As classes begin again and I am bombarded with theories and speculations about the human condition, I am once again faced with a very stark reality: the field of Social Work is very materialistic. This truth is something that I struggled with last year because I couldn't seem to wrap my mind around it. How could a profession that is devoted to helping the helpless be so short sighted? I talked this over with a friend who is also in the same program I am in and she pointed out that a lot of emphasis is placed on students doing social work because helping people makes them feel better, thus setting the stage for them to provide their clients with an easy fix so that the social worker can then get their "fix". For example, I read a case study about a social worker in Los Angeles who thought that the best way to stop youth from joining gangs was to give them jobs so that they could earn money and feel like productive members of society. The social worker didn't address any reasons why youth would find gang affiliation attractive, nor any underlying social expectations that may exist within the community. This article is just one example of many that represents a big problem in the social work field: a lack of depth and emphasis on holistic care. I wanted to be a social worker because I thought that staying within the church walls would limit me to only providing spiritual care and encouragement but, I am finding that there is just as much of a limitation in the secular field on the other end of the spectrum.
Can a middle ground exist? Yes, at least I think so. As long as the social workers motivation is to help people, not to make themselves feel better, but to show God's love and acceptance then a middle ground can exist there and it can give great comfort and help to those who are in need.
I think one reason God has me in this field is to bring depth and holistic care to the way practitioners view their clients situation. That, at least, will be my goal for my own practice.
