Social Workers Challenging Bias

 

Social workers tend to interact with individuals from a diversity of backgrounds on a daily basis. A result of this situation is that they get to deal with a lot of issues, including domestic violence. The manner that they handle such issues is significant because it not only involved the wellbeing of the victims of such violence, but it also allows them to gain experience concerning how best to handle such issues from an ethical perspective. It is noteworthy that social workers, especially those that have recently graduated, tend to be individuals that have little experience on how to handle their personal biases as well as incidents of domestic abuse. A consequence is that there is the need to make sure that there is the promotion of a scenario where they are provided with accurate learning experiences that equip them to be more effective in handling issues of domestic violence without biases on their part. This paper considers the way that social workers can take advantage of learning opportunities offered through a consideration of how to handle their biases concerning domestic violence.

One of the most fundamental ways through which social workers can overcome their biases is through heightening their self-awareness. Self-awareness allows them to ensure that they better understand themselves and the reasons behind their actions and biases in such a way that they are able to make decisions that are constructive and helpful for their clients (Wiech, 2009). Furthermore, self-awareness is critical in helping them make ethical decisions during the process of helping their clients resolve their domestic violence problems. Moreover, through self-awareness, it becomes possible for them to reflect on the patterns of decision-making that they follow to such an extent that they are able to be more effective in the process of handling a diversity of scenarios involving domestic violence. They are therefore better equipped, through self-awareness, to handle domestic violence in various ways including overcoming their biases and instead taking on an ethical approach towards the decisions that they make concerning their clients.

It is also necessary for the social worker to make an examination of his biases and values prior to approaching a client. This is important because it ensures that there is the promotion of an understanding of the way that his worldview could affect their work and seek to bring an improvement to it in order to provide the client with the best services possible (Wiech, 2009). Once this process has been undertaken, it is the responsibility of the social worker to ensure that they share their biases with their clients before making an attempt to provide guidance concerning what should be done. It is important to note that biases will often remain hidden, and because of this, there is the need for social workers to consult their colleagues and supervisors during the process of considering their biases and values. In this way, they are better placed to ensure that they promote the best interests of their clients because they will have the ability to challenge any biases they might have and stick to the ethical actions that are desirable in the handling of domestic violence issues.

It is also necessary to consider that it is the responsibility of the social worker to understand their clients (Wahler, 2012). This is especially the case when one considers that these individuals will often encounter clients from different backgrounds and as such, there is the need to understand the background of the client involved and how domestic violence can be handled in a culturally sensitive manner. The core value of social work is to ensure that the social workers respects the worth and dignity of their clients. As such, there is the need for social workers to constantly seek out their own cultural biases and ensure that they avoid them whenever they are dealing with clients in incidents of domestic violence. It is also noteworthy that studying social work should involve the teaching of professional core values as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of social workers once they graduate and take up their tasks in real life situations. In this way, it becomes possible for them to handle their clients, in this case victims of domestic violence, in a more sensitive manner that is not only unbiased, but also shows considerable competence since they will know what to do.

In conclusion, the discussion above has attempted to analyze the learning opportunities for social workers in overcoming their biases when handling clients with issues of domestic violence. It has shown that social workers should display a level of self-awareness based on personal reflection as well as consultation with others in their profession in order to be more effective. Also, social workers should be taught professional core values and internalize them as part of their education as a means of enhancing their effectiveness in real life scenarios. Thus, they can be able to overcome their biases and instead display cultural sensitivity in handling domestic violence issues on behalf of their clients.