Social Work Personal/Goal Statement: MSW Program Application

This document is a personal and goal statement written by a student applying to a Master of Social Work (MSW) program at the University of Houston. The student, a bilingual male with four years of experience in the social services field, outlines his motivation for pursuing an MSW, emphasizing his desire to apply acquired knowledge to help those in need. The statement details his personal values, experiences, and commitment to ethical practices within social work, including volunteer work, experience in a women's shelter, and case management roles. He discusses the importance of ethical guidelines, leadership, and communication within social work, aligning his personal and professional goals with the university's mission to promote social sustainability and justice. The student also references relevant literature, including ethical considerations and the role of social workers, and explains how the coursework aligns with his objectives of contributing to the field, particularly in areas of racial, political, and economic justice.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK
SOCIAL WORK
Name of the Student:
Name of the University;
Author Note:

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Personal/ Goal Statement
The prime benefit of the social work is to recognize the importance of human
relationships and work for their betterment. It is also the responsibility of every human to help
needy people and resolve their social problems. I have come to know that being a professional
social worker I have to maintain some of the rules and regulations to elevate the public service
above self-interest. In this context, for the further education, I need to evaluate the compatibility
of the coursework offered by the university with the professional and personal goals along with
the significance of maintaining the ethics in the mentioned practice. The main objective of the
course offered by the university is to prepare leaders who will lead to the sustainable
development in the society. I am a bilingual professional male and working at MSW field for 4
years. The leadership qualities that I can gain from the college are to address complex
challenges and raise my voice against political injustice. I have volunteer for 1500 hours and
completed a trip to Mali for construction of the village. This experience has helped me to gain
experience about the field work and team work regarding the social work. According to the
report of Bureau of Labour Statistics, there is a wide opportunity for the social worker at
workplace and employment of social workers from 2016 to 2026 is projected to grow by 16%
("Social Workers : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", 2019).
The university course needs the candidate who will understand the benefits and the
significance of the social work. The course also provides education so that a person can
facilitating connection between knowledge and experience. From that point of view, I can
consider myself suitable. I am from Dominican Republic and stayed there from 2 to 16 years. My
inclination towards social work comes from my family. We used to collect books and cook foods
for distribution among the poor people.

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I think that the social work as a profession is rooted in some of core values. In this
context, I can mention the mission of the UniversityOf Houston Graduate College Of Social
Work. As mentioned above the main objective of this university is to create the leaders who are
able to lead and research social sustainability through the evaluation and exceptional education.
From these practices social, economic, political and racial justice can be achieved globally. I
have gained this perspective while working in a women shelter at YMCA. While enrolling in the
course, compatibility of my values towards serving the society and the vision of the university
was the first thing that I have found in me to clear the eligible criteria for the University.
Moreover, the urgeto work for injustice in terms of racism, economic imbalance, and political
injustice also allowed me to fulfill the GCSW mission statement. Thus, I can say, that the
mission and vision of the university has helped me to achieve my goals. While serving the
society, my professional goal is to make the use of my skills and the knowledge in the work and
maintaining ethics and rules while doing the social work. My professional goal is to serve the
society of the overall betterment of the situation through the education that I want to obtain in the
concerned University. The education I will gather the university will also help me leading to the
overall betterment of the situation through the mitigation of racial, political and economic
discriminations.
Personally, I consider myself as an enthusiastic person who is keen to indulge other person in
works which are not conventional but those works are essential for the human race. I believe
maintaining all the six principals related to this profession-Service, Social Justice, Dignity and
worth of the Person, Importance of human Relationships, integrity and competence. I tried
helping the needy person by providing them the necessary requirements. . My experience for
creating a high school for a village in Mali Africa, volunteering a club to help those in need

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along with working in a women shelter for protecting women’s from domestic violence are
some of amy major contribution for helping humans. In addition to that, I have also worked as a
case manager for child protective services for two years and case manager in the medical field
with a concentration in HIV. I have tried to see the term social work from a broader perspective
and The University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work has the mission that enables me
to apply my knowledge in such perspective and hence I consider myself as the eligible person for
the University. I want to join in this course as I want to provide better service to the society and
clients in the field of MSW.
Proceeding with the social work following ethical guidelines for the practice is also a criterion
for this University. In this case, I can say that in my social service areas and experiences, I have
maintained and valued ethical conducts and applied through my actions while serving for the
society. The National Association of Social Workers has code of ethics which can be applied for
the individuals, organization and bodies of social working. From my findings I can say this code
of ethics can enhance the sustainability of the social work. The ethical practice in the social
work includes the value for the service, maintaining social justice. It also states that the social
workers should be respectful for the dignity of individual person. It also supports the concept of
integrity, competence and maintaining the human relationship. In some cases, I have seen that,
some of the ethical dilemma can occur while taking action at field work. In this case, proper
ethical measures are needed to be taken. Moreover, in other cases, legal factors are also included
in the decision making process. From my experience I can say that the decision making in the
critical situation is important during the field work. In most cases, the situation is critical and it
needs the proper decision making. Apart from that, I think the knowledge of the ethical measures
for the social workers also helps to mitigate the unethical practices in the organization. I

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throughout my social service experience handle many people and their situations by supporting
their integrity, valuing their thoughts and maintaining the justice in all terms. Thus, the mission
for the University is also fulfilled making me a suitable person for the University. Thus, I can
assure that the professional knowledge from the University will help me to proceed with the
social work ethically and also warn other people about the unethical practices and their
implications afterwards.
Considering the leadership aspect, it is important to focus on the professional and
personal development of the team members. From the practices in the social working filed, I am
concerned about the importance of the communication between the team members during the
field work. Apart from that the evaluation of the performance is important for the individuals. On
the basis of the evaluation proper training and education can be given to the individual social
workers. Social work can be done through the paid service or non-paid service. It has been seen
that in most cases, for the professional social workers, remuneration and assigning the monetary
value for the service is important. This is also included in the ethical practice of the social work.
In other way, from my understanding, I can say that ethical standards in the social work help me
to reflect the core values those are implemented in the practice of social work.
Thus, as a candidate I consider myself as a suitable person for the coursework offered by
the university, as it is compatible with my professional and personal goals and also with my
previous experiences. As an enthusiastic social worker, my main goal is to enhance my ability to
serve more to the society with exceptional education and learning course of innovative research
for helping the needful people. The detailed coursework of the university will help me to get the
insights of the working process and approach. Apart from that I can learn about the professional
ethics and the way of applying the case in my profession. I can relate the aims and objectives of

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the coursework along with their significance with the experience that I have attained making me
the perfect candidate for the coursework at the concerned University.

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Bibliography
Congress, E.P., 2017. What social workers should know about ethics: Understanding and
resolving practice dilemmas. Social Work Ethics, p.1909.
Greene, R. R. (2017). Human Behavior Theory and Professional Social Work Practice.
In Human Behavior Theory and Social Work Practice (pp. 31-62). Routledge.
Hughes, M., & Wearing, M. (2016). Organisations and management in social work:
everyday action for change. Sage.
Knott, C., & Scragg, T. (Eds.). (2016). Reflective practice in social work. Learning
Matters.
Martin, S. (2016). Being Pono: Ethical dilemmas as learning tools for student social
workers. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 28(1), 68-70.
Reamer, F. G. (2015). 18 Ethical Issues in Social Work. Social workers' desk reference,
143.
Reamer, F. G. (2015). Clinical social work in a digital environment: Ethical and risk-
management challenges. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 120-132.
Slovenko, K., & Thompson, N. (2016). Social pedagogy, informal education and ethical
youth work practice. Ethics and Social Welfare, 10(1), 19-34.
Social Workers : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-
workers.htm

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