Diversity in Social Work Management and Practice

Mary Terrell was an African American woman who was deprived of her rights and privileges in the late 1800s. Despite all the inadequacies of the American culture, Mart Terrell rose above all of them and became the first African- American woman to attain a bachelor’s degree. She became a member of the NAACP and aided in the formation of the NAACW. As a reward to her efforts, she was made the first president of NAACW. Mary Terrell continuously fought for the rights of all human beings and hence to the introduction of desegregation of the public places.
Social work is considered one of the most ancient form of service provision since it involves going out to the people and offering different services. Different cultures always present different challenges for the social worker. A social worker always believes in the client’s self-determination in that they can make their own decisions. In the case whereby the client is unable to make decisions on their own, the social worker can opt to assist the client to be able to realize a perceived outcome. The code of ethics for social work has clearly defined rules but no clear one on this case hence the social worker can be a proxy, as this is allowed to be within the ethical bounds of social work. The godmother of social work is a prime example of social work revolutionalizing in the world.
Diversity in the world of social work is a scenario that social workers go through every time they are in the field. As a social worker, who helps people from all walks of life, you should be aware of the cultural differences and be able to adapt as fast as possible to fit into the situation. Different cultures need different kinds of approaches to be able to pass across your information and get the desired outcome. In India, most of the rural areas have a majority of the population which is both poor and illiterate. India, being a deeply cultural country, the approach a social worker has to take to interact with them is to fit in. Sometimes it becomes difficult to interact with them since the cultural differences are clearly defined. Most Indians adhere to the dharma which guides them in their complex cultural practices that go back centuries (Mclaughin, h. 2008). Despite the other countries developing standards in social ethics, India’s social profession is yet to develop into a recognizable and well-developed body. However, there have been efforts put to improve the social work especially in Tata Institute of Social Sciences. There are also individual scholars who have out some efforts to becoming formal and professional in social work. Consequently, India as a country has a culture that is deeply rooted in values and ethics which has greater influence in the practice of social work in several parts of the country.
The idea of rta in Indian tradition is always underpinned by the concept of dharma. The latter is constituting the basic concepts of ethics such as obligation, duty and righteousness. Further, it represents the culture which highly values ethical values and where everybody is expected to carry out their duties in line with their station in life and position in the society ((Mclaughin, 2008). Therefore, there exist a clear link between social work ethics and dharma. To deal with such diversity in culture, you must first learn the culture and the importance attached to it. In Africa culture is always viewed by society as the norm and anybody wishing to interact with the people has to practice the culture and be able to understand why they do it. This unlike the common social problems always aim to direct the social worker on the direction of the study.
Ethical dilemmas always occur in the field and social workers are always faced with hard decisions while interacting with clients. The need to be honest and straight forward as a social worker is very important. Mary Terrell used the rules of social work for the good of society and earned numerous awards for it. The most common dilemma can be situations that counsel people in communication and trust issues within themselves and those who want to get married. After several counselling sessions they reach out to these married couples though they promise not to share their information with their partners. This is a point of mistrust between the people you want to help and now they want to make you a part of the lie. In most situations, the dilemma might be the woman confessing to a male social worker and they feel obliged not to discuss this issue. The issues might vary from global crises to simple social phenomenon.
Looking at the code of ethics for social workers, the main aim is to help the couple get over trust issues. The marriage at hand will be based on a lie since they want to start a new life together but with half-truths and lies and this does not reflect well with what the social worker wishes to be a desired outcome (Barsky, 2018). The decision will always depend on the social worker since there is so much the law can do but an extra show of faith and goodwill goes on to dictate in whether the social worker will help or not
Gifts from clients can also impede the social worker from performing their duties but as dictated by law it is imperative that you, as a social worker, need to do whatever possible to help the client achieve their desired goals. Integrity is one of the values highlighted in the code of ethics NASW and this makes the social worker competent enough since they understand the rules of the game and need to keep up with that spirit at least o bring sanctity to the profession (McLaughlin, 2013). Mary Terrell was always straightforward and never accepted gifts from clients who were not honest with her.
Dignity and worth of a person. The social worker recognizes the worth of a person by talking to and understanding them. The true measure of a social worker is the ability to relate to people in a way that is welcoming and non-judgmental (Barsky, A. 2018). Being able to be honest with a client goes a long way to show that you are willing to build bridges without being too judgmental. This takes us to the next code of ethic that assist social workers bridge the diversity issue. The awards Mary Terrell won was a testimony enough to warrant her an excellent social worker.
Importance of human relationships. As a social worker, you get to interact with people from all walks of life. In the case of a marriage counsellor, you come into a situation where you are unable to tell who is wrong, but after listening to all the complaints from both parties, you are able to tell who is wrong and who is right (Barsky, A. 2018). Who should apologize and revitalize the relationship for the good of both parties and this is always the true measure of a social worker. If you are able to build and retain relationships, identify broken relationships and mend them, then as a social worker you can help a lot of people. Mary Terrell was a people person thus most loved and cherished.
In conclusion, the social worker code of ethics always dictates that the social worker is supposed to follow six core principles that stem from the NASW code of ethics book namely:
· Core values on which the social work is based
· It summarizes the broad ethical issues and sets a specific standard of professionalism and ethics that form the basis of social work practice
· It assists the social workers to prioritize decisions that are best for the client if professional ethics clash with a dilemma that may prevent them from doing their work according to the specified rules.
· It provides a framework of standards which are used in holding each other accountable.
· It socializes new practitioners to the field of the social work's mission, its values, ethical principles, and moral ethical standards.
· New practioners are socialized into the area of social work and its aspects like its mission, principles, values and standards.
Social work is a profession where ethics and integrity are important for an accurate outcome. The activities involved in the social work field include sensitization, advices, changing lives and this needs dedication, honesty and the ability to accept change and also where change cannot be realized, an alternative to that is found. Mary Terrell cherished the act of helping people against discrimination and other social problems and championed the civil righta laws all over the world.


References
Barsky, A. (2018). Ethical dilemma. Deciding for My Client: When Social Workers Serve as Proxies, 14-20.
Mclaughin, h. (2008). Whats in a name? The British Journal of social work, 39.
McLaughlin, H. (2013). ethical dilemma. Advocacy in social work, 16-20.
Social work code of ethics. (1995). Code of Ethics of the National Association of workers, 1-4.