Commitment to Social Work: Pursuing a Master's Degree with a Focus on Social Justice and Diversity - Free Paper

A professional social worker's hallmark traits and abilities include empathy, organization, critical thinking, cultural competence, active listening, and patience. Every time I am out there working with the community, I must show compassion and listen to them. Through social work, I have learned that people only require someone to listen to them and feel their pain with them. Even without any other act, they feel assisted and are ready to take on further challenges in life. Through these traits and abilities, one can quickly achieve the set objectives of a professional social worker.

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In my social work practice, I aim to achieve the highest gains in social justice. I plan to work with vulnerable groups in society and help them get equality in service and resources. Social justice is a broad concept and a huge goal, requiring specific focus in setting objectives. Therefore, my main concern will be orphaned children who have difficulties obtaining education and inheritance rights. I will try to assist them by linking them to support organizations for legal and educational assistance. This will be a continuation of what I have already been volunteering to do.

Over the past three years, I have worked with different support groups and community-based organizations to help such children. Social workers' efforts complement the work of the government in boarding schools and residential treatment centers that replaced the traditional children's orphanages. We often visit these locations to record the challenges faced by the children and share them with relevant authorities. This way, they have managed to get more assistance in regaining their parents’ estates and reporting oppression from their other family members. During these instances, so many ethical conflicts emerge.

The right to confidentiality is one of the central conflict issues. I have not trained as a counselor or psychologist; I am a social worker. At one point, I met a child who was suicidal, and such information is never supposed to be shared. To help the kid, I had to consult and share the information with a psychiatrist. There is always a need for consent to share such information. For a child less than the legal age, permission should be obtained from a parent or guardian. In this case, there is not a parent, and guardianship is institutionalized. It took a lot of convincing to get the kid to share the information with a psychiatrist who helped him change that mindset of suicide.

Diversity in social work practice is an important concept. I have dealt with people from different races, religions, ethnicities, genders, and other social classifications. They all deserve equal treatment, and that is how the principle of social justice is applied. Viewing these children equally and resolving their challenges with similar impetus has helped me grow as a social worker. I have also come to understand that a person has a sense of innate bias. For the best practice, one has to rise above the prejudices and commit to the vision of social work. In the course of duty, one identifies many other social challenges that draw interest.

As much as my commitment is to social justice, I have a deep concern for people living with psychological disorders. They need social support in a significant way, to integrate seamlessly with society. Support for these people may come in different forms and approaches to ensure that they remain supported. A social worker can provide therapy to help those suffering from anxiety and depression. The whole exercise and practice of social work are rigorous and time-consuming.

As a social worker, one must be used to committing adequate time for social programs. Therefore, I believe what I have been used to doing will significantly aid my commitment to the MSW program which is highly involved and demanding. The sixteen-hour per-week schedule is essential for the program, and I can do everything possible to have the hours covered in two days. Getting a master’s degree in social work is the ultimate dream for me. Therefore, there is no doubt that I will stick to the program's demands and provisions to the very end of attainment. In addition to the program's already covered elements, other aspects position me well for the MSW.

A complete social worker is a respecter of human rights, a promoter of dignity, and offers self-determination. In my social work course, I have been in situations where I have had to show all the said elements. Pursuing a master’s degree in social work will only make me a better professional in my field of interest. Other than being a career, there is a sacrifice and commitment that comes with social work. It is a desire and willingness that must emanate from within. As such, I feel ready and committed to advancing my knowledge in social work and applying myself better in social circles.