Social Work as a Profession
Exploration of a Profession: Social Work Interview
Julie Simmons
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Exploration of a Profession: Social Work Interview
If you walk into most Social Institutions where Social Workers are employed there always seem to be a few things that they have in common: adults, children and a variety of facial expressions. Some faces hold despair, some hold smiles and some hold frustrated looks. What does this all mean and what in the world does it have to do with the profession? Social Work, is it just another job, a profession obtained by a scholarly degree, a license and a nameplate on the door, or is it much more than that? No quicker than one can place words on paper, during an interview with the Program Coordinator, Mr. Alfred Zankpah at Mental Heath Services, there is the discovery that leads one to believe so much more. Social Work is more than a profession. Somewhere in the plethora of paperwork, phone calls and appointments, you find that Social Work can be nothing less than a calling.
Mr. Alfred Zankpah has been employed in the Social Services field for approximately twenty years. In order to obtain the position of Program Coordinator one must hold a Masters degree in Social Work or another Socially related field and must have gained a substantial amount of field related experience. He is responsible for overseeing a staff of 17 other Social Workers, who in turn are responsible for up to 29 cases each. Mr. Zankpah and his staff, in their diligence, must perform many different roles. This institution services the Mental Health community in two different arenas. They service the undiagnosed mentally ill consumer primarily as a broker and the legally diagnosed mentally ill consumer in a variety of other areas. They take on the role of an enabler, a broker, an advocate, an educator, an initiator, an empowerer, and a coordinator. In their daily case management duties of attempting to find suitable residence,
Julie Simmons
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Exploration of a Profession: Social Work Interview
If you walk into most Social Institutions where Social Workers are employed there always seem to be a few things that they have in common: adults, children and a variety of facial expressions. Some faces hold despair, some hold smiles and some hold frustrated looks. What does this all mean and what in the world does it have to do with the profession? Social Work, is it just another job, a profession obtained by a scholarly degree, a license and a nameplate on the door, or is it much more than that? No quicker than one can place words on paper, during an interview with the Program Coordinator, Mr. Alfred Zankpah at Mental Heath Services, there is the discovery that leads one to believe so much more. Social Work is more than a profession. Somewhere in the plethora of paperwork, phone calls and appointments, you find that Social Work can be nothing less than a calling.
Mr. Alfred Zankpah has been employed in the Social Services field for approximately twenty years. In order to obtain the position of Program Coordinator one must hold a Masters degree in Social Work or another Socially related field and must have gained a substantial amount of field related experience. He is responsible for overseeing a staff of 17 other Social Workers, who in turn are responsible for up to 29 cases each. Mr. Zankpah and his staff, in their diligence, must perform many different roles. This institution services the Mental Health community in two different arenas. They service the undiagnosed mentally ill consumer primarily as a broker and the legally diagnosed mentally ill consumer in a variety of other areas. They take on the role of an enabler, a broker, an advocate, an educator, an initiator, an empowerer, and a coordinator. In their daily case management duties of attempting to find suitable residence,
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