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Introduction
Under different circumstances, family social workers use various roles to facilitate change and improvement within families. These roles have their own functionality and are only appropriate when the situation demands. Seven roles are identified in social work practice – empathic supporter, consultant, enabler, mobilizer, mediator, and advocate (Collins, Jordan, & Coleman, 2013). This paper describes each of the functions and provides examples of when it is appropriate to use the role.
Roles
As an empathic supporter, a family social worker should concentrate on the family strengths and use them to help overcome the challenges (Collins et al., 2013). For instance, in a family where every family member continuously has conflicting opinions but has an ability to compromise, the social worker should concentrate on the latter instead of trying to eliminate opposing views. Empathic supporters utilize the available strengths to build a facilitative environment.
In the teacher’s role, social workers should identify what specific skills should the family learn to overcome the challenges. Problems may occur because of varying reasons, but most of them can be solved by family members communicating effectively (Collins et al., 2013). Instead of trying to identify the exact causes of problems, the family social worker may encourage the family to learn the skills that comprise effective communication.
Consultants provide assistance in problems that do not arise recurrently. For instance, if a family is challenged by the necessity to pay for a child’s tuition, the professional may advise possible solutions, including loan types or scholarship programs. Families may ask for feedback on matters like parenting, and the workers provide expert commentary. It is among the most recurring roles because the majority of families tend to ask for advice.
The enabler role is appropriate in situations when the social worker deals with a family that does not know about available community resources or government programs. For instance, if a family is having issues with finding a suitable school for their children because they have just moved to the city, the professional has to provide all the necessary information that will help the family to solve its problem.
As a mobilizer, social workers coordinate the activities of community groups and other resources to achieve a specific goal. For example, if there is a high risk of new HIV cases in the community, and families fear that their children might be impacted, social workers may organize community events and educational sessions to raise awareness and provide individual support. The professionals may also work with schools and government agencies to accomplish the objectives.
The mediator role is appropriate in cases when the family members are having issues not with each other but with external parties. Children may have problems at school, the family may have challenging relationships with neighbors, or it may have conflicts with an entire community (Garbarino, 2017). In these circumstances, social workers may act as intermediaries, facilitating secure communication and critical reasoning while discouraging prejudice and misogyny.
As advocates, family social workers represent the interests of families and each of their members. They contact government representatives or members of various institutions to indicate that a specific policy violates the interests of particular families. For instance, if the government decides to move the local public school to a different location, and build a separate building at its current place, many families may have to travel a lot further to school. Officials need to know the opinions of the public, and family workers may become the representatives of ordinary families.
Conclusion
Because family social workers perform a high number of functions, roles provide means for grouping them into related areas. In contemporary social work practice, seven roles are used to implement intervention strategies and provide families with the necessary assistance. Social workers should use specific roles only when there is an appropriate situation. This paper briefly discussed each of the roles and provided some examples to demonstrate their applications.
References
Collins, D., Jordan, C., & Coleman, H. (2013). An introduction to family social work (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Garbarino, J. (2017). Children and families in the social environment: Modern applications of social work. Oxon, UK: Routledge.
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