Personal Values and Social Work

The assignment content discusses the concept of values in social work, highlighting the importance of understanding personal and professional values. It also touches on the psychosocial theory by Erik Erikson, which emphasizes that people's sense of values or self-growth develops from social crises throughout their life. The systems theory is also discussed, presenting challenges to social workers who need to evaluate and analyze those systems that inform a person's behavior and welfare. The role-play experience was challenging yet a learning process, with the importance of effective communication, listening skills, and relating to others emphasized. Finally, several values were applied during the role play, including dignity, competence, human relationships, integrity, and respect for clients' beliefs.

Running Head: SOCIAL WORK
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Social Work
Name of the Student
Name of the Institution

SOCIAL WORK
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Social Work
Task 1
Values are important and inform how one behaves or perceives the self. People develop
values due to the influence of many factors. Primarily, people develop their values at three
distinct levels. Firstly, people uphold values that the inherited from the parents or caretakers as
they grow up. Secondly, values are developed from researching and examining the existing
values then choosing the one that makes sense. Thirdly, values are developed as a result of life
experiences that a person encounters. For this reason, assessment of my personal values reveals
that the psychosocial theory has had an immense impact in their shaping. Erik Erikson, in his
theory, contends that people's sense of values or self-growth or development stems from the
social crises that they encounter throughout the life. These crises help a person react or even
adapt. He, therefore, cites three critical crises including industry vs. inferiority, isolation vs.
intimacy, and trust vs. mistrust. Industry versus inferiority contributes to values such as work
competency, ethics or self-worth. Isolation versus intimacy sires values such as love, respect or
kindness. The trust versus mistrust social crisis connotes the experiences that a person
encountered during their infancy and how these experiences shape their trust. I form my values
from what the environment presents. For example, as a social worker, it becomes very difficult
dealing with victims of a crisis such as a displacement after a war. In such a case, I ought not
only to have humility but also be emotionally supportive to the affected. Arguably, values
change as one encounters different scenarios. Thus, one value can be applied in one situation but
not in another. This notion, therefore, creates the aspects of the dynamics of values.
However, I feel challenged by the systems theory as a social worker. Systems theory
posit that a person's behavior (which in this case will be termed as values) is determined by some

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factors that together function as a system. Therefore, the manner in which a person acts or thinks
is shaped by such factors as the home environment, social events settings, friends, school,
parents, peers, and economic class among others. It, therefore, means that a person's behavior
can either be influenced positively or negatively. For instance, children who grew up in abusive
homes are likely to develop deviant behaviors. People who engage with peers who practice drugs
and substances are likely to become addicts as well. In the same way, children who attend school
and follow the school rules and regulations are likely to be successful in their academic
performance. As a social worker, this theory presents challenges to me. Principally, a social
worker has to evaluate and analyze those systems that inform a person's behavior and welfare.
Additionally, the social worker must work towards strengthening those systems while
discouraging those that result in negative behavior. The systems theory, therefore, is far-reaching
and calls for the social worker to work extensively to establish and maintain the supportive
systems. It is so because the systems compete to impact either positive or negative results.
Task 2
The role-play experience was challenging yet a learning process. I had three role-plays.
One was acting as a social worker, two as the client and three as an observer. In the first instance,
I assumed the role of a social worker with my fellow student as the client. One of the things I
observed is that the session was challenged by various problems. Firstly, I could not maintain a
direct eye contact with the client. While keeping an eye contact is important and determines how
the social worker and the client relate, I felt that I did not do enough in this sector. Secondly, I
had to focus on asking my clients some questions. The questions were related family, job and
other more personal issues. In that case, I felt that I was getting too much personal information
from the client and I was not sure whether he was comfortable with it. It was a challenge because

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some people are not always willing to give very personal information since they may feel that
their privacy is being violated. The third problem was that there was poor communication. My
communication skills were poor and may have impeded effective communication and response.
The second role-play was acting as the client. Taking the role as the client was much easier for
me since I was required to respond to the questions asked to me. However, as earlier said, there
was a communication barrier. For this reason, I may have provided irrelevant responses in some
instances. The third role entailed observing the client and the social worker. So I was a non-
participant. However, it was much easier to provide feedback for both the client and the social
worker.
In spite of these challenges, I have excellent listening skills, ability to relate to others and
always willing to learn. I give my client adequate time to talk, and I pay attention to what is said.
I also seek clarification where need be so as to avoid generalizing or making assumptions. In
addition, I relate well to people and value how they impact in my career. Moreover, I take
corrections positively and not as a reproach. I learn a lot from what others hold to be true and
right. I believe that these skills and abilities are key for a social worker and in social work. I
would also like to improve my communication skills. I have identified some ways in which I can
improve my communication skills. The first thing is to listen to the other person and seek
clarification to avoid generating personal responses. There is also the need to have one
conversation at a time. It attracts paramount attention to what is said. Secondly, is to involve
body language. Body language communicates as much the verbal language. Another thing is to
consider who I am speaking to or with. Communication can be formal or informal depending on
the person speaking or responding. Finally, is developing confidence in what I say. Assertiveness
in communication tells the other person that one is confident in what he/she is saying.

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Task 3
In my role play, I realized the importance of the social work knowledge into both the
social worker and the client. I applied the social work knowledge in determining how an
individual's behavior relates to the social environment. I also realized how effective the social
work could be considering that the social worker and the client can understand each other. For
instance, in this case, there was the problem of communication. Poor communication challenges
the results of the social worker. It is thus clear that any problem that arises affects both the social
worker and the client like in my case. Again, I understood that the social worker and the client
both play important roles. The roles of the latter are therefore different from those of the latter.
For this reason, the work was much easier for me as the client since I was only expected to
respond to the questions as requires. Assuming the role of a social worker was challenging since
all the responses were entirely dependent on the questions that the social worker had to
formulate. Likewise playing the role as an observer was even the easiest task. However, every
role and participant is important.
In addition, several values were applied during the role play. Firstly, I felt that there is
always the need to uphold the dignity and worthiness of a person. Social work entails dealing
with people and situations. All people, including the social worker, clients, and other participants
ought to respect one another. The respect that a person expresses towards the other is one way to
which cooperation is enhanced. Another value that applied personally to me is the value of
competence. A social worker should be a competent person. I, therefore, saw the need for being
equipped with the relevant knowledge, understanding the client and the matter of discussion, as
well as knowing how and when to respond to a given issue. Competence was also critical in the
making of the decisions. It helped me arrive at some conclusions. Similarly, the value that

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underpins the importance of human dignity and relationships was also effective in decision
making. Human dignity helped me realize the importance of treating other people well without
discrimination. Every person, may it be the client or others have their dignity that has to be
respected. Integrity is also another value that is critical in the field of social work. Integrity in my
case helped me establish trust with the client. In the same way, role-playing as a client also
enabled me to create some rapport and trust with the social worker. Integrity, thus, enhances
openness among the parties involved. It also paves the way for better decision making. People
have different beliefs and beliefs are superior or inferior to others. Consequently, as a social
worker, I had to pay attention to my client's beliefs as well as mine before making any decision.
The decision must not interfere with another person's beliefs. In any case, I respect the beliefs of
my client.