Essay One
As a social worker, I would consider the clients to be Antonio, Ultima, Gabriel, Maria, Antonio’s brothers, and sisters. I would identify them to be my clients because, in the Hispanic culture, the family is very important. The family as a whole tend to have a large close-knit family and it is common for generations to live under one household. Grandparents have a significant impact on raising. Religion plays a significant factor in their daily lives A major characteristic amongst this group is family values and loyalty. “Familismo is a universal Latino term that refers to the importance of family closeness and connection” (MSW Careers, 2016). The importance of the overall well being of a family makes Hispanic and Latino Americans very group-oriented with family gatherings being. There are several assessments that would be conducted in order to assist the client’s needs. This will asses for any biological, psychological, and social factors that can relate to any issues that may occur with the clients. On the first session, I would conduct a biopsychosocial assessment for the entire family because Antonio’s mother, brother, and sisters did not have traumatic things that really triggered them. In class, we had a discussion about the importance of conducting assessments for our clients. “They were created to gather data that we need to identify presenting problems, evaluate progress towards reaching goals, and effective how the interventions for our clients” (class discussion, 2018). The biopsychosocial assessment will help identify any issues that they may have. Therefore, we will be able to assist to their needs. Antonio has witnessed a lot of traumatic things which include watching a few people get murdered, his friend passing away from drowning, and watching his Ultima provide a natural healing segment on a cursed man. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) assessment would be useful for him. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study represented a landmark in medical research, linking childhood experiences of abuse, neglect, and household (Cronholm, P. F., Forke, C. M., Wade, R., Bair-Merritt, M. H., Davis, M., Harkins-Schwarz, M., Fein, J. A.,2015). This form of assessment determines if there was any type of neglect, abuse, or any other trauma that may have provided a negative in his childhood. Gabriel faced several issues as well. He was apart of killing an individual and he was upset by his three sons leaving the family by moving away after serving in the military. The Beck’s Depression Inventory and a PTSD need assessment would be used for him because the things that occurred caused him to be down and worried. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a 21-item self-reporting questionnaire for evaluating the severity of depression in normal and psychiatric populations Throughout the movie, every time he would walk the bridge he would stop and look out at the place he killed the man. For Ultima, I would conduct the Older People’s Quality of Life Questionnaire I believe it is important to make sure that she is enjoying the quality of life, her health, relationship with her family is good, psychological mindset, and that she is comfortable at home. Andrew has come from the army. He is drinking and keeps going to the whore house. There may have been something that occurred in the military that is causing him to act this way. I would conduct a brief trauma assessment in order to see if he has PTSD.
There are several strengths that are contributed to the movie. The relationship between Ultima and Antonio is very special. Their relationship is the most important in the movie. Ultima is considered to be Antonio’s mentor. She is a natural healer and passes her knowledge along to Antonio. She teaches him the quality of life through nature as well as grow into a mature young man. Antonio and Ultima’s connection makes her supernatural healing beliefs stronger. Ultima uses her unique gift to guide Antonio to do his own critical thinking and use his own morality. In the movie, she taught him about different things on earth that can provide healing towards different sicknesses. Also, she brought him with her to perform the exorcism on his Uncle Lucas who was cursed by witchcraft. I would describe the rural environment in the movie to be close-knit. Everyone knows each other in the town and they would help whoever is in need. An example would be whenever Ultima and Antonio went to help his dying uncle. Several people were surrounding the house preparing for his death. Actually, there were three ladies that were already mourning. Another strength in the rural environment, beautiful countryside scenery to admire while Antonio was enjoying his extended family. Antonio’s family would go in the summer to his extended family farm to pick vegetables and fruit to have for the upcoming. After a long hard day of work, they would sit around at the dinner table, laugh and talk about old memories. That was there escape from the issues that were occurring in their home. This brought the family close and happiness. The communication had a significant impact on Antonio with his family as well as his friends. In one scene in the movie, he was in the car with his father and he asks him if his friend, Florence, would go to heaven since he didn’t believe in God. Also, the conversation with Florence about his religion had an impact on him. He learned the true meaning of natural healing, and beauty of earth by his grandmother. These conversations had a significant impact on Antonio and shaped his identity, mature morally, and spiritually. Another strength is that they stand behind their culture. Antonio culture plays an important role in their daily life decisions.
There were several challenges that occurred within the systems. There was a lot of deaths and suicides that occurred. The first death was the murder of Lupito because he killed Chavez brother. This was done by Gabriel, Chavez and many other. This affected Chavez because he grieving over the loss of his brother and he wanted revenge. I believe Gabriel had some sort of trauma after it because every time he would cross the bridge, he would stop and look at where Luptio was killed. Also, it had an effect on Antonio because he witnessed Lupitio getting killed by people that he loves and know. Another challenge was that Antonio friend, Florence, was not religion due to both of his parents passing away. He would be resistant to accepting God and going to church. Whenever Florence passed away in a drowning, Antonio faith was shaken. Antonio felt that since he did believe in God would he still go to heaven. He separated himself from his family to go work with his uncles. This forced him to grow up alone. Another challenge was that Antonio experienced a lot of violence. He watched his grandmother perform an exorcism on his dying uncle, witness his father killing someone and had a gun pointed at him. I know this had a negative impact on him and he has experienced some sort of trauma.
Essay Two
Good evening everyone. My name is xxxxxxx, I am the supervisor at xxxxx Hospital located in xxxx, TX. I have been working there for 2 years. I received my Master’s degree in social worker and I obtained it from Stephen F. Austin State University, which is located in Nacogdoches, TX. Axe ’em Jacks! Today I will be discussing the different aspects of being an advanced generalist practitioner for mental health clients in a rural area. If you do not know xxxx, TX is considered to be a rural area. Can anyone tell me what their definition of a rural area is? My definition of a rural area is …………..Well, I believe that it is very important to become knowledgeable of the ins and out of working in a rural area. A lot of people believe that there aren’t social problems that need to be addressed in rural areas, but that isn’t the case. First, let’s take a look that the challenges that advanced generalist practitioners experience in a rural area.
There are several challenges as an advanced generalist practitioner. It is important for social workers to maintain professional in rural areas. Working in rural areas as a social worker requires an intermediate level of understanding in regards to values and ethics and applying these skills to your career. It is very important to maintain professional behavior as an advanced generalist practitioner. We are held at high expectations as advanced social workers. Sometimes it can be challenging working with clients who are resistant to work with you. Our clients have mental health, developmental and intellectual disabilities. Working with this population can be challenging at times due to resistance, or lack of motivation to change. However, as a licensed social worker you should be professional and abide by the code of ethics at all times in order to not get your license suspended. The code of ethics states that “social workers should not engage in any dual or multiple relationships with students in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the student (National Association of Social Workers, 2018).)”. Rural areas are fairly small which means that everyone knows one another. Therefore dual relationships are when social relationships fold over with a professional relationship. Sometimes, dual relationships are hard to prevent in rural areas. With the mental health population, it can be challenging. Sometimes they may follow you home, call you consistently, or try to hug you. This can be difficult too because they have a disability. However, we as social workers must be aware of different ways our professional lives may intertwine with our personal lives. In rural areas, we must familiarize ourselves with boundaries with our clients and handling complex situations.
There are a variety of practice behaviors that fall under the social work nine core competencies. We must advocate for our clients in order for them to receive the appropriate service that will benefit their needs. Most clients have a form of disability, so it is important for us to be their voice for them. We must maintain to attend meetings, and conferences in order to stay educated with the constant changes in the field of social work. We must apply the values in ethics to our everyday challenges as well as to our decision making. In mental health agencies such, there will be a lot of collaborations with different departments and different forms of meetings in regards to our clients. An important professional behavior that a social worker must use is to apply the problem-solving frame when working with clients. Finally, since we are social work supervisors, we must utilize leadership functions when engaging with our providing changes in service delivery and practice to improve the quality of social services. Social workers have a significant role in interprofessional education and how our healthcare will be implemented in the future in America. They are continuously working with interdisciplinary teams in several healthcare settings in order to improve healthcare and assure that the clients are receiving the proper care.
The Social Security Act has created President Roosevelt in the year 1935. Not only does this law address situations toward welfare, but this act also addresses social insurance to pay individuals who are 65 or older and who are retired workers. They will continue to receive income after they have retired. Social Security Act has a federal insurance program automatically takes taxes out of an employers check and it’s given to them once they retire. Other individuals who qualify to receive money from this law is disabled, unemployed, disabled, and single mothers. Because of its focus on welfare and social development in a wide understanding of behavioral health care. The law includes major social insurance and public assistance program that has become integral to the social service system. This act is formed to provide for old age people. Also, the integral is social practice for the Social Security Act. The social work proceeds because the research and practice provide a guarantee of insurance benefits to the client.
As a supervisor in your facility, it is important to maintain professionalism in rural areas. Can anyone know any ways to improve your professionalism at their agency? Well, the main thing as a supervisor is to have confidence in what you’re doing and have a positive attitude. Your social work team looks up to you for guidance and if you show fear then they will not believe in you. Familiarize yourself with the agency’s resources as well as available in your town. Encourage your social work team to become educated on the resources available also. Since there aren’t many resources in rural areas, we must become familiar with resources outside of the rural area as well. Having knowledge of resources will show that you are knowledgeable about your agency. Another way to maintain the profession is to have effective communication at all times. This can be verbal, written or electronically. That’s all I have for you guys today. Thank you so much for having me and I hope you learned something from me on how to be a professional social worker. Have a wonderful rest of the day.