Week 6

Tuesday, the weather was terrible. I worked on a couple of cases in the morning, and filed some remaining paperwork at an office further north in the afternoon. Wednesday, we had a meeting with Judy, the supervisor, to better organize my learning plan based on revisions from all parties. She helped me with the areas of diversity and human behavior in the social environment. We also spoke about midterms and who would be conducting them. Two more referrals were waiting for me at my desk. Once I created case notes it was lunch time. Sophia and I ate at a really cute deli next to the 46th street office. The last part of the day was spent visiting a client at Lutherwood. Lutherwood is a residential facility where about 50 kids are housed. Lots of the kids are victims of sexual abuse which has led to sexual misconduct. Three of us, Sophia, Jill (an attorney), and I were originally there to catch up with a client who seemed to be having a rough time at the facility. I witnessed the kid's court session and consoled him when he was crying afterward. He wanted to go back to Las Vegas where his mom lives, but the judge said that placement in another state would not be ideal for him at the time (too expensive). However, I did not get to follow up with him at the meeting because Sophia conned the director of Lutherwood into giving me a first-hand tour of the grounds. I got to see the gym, the classrooms, the cafeteria, as well as some of the staffed dormitories with boys ages 12-17. It was quite interesting to view a treatment facility directly after touring the department of corrections. The atmosphere was so much more relaxed! The director was much more personable, too.
Practice/macro: Describe how a social worker can participate at the macro level to impact Human Rights? One could start a human rights club at a school or organization. Taking from one of the frequently asked questions from http://www.hrw.org/, it is possible to be provided with the resources to start a group through the human rights watch website.

Practice/micro: When is a client’s right to self-determination not the priority? The client always has the authority to obey his or her own will. No one is obliged to interfere with human choices unless a threat to the health of the client or community at large has presented itself through someone's right to self-determination. I believe self-determination is not high on the priority list if the client is determined to maintain negative behavior patterns such as self-mutilation or abuse, but everyone has the right to live how they want to regardless of the impact on society. Without winter, there would be no summer. Without negative behavior and poor social functioning, there would be no social workers... I'm sure you can reckon with the logic.

WEEK's hours: 16.9
Hours to date: 99.1