Starting Social Work by Rebecca Joy Novell

Author:Rebecca Joy Novell [Novell, Rebecca Joy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Social Work, Study Aids, Study & Test-Taking Skills, Education, Higher, Self-Help, Personal Growth, Success, Counseling, Career Development
ISBN: 9781909682122
Google: ayAnDAAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 18854683
Publisher: Critical Publishing
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

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It is interesting reading this blog back, as sexual exploitation has recently gained a lot of media attention due to the activities of grooming gangs in Derby, Rotherham and Oxford. As a result, it seems that the news is purporting the idea of it being a crime purely perpetrated by Asian men. It is not. Nor is it only young girls who are being exploited. What remains clear to me is that Britain does not yet have the resources to be able to effectively prevent and tackle this terrible crime.

STREET-WISE GRANNIES

The dissertation process was a long one. I began to realise that there are many ways to develop in social work, and that research and academia were another route to helping people. That is of course if you are good at research and academia. Mine was not the academic route. But realising this was useful in terms of deciding what my strengths indeed were. I am a practical social worker who luckily had Louise, who was an academic, to help me understand methodologies.

Being able to understand, analyse and critique complex theories though is, in my opinion, an integral part of being a good social worker. There is an ongoing debate (mainly among people who aren’t qualified social workers) as to whether you have to be ‘book smart’ to be a social worker or whether you have to have good people skills. It’s simple; you have to have both. And the two aren’t mutually exclusive. There is this myth that exists that people who are able to obtain a university degree are unable to communicate with those who haven’t. It goes hand-in-hand with the assumption that everyone who goes to university is middle class. As someone who was eligible for the highest tier of Education Maintenance Allowance at school, and who received full government funding at university due to high grades and low income, this assumption is something I find quite offensive. That said, I do believe it is imperative that more is done to ensure university education is accessible to low-income families. Social work would benefit from this especially.

While we need to keep away from social work the elitism that has plagued many other professions, we cannot pretend that a high level of training and intellect is not needed in order to do our job well. We work with some of the most complex and damaged human beings who need expert intervention if they are to have any hope of a positive future. It seems so obvious to me that the best minds should go into facing the challenges of child abuse, sexual exploitation, youth crime and Mental Health Services. These problems are too important not to be taken seriously. Society deserves a high standard of social services, and I am positive that there are plenty of people out there who would make fantastic social workers if they were given the right incentives and opportunities to become one.

This relates to another question I frequently get asked as a

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