Incorporating NASW Values and Ethics- Peer Response

Assignment

***ONLY RESPOND TO TWO PEERS*** 100 words for each peer

In your peer response, evaluate the feasibility your peer’s plan and offer suggestions for improvement or enhancement.

Be sure to engage in a respectful dialogue.

Purpose

This week’s discussion post will allow you to tie what you have learned throughout this course into the social work profession’s expectations for real world practice.

Topic

Incorporating NASW’s social work values and ethics and examples from Soul of a Citizen, discuss (specifically, using examples) how you plan to advocate for social welfare policy reform and/or battle structural oppression.

PEER 1

Advocating for social welfare policy reform and/or battle structural oppression can be encompassed in an abundance of opportunities when using the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of ethics and alternative examples presented throughout Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times. The best way to advocate for any change in life is to take it one step at a time. Loeb (2010) quoted Martin Luther King “It is suggested to proceed at our own pace, step by step, breaking down our goals into manageable tasks and not worrying too much about the precise political impact of every choice we make.” Incorporating the NASW ethical principles and values a social work is to remember the dignity and worth of a person (Code of Ethics, 2019). A social worker should only advocate for policy reforms themselves can competently represent and back up with education, experience, or other relevant professional evidence to uphold the NASW ethics of Competence (Code of Ethics, 2019).

Loeb (2010) states, “.Reflecting on the larger context of our lives can help us connect with stories of others and with a larger narrative of being,” meaning we often can connect to others who have similar stories of our own. Reflecting and making connections can help with advocating because it can drive a personal passion; however, a social worker must be aware of both the NASW ethics of Cultural Awareness/Social Diversity and Conflicts of Interest (Code of Ethics, 2019). When advocating for social welfare policy reform and/or battle structural oppression, a social worker must approach with caution as one’s potential ethical dilemmas could arise, albeit the social work will also be able to approach the situation from numerous directions defending the reason and stance of change.

References

Code of Ethics. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.

Loeb, P. R. (2010). Soul of a citizen: living with conviction in challenging times. New York City, NY: St. Martins Griffin.

PEER 2

Being a social worker involves carrying ethics and values that are taken very seriously. The priority in assuring fairness and ethically sound decisions, is what makes this profession so meaningful for clients and others surrounded by our services. How I plan to advocate for social welfare policy reform and battle structural oppression is detailed below.

According to NSAW- Code of Ethics, social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). Thus, this relates to the overall effort to know your client and what their background consists of. Knowledge around your client’s culture is important in being able to understand what barriers and strengths they may have. It is also important to be culturally sound in the environment of your client base. If you feel like you may not be able to offer the best help to your client and their needs, it is also important to have the confidence in referring them to another practice (NSAW, 2017). Knowing and understanding your clients battles with structural oppression is very important because they may not ever gain trust in you as a social worker. It may not come out genuine if you have no idea what types of oppressions they endure. According to the Code of Ethics, Social workers’ social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people (2008).

I decided to pull an example from “Right Livelihood” in Soul of a Citizen, it’s a gift to be able to work directly on issues we care about and earn our living in the process. We don’t have to divide our lives. We can fully invest our passions. “finding the right work,” says theologian and psychotherapist Thomas Moore, “is like discovering your own soul in the world” (Loeb, 2010). This is inspiring to me because for so long I never knew what I wanted to do for a ‘living’, and have felt self-purpose in life with choosing this field to work in.

Best wishes during the holiday season! See you all next year!

References

Loeb, P. R. (2010). Soul of a citizen: Living with conviction in challenging times. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.

National Association of Social Workers (2008). Preamble to the code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of…