Social work profession

Social work profession

Description

The mini paper assignment is designed to challenge your thinking about the role of social work as a profession, its knowledge and value base within society. This assignment will require you to research the elements of social work practice and its unique contributions to the community. You will be required to outline the pros and cons of its role and to come to articulate your opinion of its knowledge base and relevance to society at large.

This “mini” paper should be no more than 5-7 pages (excluding your title page and your reference page). Pages beyond the maximum will not be considered as part of the assignment. Your literature search requires you utilize at least 8 references from the social work literature. You must use the APA manual to appropriately cite your use of the literature. Your paper must also have an appropriately cited reading list attached.

The Background and Assignment for the Mini-Paper

You have been invited to accompany a friend to a community reception, which was followed by a series of presentations by selected community leaders on the topic of services to families and children in the community. During the reception, your social work friend has been introducing you to some of the attendees. In the introductions, your friend has commented that you are considering a career in social work. At one point, you were excited to be introduced to one of the attendees who is a popular State legislator. When told of your university and career plans, you were surprised by the response of the legislator who stated, “Social Work (!), do you have to go to University for that (?) – I always thought that social work was just 90% common sense and 10% good heart!”

Later that evening, you found yourself somewhat preoccupied by this comment, questioning the legitimacy and significance of the legislator’s statement. You were also struck by the fact that neither your friend nor any of the other Social Workers who heard the comment said anything in response to the legislator. Later, when you asked about this comment, your friend’s reply was, “I really did not know what to say – maybe the legislator is right!”

Your Assignment

Consider this person’s statement regarding social work in the context of its commitment to professional service to the community, its people, and your personal investment in your education.

Prepare a term paper of 4 -6 pages arguing your point of view on “social work just being common sense”.

Your paper must include:

Material from the course and the social work literature which you access from various supplementary books, journal articles and book chapters.
Exploration of the notion of “common sense” as you understand it.
Discussion of the place of social work as a profession
Discussion of the knowledge base of this profession
Your point of view on what knowledge is needed by a professional social worker
Where does this knowledge come from
How this knowledge is selected
APA style citations of all the literature in your argument
Reasoned and clearly developed argument supporting or negating the legislator’s comment
Clear concluding paragraph which would constitute your contribution to a similar conversation in the future.
The paper must turned in to turnitin.com by the Author by the due date.

Combined Individual and Group Project: Social Work Practice Within Social Welfare Services (30 points)

This assignment has FIVE (5) parts which require you to research the delivery of social work services within an existing social welfare topic, population and organization. Several parts of this assignment will be done individually, and several will be completed as a group.

Breakdown:

Literature review – worth up to 10 points, assigned individually
Web research – worth up to 2 points, assigned individually
Interview with social worker – worth up to 5 points, assigned by group
Group presentation – worth up to 10 points, assigned by group
Individual reflection – worth up to 3 points, assigned individually