Role of Social Worker in Addressing Key Issues Faced by Clients: A Critical Reflective Essay

This essay discusses the role of social workers in addressing key issues faced by clients, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. It also explores the use of solution-focused and strength-based approaches in social work, and reflects on the author's own learning and development as a social worker.

Critical Reflective Essay

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
It is very important for an individual to select the right skills and education that assists in
making career. Making a proper decision regarding the career leads the individual to increase the
chance of success. Choosing the precise career paths can be time consuming and lots of research
work is involved. A career which an individual wants in their life mean working or performing
as a doctor, teacher, cashier, social worker, hairstylist etc. Social workers are basically the
individuals or group who are concerned with meeting the basic of individuals, families and
societies. They work for the others well being as well as enhance their collective and individual
well being. Social worker help the public by addressing the problem they face in their daily life.
In this particular essay role of social worker, key issues faced by my clients are discussed in
detailed way. This essay also provides the clear understanding of clients goals, strength based
approach with their application scenario. In addition to this reflection of my own learning and
development are discussed in this essay.
MAIN BODY
Social workers are the people who help the public to improve and lead a quality life by
ensuring all the basic needs are fulfilled. Social works includes the process of understanding the
development of human, behaviour and social, economic and cultural dimensions of the
individuals in order to enhance well being and meet the complex needs. I became social worker
in Australia in 2018. One day I was just scrolling the news feeds in the social media and I saw
Ann Sherry interview where she was telling about her work towards women, minority groups,
business which influenced me to become a social worker. I got more involved in this field by
searching the stuff about the social workers, how do they lead their life, what makes them more
attracted towards this field and many more(Merculieff, 2020). After that I used to visit small
orphanages and started spending time with the individuals living there. Then I enrolled my self
with social and welfare club of my university through which I got to know more about this field.
The day when I decided to work as social worker and told my decision to my parents about
making my career in this field they denied. They said there is no scope of growth in this field and
you will regret after choosing social worker as a career option. But I was quite confident about
my decision and started my career in this field. I wanted to proof wrong to my family members
and the people of the society so, I started to observe and monitor the issues within the society
with the help of the my friend(Rigney and et.al., 2020). I started to work for the issue that existed
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within the society such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are first Australians
are facing discrimination while living the life. I started various campaigns and developmental
programs in order to reduce the gap and lead standard life. As they were also not aware of
various governmental programmes and their rights through which they can stay with respect
within the society(Fredericks and et.al., 2020). From here I started to work for the welfare and
well being of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by going in their area and speaking
to them. Then, with the help of some organisation I collected some finance and started with
fulfilling the basic needs. But doing that involved lots of procedure and documentation work
which was very hectic for me. Then slowly and gradually I started to provide awareness
campaign to the people staying there. People's who are living there and leading a standard life,
behave in a very inappropriate manner with them due to which racism, discrimination, gender
inequality kept on increasing day by day. So, it was very necessary for me to ask help from more
people so I asked help in a global platform. Convincing the clients for finance, resource was
very difficult and no one was ready to support me for this issue. So after working with few
organisation who provided support financially but not mentally was a very bad experience.
Gradually and slowly many clients came and join my campaign to fight for the people of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander which was my achievement being a social worker(Jacobs,
2020).
The Aboriginal people of Australia are facing various issues in their day to day lives. The
first one which I gathered is Lower life expectancy rates, due to lack of proper sanitation as well
as medical facilities the tribal people of Australia was unable to live longer as they get infected
with life threatening diseases very easily. I have identified the other issue faced by Aboriginal
people which is higher rates of hospital admissions due to lack of awareness about living life
with healthy standards and values. This is considered as the main problem which needs to be
solved as soon as possible. In addition to this, the other issue faced by tribal people of Australia
is lower level of education, the lack of education opportunities for tribal peoples stops them to
develop new societal standards in order to gain greater heights(Stainton, 2020). Due to low
income, the tribal people of Australia are unable to send their children to schools for gaining
education. The other and most important issue which I got to know is greater chances of
imprisonment, the prejudice behaviour by non-indigenous population is also the biggest problem
to solve as due to this they face left out from the society. This also raises the chance for higher
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imprisonment as they are motivated by rich people to perform unethical jobs for earning higher
incomes.
The listening and communication skill is the basic skills which helps me in making
effective relations with people. By adopting these type of skill, I can understand the client
problems in the most effective manner. In relation to this, it can also enable me to reflect the
behaviour of empathy and cooperation(Parmenter and Trigger, 2018). The effective listening and
communication skills can support as a social worker to solve the problems of Aboriginal group
of people by building better relations with the. Apart from this, it can also allow me to make
collaborative working relationship by laying attention on listening their problems and provide
effective solutions for addressing their issues in best manner. Moreover, these skills can also
support me in establishing rapport as well as inclusive boundary settings in appropriate manner.
Furthermore, it can also enable me in showing the feeling of support and empathy by
communicating with tribal people while practising proper communication style. By adopting
above approaches, I can effectively solve the problems faced by Aboriginal group of people by
listening to them and communicating to them in proper manner(Harnett and Featherstone, 2020).
The issue raised by Aboriginal group of people is related to narrowing the gap of
inequality between the dominant rich and poor communities. This issue has been raised by the
poor tribal people of Australia since the impact of globalisation practises that has given the
power to wealthy corporations to practise exploitative actions with the poor tribal people. Thus,
the Aboriginal people of Australia wants necessary protection from these kinds of wealthy
people form the social workers of the country. The other goal raised by tribal group of people is
to build necessary protocols and legal laws so that there rights and values can be protected in
the most effective manner. In this, I can provide them support by contacting with legal as well as
government bodies(Battersby and et.al., 2018).By adopting this strategy, I can effectively solve
this problem raised by tribal group of people. Moreover, the other goal of clients is to gain basic
medical health services. The basic health services will help the Aboriginal group of people to
improve their health in the most effective manner. Furthermore, the other issue is to receive
proper education. These will allow the Aboriginal people to give opportunities for their children
so that they can attain basic educations in order to gain best job.
There are various approach such as anti oppressive approach, solution focused approach,
strength based approach which can be practised in social work field. One of the approach which
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is discussed in the essay is solution based approach. This approach basically focus on providing
solution rather than solving the problem. This helps individual to look the specific situation from
different perspective that leads in understanding the situation in deep. Its is a short term goal
focused where I can build myself to focus on solution rather than problem. Solution based
approach helped me to move towards the success through what I wanted to learn, what strategies
as well as ideas can be adopted in order to do the things differently by using the existing skills
which focus on solution of a problem. As this approach can be applicable in the field of social
work as it will allow me to become focused on understanding different types of solutions and by
adopting the best possible option I can effectively solve the society problems in the most
effective manner(Boyer, 2019).
The solution focused approach is the future based as well as goal oriented approach
which helps in providing effective solutions to the problems faced by humans. By adopting
solution based approach, I can become motivated on providing proper solutions rather than
focusing on the problem itself. In addition to this, the focus is also on the strengths and positive
situation rather than the weakness and negative situations(Batty, 2020). The solution focused
approach can make me to identify problems in most effective manner. Moreover, this approach
also focus on paying attention for gaining appropriate resources and abilities that will help me in
attaining future goals at appropriate manner. This approach can help the Aboriginal group of
people in getting proper redressal of their problems and issues. Moreover, it also helps me to
identify what are the strategy that best fits in removing the issues faced by Aboriginal group of
people.
The solution focused approach considers supporting the poor group of people so that their
life can get better in effective manner. The solution based approach lays its focus in providing
effective solutions by giving considerations to adopting various ideas, strategies as well as
strength (McIntyre, Brady and Barnes, 2019). By adopting this approach, I can focus on positive
aspects of Aboriginal group of people rather on what they say as the problem. In addition to this,
the solution focused approach can also plays a great role in giving attention to care plans on
hopes, strengths and fostering work relationships between tribal people and social worker.
Hence, this concept is regarded as more of a strength based approach in order to provide
effective solutions after analysing the strong points. This concept can allow me in identifying
what works best for the Aboriginal group of people in terms of reducing issues faced by them.
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I chose my career in the field of social work because this path is very versatile and it
leads towards self-improvement. As by leading, encouraging, empowering and developing others
it boosted my confidence. Through which now I am able to make and implement necessary
changes in the society also and solving the issues of the society in a different manner(Brown and
et.al., 2019). While working for the well being of the society I am now able to think critically
which helps me to solve the complex problem easily. Being a social worker we need to interact
with different people having different religion, culture, family background, gender, ethics helped
me to communicate well with the individuals. Through which my communication skills got
improved which is helping me to understand the wide range of public in a better manner. By
choosing my career in the field of social worker I have become a active listener also that assists
me towards achieving my goals. Leading my life as social worker is making my day to day
schedule very hectic as we have variety of responsibilities and duties towards the public and
society. So with the passage of time I am able to prioritize my clients in order perform my task
effectively and efficiently. I am now able to organise my work and task according to the
requirement and needs of the clients. Time management is one of the factor which is very
necessary in an individuals life because its crucial to maintain a balance between the professional
and personal life in order to become successful. Due to which now I am able to manage and
support multiple clients, including documentation, billing as well as collaboration.
References
Books and Journal
Merculieff, I.L., 2020. Western Society's Linear Systems and Aboriginal Cultures: the need for
two-way exchanges for the sake of survival. In Key issues in hunter-gatherer
research (pp. 405-415). Routledge.
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Jacobs, J.M., 2020. ‘Women talking up big’: Aboriginal women as cultural custodians, a South
Australian example. In Women Rites & Sites (pp. 76-98). Routledge.
Stainton, M., 2020. Aboriginal self-government: Taiwan’s uncompleted agenda. In Taiwan (pp.
419-435). Routledge.
Parmenter, J. and Trigger, D., 2018. Aboriginal cultural awareness training for mine employees:
Good intentions, complicated outcomes. The Extractive Industries and Society, 5(2),
pp.363-370.
Battersby and et.al., 2018. Chronic condition self‐management support for Aboriginal people:
Adapting tools and training. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 26(4), pp.232-237.
Boyer, Y., 2019. Moving Aboriginal health forward: Discarding Canada’s legal barriers. Purich
Publishing.
Batty, P., 2020. An Aboriginal television culture: Issues, strategies, politics. In Australian
television culture (pp. 169-192). Routledge.
McIntyre, J., Brady, M. and Barnes, J., 2019. “They are among the Best Workers, Learning the
Ways of a Vineyard Quickly”: Aboriginal People, Drinking, and Labor in the Early
Australian Wine Industry. Global Food History, 5(1-2), pp.45-66.
Brown and et.al., 2019. Health care experiences and birth outcomes: Results of an Aboriginal
birth cohort. Women and Birth, 32(5), pp.404-411.
Harnett, P.H. and Featherstone, G., 2020. The role of decision making in the over-representation
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Australian child protection
system. Children and youth services review, 113, p.105019.
Fredericks and et.al., 2020. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander health. Professional Nursing
and Midwifery Practice [Custom Edition for Monash University], 264.
Rigney and et.al., 2020. Culturally responsive pedagogy and mathematics through creative and
body-based learning: Urban Aboriginal schooling. Education and Urban
Society, 52(8), pp.1159-1180.
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