(Newswire.net — September 13, 2019) — Social workers work hard to develop the skills necessary to follow through on productive and prestigious career paths. While there are many facts and techniques that are taught during the education process, some of the inherent challenges and characteristics of social work need to be addressed by a set of core competencies that each social worker should strive to improve upon. These essential traits and attributes ensure that the social worker is operating in an accurate, non-biased, and effective manner within each of their cases. With that said, here are 7 core competencies that all social workers should have or work to build:
1. Self-Care
Social work can be incredibly demanding in terms of the amount of time, energy, and effort that social workers have to put in, in order to manage their ever-growing caseloads. As a result, many professionals in this field become overwhelmed with the task of caring for others to the extent that they neglect their own self-care. When it comes to practicing self-care, social workers need to be prepared to really focus on their own well-being so that they can be in an ideal state of mind to make reasonable decisions when dealing with challenging cases. If you are looking for tips on self care, the self care social workers comprehensive guide is the first place to visit.
2. Professionalism
Social workers should demonstrate the utmost professionalism in their demeanor, dress, and overall behavior. Engaging in ongoing career development is another aspect of being a true professional. As part of an effort to be a top-notch professional, many social workers attend events and conferences or take courses that equip them with additional skill sets. Social workers in all fields should also work on their ability to communicate and collaborate with others in an effective manner.
3. Ethical Sense
A strong set of values and a functioning moral compass are some of the unspoken prerequisites that a good social worker should possess. In this profession which is tightly regulated and supervised, it is essential for social workers to uphold ethical standards and follow all relevant laws related to civil rights, discrimination, and other touchy legal areas. Studying the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics is a good start in this department.
4. Critical Thinking
Social workers need to be able to not only follow rules and guidelines but also think for themselves independently and apply fine-tuned discretion to each case individually. The key ability for this core competency is the capacity to comprehend, integrate, and analyze the information provided by multiple parties involved within a case. Social workers will also need to analyze models and plans for potential assessment, intervention, prevention, and client evaluation.
5. Judge of Character
Social workers are responsible for making some very important decision that can often affect the lives of others in serious ways. Thus, it’s imperative for all social workers to ensure that they have a reliable ability to judge character in order to work with the confidence that they’re making the right choices and rendering accurate judgments rather than blindly re-enforcing stereotypes or unfounded accusations.
6. Understanding Social and Economic Justice
Social workers should possess a solid understanding of human rights, socioeconomic justice, civil safety, institutional oppression, poverty, and other factors that often lead to the societal problems that they’re tasked with solving, such as drug addiction or physical abuse. It’s necessary for every social worker to carry a well-rounded comprehension of the factors that contribute towards the enabling or exacerbating conditions which surround the most common social ailments.
7. Acceptance of Diversity
Social workers regularly have to work with people from various ethnic groups and backgrounds. For the sake of ensuring professionalism and avoiding negative legal or career consequences, every social worker should avoid the application of prejudice or discrimination within the context of their daily job duties. Generally, social work is not an ideal career path for anyone who doesn’t like to interact with minorities or has an aversion to ethnic or religious diversity in general.
Be Better Than the Required Minimum
Ultimately, adopting all of the aforementioned core competencies is something that all social workers should aim to achieve merely because it will help them excel in their career. While there aren’t many official tests that will attempt to determine whether you’re skilled in all of these competencies, and you could technically get by just fine without being an expert in all of them, every responsible social worker should shoulder the burden of their responsibility to do their job as effectively as possible for the good of their communities.