So, this is the first post of many to come. Here is some context: I am a Master's level Social Work student at HSU, I'm in the Advanced Standing program, (which means I did a semester this past summer before jumping into the second year of the program), and my current courseload includes a class on Community Work. I am currently being a good girl and starting a blog to process what we will discuss and read in this course, as well as events and issues related to this course, such as activism and community organizing. In the future I will be looking at readings, videos and discussions from this course but we didn't have any for the first week (whoot!), so let me give you a little breakdown, instead.
I'm 21 years old, (soon to be 22), and I work at a transitional living program for homeless families and will be interning at Juvenile Probation this coming year, and I also interned at a youth shelter and transitional living program last year. I've long had an interest in social work, ever since I realized that my Psychology courses were lacking a social element that I was really interested in looking at, but rather seemed to point the finger at the individual as the root of mental health issues and the party in need of treatment in almost all cases. What's funny is even though I moved on to Sociology, (because it was real fun getting credit for taking courses on Human Sexuality and Modern Social Problems), and from there to Social Work, (where I felt Sociology went to work for people), I was still most interested in direct service, just with a broader systems oriented view. Now, though, as I actually work with homeless families, shelters struggling not to get kicked out of neighborhoods, youth being denied aid because they're 'too close to adulthood' to try to combat the emotional abuse they're suffering, and as I even have family and friends struggling with the stigma of substance use and mental illness I can't help but get... pissed off!
from http://mikehelmsmusic.com/about_us
It's true what they say, direct service or not, you'll end up running into policy, societal norms and other macro level issues, and you'll do it head first at full speed if you don't have at least some awareness of where the brick walls are and how to dismantle or reorganize them.
So, that's really it for now, stay tuned for some rip roaring talk about social work literature, activism, social justice issues, and hopefully I can find some interesting events to throw my 2 cents in on.PS: I was trying to find a picture that would capture frustration for me, and I'm happy with the one I found because it really is a struggle to be angry, to advocate, and to still be taken seriously instead of just exploding all over people so they have an excuse to not listen to you...But I'm still not happy that the men's images seemed to be powerful, whereas the women's were all fear-based, which is why I ended up finding an appropriate men's image far more easily...Just a note...
