The Domain of Social Work - PDF

Running head: Social Work
Social Work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
Social work is a profession and an academic discipline that focuses on individuals,
families, communities and groups in order to improve social functioning and overall
wellbeing of the people. It influences how people undertake social responsibilities and
institutions that maintain that. The domain of social work involves the application of social
sciences like sociology, psychology, political science, economics, law, community
development and public health in order to engage with the client, perform assessment, design
interventions and address social and personal problem, and foster social change. Social work
can involve working with individuals or small groups as well as working with communities
(Payne, 2015; Briskman, 2014; Lee & Hudson, 2017).
Social workers can work within every facet of a community, like schools, hospitals,
healthcare centers, private practice, elected offices, prisons, armed forces, and corporation as
well as in public and private agencies. The various tasks social workers can be engaged in
includes: management and administration, community organization and advocacy, helping
the elderly and aging population, recovery from substance abuse, child welfare, supporting
individuals with disabilities, healthcare, justice and corrections, mental healthcare and
clinical social work, planning and policymaking, public welfare, research and school social
work (socialworkers.org, 2018). This allows social workers to work with the elderly,
individuals with disabilities, young offenders and juvenile delinquents, individuals with
mental health problems, homeless, substance abusers, school and college dropouts
(prospects.ac.uk, 2018; Garbarino, 2017; Turner, 2017; Howe, 2017; Baldwin, 2016).
Problems faced by the client:
The case study involves three individuals (34 year old Kirsty, 13 year old Kylie and
15 year of Matt) from the Aboriginal community living in the western suburbs of Adelaide,

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Australia. Kristy is a single mother, and Kylie and Matt are her children. She lost her first
husband to heroin overdose 5 years ago, and she faces domestic violence and physical abuse
from her current partner. Her family lives far from her, and she herself has substance abuse
problems (she currently has a high level of alcohol consumption). Her alcohol drinking
problem is supported by her friends who live close by. She left her job in a local pub to avoid
alcohol, and currently survives on Centrelink benefits, and resides in SA Housing property.
Due to this she is facing difficulties budget her costs to cover basic necessities like food. Her
drinking problem has also resulted in charges of drinking and driving, for which she might
lose her driving license, and due to which she won’t be able to visit her family to visit her
mother who is suffering from cancer. Kyle and Matt are also facing trouble at the school, as
they skip classes frequently, and often come to school without having breakfast and find
problems socializing with other students in the class. They have changed their school 3 times
in the last 3 years as their mother tried to escape domestic violence. This places Kristy is an
angry, depressed and desperate position. This shows that Kristy and her children are faced
with several challenges for which they need urgent help and support. The problems faced by
Kristy and her children can e understood as below:
For Kristy, the problems faced are the most severe. Being a single mother, she feels
the responsibility for providing for her children, in order to ensure their education and
growth. She also lost her husband 5 years ago, which makes places the sole responsibility of
her children’s welfare on her shoulders. Her latest partner does not seem to have made life
any easier for Kristy. She faces domestic violence and physical abuse from her current
partner, which leaves significant emotional trauma to Kristy and her children. The domestic
violence also pressurized her to frequently relocate to avoid facing it, which further
challenges her ability to settle down at one place. Kristy also suffers from substance abuse
problems, as she is a heavy drinker. Her drinking habits could have been triggered by several

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factors like the death of her first husband, her previous employment in a pub and her
emotional stress. Her friends who live close by further aggravate the drinking problem by
supporting her habit. Her dependency on alcohol became so of control that she had to leave
her job at a pub, to stay away from it. As a result she is currently unemployed, with only the
benefits from Centrelink and SA Housing providing her money and shelter. She however, is
not able to manage the money she receives from the benefit, and struggles to pay for even her
food. Her drinking problems have also resulted her being charged of drinking and driving, for
which she has a court appearance. This seems to be adding upon the stress on her, as she fears
that she might end up losing her driving license, after which she will not be able to visit her
family, and her mother (who has been diagnosed of cancer). Kristy also is aware how her life
and her problems have affected the lives of her children, due to which she wished that she
wasn’t in their lives. This showed that Kristy not only had significant substance abuse issues,
but also had signs of depression and desperation. The emotional stress created due to the
exposure to domestic violence, substance use, financial crisis, unemployment and the
suffering of her children can be linked to mental health problems (Herman, 2015; Tull et al.,
2015; Seo et al., 2016; Howland et al., 2017).
Kylie and Matt also face significant challenges in their day to day life. They had to
change school 3 times in the last 3 years as their mother tried to avoid the domestic violence
from her current partner. The episodes of domestic violence have also resulted in the children
often skipping schools or coming to school without breakfast. As a result their performance
in the school was significantly impacted, as did it affect their ability to socialize. Both Kylie
and Matt find it more difficult to make new friends, probably due to the frequent change of
schools and due to the chronic exposure to emotional stress (witnessing violence on their
mother). Such stressors could result in reduced social skills as well as developmental
problems (Herman, 2015; Blair et al., 2015). The financial problem faced by Kristy also

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results in Kylie and Matt not having access to adequate food and nutrition, which further can
attenuate their physical and mental wellbeing. Such problems can have long lasting adverse
effects on the children, and puts them at high risks for several physical and mental health
conditions (Cook et al., 2017).
How can the client and her family be helped:
Kirsty and her children need various social support networks that can help them
through their difficult times and help to prevent any adverse effects on their mental and
physical health due to their circumstances. To help the client and her family, various actions
can be undertaken by the social support which includes:
Advocacy for the client: In this the social support worker can act as the champion for
upholding the rights of the individual. Considering that Kirsten is subjected to domestic
abuse, it becomes important to empower her in order to prevent further exposure to domestic
violence. Upholding her rights as an individual and through policies and laws that safeguard
individuals from domestic violence can help to protect both Kirsty as well as her children
from such exposures in the future. A social support worker can ensure that the client and her
family arte effectively protected through such laws and policies, to ensure their overall well
being (Roberts, 2017).
Helping to fight alcohol dependency: The social support worker can be involved in helping
Kirsten to get rid of as well as recover from her alcohol dependency and alcohol addiction
problems. The social workers can provide an ecological perspective to the treatment process
and focus on the relation of the client with their family and neighborhood environment,
community support, policies and cultural attitudes. By improving these interactions, the
clients can be assisted to quit substance abuse and recover from it. This can be useful for

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Kirsty, since her alcohol dependency have resulted in her unemployment, financial crisis and
subsequent emotional stress (Love et al., 2017).
Child Welfare can also be involved to support Kylie and Matt. The social workers can help
them by developing a safe and nurturing environment for the children, or ensure intervention
when they are at risks of harm. A range of services can be used to support the children, which
will prevent them from further exposure to stress caused due to domestic violence. The child
welfare can also ensure that Kylie and Matt are able to get the basic necessities such as food
and shelter as their mother is unable to provide these properly (Kim & Hopkins, 2015).
Healthcare support: Since Kirsty is facing financial difficulties due to her unemployment,
and unable to cover basic necessities such as food, it is vital that she and her children receive
healthcare support to cover their medical needs from time to time. Social workers can be
involved in the development of programs that will allow regular health checkups for the
clients to ensure proper monitoring of their health conditions, and ensure their medical
expenses are covered through medical policies (like Medicaid) (Distelberg & Taylor, 2015).
Mental healthcare and counseling: The client and her children being exposed to chronic
emotional stressors, have the risks of developing mental health conditions. Kirsty already
shows signs of depression and desperation, and feels that she is the cause of her children’s
suffering. Her mental state might be underlined with mental health problems, for which she
might require counseling and mental health assessment. Moreover, the counseling sessions
can also help the client to give up and recover her addiction problems, and help her to be
independent and manager her funds in a more effective manner (Pflum et al., 2015).
Occupational Assistance: The financial problem faced by Kirsty is due to her loss of
employment in the local pub. However, through occupational assistance is might be possible
for her to develop skills to acquire a new job. Social support can be provided to train her to

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acquire new employable skills, which can thereby help to improve her financial condition as
well as facilitate her to quit her alcohol dependency. Improvement in the financial condition
of Kirsty can also ensure that her children are fed adequately (Brough et al., 2018).
School Social Support can be involved to help Kylie and Matt to ensure they do not miss
their classes, and schools. The school social support can also help the children to interact with
their classmates, and ensure that they are fed adequately. Breakfast and lunch can also be
given to the children, considering that their mother is unable to provide such. Through the
social support, it can be ensured that the children’s education is never discontinued and they
do not have to chenga their schools as frequently as they did. Instead, provisions can be made
to ensure that they can continue their study from one school (Tian et al., 2015; Liu et al.,
2016).
Community Development: Through social work, community development can also occur by
developing social capital, which can provide support to the client and her families.
Developing a community that helps the client to overcome her addiction problems and
support her in cases of domestic violence can ensure that the client and her children are
protected from such stressors, and thus help to foster an overall wellbeing (Lin, 2017)
Aged Care: Social support can also be given to Kirsty’s mother who has been diagnosed
with cancer and also to help Kirsty to visit her mother more often. Helping Kirsty and her
mother can also help to reduce the stress experienced by Kirsty, and thus can make her
happier (Chesler et al., 2015).
The social support workers can help in the review of the situation experienced by the
clients through interviews, collaborate with other professionals to set up standards and
framework of support, sharing the information with the clients, organizing and managing
systems to support and empower the clients to lead an independent life, making

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recommendations and also decisions (if needed) towards the best course of action and in the
best interest of the client, liaison with and making referrals to other services, coordinate with
a multidisciplinary team for child protection and mental health services, maintaining accurate
records and making reports on legal actions, providing evidences to courts, and take part in
training, supervision and team meetings. Through such activities, the well being of the client
and her family can be ensured (prospects.ac.uk, 2018).
Conclusion:
Through social support, it can be possible to support Kirsty and her children to
overcome the adverse situations they face and lead an independent life. Kirsty can be assisted
to overcome her addiction problem, acquire a job and financial stability and manage funds as
well as protect her from further domestic abuse. Her children can also be shielded from such
exposure, and ensure that their educational and nutritional needs are not hampered. Such
aspects can ensure the overall wellbeing for herself as well as her children.

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