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Interview a Social Worker and Literature Search Portfolio AssignmentDonnesha C. MckenzieUniversity of North Carolina at PembrokeABSTRACTThe social work profession is one that seems to be viewed less tasteful today in our society. The profession usually is called the volunteer job, and it is no secret that the pay is low. Although these conceptions maybe true, it takes a very special person to carry out the responsibilities of a social worker. The job requires the same amount of years in college as other professions such as nursing, biology, and teaching. Throughout these years one must look forward to being accepted into the Bachelors of Social Work program, writing many scholarly papers, and learning to be a high performing social worker. In addition, a common requirement for the program is an interview between a practicing social worker and the social work student. Within this paper gathered information from an interview of a social work student and a social worker will be displayed. The paper will discuss experiences, social problems, qualifications, and skills of the social worker’s career. The interview will then be used for a foundation of a literature search. Interview a Social Worker and Literature Search Portfolio AssignmentSocial workers carry important roles today in our society. As they further in their careers, different tasks and responsibilities will be placed upon them. An efficient social worker needs to have an organized supervisor to ensure that employees are staying on task. The social worker that I decided to interview is Dwellah Hall, the Foster Care and Adoption Supervisor at the Department of Social Services in Whiteville, North Carolina. To meet standards of her job position, she was required to attend a four year university, receive her Bachelors in Social Work, and show proof of experience before starting the job. Mrs. Hall’s responsibilities consists of her over-seeing seven other social workers, making sure they are performing their jobs correctly, providing placement of children in foster care that have been abused and/or neglected. Within Mrs. Hall’s position, she displays many roles that are taught in the social work program such as enabler, broker, negotiator, empowerer, educator, and administrator. As an enabler and broker, Mrs. Hall identifies the needs of the client and refers them to other organizations to receive help. She plays the role of a negotiator when an intervention of the family in her case occurs. In these interventions, she must be an educator, as well as an empowerer, a person who assists people in finding their own strengths to solve problems. In addition, Mrs. Hall creates care plans and works with families to move toward specific goals. The population Mrs. Hall described to me was mostly that of substance abusing, uneducated, and low income-based people. Three skills the social worker shared with me that she uses with this population is critical thinking, listening, and being quick on your feet. The Department of Social Services is considered on the macro level of social work, and Mrs. Hall is involved with the administration section of the facility, and she also handles casework. Toward the end of the interview, the social worker was asked of a few problems and benefits at her job. The benefits that she shared with me was helping families through their time of difficulty, and reuniting them with their child. Mrs. Hall stated “There is nothing that makes me feel better than to see a child run into the arms of a changed mother and father” (Personal Communication, 2012).The problems within her job were failures of the parents’ care plan. Basically these parents are not deserving of the child and they do not know how to uphold the responsibility of being a parent. Also, limited resources were another facing problem for the facility. Mrs. Hall stated “We sometimes have to send our clients to other counties because our county does not have everything to meet the clients’ needs” (Personal Communication, 2012). Although this facility is not fully equipped with the needed resources, the social workers that are employed there make certain that they direct their clients in the right path. Literature SearchSocial work is an interesting, but sometimes difficult profession. Greg Marston and Catherine McDonald, both professors of social work at universities in the United Kingdom, stated “Social work has been an important project of modernity. Its origin is part of the modernist impulse to create a better world conducive to the development of happy, healthy and industrious citizens” (Marston & McDonald, p.1023, 2012). The help of social workers will always be needed, no matter how dramatic the changes of personal or social needs rise in our economy. These changes can become challenges in the social work practice. According to Marston and McDonald, the expansion of market capitalism across the globe has also become a challenge in the profession (Marston & McDonald, 2012). In regards to challenges, Steve Rogowski, a long term practicing social worker, suggested that social work profession is under attack from the media and politicians in the United Kingdom (Rogowski, 2012). Whether social workers are employed in the United Kingdom or the United States, they seem to be facing some of the same problems. The United States Census Bureau reports that over three hundred million people reside in our country CITATION Cen12 \l 1033 (Census Bureau Webpage, 2012). Unfortunately, there are not half as many social workers in the United States. This could cause a gap in the society. With the various social work jobs such as mental health, schools, hospitals, rest homes, and others, still it seems that there will not be enough employees to meet the needs of the people.In the area of work where my interviewee is employed, the main social problem they face is that there are not enough social workers to reach out to the public as I previously mentioned. Being that she is employed in Columbus County, which is the unhealthiest county in the states, there should be more than enough social workers to contribute to the problems we face in our communities. Working with this particular population, the social worker should adhere to a few social work values specifically. The social worker must commit and show respect to the client. Also, the social worker must not pass judgment or pressure their beliefs on the client. Social work is a great profession to pursue a lifetime career in. In my opinion, helping people that are in need is a wonderful thing to do. Although, there may be a need for social workers today, throughout the globe the profession already has a special group of people to carry out the responsibility of meeting needs of people. As I continue my education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, I look forward to progression in the social work field. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to help students follow their dreams of becoming an excellent social worker.References BIBLIOGRAPHY Census Bureau Webpage. (2012). Retrieved from United States Census Bureau: Marston, G., & McDonald, C. (2012). Getting beyond 'Heroic Agency' in Conceptualizing Social Workers as Policy Actors in the Twenty-First Century. British Journal of Social Work , 42, 1022-1038.Hall, Dwellah. (2012) Personal CommunicationRogoswski, S. (2012). Social Work with Children and Families: Challengees and Possibilities in the Neo-Liberal World. British Journal of Social Work , 42, 921-940. ................
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