Response 1

Respond to at least two colleagues whose classifications differ from your own by critiquing their classifications. In addition, suggest one way you might apply each colleague’s life-span classification to your social work practice.

Colleague 1: L

It is important because although; a young person may have held down a job, and acts mature, they have not yet experienced enough of life to be considered an adult. The same concept goes for middle aged people. Although; a middle aged person is active, and looks younger than their age, they are still considered to be middle aged. In other words regardless of the accomplishments of a person, their looks, and vitality, they are still catergorized in society by their age. Behaviors that might delay the cognitive, or social aspect of the aging process are socializing with friends and within the community, and participating in activities such as swimming, bingo, traveling, and other hobbies that enhance to cognitive apects of aging.It is proven that people who continue to be active socially, age gracefully, and without limits. They also continue to work brain cells that could eventually die out from dementia, and other illnesses.. Physically a person might speed up the aging process by isolating themselves from friends and family, by not focusing on health and nutrition, and by becoming a couch potato. When a person does not take care of themselves by exercising, and watching what they eat, they end up suffering from illnesses such as diabetes, limit their  mobility, and are eventually confined to walkers, wheelchairs, and medications in their later years of life.

Colleague 2: E

According to Zastrow & Kirst Ashman (2016), individuals within the ages of 18 and 65 years are classified as young and middle adulthood. In as much as this classification has been in existence and popular, one can argue that, to determine the term adult hood may not be as easy as it sounds. Adulthood can be perceived differently from people, considering their culture, religion, personal belief, and social economic background. According to Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman (2016), “it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time of life we are referring to when we talk about young adulthood”. Some cultures such as the Nigerian culture, consider adulthood as a period where a child can comfortably carter for his /herself without seeking the help of the parents/guardian. Such age range may be around the ages 27to 30.  Other cultures perceive young adulthood as the age where a child can comfortably make good decision in line with the expectation of older adults.

To replace or improve on Zatrow & Kirst Ashman classification on young and middle adulthood, I will suggest a classification of young adulthood and middle adulthood from the ages of 15 to 50. This classification is in line with Buhler theories of young adult hood. According to Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman (2016), Buhler’s theory clustered adolescent and young adulthood together to include the ages of 15 to 25. During this stage, people focus mostly on building their identity and developing on their life goals. Children within the age of 15 fall into this category, sharing similar development with young adulthood up to the age of 25. The next stage in my classification with reference to Buhler’s theory, is young and middle adulthood from the ages of 23 to 45 or 50. According to Zastrow & Kirst (2016), this age group focuses on accomplishing their goal, and maintaining their work and family system.

My second classification of young and middle adulthood is from the ages 17 to 50. This classification is similar to Levinson’s theory. According to Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2016), the Levinson theory, “broke up young adulthood into smaller slices”. “People go through stable periods separated by shorter transitional periods”. Between ages 17 to 22, a person exhibits choices about adult life, such as having a serious relationship, attending college or higher institution, seeking employment, and demanding to move out from home. Within the ages 22 to 28, a person makes more solid decision on work, education and relationship. At ages 28 to 33, marriage and children impacts on the person’s lifestyle or behavior. At the ages of 33 to 40 known as settling down period, a person makes progress on life set goals, with more responsibility. Between the ages of 40 to 45, known as mid-life transition age, a person starts to reevaluate his/her life and achievement, which may warrant some drastic life changes, such as divorce and career change. By the ages of 45 to 50, referred to as middle adulthood, people start making plans for future retirement, and evaluating their legacy.

As a social worker, my outlined classification, will create an understanding of people’s development and behavior, which will effectively impact one’s commitment to assist individuals with peculiar problems. There are people’s behavior and physical development, that are in line with the expected development of the clients based on his/her age. My classification will also encourage an opportunity to effectively understand the mental value of adolescent children, who invariably share similar biological, psychological, physical and social development with young adults within the age of 25.

References:

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA:  Cengage Learning.

Chapter 10, “Biological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood” (pp. 469-497

Response 2

Respond to at least two colleagues with a description of whether you see social workers as being proactive or reactive in the policy arena. Describe what steps could be taken to enhance the influence of the social work profession in defining social problems and creating social policy. Provide two suggestions on how social workers can make the recommended changes to the policy that your colleague described.

Colleague 1: L

The event that I chose that led to the formation of a social policy was the abduction of Amber Hageman, a nine year old girl from Arlington Texas. She was kidnapped, and murdered in 1996, and her incident gained national attention all over the world. On April 30th 2003 Public Law 108-21 was passed to prevent child abduction, and the sexual exploitation of children. This policy uses the police department, broad casters, and citizens of the state to be on the look out for abducted children. The alert sends out a discription of what the child was wearing, where they were last seen, and the person, or car the child was last seen with or in. This policy has aided in finding many children across the world but, has one clause in it that I would change. The clause states that a child must be at risk for serious bodily harm, or death before an alarm can be issued. I would change this clause because, the child might not be in harms way if abducted. Some children are abducted by people that love them such a estranged mother’s and father;s, and by those that would not harm the child in any form. Just the fact that the child is missing serves as enough criteria to send an Amber Alert out  from state to state. As a social worker my role in changing this law would be to use the rational decision making approach by gathering information about the policy, and by teaming up with parents, and people in the community with young children under the age of 17, or with an interest in protecting children om predators and pedophiles. As mentioned in this weeks readings, “Decision makers review the range of existing and proposed policies, identiy all the relevant social goals and values, and study the consequences of each policy alternative”, (Popple & Leighninger, 2015, p.255). This issue would be presented to mayors, and officials within our state and on a local level. However; it could  later be presented to representatives of state if nothing is done on a local level. In order for a social worker to be effective in caring out the process of policy change, he or she needs to several skills and strategies. As mentioned in this weeks readings, “They need analytic skills to evaluate social problems, and develop policy proposals, analyze the severity of specific problems, identify barriers to policy implementation, and develop strategies for assessing programs”, (Popple & Leighninger, 2015, p.25-25).

References

Popple, P.R., & Leighninger, L. (2015). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Chapter 1, ” The Policy-Based Profession” (pp. 5-19)

Colleague 2: L

The event, (technically events) that I chose are the college shootings relating back to the notorious Virginia Tech shooting that has inspired others to the right to bear arms on college campuses.  Society felt a need after many college campus shootings for the right to bear arms to protect themselves and possibly others from any repeat in college campus shootings.  However, there are others who are trying to prohibit these bills from passing.  There are several states that do allow concealed carry on campus (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2016).

I am not fluent in this particular policy however, I would highly recommend that it be required to train and be proficient in handling weapons.  I grew up handling weapons and I am also prior military.  I believe regardless of how much anyone has handled a weapon it is always with great caution to train to remain safe and proficient.

Social work in this specific policy is to advocate for those wanting the policy to be enacted or to remain enacted and/or advocate for those who are opposed to the policy.

Reference

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2016). Guns on Campus: Overview. Retrieved September 7, 2016, from http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/guns-on-campus-overview.aspx

Response 3

Respond to at least two colleagues by explaining how the policies your colleagues described might relate to the population you selected.

Colleague 1: J

The population I find particularly interesting is women’s rights. Women are half of the world’s population. We as social workers will work with women and need to be informed of policies locally and federally to help aid our clients. The family and medical leave act of 1993 is a United States federal law that requires companies to provide employees job protection and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons such as pregnancy (Region/Country, 2016). The wage gap is an obstacle women are having to over come. The wage gap is an expressed percentage and can be calculated by dividing the median annual income for women by the median annual income for men. As of 2013, women earned 78.3% as much as men did (The Simple Truth, 2016). In today’s society no matter what your gender, you should be paid for the work you do. If a man and women are doing the same work they should have the same salary. Abortion is a private choice that a woman should have the right to make. Abortion is not something I’m personally for but I think that it should be a personally choice of the woman to have one or not. Our government shouldn’t make a women carry a child and birth that child if they never wanted to have a child. We make it more of a punishment for women but it took a man and woman to make that child. Alabama has some of the strictest abortion laws in the United States. We require minors notifies their parents or have a court hearing if they child wishes to not get parental permission. We also never repealed the anti-abortion criminal statute made unconstitutional by the case Roe v. Wade (Alabama Abortion Laws). Alabama has made a few new policy changes in regards to domestic violence. Now in Alabama there is a mandatory 24-hour holding period for anyone arrested on domestic violence charges. The law used to only be for a 12-hour holding period. This is to help keep offenders from being able to get out of jail and attack or kill their victims’ (B.T., 2016).

Reference:

Alabama Abortion Laws – FindLaw. (n.d.). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://statelaws.findlaw.com/alabama-law/alabama-abortion-laws.html

Bterry@waaytv.com, B. T. (2016). Changes to domestic violence laws in the state. Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://www.waaytv.com/appnews/changes-to-domestic-violence-laws-in-the-state/article_581f00c4-c92c-11e5-94d2-676e98313c02.html

Region/Country, B. (2016). FMLA (Family & Medical Leave). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Spring 2016). (n.d.). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/

Colleague 2: L

Hello Everyone,

The population that I selected is the HIV population. These people are infected with the (human immunodeficiency virus) which is spread through unprotected sexual contact, and the sharing of hypodermic needles. In some cases, this virus can also be contracted through blood transfusions. This virus weakens the immune system, and makes  a person vulnerable to other diseases. People with this disease are often isolated, discriminated against, and are faced with homophobic attitudes.  People with this disease are also often marginalized, and oppressed citizens within their communities and society.

In recent years the state has passed many policies pertaining to the Protection of people with HIV, and the protection against the transmission of HIV to other people. The majority of states have put in place laws that punish HIV positive people who expose others to the virus even if they use precautions. In Minnesota, state law, (609.2241) was passed concerning the transmission of HIV. A person who knowingly  harbors an infectious agent commits a crime which may be prosecuted as an assault, murder, attempted assault, or attempted murder. The second state law that I chose is made relevant in many states, especially in the state of Pennsylvania. State (Act 148) is about the confidentiality of people who are infected with the HIV virus. Pennsylvania law prohibits health -care providers, and social service providers form disclosing HIV-related information without the permission of the subject, except in certain limited instances. Both of these policies were fortunate enough to be passed by the senate. “Senate considers bills based on the order in which they come from the committee”, (Laureate 2013). The state level is not the only level that a policy can go through in order for it to be made a law. As mentioned in our readings, “Once debate concludes, and amendments if any, are made the house votes on final passing of the bill”, (Laureate 2013). With that in mind, their are also policies that pertain to HIV infected people on the federal levels. Federal law (section 504 ),prohibits health and human services, providers or organizations that get federal funds or assistance from discriminating against people living with HIV/AIDS. And last but, not least the Ryan White Care Act (101-381) sought funding to improve avaliability of care for low- income, uninsured, and under insured victims of AIDS and their families. Getting these policies passed on the state and federal levels not only help people infected with HIV/AIDS, but it proves that changes can be made on behalf of the people that really need them, if outsiders work hard to consider the benefits. Passing of a policy on the state and federal level is not the end of the policy change procedure. Afterwards is the implementation process begins. ” The implementation phase is generally a time of filling in the details through regulations, personnel, procedures, program guidelines and other specifications, all of which shape the policy”, (Popple & Leighninger, 2015).

The relationship between the policies, and the population that I chose is that they serve as guidelines, and laws to prevent discrimination, protect confidentiality, and suppress the spread of the infection intentionally, or unintentionally. These laws prove that some policies that are put in place to help a population of people, usually branch over to protect those that are not directly involved.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Legislative process {multimedia file}. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Popple,. R., & Leighninger, L. (2015). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers. )6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Chapter 1, “The Policy-Based Profession” (pp. 5-19)

A comprehensive understanding of a client’s presenting problems depends on the use of multiple types of assessment models. Each model gathers different information based on theoretical perspective and intent. An assessment that focuses on one area alone not only misses vital information that may be helpful in planning an intervention, but may encourage a biased evaluation that could potentially lead you to an inappropriate intervention. When gathering and reviewing a client’s history, sometimes it is easier to focus on the problems and not the positive attributes of the client. In social work, the use of a strengths perspective requires that a client’s strengths, assets, and resources must be identified and utilized. Further, using an empowerment approach in conjunction with a strengths perspective guides the practitioner to work with the client to identify shared goals. You will be asked to consider these approaches and critically analyze the multidisciplinary team’s response to the program case study of Paula Cortez.

For this Assignment, review the program case study of the Cortez family.

By Day 7

In a 2- to 4-page paper, complete a comprehensive assessment of Paula Cortez, utilizing two of the assessment models provided in Chapter 5 of the course text.

• Using the Cowger article, identify at least two areas of strengths in Paula’s case.
• Analyze the perspectives of two members of the multidisciplinary team, particularly relative to Paula’s pregnancy.
• Explain which model the social workers appear to be using to make their assessment.
• Describe the potential for bias when choosing an assessment model and completing an evaluation.
• Suggest strategies you, as Paula’s social worker, might try to avoid these biases.