With regards to the growing problems in the modern world such as overpopulation, the environmental pollution, malnutrition, terrorism, increasing crime rates, religious and social conflicts, genocide, the housing market, failing financial institutions, the need for highly qualified professionals in the area of human service is high. My position is that human service work can be seen as an opportunity for social change rather than a means of maintaining social order. Definitely, some people will argue that human service work is largely used as an instrument for social control. I agree with such individuals to a certain degree, but as far as I am concerned, social care has its primary objectives on improving people’s lives and introducing positive social changes. In the following paper, my point of view regarding the essence of human service work and its implementation will be addressed in detail. Overall, human service work is the timely and positive assistance to the needy ones in gaining belief in themselves and making the changes needed to be self-sufficient and thus it is a mechanism of social change.
Under the pressure of contemporary problems, most people feel hopeless and oppressed. Some of them suffer from personal problems while others are discouraged because of a family grief such as physical illness of a loved or a mental disorder altering the usual course of life. The victims of such problems need professional help in a variety of spheres including managing emotions, finding solutions for social problems, coping with the changing circumstances, and living with a disabled person (Fawcett, Goodwin, Meagher & Phillips 2010; Moffat 2011; Piercy 2010). Human service work is crucial to help the afflicted people. Dominant ideologies influence the way human services are provided by means of changing the character of social work to the enforcing and regulatory one (‘New Organizational Challenges’ 2004). Nevertheless, I believe that the work of a social care specialist is vital for changing social conditions and improving life because it targets such important areas as social care, social control, expansion of the social welfare system, and rehabilitation (Jamrozik 2009). Below, I will provide a few examples to explain my viewpoint.
Human service work is a remedy for a number of social problems and thus, it is a way to change common people’s lives for the better (Chenoweth & McAuliffe 2008; Dennison, Poole & Qaqish 2007). To illustrate, a thirteen-month-old baby being a victim of her alcohol-abusive parents, who injured her physically and treated her violently, came to the attention of social workers. The girl benefited from parens patriae-based program. Today, being a part of a new loving family, she is the best student in her class with the dream to become a social worker and help other afflicted children. Another example is a man who was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease at the age of fifty years. He felt utterly upset because his family role as a primary care-giver and provider was changed. As the man was preparing to commit suicide, social service worker came to the family. Her professionalism helped the man adjust to the new circumstances and even find a new job within the frames of a program for the disabled. This case is another proof that human service work is an effective means of social change.
Finally, addressing the position that human service work is a means of social control, I have to note that it is not meaningless although it is not fully complementary to my worldview. I believe that social work should focus on improving people’s circumstances in life rather than on controlling their way of living. It is true that not all individuals prefer to behave in accordance to the exalted standards of ethics and morality. For that reason, human service work often implements as a law enforcement and regularity mechanism (Blaas 2012; O’Connor, Wilson & Setterlund 2006). However, my vision is that assistance to have a better living should be the focus of human service work since high living standards eliminate the need for law enforcement (Alston 2010; Ozanne & Rose 2013).
In conclusion, human service work is a means of positive social change which is proved by multiple real life examples. Social work is founded on the exalted moral principles of human rights vindication, social justice facilitation, and empowerment of the poor, disadvantaged, and afflicted people. Dominant ideologies in politics and media impact on the way human services are provided by means of changing the character of social work to the enforcing and regulatory one. Still, human service work should concentrate on social justice promotion be means of improving living standards.
References
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