Child and Family Social Work Practice, Essay Example

Introduction

Reflexivity and reflective living are important in child and family social work practice.  Child and family social work practice aims at helping the children and members of the family to locate their location in the society and influence their impact in the society (Donati 2016, p.57). This is mostly done through the assistance of reflection on our past experiences. In this assignment, I am required to discuss the importance of reflexivity in child and family social work practice. I am expected to interact with children in a family and social setting and use my experience to help them attain a high level of reflexivity.

About Myself and My Social Location

I am a female adult. My race is Asian, from India. My society is a religious one and adheres to strict religious codes of Hinduism. Buddhism is also common in my society. I am a young adult. I belong to a middle-class family in India. I believe myself to have several abilities and talents. Such abilities include the ability to interact freely and happily with children, conflict resolution, and sporting abilities.

My culture is diverse and entails a set of rules and regulations that both men and women must adhere to. These rules and regulations relate to almost every aspect of life such as birth, marriage, and funeral rites. The Asian culture that I subscribe to insists on spirituality. I am privileged to have attained a good level of education in society and that allows me to contribute to an impact on some decisions both in my family and in the society at large. However, the scope of my influence is limited due to the cultural aspects of some decisions. Some decisions are made by men while others are a result of traditions that I cannot overrule.

Application of the 7 C’s

As a social work professional, communication will be key to achieving my goals. For that reason, I will need to be clear, concrete, complete, courteous, correct, considered, and complete in my communication (Pagare 2020, p.6). This way, I will ensure that whatever information I am giving to my clients in the process of interaction is correct and is given in a manner that will be understood and implemented. This also means that I will have to undertake deep research before engaging my clients to ensure the correctness of the information (Koprowska 2020, p.13). I will have to synthesize the data provided and provide a correct interpretation that is simple to understand and apply. Eventually, 7 C’s will help me to be effective in social work practice, especially when dealing with families that do not belong to my social class (Pagare 2020, p.9).  With the proper application of the 7 C’s, I will be sure to be effective in my work as a social work professional.

Critique of My Social Graces

Social Graces is an acronym denoting gender, race, age, ability, class, culture, ethnicity, education, and spirituality. As noted above, I am a female young adult of Asian descent. My culture has a set of rules that I have to follow, sometimes without having to question. This is bad when it comes to reflexivity and reflective living because, in the pursuit of reflexive life, I am required to practice and teach my clients to practice a life where their actions, assumptions, and feelings are based on the experiences and observations within the society. This is not possible in a society where I have to adhere to a set of rules, even if those rules are not in line with the perceived insight of my society. Additionally, having been born of a middle-class family, my fitting in with families from the upper-class will be highly prejudiced and might not yield proper results.

Reflexivity is all about establishing one’s location in society and attempting to alter that location for the good of society. This is not possible in a society like mine, where social status and gender determine who is to speak and who is to follow. It is expected that these factors will hinder my social work practice but my determination to ensure social and distributive justice is achieved will be the guide out of this perceived hurdle.

Social graces have made me understand my social graces and locate my place in society. The social graces will support my social work as they will help me to be aware of myself and how my position interplays with other people. I will then be aware of the differences between my social graces and those of the families that I will be working with (Jones 2019, p.243). This awareness is important as it will define how I will approach various individuals in my social work practice.

The Social Work Task

The present social work task requires elaboration on the importance of reflexivity and reflection in child and family social work practice. To complete this task, I am required to interact with young children and their families within a social setting. In the end, it is expected that these children will be able to adopt a higher level of reflexivity and shape the direction of society.

Reflexivity and Reflection Concepts

A human being exists within a social environment. This environment may alter or affect the way people behave. The social environment also shapes a person’s personality traits and way of life (Schön 2016, p.13). The question then becomes whether it is possible to alter this social environment, based on the prevailing circumstances and personal experiences of a person (Donati 2016, p.67). This is the role of reflexivity. Reflexivity refers to the ability of an individual to be able to alter their life in society as a response to the knowledge about that particular person’s circumstances. In other words, it is a process of reflective inquiry that seeks to establish a connection between a person’s personal life and their professional career (Thompson and Thompson 2018, p.19). It can also be used to locate the person’s position or location the society.

Reflexivity is a process, a dynamic process that involves making observations based on the prior understanding or knowledge of the subject. This definition is critical as it incorporates the idea of reflection (Schön 2016, p.60). While the concepts of reflexivity and reflection are related, they are different. Reflexivity is an immediate and dynamic position that involves continued self-awareness. On the other hand, reflection is thinking about an event or something after it has happened and drawing observations from it (Schön 2016, p.62). In other words, reflexivity is a position while reflection is a process, a general process. Reflexivity is used to locate oneself in the situation and it is aided by the process of reflectivity.

Reflectivity is the process by which we can think about our actions, assumptions, and knowledge and how this knowledge shapes or influences situations. We can then use the product of the process of reflectivity to change our practice and actions, leading to a changing society. Reflectivity leads to reflexivity (Thompson and Thompson 2018, p.28). Reflexivity concerns the relationship between the knowledge obtained through the reflectivity and our social life (Donati 2016, p. 70). As the social frameworks and traditions dissolve, we can use the knowledge we obtained to live openly and reflexively, where we alter our actions and respond and adjust to the new social environment and the world around us (Schön 2016, p.66). It is the position one occupies in society.

Social work practice involves the application of social work principles and values to offer social services to people. These social services may include counselling and psychotherapy. The concepts of reflexivity and reflectivity are very relevant in social work as they guide the professional in providing personalized solutions to clients (Schön 2016, p.57). For one to fit in society, they must adopt a rational and deliberate approach to reflexive living (Thompson and Thompson 2018, p.32). This way, they are not just free agents in society but can shape the environment around them. Social work professionals aim to make the social environment a better place for everyone. This is only possible through reflexivity (Schön 2016,p.56). As noted earlier, reflectivity comes to the aid of reflexivity. Therefore, these two concepts are key in social work practice.

A Reflection on How I Think I Might Be Impacted by Social Work Practice and By the Issues I Will Encounter in My Practice

Social work practice is a complex field that involves dealing with individual persons in society. It also involves dealing with some of the most complex social problems that people face daily. For this reason, I expect my role in social work practice to be both fulfilling and challenging at the same time. The role will be fulfilling because I expect that I will be able to contribute positively to building a safe society that is responsive to the needs of everyone (Donati 2016, p.59). I also expect to play a key role in helping people deal with several problems that they might be facing in society, such as depression, isolation, and substance abuse.

On the other hand, I expect that the role will also be challenging and impact me emotionally. This is because some of the issues that I might encounter might have an emotional bearing (Hedges 2019, p.26). These include cases of child neglect and child trafficking (Ferguson 2011, p.5). These are emotional matters that may impact me negatively, but I have to learn to manage such negative implications.

How the Families I Work with May Experience Me and My Professional Role

I am an outgoing, young female Asian. I expect that the families that I will interact with will find me of great help in their social life. I will ensure that I provide an environment of trust and confidentiality. After establishing this environment, I will hope that these families will trust me with vital information about their social life. I will then use this information to help the families and their children to live a self-reflexive life (Ferguson 2011, p.29). In that regard, I will hope that the individuals of the families that I will interact with will learn the importance of and incorporate reflexivity in their daily lives. In the end, I expect that I will leave these families happy and at a better social location where they can influence good decisions in society. Additionally, I will expect that the children I will have interacted with will embrace reflexivity and grow to be responsible members of the society (Ferguson 2011, p.33). I will also expect that these children will grow in self-awareness and confidence.

Conclusion

Reflexivity is a complex process through which a person finds their location within the society. It is aided by the process of reflectivity. Through reflexivity, we can question our ways of being and acting. We also question how our experiences and relationships with others make sense and influence our own lives. Once we do this examination, we can use the knowledge and the outcome of reflectivity to shape ourselves to whom we want to be in our society. We are also able to shape and redirect our actions to be more responsible and ethical towards others in society.

Through reflexivity, we can understand our role in society and use that role to shape our societies. We are also able to recognize authority over our actions and also take personal responsibility for our values, feelings, action, and professional identity. This way, we develop a strong sense of self-awareness that helps us to deal with and live with some level of unpredictability and uncertainty that may be present in our society. Reflexivity allows children to grow into responsible adults who can be depended upon to shape the future of society.

Reference List

Donati, M., 2016. Becoming a reflective practitioner. The handbook of counselling psychology, pp.55-73.

Ferguson, T.H., 2011. Child protection practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hedges, F., 2019. An introduction to systemic therapy with individuals: a social constructionist approach. First published 2005, Red Globe Press

Jones, V. (2019). Diversity IS GRACE–Using the ‘Social Graces’ to Promote Reflection on Diversity. Working with People with Learning Disabilities: Systemic Approaches, 243.

Koprowska, J. (2020). Communication and interpersonal skills in social work. Learning Matters.

Pagare, S. (2020). The Seven C’s of Communication.

Schön, D., 2016. The reflective practitioner. Routledge, 1083.

Thompson, S., and Thompson, N., 2018. The critically reflective practitioner. Palgrave Macmillan.