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How to Be an Effective Social Worker

Social workers have the power to transform lives and help people change negative behavior. Employment opportunities include child protection services, correctional facilities, private mental health clinics, hospitals and abuse centers. Some social workers also work as consultants to government agencies or with research organizations dedicated to studying social issues. Effective social work requires patience and a genuine desire to help people who may sometimes resent your presence in their lives.

Instructions

  1. Develop the Necessary Personal Qualities

    • 1

      Enjoy working with people. Effective social workers must like interacting with people on a daily basis. Develop sensitivity to beliefs that are different from your own because you will deal with people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

    • 2

      Possess a desire to help change people's lives. Though social work has its share of frustrations and challenges, seeing people improve their lives with your help can be very rewarding. To do your job effectively, you must have empathy and a commitment to providing service to others and put the needs of others ahead of your own personal feelings.

    • 3

      Create reasonable expectations. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing you can help everyone or significantly transform their lives, but situations exist that may not yield huge changes. Establish an achievable goal for each case based on its own merits. For example, in a situation with a drug-abusing mother of three who consistently refuses to stop using drugs, an achievable goal may be to get her into a treatment program, rather than to get her clean, train her for a job and get her kids back, which may be unrealistic.

    • 4

      Develop humility and a nonjudgmental attitude. Your work will bring you into contact with people who have done things that are in stark contrast to your own moral beliefs. Part of your job is to try to provide methods that will change negative behavior without allowing your personal judgment to interfere. Cultivate a humble attitude that acknowledges the frailty of all human beings.

    Develop the Necessary Work Habits

    • 5

      Reduce your stack of paperwork by writing your case notes right after you've met with a client. This helps you record the most pertinent information from the session, and saves you from having to work after-hours to catch up on writing your reports.

    • 6

      Manage your call list by returning phone calls as soon as possible, instead of waiting to return calls at the end of a long day. Like paperwork, phone calls that are not returned can pile up on your desk, which can be risky because of the volatility of some of the people you deal with on a daily basis.

    • 7

      Monitor criminal cases related to your clients. Since some of your clients will be involved with trials, either as witnesses or plaintiffs and sometimes as defendants, you must keep careful track of these cases.

    • 8

      Call the investigating police officers to learn the status of a case. Call the district attorney's office to find out information such as trial dates and court motions. Let the members of the criminal justice community know who you are, so you can develop a rapport that makes it easier for you to get answers for your clients.

    • 9

      Set boundaries. Though some extreme cases may require you to be available to a client at any hour of the day, treat the majority of your cases as a 9-to-5 job, and clearly inform your clients about your hours of availability.

Tips & Warnings

  • Avoid any hint of impropriety with a client. Do not hug or touch a client in any way that can be construed as sexual. Do not socialize with a client, or discuss other clients with her. This type of behavior violates the social worker code of conduct, and may be actionable under the law.

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