Discussion: Working With Families
Families are as unique as the individuals who form them. While you may utilize the same or similar techniques while working with family systems (through the steps in the GIM and related practice skills), it is also important to recognize that each family has its own unique needs and experiences in the world. The empowerment perspective states that an essential aspect of working with individuals and families is to address their feelings of powerlessness and oppression. Empowerment is a process, and one part of that process is to gain an awareness of the oppressive structures evident in our society. Oppression, in the form of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia, can impact a family’s quality of life and ability to thrive. In this Discussion, you consider the many aspects of working with diverse families.
To Prepare
Select a family system working with barriers and challenges, such as those related to differences in sexual orientation, a differences in race or ethnicity, substance abuse, food insecurity, or managing a disability.
Think about how a social worker might address one of these barriers on an individual, family, organizational, group, or community level.
Next, visit the Walden Library to find information on barriers and social work roles for engaging with the family system. Support this post using information that you find, in addition to the assigned resources.
Walden Library recommends the following:
Navigate to the Social Work Research Guide. From the Library’s homepage, click on the blue button Research by Subject, then choose Social Work.
Use the gold-lined search box at the top of the pages to search thousands of social work journals. This is a great place to start your research.
Look at the results—especially the title and subjects—to see related concepts and keywords to add to your search.
Use OR between related terms, which means you will take either term. For example:
Domestic violence OR intimate partner violence
Add a second concept in Box #2 to focus your search. It helps to keep concepts separate, especially when multiple boxes are provided. For example:
Box #1: Domestic violence OR intimate partner violence
Box #2: Veterans
Refine your results based on what you find. Don’t be afraid to try other keywords or combinations of words.
Apply limits now. Scroll down in the left column to limit by date (last 5 years) and limit the results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals only.
To retrieve the full text of the article, click on the PDF or click on the Find@Walden button. Then, follow the prompts.
Other examples of searches:
Drug addiction OR drug abuse OR substance abuse
Senior citizen OR older people OR elderly OR aging
Suicide prevention OR suicide intervention
Adolescent OR youth OR teen AND anxiety
By Day 3
Post a response to the following:
Provide a brief description of the family system you selected.
Explain potential barriers or challenges this family might encounter.
Explain how a social worker might address this barrier on an individual, family, organizational, group, or community level.
Support your post with examples from the course text and any other resources used to respond to this Discussion. Demonstrate that you have completed the required readings, understand the material, and are able to apply the concepts. Include a full reference of resources at the bottom of the post.
