Social Work Book Report

Throughout this course I have learned a lot of interesting things about Social Work and everything that it entitles. The book that we have been reading throughout the semester, Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering people, has taught me about the different aspects of social work. While reading the text there were five specific chapters that stood out to me amongst all of the chapters in the book. These five chapters I believe were the most important and the most interesting. The first chapter that I thought was quite interesting was chapter one titled, Social Welfare: Its Business, History, and Future. I thought that this chapter was most interesting because it really depicted the importance of a Social Worker. It gave …show more content…
The second chapter that I think was really important to the textbook is chapter two, Social Work as a Profession and a Career. This chapter is important because it lists the different areas and specializations of Social Work along with the goals of a Social Worker. This is very important to anyone who wishes to become a Social Worker because these are the areas that a person will likely be working in. According to Zastrow (2010), there are three levels in which they can work in and they are Micro, Mezzo, and Macropractice. Micro is the first level of practice and it is in which they work with individuals one on one. Mezzo is the practice of working with small groups such as families, and finally, Macro is the practice of working with organizations and communities (p.45). In each of these three levels there are various areas in which a person can work and specialize in. If I were to become a Social Worker then I would probably want to specialize in social casework which focuses on working with individuals one on one to meet their needs. I think that this would be the best option for me because I am better at talking to smaller groups of people rather than talking to a big group. Another important aspect mentioned in this chapter is the five major goals of a Social Worker. In summary, these five goals are to help people improve a client’s problem solving skills, help …show more content…
This particular chapter explains to us the different roles that a Social Worker must take on in order to be successful in their career. This chapter also gives us the different values and guidelines that they must follow to ensure that they are performing their job appropriately. If I were to become a Social Worker, then I would have to be able to take on these different roles and follow the guidelines to be successful. According to Zastrow (2010), some of the roles include, but are not limited to, educator, empowerer, public speaker, and so on (p. 70-72). As an educator, they must teach their clients skills that could be used to help in whatever situation that they may be going through. There are a couple of examples that are listed in the textbook and one such example would be teaching someone how to express their feelings appropriately in an attempt to keep them from having violent outbursts. Another example would be teaching a parent appropriate parenting skills so that their children can grow up successfully. The role of an educator would also require a person to be good at communicating otherwise their client could misunderstand what they are being taught. As an empowerer, their job is to help their clients to realize their individual potential. In this way they are able to make smart decisions on their own and help them to take responsibility for the things that they do. For example their client may choose to