The Domain of Social Work - PDF
Added on 2021-06-16
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Running head: Social WorkSocial WorkName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Note
1Social WorkIntroduction: Social work is a profession and an academic discipline that focuses on individuals,families, communities and groups in order to improve social functioning and overallwellbeing of the people. It influences how people undertake social responsibilities andinstitutions that maintain that. The domain of social work involves the application of socialsciences like sociology, psychology, political science, economics, law, communitydevelopment and public health in order to engage with the client, perform assessment, designinterventions and address social and personal problem, and foster social change. Social workcan 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 aswell as in public and private agencies. The various tasks social workers can be engaged inincludes: management and administration, community organization and advocacy, helpingthe elderly and aging population, recovery from substance abuse, child welfare, supportingindividuals with disabilities, healthcare, justice and corrections, mental healthcare andclinical social work, planning and policymaking, public welfare, research and school socialwork (socialworkers.org, 2018). This allows social workers to work with the elderly,individuals with disabilities, young offenders and juvenile delinquents, individuals withmental 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 and15 year of Matt) from the Aboriginal community living in the western suburbs of Adelaide,
2Social WorkAustralia. Kristy is a single mother, and Kylie and Matt are her children. She lost her firsthusband to heroin overdose 5 years ago, and she faces domestic violence and physical abusefrom her current partner. Her family lives far from her, and she herself has substance abuseproblems (she currently has a high level of alcohol consumption). Her alcohol drinkingproblem is supported by her friends who live close by. She left her job in a local pub to avoidalcohol, 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. Herdrinking problem has also resulted in charges of drinking and driving, for which she mightlose her driving license, and due to which she won’t be able to visit her family to visit hermother who is suffering from cancer. Kyle and Matt are also facing trouble at the school, asthey skip classes frequently, and often come to school without having breakfast and findproblems socializing with other students in the class. They have changed their school 3 timesin the last 3 years as their mother tried to escape domestic violence. This places Kristy is anangry, depressed and desperate position. This shows that Kristy and her children are facedwith several challenges for which they need urgent help and support. The problems faced byKristy and her children can e understood as below:For Kristy, the problems faced are the most severe. Being a single mother, she feelsthe responsibility for providing for her children, in order to ensure their education andgrowth. She also lost her husband 5 years ago, which makes places the sole responsibility ofher children’s welfare on her shoulders. Her latest partner does not seem to have made lifeany easier for Kristy. She faces domestic violence and physical abuse from her currentpartner, which leaves significant emotional trauma to Kristy and her children. The domesticviolence also pressurized her to frequently relocate to avoid facing it, which furtherchallenges her ability to settle down at one place. Kristy also suffers from substance abuseproblems, as she is a heavy drinker. Her drinking habits could have been triggered by several
3Social Workfactors like the death of her first husband, her previous employment in a pub and heremotional stress. Her friends who live close by further aggravate the drinking problem bysupporting her habit. Her dependency on alcohol became so of control that she had to leaveher job at a pub, to stay away from it. As a result she is currently unemployed, with only thebenefits from Centrelink and SA Housing providing her money and shelter. She however, isnot able to manage the money she receives from the benefit, and struggles to pay for even herfood. Her drinking problems have also resulted her being charged of drinking and driving, forwhich she has a court appearance. This seems to be adding upon the stress on her, as she fearsthat she might end up losing her driving license, after which she will not be able to visit herfamily, and her mother (who has been diagnosed of cancer). Kristy also is aware how her lifeand her problems have affected the lives of her children, due to which she wished that shewasn’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 theexposure to domestic violence, substance use, financial crisis, unemployment and thesuffering 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 tochange school 3 times in the last 3 years as their mother tried to avoid the domestic violencefrom her current partner. The episodes of domestic violence have also resulted in the childrenoften skipping schools or coming to school without breakfast. As a result their performancein the school was significantly impacted, as did it affect their ability to socialize. Both Kylieand Matt find it more difficult to make new friends, probably due to the frequent change ofschools and due to the chronic exposure to emotional stress (witnessing violence on theirmother). Such stressors could result in reduced social skills as well as developmentalproblems (Herman, 2015; Blair et al., 2015). The financial problem faced by Kristy also
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