The Role Of Family In Shaping My Values As A Social Worker

Background and Upbringing

Discuss about the Social Work Reflective Journal for Self and Personal Needs.

On considering, the role of family and the life experiences that have shaped me and helped me to remain motivated and grounded can be attributed to the family upbringing. I belong to the millennial or the baby boomer generation (1981-1997) and I have gown up amidst cartoons that were characterized by innocence as against cartoons these days that are replete with adult cont and tend to make the child precocious. I was born in a middle-income family. Both my parents had to toil hard to earn money. My father is a freelance nature photographer which is considered as quite an unconventional career and my mother was a social worker. My father’s unconventional choice of career meant became a cause of perpetual conflict in the family. This is because he was earning a steady income and the entire burden shifted on my mother to provide for the family. Another reason for conflict between my parents is that my father’s irresponsible habits of forgetting to switch off electronic gadgets after use or leaving the residues of cigarette near the curtain side. His forgetful nature became a fodder of perpetual conflict between my parents. I could realize that my mother was not happy in this marriage yet she chose not to file for divorce thinking that it would a negative impact on my childhood. My mother who is a social worker is an extremely virtuous lady. She is quite strict about principles and under no circumstance she can be influenced to adapt herself according to the changing trend. She is a vegan after her tryst with PETA. This has informed my dietary habits and bolstered me to adopt an eco-friendly and a more conscientious lifestyle. She has taught me to value others, adopt empathy rather than sympathy whilst dealing with others, engage in month contribution to a charity of my choice, be respectful towards others and develop a listening habit as against speaking habit. My mother’s views towards life has made me the person I am today and fostered my values towards the everyday social work practise.

In the pursuit of a career in social work there were days when I felt that this career is not meant for me or when I contemplated that whether I have the temperament to survive in a career of social work, my mother’s perseverance and benevolent attitude have helped me to overcome these ambiguities. A professional social worker is expected to be empathic towards the cause of others and value human feelings. A social worker is also expected to understand the distinctive lifeworld of different clients and propose strategies of interventions based on their unique biographies. I feel that all values that I learnt from my mother catalyzed my commitment towards my profession and motivated me to overcome the challenges and the dilemmas that emerges in the lives of a social worker. The incident that triggered me to veer towards a career in social work is because of a boy who lied in my neighbourhood. Initially he used to be gregarious and amiable but with time I found that he was becoming withdrawn and gradually turned into a recluse. Later, I came to know that that he was subjected to severe sexual abuse everyday by his school teacher and this was making him recluse and isolated from the larger society. According t him he was ashamed of himself and resorted to drugs a as a coping mechanism. This motivated me to become a social worker and provide assistance to people in rehabilitation.

Impact of Mother's Values

I have always favoured interpersonal relationships and have been consistent towards maintaining interpersonal relationships. My attitude towards relationships is evident in my actions in both my profession al and personal life. The values that I have learnt from my mother have especially influential in developing my interpersonal skills. I have always felt tat the society is premised on mutual respect and cooperation. If I respect another person and manifest it in the form of listening to the views of that person and being polite towards the person, I would be treated with respect. I have always tried to make people around me feel comfortable, loved and at home. Doing so would allow the people to have trust on me and share their journey without reluctance. I am aware about the power imbalance that exists in the everyday relationships. This power imbalance may exist between parents and children too. This enabled me to understand the vulnerability of my client or the hierarchy that operates between them and me in the course of interaction. During a project on mental health, I spent a considerable amount of time explaining to my client about the Mental Health Act and their rights as patients. My profession has helped me to be aware about body language and the impact of that in the way people are going to perceive me. This has enabled me to improve my intra-personal relationships. I think the challenge I faced in terms of inter-personal relationships dealing with issues pertaining to physical and verbal abuse. Another barrier in the pattern of interpersonal relationships is that there are times when I feel discouraged due to the rude and demoralizing attitude of people around me. One area of improvement would be overcoming my anxiety-disorder whilst dealing with my clients and maintain a work-life balance are my priorities.

The professional and personal boundaries in the lives of an individual are instrumental in providing a direction about their objectives, aspirations and goals. It is important for the social worker to identify the kind of values she will bring to her workplace. The values I feel emerge from the contours of everyday relationships. As I have previously stated that I belong to a middle-income family in Perth, Australia, I have always been aware of the importance of working hard and earning money. Unlike some of my friends whose parents had a stable career, I was not fortunate on that front. Throughout my life I had to witness the misery that is ushered in through economic instability. My mother although supportive of all my career choices warned from the beginning to pursue a career where there is no steady income. I feel this is because the hardships she had to face in her life due to my father’s instable career. I have always been interested in photography just like my father but my mother’s words of choosing a stable career made me to concentrate more on pursing a stable career than choosing so-called vocational activities. As I have seen my mother toiling hard to make both ends meet, I realized that it si important for me to start earning early and save. Therefore, I started doing part-time jobs in pizza parlours and ice-cream store on weekends. This enabled me to earn extra money that I used for my education and alleviated the burden on my mother.

The Influence of Interpersonal Relationships

These values helped me to survive the arduous ad rigorous demand of my life as a social worker. From the outset, I understood that there is no alternative to hard work and perseverance for a middle-class person. Being a woman, I have faced occupational hazards of not being taken seriously at times, labelling as bossy and abuse from peers and sometimes with clients. But I have always been upfront and stood against any kind of patriarchal behaviour that restrained me from achieving my goals and career objectives. I firmly belive that if women do not raise voice against the web of multiple discrimination around them, there will be normalization of toxic masculine values and affect the mobility, life chances and the growth of women. Therefore, I never shied away from expressing dissent even at the cost of being isolated and labelled.

This assignment provided me an opportunity to introspect about my won knowledge of social work and understand the role of family values and interpersonal relationships that has shaped my worldview and influenced the essence of my professional journey. I understood that dealing with clients demands patience and keen observational skills to decipher the distinctive needs of the clients. I also became aware about my vulnerabilities and personal prejudices as a social worker. Although, I entered this profession to secure a stable career, I realized that a career in social work should not about making money but about genuinely helping others to overcome the challenges in their life. A social worker needs to be empathic about the ordeals of other and move beyond the personal prejudices that that informs one’s life. I have always been judgemental about people who are alcoholic and drug addicts. I was of the view that these people are usually spilt brats and have a lot of money at their disposal. However, as my began my professional journey I realized that alcohol and drug addiction often becomes a coping mechanism to respond to the crisis and the pain in one’s life. I have often felt vulnerable when I had to deal with clients who had a history of sexual abuse. Their body language and attitude have always made feel uncomfortable. There were instances when I considered of not dealing with such clients. However, later I mustered courage and decided to bring my professional values in dealing with such clients. The two groups that I found the most challenging to work with are children who have been convicted in the juvenile prison and children who have been abused by their family members. I feel dealing with children demands more sensitivity, patience and is the ultimate test of one’s social work training and ethics.