a severely underrated thing in our society. I think it is extremely overused and misused and like you said it often is used as a buffer to avoid dealing with issues. I especially liked your section on personal values and professional practice. The whole reason I chose to take this social work class and really how I even heard of social working in the first place is because my morals, beliefs, and ideals all seemed to line up with what social workers do.
Great job on your post, very well done and thought out. Keep up the great work!
-Brendon M.
Kenese Faamu
Hope definitely plays a part in social work, as you mentioned hope can empower social workers and clients by changing their views of the system. You also mentioned how your beliefs and values play a role in becoming a social worker, I can agree with you on that. If not for belief, values and hope what kind of social worker would we be, I really enjoyed reading your blog. Let us hope that we become social workers who brings their whole self into being social workers.
Dilyn Martin
Hey Kenese, I agree with socials workers bringing their whole selves into their job or career. Bringing your whole self into your chosen practice can show how well you can be as a person/worker.
Olivia Taylor
Good afternoon, Dilyn, I do agree with you when you said it is essential to study the history of social work in reference to competency. I do understand that there is a structural text book education of competencies we should follow as social workers to do our job methodically and paper creditable, although I see eye to eye with this, I also think competency is an endless and vast term. Competency that we can also learn from life experiences. A couple examples are cultural competency and LGBT competency. Not only do we need to know the history but keep cadence with time. To fully help all individuals and understand them we need a vast knowledge of competency.
Dilyn Martin
Hey Olivia, yes I agree with competency being an endless and vast term. Sometimes competency is not needed. It can be an example of how capable social workers can be. I also agree with helping individuals and understanding them, we do need more knowledge of what competency is.
Danelle Shellikoff
Hi Dilyn,
Great job on your blog. Social Work is a term that needs more awareness brought to it. Whenever I share with someone that I am pursuing Social Work, they automatically think I will be working with the Office of Children Services, which is different from my goal. I aim to work with the Indigenous population and their struggles with addiction. There are so many possibilities and paths a social worker can go down. For yourself, you gave a great definition to fit your goal of working with children. The word that stands out the most to me is hope. In my struggles, hope is the only thing that got me through some of the most challenging times in my life, and it was not internal hope because I lost hope for a time. Hope from another person who believed in me pulled me out of that dark place. As future social workers, we may have to be that hope for our prospective clients.
Dilyn Martin
Hi Danelle, I agree with how you said social work needs more awareness. I believe the field of social work is a field of work that is most needed but definitely one that is ‘hidden’ away.
Hope is something that is internal in a person but also something that is given to that person. With hope you can see the brighter things in life, even if it is given to you. But, you should also not ‘depend’ on hope for everything in life. Hope does act like a buffer against despair. It is ok to see the truth in things, even if you don’t like it.
Joshua Escobedo
I agree that the definition of Social Work may be open to interpretation, but I think this flexibility is intentional. Social Work necessitates adaptability to handle various situations. Therefore, upholding the core ethics as a guiding framework is crucial.
I believe that competency is critical in any field of work, and life lessons significantly impact our ability to adapt. Many social workers have faced trauma in their lives, and this, combined with their education, can enhance their ability to empathize. While trauma can deepen one’s understanding, I do not believe it’s a necessary prerequisite for competence.
I fully endorse the idea that values are fundamental in Social Work. The value of selfless service has always been a priority for me, allowing me to understand others’ priorities and identify common issues that require attention. This awareness led me to explore the history of social reform and contemplate ways to effect change. As you mentioned, maintaining a professional approach is essential in pursuing this goal. While our values form the core of our beliefs, we must also employ common sense and remain impartial to bring about systemic change effectively.
Kaylila Johnston
Hello Dilyn,
First of all, I would like to say that you did a very good job with your blog. I very much liked the topic of Deconstructing Definitions. Like all others, it depends on a person’s perspective of how they want to define things like social work. I agree with what you said when you mentioned that social work focuses on helping out minors with trauma. That is where it all begins, mainly from the young and I believe that it is so because that is when a major life change happens because it is also their first time experiencing life and they need someone to guide them through it. I know that you are focusing on one particular subject but I would like to add that this could apply to anyone who wants to reach out for help.
I really like the idea of inputting personal and professional experiences within this field of work. I know that meeting a client’s needs could be challenging but I find it surprising that it could be helpful when we incorporate personal values and beliefs. Although, I do understand that it is a social worker’s job to make sure we are aligned with the client. With this being said personal and professional skills need to be balanced out. In life, we learn new things and we also make mistakes so I understand that it would be important to be consistent and competent while working in the field of social work or any other field that may apply.
Quyana (Thank you) for sharing!
Regan Gray
Dilyn,
I like how you described the role of personal values, beliefs, and ideologies in social work can provide someone a sense of what social work means to them and what their goals working as a social worker could be. I like how you said that one’s personal values can act as a guideline for someone who works in social work. From what I’ve observed of those around me who are pursuing a career in social work, each person has had certain experiences in their lives that made them decide to go into social work. I have yet to meet someone who just decided to go into social work for the pay grade, they usually know exactly what level of social work they want to go into, and what they plan to do with their degree.
Ariel Oviatt
Hi Dilyn,
As others have stated, I appreciate that you included the role of utilizing personal experiences in the line of social work, in order to better connect with others and to build a better working relationship with them. I think that the definition of social work really changes depending on the context in which you are a social worker. For example, if you are a social worker for Child Protective Services, your definition may be more justice-bound, whereas if you work in substance abuse or mental health, it may be personal experience and hope-based.
After reviewing your definition and how you broke it down, I have a question for you. Where do you feel that connecting individuals to resources falls? Or where does the sense of social justice fall? These are two factors that I personally believe are important to social workers in most professions and are a key and integral part of social work.
David Shelton
Hey Dilyn, the idea of an alternative definition for social work that focuses on working with minors is particularly interesting. This alternative definition could be revolutionary, highlighting the importance of early intervention and support for children facing various issues and traumas. It aligns with the idea that addressing problems at their root, especially during a person’s formative years, can have a profound and lasting impact on society.