Respond to two colleagues in one of the following ways: APA REFRANCE
- Respectfully state and provide evidence as to why you do not support their perspective.
- Support a perspective that aligns with yours by providing additional evidence and/or analysis.
1-he-
Social workers work in a complicated mix of personal needs and big-picture systems, where rules and decisions shape how they help people. Understanding these rules is super important for social workers for a few key reasons.
First off, rules set up how social workers do their job. Everything from who can get help to what kinds of help are available is decided by these rules. For example, a social worker helping kids in tough situations has to follow laws and guidelines to make sure those kids stay safe. Rules also decide what resources are out there, how to get them, and what you need to do to get help. Understanding policy helps social workers advocate for their clients more effectively and navigate the system to meet clients’ needs (Popple et al., 2019).
There’s a split in social work between dealing with people one-on-one (like counseling) and looking at bigger societal problems (like making new policies). These two sides of the job are connected. Big policies affect how individual people are helped. So, social workers need to be good at both sides to make sure people get what they need and to push for better rules that treat everyone fairly.
Social work isn’t just about fixing problems for today; it’s also about fixing the big issues causing those problems. Social workers see firsthand how rules impact real life. By studying and speaking up about rules, we can help change things for the better. For example, a social worker helping homeless folks needs to know not just how to give support, but also how laws about housing and healthcare affect their clients. By engaging in policy analysis and advocacy, social workers can help shape the development and reform of policies to better serve their clients (Walden University Library, n.d.).
In short, as social workers, we need to know the rules inside out to do our job well and to push for changes that make life better for the folks we help. By understanding both the personal and big-picture sides of their work, social workers can make a real difference in a job that’s all about making things better for everyone.
2-er-
Explain why social workers should understand the role policy plays in determining the environment in which practitioner and client interact.
It is the social worker’s responsibility to put policy into action or to rally against it if the policy has adverse results for the client in their environment. Social workers must be well-versed in existing and newly forming policies to help their clients succeed. As stated by Renata A. Hedrington Jones in the Video, policy is your “roadmap” (Walden University, n.d., :58). As Joe N. Savage, Jr. pointed out, policy is constantly changing, making it imperative for social workers to keep up on the most recent requirements (Walden University n.d.). Social workers should not just practice policy but effect change with “policy advocacy,” an idea proposed by Bruce Jannson that policy should assist immobilized factions in increasing their resources to thrive (Popple and Leighninger, 2019).
Describe the dichotomy between micro and macro practice.
Social work can be thought of as having dual targets: the individual and the environment (Popple and Leighninger, 2019). People will need help with individual struggles, known as micro practice. However, they are also dealing with environmental issues such as racism, availability of resources, employment opportunities, and availability of healthcare, known as macro practice. The social worker will be dealing with both personal and societal problems consecutively. The two are separate but deeply connected. Peggy Pittman-Munke put forward the idea that the problems uncovered in micropractice should be presented to the powers that be in order to facilitate policy change (Popple and Leighninger, 2019).
Explain why social work is identified as a policy-based profession. Provide examples.
Policy drives most of what social workers do in their practice. Professionals have increasingly become more likely to work for organizations rather than themselves. This subjects their practice to government regulation. Even private practices have a certain amount of responsibility to government oversight. Social work is a policy-based profession in which, although the client receives services from the social worker, neither of them defines the problem or pays for the services (Popple and Leighninger, 2019). The federal or state government sets those parameters with policy. For example, a client is referred by the court system for anger management. The client has not chosen to have services. The problem is defined as anger before the client ever meets the social worker, and the treatment goals are based on the guidelines established by the court.
