A social worker is a professionally qualified personality who strives for the general well- being of individuals from all lifestyles. A social worker analyses the inherent causes of social problems like antisocial behavior, social inadequacies, unemployment, poverty, illness among others, and assist concerned individuals to overcome them. It is essential for a social worker to have an understanding and specialized knowledge of others. In a modern world, social work has diverse challenges that range of psychological, sociological, and physiological. The paper discusses psychological challenges that social worker face when executing their work (Marlow, 2011).
Various elements such as economic decline, bullying, aging population, and technology among others may have an effect on the mental health of a social worker. They might result to psychological disorders such as anxiety, stress, and depression (Rogowski, 2010).
People that once had descend paychecks and good jobs find themselves living in shelters and visiting food stores. Social workers, working for various family service organizations and communities may experience anxiety due to economic decline. This is since they may see a great number of their clients in dangerous conditions. Lack of a strong economy and sustainable wage and benefits, which supports employment growth, may results many individuals continuing looking for safe work agencies as the only secure alternative (Rogowski, 2010).
Apart from issues that face clients, other factors may affect social workers as professionals and individuals. Stress emerges as the top issue, for it is central to this nature of work. It may be difficult for a social worker to separate life from work, particularly in a small community where the social worker and the client may meet outside the working environment (Marlow, 2011).
Social workers may feel depressed in cases where their clients experience bullying. Online communities such as Facebook have increased the effects that bullies may have on victims. A social worker, particularly in a school environment may be aware of the impact bullying has on his/her young clients (Rogowski, 2010). Bullying may result to the client feeling worthless and this may cause self-harm or even suicide. Consequently, bulling does not only occur in adolescence and childhood. It can escalate into the place of work or home in the form of sexual abuse, especially for female social workers, thus resulting in depression (Marlow, 2011).
Social workers do hard work since they always interact with a lot of pain. Whatever areas social workers are in, they often end up experiencing and connecting with various difficult experiences. This may be challenging since they have to keep their clients vibrant and fresh. In order to do this, they require time to care for themselves and talk to others regarding what they experience. In most cases, there is no one to talk to and thus they end up feeling unhappy (Rogowski, 2010).
The aspect of technology relates to unusual behaviors in clients, especially in terms of addiction. In contrast, social workers use technology in their workplace themselves. The electronic documentation for coding along with diagnosis is a requirement that puts social work professionals out of their comfort zone (Marlow, 2011).
Despite of all these, a social worker should be passionate about making differences in the society. He or she should continue providing services and support to vulnerable individuals. On the other hand, to overcome such challenges, a social worker should aim at furthering their studies in order to acquire new skills in the ever-changing environment.
References
Marlow, C. (2011). Research methods for generalist social work. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Rogowski, S. (2010). Social work: The rise and fall of a profession?. Bristol: Policy Press.