Competency 1
The two artifacts I chose to demonstrate my understanding and fulfillment of competency 1 are two journal entries, both pertaining to my first field placement with the Fort Smith Public School District; I had the opportunity to shadow a social worker who's caseload consisted of students from 5 schools. I included my first journal entry and another entry from the middle of the semester, the journal entries allowed me to demonstrate ethical behaviors by reflection throughout the semester. I was able to utilize the skills I developed from prior courses, one skill in particular being the, "Ethical Decision-Making Process", but along with that I was able to identify the values of a social worker, and identify theories that aligned with my practice. The journals were also beneficial because they gave me the opportunity to debrief and express my first encounters as a social worker, this also sparked discussions and helped me gain knowledge on theories.
Competency 2
The two artifacts that you see here for competency 2 are a paper from a substance course and a group project from a prior populations at risk course. These two assignments fulfill competency 2 because they both address cultural competency and diversity; the paper I wrote covers a film called Southpaw, the movie displays many aspects of substance abuse and the format of the paper follows the chapters of the book, Addiction Treatment, a strengths perspective, by Katherine Van Wormer and Diane Rae Davis. This assignment allowed me to understand the substance abuse population, also clarifying the context of the book at the time and helped me grow emotionally; the other artifact, though a different population and class, allowed me to research and grow in understanding of a very different at-risk population. The group assignment sparked more discussion and allowed us to bring awareness and advocate for a group, it assisted me during my internship while working with some of the students in the school district who happen to be in the system, this prepared me for that situation and I feel helped me better assist them.
Competency 3
Both these assignments fulfill competency 3, which addresses that social workers understand that regardless a persons position in society they have fundamental human rights, these assignments address two different types of individuals but display me advocating for those in positions that may not be able to advocate for themselves. The first artifact you see is a paper written for a criminal justice course, although two different careers, criminal justice and social work can go hand to hand; in order to properly run correctional facilities, it is key to have actual rehabilitation in place in order to reduce recidivism. In that paper I was able to do research and examine studies that can be beneficial to improving juvenile detention centers, as a social worker sometimes it is our responsibility to do a great deal of research and find the best practices that have evidence to support them being beneficial, this way we are able to appropriately help our clients. In the second assignment I advocated, but chose to complete the Ethical Decision-Making Process to evaluate the Gabriel Fernandez case and the caseworkers involved; the assignment allowed me to explore numerous possibilities and outcomes that could have came from this tragedy, but I was able to view the case from multiple perspectives and try to grasp understanding for the actions that were taken. Although Gabriel was a young boy, he had the right to his fundamental rights, as well as juveniles in detention centers, as a social worker the job is to advocate and advance social, economic, and environmental justice; both assignments allowed me to act as the social worker and explain the actions I would have personally taken.