Discuss how the barriers to services identified by your colleagues can be overcome by a professional social worker working with LGBTQ clients. | Quick Homework Help

Respond to at least two colleagues with recommendations of what skills social workers might employ to separate and/or reconcile personal values with professional responsibilities in the scenario presented. Discuss how the barriers to services identified by your colleagues can be overcome by a professional social worker working with LGBTQ clients.  Use at least 1 reference.

 

Colleague 1: A

 

I believed I am not excluded from this heterosexism. I am from a community with a strong cultural heritage and morals. The word “gay” is generally used to describe an individual who is less than or incomplete to a man. However, the world in the 19^th and 20^th century has observed a change and acceptance of disparities, the society has evolve and there is freedom to practice religion of your choice, sexual orientation, and even your self-identity (Clinton, 2011). Despite the evolution, the lesbian, gay males, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) people are despised and discriminated within our communities, and government parastatals (Clinton, 2011). The LGBT people according to Adams et al., (2013, pp. 381), are targets to “exclusion, denial of civil and legal protections, and in some cases, overt acts of violence”. An example of hate crime and terrorist act on gay was the recent mass shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando leaving 50 dead (New York Times, 2016, June 16).

 

Personal opinion, values, and beliefs should not be mixed with professional ethics and code of ethics in social workers. Social workers utmost responsibility is protect the client and fight for injustice without prejudice or bias mind. According to NASW (2001, pp.10), “cultural competence refers to the process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each”. Despite my upbringing I respect diversity and I have come to respect individual orientation.

 

References

 

Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W. J., Castaneda, C., Hackman, H. W., Peters, M. L., &

Zuniga, X. (Eds.). (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice. (3rd Ed.). New

York, NY: Routledge Press.

 

Clinton, H. R. (2011). United Nations AIDress on Global LGBT Rights. U.S. Department

     of State. Retrieved from http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/

2011/12/20111206180616su0.4842885. Html#axzz2zeJtVRfq

 

National Association of Social Workers. (2001). NASW standards for cultural

competence in social work practice. Retrieved from

http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/standards/NASWCulturalStandards.pdf

 

New York Times (2016, June 16). Orlando Gunman Attacks Gay Nightclub, Leaving 50

Dead. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/us/orlando-nightclub-

Shooting.html on 7/11/16

 

 

 

Colleague 2:  M

 

Scenario: The client, Adam, in this scenario is an African American male who identifies as gay. Adam has been having relationship problems with his partner and is coming to the community center for therapy and advice on working through his relationship issues. The client has a history of abuse from former partner and father as a child. He has never completed any therapy sessions or opened up about his past trauma and this is the first appointment with the center. The social worker assigned to Adam is Cindy, a Caucasian female who is of a Southern Baptist religion. She has been a social worker for one year and has never encountered a LGBTQ client. Cindy thinks the LGBTQ is an abomination and expresses to her boss while reading the intake her anxiety and disgust with Adam lifestyle. Adam arrives for his first appointment and storms out of the center after Cindy asks if he has ever read what the bible says about homosexuality as the first intake question.

 

Different religions have different views on the world and the way things should be played out in our society. According to the Pew Center (2012), most religions oppose same sex marriage and relations. If you are a social work who is religious, working with someone who is in the LGBTQ community could be difficult. Acceptance and empathy is key to being a social work, judgement is not accepted in any way when you are a social worker as you work with very vulnerable people on a daily basis. Some clients that are LGBTQ will have long history of abuse, oppression, and marginalization based on their identity or sexual orientation, as social workers we will be responsible for aIDressing these topics. In all helping professions it is very important to leave your personal beliefs, biases, values, and religious ideals at home. In our society we are very diverse, as a social worker you must embrace diversity. The NASW encourages social workers to provide empathetic care to a diverse population of people and embrace the differences that we have as a society. Our professional ethics and values should be distinct in empathy and non-judgmental approach to all populations, regardless of personal beliefs. It is important to remember we do not get paid for our ideas, beliefs or values; It is also important to remember we have a code of ethics to provide our services, which embraces diversity.

 

In the scenario it is clear that Cindy does not support the LGBTQ community, however the NASW does and in turn she is failing to fulfil the social work code of ethics. Her approach to the client involved a religious approach which is off limits unless aIDressed by a client. Cindy personal beliefs about gay people have led her not to be able to successfully work with Adam and caused him to leave the session after only one question. The impact she has made on Adam can be extremely negative as he was weary to receive services in the beginning and this was his first attempt to aIDress the abuse and trauma he has endured due to being LGBTQ in this society. Cindy should have approached this as any other client and respected the client’s lifestyle regardless of her religious opinions.

 

Being in a helping profession it is very important to realize and embrace diversity. We will encounter many races, religions, sexual orientations, and many other distinctive diversity characteristics in which we have to appreciate as social workers. Minorities have been oppressed and discriminated against throughout history and social workers are there to help people through crisis situations. Clients do not want our personal opinions, they want our professional opinions.

 

References:

 

It Gets Better Project. (n.d.). It gets better. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

 

Pew Research Center (2009). Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage. Retrieved from: http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/07/religious-groups-official-positions-on-same-sex-marriage/

 

 

 

 

RESPONSE 2:

 

Respond to a colleague’s post by offering an aIDitional development theory and explaining its connection to the act of bullying. Please use the Learning Resources to support your answer. Use at least 1 reference.

 

Colleague 1: K

 

HE CONSTRUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN AND BULLYING BEHAVIOR

 

Children learn how to “self-regulate” (p. 350) their behavior when they are raised by parents or guardians who instills the importance of being honest into them, applies discipline when they misbehave, and exudes positive reinforcements when they behave morally. Parents must behave honestly and morally on a consistent basis in order for their children to model after them. Moral development in children is derived from their familial experiences (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Children who show aggressive behaviors towards their peers are thought to have certain character traits that lead them to become either of two types of aggressors: Bullies, or Bully-Victims (Gasser and Keller, 2009).

 

In their research Gasser and Keller, (2009) revealed that bullies have spontaneous personalities, and do not think about how they are going to attack their target. However, bully-victims, strategize and plan their attack. Also noted in their research, was the fact that some bullies are classified as being socially competent because of their charisma; they had social and communication skills, they proved good at controlling/leading others, and they were successful in attaining their goals. Bully-Victims were found to unable to function in society because of being inefficacious aggressors. They are meticulous, shrewd, and cunning, and are focused on planning their attack on their target.

BULLYING USING CYBERSPACE, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND OTHER COMMUNICATION METHODS

 

Within the teenage population bullies target their victims via the internet through social media and networking sites such as: Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They also use text-messaging via cellular phones. These sites are open to the general public, making it easy for bullies to share whatever information he/she desires. Social media has given the bully a new level of confidence in intimidating behavior because he/she has a sense of anonymity. In person, the bully has a small audience and the attacks take place in an inanimate location, but through the use of social media and other communication tools, he/she is able to enter into the private places of their victims; e. g. text-messaging, and home computers. They have a larger audience in which to share their venomous remarks, sharing personal information; such as photos, and gender identity Sulkowski, Nichols and Storch (2009). Cyberbullying is responsible for an increase in teenage substance abuse, difficulties in school, and creates hostility amongst friends.

 

HOW HAS BULLYING EVOLVED THROUGH THE USE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY?

 

To this day, bullying still takes place either in person, and/or through electronic media. Prior to the invent of social and electronic media, victims were targeted in person. Because of the popularity of social and electronic media, cyberbullying has opened the door to an unprecedented level of aggression that has taken on another construct which does not require any personal interaction with the victim (Sulkowski, Nichols and Storch, 2009). Victimizers can attack unsuspecting adolescents whom they have never met. It is important, therefore that as children learn how to navigate the internet, for parents or guardians to closely monitor their children’s use of social and electronic media. Bullies are indiscriminate on where they find their victims, and children new to the internet, and cell phones, are easy targets for becoming victims without ever meeting their aggressor.

 

 

References

 

Dempsey, A. G., Sulkowski, M. L., Nichols, R., & Storch, E. A. (2009). Differences between peer victimization in cyber and physical settings and associated psychosocial adjustment in early adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 46(10), 962–972. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases

 

Gasser, L., & Keller, M. (2009). Are the competent the morally good? Perspective taking and moral motivation of children involved in bullying. Social Development. 18(4), 798-816. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

 

 

RESPONSE 3:

 

Respond to a colleague’s post by expanding on how the act of bullying can affect the psychological development of both victim and observer. Then offer an aIDitional social work intervention, skill, or practice that might change this cycle of events. Please use 1 Learning Resource to support your answer.