Social Work: Bringing It All Together - Analysis (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Bringing It All Together - Analysis
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
Part I: Description and reflection on how I approached the community issue in the capstone activity
Social workers have a significant role in the community building. They participate in doing things that unite people, help the community to identify the needs and problems that collectively affect them, promote knowledge, confidence, the capacity to work together and build confidence (Atkinson, 2002). Moreover, social work activities create and strengthen the relationship between communities. It is important to mention that when people work together, it assists to deal directly with problems that affect the community. The main purpose of this discussion is to evaluate the community building practice approach which I experienced in the capstone learning activities. Similarly, description and reflection will be made on how I handled community issue in the capstone activity. Moreover, the community work skills, strategies, methods and theories used to approach community issue will be outlined and lastly reflection on my practice approach to the community issue will be discussed.
With the help of planning tool, I approached the community issue in the capstone activity using different methods. Firstly, I used the participatory approach to address the scenario. Through this method, I encouraged people to volunteer as a way of extending their assistance to the affected community. As a social worker, I mobilized neighboring community to participate in the provision of services to the affected community through giving out social and basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and other necessities to the community affected by the flooding. Secondly, I tried to link people with the systems that could provide services, opportunities and necessary resources to help in rebuilding the community after the flooding disaster. This system comprised of Non-governmental organizations that provided free services such as cleaning up and reconstruction of shelters to the affected community; I identified community needs by working with the local people to create a recovery plan for their community. I identified the most venerable group and outlined strategies to address their needs. I assisted the community in determining the effects of floods to their lives and the environment.
I also used an inclusive approach in the process of disaster recovery. For example, I identified community leader who helped us to navigate in the community efficiently to assist in recovery, restoration, and community development. Additionally, I ensured the safety of the community through participating in clean-up activities which included removing of debris, green waste and other building waste from the disaster area. As a social worker, I took part in helping the community emotionally and physically so as to ensure that the community remains strong.
I focused on development issues such as organizing reconstruction of emergency shelter at Community Building Centre and support the community to return to their normal lives. Along with the psychological assistant, I aimed to help the affected community to regain to their home after the disaster. Rather than taking the whole process, the community was involved in accomplishing the recovery and building their community after the flooding. The idea behind this was that community members should take part to restore their lives so as to assist them to heal psychologically and familiarize with the flooding disasters (St Wise Pty Ltd., 2011). This participatory approach helped the community to have the sense of ownership and improve community integration and relationships. Another approach used to address capstone scenario was capacity building. I used this method to educate the community affected by flood disaster about what was required to do in order to avoid another risk from occurring. I worked with other teams and suggested possible interventions using my networking skills acquired from different learnings.
Part II: Outline of community work skills, theories, strategies and methods you used in the Capstone scenario
In order to address the flood issues in capstone scenario, I used different strategies, theories, method and community work skills to assist in development, reconstruction and strengthening of the affected community. I used the existing social capital to address the issues whereby I involved non-profit organization to help community development after this disaster. For example, I coordinated with a local Suunycorp Insurance representative to supply catering to the community. Another strategy which I used while responding to Capstone scenario was social communication. This strategy was important because it acted as a mobilizing tool to enhance understanding and build community relations. Since in some instances there were communication problems, I coordinated with Multicultural Development and Assistance Agency social workers team to provide interpretation services. Translation service was essential in such a way that desire to assist the victims of floods could have been hindered by language barrier.
Moreover, to help people who had fears for the future, residual trauma and sorrow for what they had lost during the flooding, I encouraged people to have a conversation with family, friends, and professions. For example, I asked a local community artist who had therapy skills to provide therapies services to the affected community. Similarly, I assisted the individual residents to complete trauma assessment and the questionnaire so that they could receive services from the hospital. Since some community members were illiterate, I assisted them to translate the questions to their local language for them to respond effectively. I also apply the method of the house first while addressing capstone scenario. The building center was used as an emergency site where temporary shelters were provided to those who lost their homes due to floods. I used the government recovery funds that the government had granted our community center to hire people to construct houses. This program was boosted by Blue Sky construction who assisted in building shelters and renovating homes without asking for money.
One of the theories which I used in capstone scenario was conflict theory (Amanda, 2017). Since the community which was affected by floods had diverse people including refugees and aboriginal, I decided to use this approach to address the conflict which occurred before the disaster of floods and was termed as “street clash.” Since the riot was caused by racial tension in the community, I used conflict theory to show people that racial power should not impact them since the result of this is conflicts.
Challenges which I experience
Some of the challenges that I experienced as a social worker in capstone scenario was high workload which increased over time. I was supposed to coordinate several activities within the community to ensure restoration and community building continues smoothly. The second challenge that I faced while working as a social worker is stress and fatigue. Due to high workload, I worked under pressure hence experienced fatigue. I also had stress due to challenging community members. Some client had multiple problems and more severe challenges that stressed me a lot. Lastly, communication barrier also was a big challenge to my work. Some community member could only communicate using native language hence it forced me to look for interpreters to translate.
Part III: Critical reflection on my practice approach
I chose the above approaches to address the community issues due to several reasons. Firstly, I used a participatory approach to involve neighbors and other organizations to assist in disaster recovery in the community. Social work is very sophisticated, and it cannot be accomplished solely (Atkinson, 2002). The participatory approa...