Exploring Human Service Work and Social Change: An Essay

This essay delves into the critical role of human service work in fostering social change, examining how it addresses societal issues and promotes individual well-being. The author reflects on the influence of personal values and dominant ideologies on their perspective of the world, highlighting how these factors shape the provision of human services. The essay discusses the potential of human service work to combat exploitation and violence, advocate for social justice, and contribute to equitable policy formulation. The author emphasizes the importance of community partnerships, government decisions, and the unique insights of rural workers in driving positive change. The essay underscores the value of social justice and the availability of social services in creating a more equitable and just society, ensuring safety and empowering individuals to make important decisions that affect their lives. The essay uses references to support the arguments and analysis of the topic.

Running head: HUMAN SERVICE WORK AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Human Service Work and Social Change
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Human services helps in meeting the human needs and it helps in improving quality
of the life of the service populations. It helps in providing the assistance to the individuals
along with the communities that helps them in functioning in an effective manner in the
society. The human service professionals work with the consumers along with their families
that helps in promoting the well-being of the community (Chenoweth and McAuliffe 2005).
This essay states how the work of the human services can act as an opportunity pertaining to
the social change. The essay discusses how my values have helped in influencing my
perspective of the world. The essay also talks about how dominant ideologies have an effect
on the quality of the human services that are provided to the people.
The work that is provided by the human services can contribute to changing the face
of the society. In my view, social service work helps in addressing needs of the individuals
who are suffering from the brunt of institutional system of the exploitation along with the
violence (Beresford 2016). I think that the work that is delivered by the human service
professionals helps in addressing root causes of the exploitation along with the violence. The
workers of the human services play a crucial role in the area of the social policy formulation.
They understand the premises and take part in the advocacy that helps in bringing about the
positive changes within the wider society (Fawcett and Goodwin 2010). The workers
working in the rural areas take note of need for the rural paradigm that helps in changing the
direction of work of the government (Powell 2019). In my opinion, the social workers build
the partnerships with the communities along with the governments that can help in the
process of bringing about the positive changes within society.
The human service work can work as an opportunity that can help in providing the
services to the needy people who want to survive within the society. It can help in the
creation of the society where the institutions along with the organizations act in an equitable
and in a just manner (Jamrozik 2009). I think that it helps in ensuring the safety of the people

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so that they are empowered to take a part in the important decisions which has an effect on
lives of the people. I think that the government decisions helps in building the capacity of the
community and it helps in ensuring the equity in between the rural and the urban people
within the boundaries of broader society. The human service professionals are instrumental in
playing an important role in helping the government in making the policies pertaining to
income security along with the education (O'Connor et al. 2006). The policies play a crucial
role in the growth along with the development of the communities. The government can be
said to be influential in various aspects of the life and they make the ideological framework
that acts as a crucial factor within the framework of the community life (Feldman et al. 2019).
I think that the rural workers are made vulnerable on account of the circumstances
that are perpetrated on them in their life. They have a unique insight into the community
strengths along with the weakness that has repercussions on the functioning of the society
(Youtube.com 2019). The community activism within the framework of Australia have
helped in raising the awareness pertaining to needs of the groups within the rural
communities (Abramovitz 2017). I believe in the value of the service along with the social
justice that can pave the way for a better society. I think that the social services should be
made available to general public that can help in the creation of a better world order. It can
act as a framework that can help in upholding the standards of the society. Social work helps
in promoting the service to the other people which is above the self-interest (Popple 2018).
The social work can be said to be promoted to the cause of the social justice that can help the
people in the society in getting the fair access to the resources along with the treatment
(Higgins 2017). I think that it can help in challenging abuse of the power along with the
unjust practices.
The dominant ideologies which are expressed by media along with the politics have
an effect on the conducting of the human services. The dominant ideology helps in denoting

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attitudes, beliefs along with the values which are shared by large number of people within
society. Ideology refers to the coherent set of the ideas that helps in lending legitimacy to
formalised state action within the framework of the social and the economic activities
(Rothstein and Steinmo 2016). It helps in justifying interest of the dominant groups within
the society that has an effect on the element of the human services (Hasenfeld 2015). It can
help in explaining the functioning of the political, social along with the cultural institutions
that can help in the effective operation of the society (Bradley 2019). The dominant
ideologies prevalent in the society helps in the shaping of the social policies that has
influence on functioning of the society (Smith and Phillips 2016). The social policies are
made by the governments that helps in the area of managing the political needs of the
country. The ideologies make the government implement the policies that can develop the
society.
Work which is done by human services can help in the creation of a better society.
The work related to the social service address demands of individuals who have to suffer on
account of exploitation and that of violence. The human services plays a crucial role in
providing services to needy people who are suffering in society. It can pave the path for a
society in which institutions and organizations carry out the work in the just manner. I believe
that value of the social justice can create the way for a better society. Social services can be
made available to the people that can help in restoring the rights of the vulnerable people.

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References
Abramovitz, M., 2017. Regulating the lives of women: Social welfare policy from colonial
times to the present. Routledge.
Beresford, P., 2016. All our welfare: Towards participatory social policy. Policy press.
Bradley, K., 2019. Book review: The Winding Road to the Welfare State: Economic
Insecurity and Social Welfare Policy in Britain. Economic History Review, 72(4), pp.1515-
1517.
Chenoweth, L. and McAuliffe, D., 2005. The road to social work & human service practice:
an introductory text. Cengage Learning Australia.
Fawcett, B. and Goodwin, S., 2010. G.. Meagher and R. Phillips. Social Policy for Social
Change, South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan.
Feldman, S., Huddy, L., Wronski, J. and Lown, P., 2019. The interplay of empathy and
individualism in support for social welfare policies. Political Psychology.
Hasenfeld, Y., 2015. What exactly is human services management?.
Higgins, B., 2017. Reinventing human services: Community-and family-centered practice.
Routledge.
Jamrozik, A.W., 2009. Social policy in the post-welfare state: Australian society in a
changing world. Pearson Education Limited.
O'Connor, I., Hughes, M., Turney, D., Setterlund, D. and Wilson, J., 2006. Social work and
social care practice. Sage.
Popple, P.R., 2018. Social work practice and social welfare policy in the United States: A
history. Oxford University Press.

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Powell, M. ed., 2019. Understanding the mixed economy of welfare. Policy Press.
Rothstein, B. and Steinmo, S. eds., 2016. Restructuring the welfare state: political
institutions and policy change. Springer.
Smith, S.R. and Phillips, S.D., 2016, January. The changing and challenging environment of
nonprofit human services: Implications for governance and program implementation.
In Nonprofit Policy Forum (Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 63-76). De Gruyter.
Youtube.com (2019). YouTube. [online] Youtube.com. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K33shx0nslg [Accessed 31 Dec. 2019].
Reading Material
Chapter 6: Rural social policy
Chapter 6: Organisations: which should provide human services