Personal Narrative: A Career As A Social Worker

Words: 764
Pages: 4

As a Social Worker I will encounter people who are from many different backgrounds. Being a blonde hair, blue eyed, straight, female, and Caucasian from a lower middle class family chances are my cliental and even my colleagues will be different from me. That is one of the most amazing and intriguing things about being a social worker because I will be able interact with people of different backgrounds on a daily basis. I have a yearning to learn and know about different backgrounds of people. A person’s difference makes them who they are. As a Social Worker respecting a person’s diverse background is one of the most important things to do. If we disrespect them or are not sensitive to their background we are not adhering to the Code of Ethics …show more content…
In order to do this I have to remember that my clients are different than I am. They may as well fit the same description I gave of myself above, but their story is different from mine. As a Social Worker I have to be prepared to work with the diverse cliental that comes into my office. In order to do this I have know who my clients are, where they come from, and what problems they face. Along with this I have to treat each client differently although they may have similar backgrounds. Going though school is helping me tremendously to learn how to work with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and with different needs; as I move along in my career and work with a diverse population I will continue to learn which is vital as a social …show more content…
When I get my first social work position one of the first things I need to do is study the demographics of the area. Studying the demographics will give me information such as average age, what race/ethnicity most of my clients will be, and gender; doing this will help prepare me to work with my clients effectively. After I have studied my demographics I need to study each client individually. If I have my clients face sheet or intake sheet I will hopefully be able to know age, name, gender, race/ethnicity, etc… From this I can research key components of their race/ethnicity such as traditions, taboos, beliefs etc…Knowing the demographics and somewhat of the individual background I will hopefully be able to effectively communicate with and help my client. Having this knowledge is important, but to understand the client fully the most important thing to do to effectively work with someone from a diverse background is to have them explain who they are if they are comfortable doing so. The one person that knows everything about someone is that person them self. Having my client tell me about their background will give me insight into what I can do to help them. Another important thing I need to do as a Social Worker to respect people’s background is to make sure my client is comfortable working with me. For instance as a young Caucasian female if I was to meet with a client who is an older African America male it