Existing Knowledge About the Social Worker Career
The profession of a social worker has attracted my attention for a long time. I remember from an early age, I watched various television programs with my mother, in which one of the main characters was a social worker. They helped people with advice, sometimes even more, and went with them to solve their problems. I was very attracted to this, and a great interest and motivation in me were developed by my mother’s words about how they were a good person. Thus, from an early age, I began to think that I wanted to help other people to make their lives better.
My knowledge regarding the activities of a social worker is quite limited. First, this is because my idea of this profession was built in childhood, based on TV shows and conversations with my mother. My performance was also influenced by several visits to social workers together with my relatives. Thus, I am aware that these individuals provide assistance services in solving complex issues and problems.
These may be issues concerning such spheres of life as social, educational, and healthcare. I know that social workers are people who are ready to help in any difficult situation; I know how to communicate with individuals while creating trusting and respectful relationships with them. The profession of a social worker is of great interest to me, and I want to learn as much as possible about it.
Missing Knowledge About the Social Worker Career
The main driving question around which this work focuses is gaining an understanding of how I can achieve success in a social worker career. Several other sub-questions can be identified, which also need to be considered when researching this profession. Consequently, I would like to know what qualities a social worker should have and what difficulties and barriers exist in this profession. In addition, I want to raise awareness about what people need to know before they start working in this field. What role do past work experience and education play in gaining success and increasing one’s abilities and social work skills?
Even though social work is a fascinating area for me, I understand that before deciding on a choice, I need to learn as much as possible about it. Thus, I set myself the goal of gaining knowledge about what a social worker should be and what skills should be possessed. Moreover, awareness of the problems and difficulties that may arise becomes especially critical. First, this is because this field of activity involves working with human resources. Secondly, it covers a significant number of problems that clients may come up with, and gaining knowledge about it can help to prepare more effectively for potential difficulties. After conducting this kind of research, I will be able to make a decision about my choice and become the most valuable social worker.
Information Search
My first source is a speech by Geetanjali Chopra at a TED conference called Demystifying Social Work. The name has become the main attractive factor in this choice, as it focuses on the fact that this profession is not what people often imagine. This statement has become the main goal for the speaker, who claims that, at the moment, a large number of young people with great potential are bypassing social work because of the large number of myths around it (Chopra).
The author identifies age and appearance as myths. This was a bit shocking since I never attributed these characteristics as mandatory criteria. One of the myths that I adhere to is the need to acquire a certain level of education to work in this field (Chopra). However, the speaker said that this is not an obstacle and that individuals can be involved in this area at any level of education. However, college or university-level education provides an advantage as it makes a person more intelligent and develops social skills.
While searching for literature about social work, I came across Neil Thompson’s book Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice. This source is essential because it considers this type of activity from various but no less critical sides. The author deals with aspects such as values, legal and political context, knowledge, skills, and difficulties of a social worker’s career.
Neil Thompson is a former social worker, so the value and reliability of his work are based on his experience in this field (Meet Neil). I was particularly interested in the last section since no one warns about the possible challenges of social work. The author points out that to this day, there is an opinion that everything taught at a university or college should be forgotten since “we are in the real world” (Thompson 158).
However, this negative attitude can significantly worsen the results of helping individuals and stop a person’s development as a social worker. Increased stress and the opportunity to burn out become exciting and frightening in social work. This is because individuals have to contact people constantly, which can be quite difficult.
In other words, this type of activity implies a high level of emotional labor. It refers to “the type of work where the worker has to draw on his or her feelings as if they were a tool” (Thompson 169). The source notes that this difficulty should not only be recognized but also monitored by the organization’s managers to preserve the welfare of employees.
Another source, Managing Burnout as a Social Worker, found on the Social Work Guide website, emphasizes that it is critically important for people working in this field to know strategies and tactics to combat stress. It notes that “many methods for preventing or managing burnout involve recognizing the symptoms, looking out for yourself, and taking care of your needs” (Managing Burnout as a Social Worker, para. 5). Thus, this is particularly critical for social workers, as it directly affects the quality of their activities. The source also emphasizes that this kind of specialist needs to pay attention to measures such as self-care, staying mindful, finding purpose, rest, and changing jobs and positions (Managing Burnout as a Social Worker). These measures can avoid possible difficulties in providing social work services.
Attained Knowledge About the Social Worker’s Career
Conducting a literature study to get answers to my questions led me to make various valuable discoveries. The book Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice by Neil Thompson became especially useful for me. While I continue to study, I will return to this source to refresh my knowledge and find answers to my questions. In addition to exploring possible difficulties in social work, I have gained awareness about the skills and qualities that can help me find success. Hence, I already have a relatively high level of empathy, which allows me to understand the emotions and experiences of other people and put myself in their place. In addition, my values and worldview are not an obstacle to performing the activities of a social worker.
I respect and consider equality among people a necessary feature of this kind of specialist. However, I would like to find out how I can improve my other skills that are not as strong as empathy. For example, I struggle with understanding how to manage my workload so as not to exhaust myself and not burn out.
Carrying out this kind of work also made me aware of the various prejudices and myths surrounding social work. I was interested in the nature of these aspects and where they have come from. Currently, there is a large amount of information about this area of assistance to individuals and its importance for society as a whole.
Reflection Summary
In conclusion, I have done a reasonably good job conducting research within the framework of this paper. Henceforth, I studied many sources dealing with the topic of social work, but I mentioned here only those that turned out to be the most valuable and informative for me. The aspect that I would change in the further search for information is the definition of keywords for data search to limit the possibility of wasting time on less useful sources.
Works Cited
Chopra, Geetanjali. “Demystifying Social Work.” TED, Web.
“Managing Burnout as a Social Worker.” Social Work Guide, Web.
“Meet Neil.” Neil Thompson Academy, Web.
Thompson, Neil. Understanding social work: Preparing for practice. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.