Background information
I am 39 years old white/native American. I am a single father of a 13-year-old daughter after having had two unsuccessful marriages that ended in divorce. I participated in the first Gulf war that left me disabled. The main reason why I want to enter the professional undergraduate program in social work is to continue on to Graduate Studies specializing in Substance Abuse, and from there work with veterans coming back from the current Gulf War. The secondary reason why I want to enter the program is to work in the Department of Social Services Child Protective Service. This will enable me to work hand in hand with families in difficult situations by getting and analyzing reports of neglect and abuse of children, and to connect parents with vital resources that grant them the opportunity to improve in the capability to keep their children safe.
Social work is my appropriate career goal, it enables me to show compassion to the suffering in the society, therefore improve their quality of life. I reside in a community that is composed of 80% + Native Americans who are mainly poor and live below the poverty scale. If I would decide to stay and work in my community, I would be concerned about the social problems, causes, solutions, and their impacts to my people. I would incorporate various individuals and groups to better their living standards. This is my passion and compassion.
Experiences in my life have fostered the thought that social work is the ultimate profession for me. For the entire period I have lived amongst my people, I have witnessed neglect in offering assistance to low-income families in providing special health needs to their children. I faced various hardships during the first Gulf war that left me disabled. I experienced the painful effects of the war. This has made me steer in the campaign to represent the unique interests of the war veterans.
Substance abuse
Substance abuse is a major current social and health problem in the United States. Yearly, thousands of people suffer varied complications due to this societal problem. Serious health complications, mental illnesses, crime, and physical trauma incidences have been associated with abuse of sub substances like cocaine, heroin, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco. The connection between crime and substance abuse is evident in the rampant cases of sentencing juveniles to prisons.
Substance abuse has varied causes. Most instances of this illicit behavior start in the youthful years. The family environment has been one of the major causes. Negligence by the parents yields to poor nurturing of the children into the values of the society. When the home is chaotic, the kids seek solace in taking drugs. Peer pressure causes abuse of drugs when the teens fail to cope with their peers and they yield up to their demands. Teens associated with deviant groups are at more risk to abuse drugs.
Early recognition and treatment of abuse of drugs are helpful in limiting its effects. The symptoms include, but are not limited to, lack of interest in past activities carried out in the past, poor performance at school, remorse, suicidal behavior, disorderly behavior, feeling detached from close family members, and recurrent hangovers.
Prompt treatments are necessary for the people affected by substance abuse. To change the condition of substance abusers, counseling sessions are done to help them come out of the craving for drugs. Long-term drug use alters brain function and strengthens the compulsions to abuse drugs. This craving does not stop even after stopping drug use. Therefore, the most vital part of treatment is preventing relapse. This involves strategies to manage the cravings and techniques of avoiding a relapse. Prescription of medications is important to substance abusers to foster their change to normal life (eMedicineHealth, 2009).
Prevention of this vice is better than its cure. The most prevalent stage where substance abuse starts is in the teen years. Therefore, efforts towards abuse prevention are to be focused on this age group. The principles of parenting ought to be practiced by the caregivers, guardians, and parents, in order to achieve the prevention goals. Communication between parents and children enhances their self-esteem, hence limits their engagement in unlawful activities.
Teaching teens resistance skills to avoid peer pressure is an important aspect of prevention efforts. Education forums and the media can be effectively used to empower teens in knowing about drug use and the implications of its misuse.
The NASW Code of Ethics
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), with 150, 000 members, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world. The NASW has a standard code of ethics purposed to act as a guide to the everyday professional conduct of the social workers. (NASW, 2009, par. 1, 2).
The code is categorized into four sections: The preamble, purpose of the NASW code of ethics, ethical principles, and ethical standards.
The preamble section provides a summary of the mission and the core values of the social work profession. It emphasizes that the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance the wellbeing of individuals, with special attention to the needs of the poor in society.
The code has six purposes. To begin with, it gives core values of social work’s mission. Secondly, it provides a brief summary of ethical principles that relate to the profession’s core values and offers guidance in the social work practice. Third, it gives help to social workers in solving conflicting situations. The cord functions to give ethical standards that the public can use to hold the social workers accountable. In addition, it facilitates the entry of new social workers into the field. Finally, it provides a benchmark for assessing any violation of the ethical standards by the social workers (NASW, 2009).
The ethical standard of maintaining ethical responsibilities to clients is an enforceable guideline for professional conduct by the social worker. The social worker’s primary responsibility is to show commitment to clients by promoting their well-being. Every human being has a right to self-fulfillment, and the social worker is liable to protect these rights. The social workers should provide clients with valid informed consent when making decisions. They have a commitment to show competency, knowledge, and skill in offering their services to individuals.
Social workers are obliged to resolve conflicts amicably, respect the privacy and confidentiality of clients, assist clients in accessing records, avoid illicit sexual relationships, administer considerable payment of services, avoid derogatory language, and avoid undue termination of their services.
In my professional work as a social worker, I would apply this ethical standard of maintaining ethical responsibilities to my clients. In dealing with child abuse cases, commitment to clients would be my primary goal. I would show responsibility in assisting my clients. In cases where I am required to report the matter to the higher authority, I would frankly do so. The provision of my services would only be in the context of a professional relationship. I would use clear and understandable language to inform my clients about the nature and extent of the services I am offering. In circumstances when I am to deal with illiterate or clients with difficulty in speech, I would seek a third-party intervention to solve this.
In order to have an in-depth knowledge of child abuse, I would read widely to increase my competency and skills in this area.
I would be alert to avoid conflicts of interest that may arise in dealing with child abuse victims. For example, in a child keeping the family secret, I would take appropriate action to minimize conflicts that may arise between the child and his or her family members.
I would avoid any unauthorized disclosure of the clients’ records to maintain their privacy and confidentiality. I would avoid sexual activities that can inflict more pain on my clients. In all communications to and about clients, I would use accurate and respected language. If by any means I were to terminate my services, I would do so after careful deliberation to avoid abandoning my clients.
Reference
EMedicineHealth (2009). Substance abuse. Web.
NASW. (2009). About NASW. Web.
NASW. (2009). Code of ethics. Web.