INTRODUCTION

Families represent the foundational unit upon which society is based and in which individuals are raised. The intimate interactions that shape family dynamics significantly influence individual experience. In addition, individuals influence and shape the family system. This is why family may be considered between the micro and mezzo levels of social work practice. Understanding a family system ensures that a social worker understands an individual within that family. Theory provides a social worker the framework for this understanding of system functions and provides the lens to understand a family in their environment.

This week, you explore potential societal barriers for diverse family systems and skills for addressing these barriers on various levels of social work practice. You begin practicing evidence-based practice through research and apply academic skills by supporting ideas through references to scholarly literature. Finally, you assess a family through a social work lens.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will:

Analyze potential societal barriers for family systems

Justify social work approach through use of evidence

Assess a family from a social work perspective

DISCUSSION

WORKING WITH FAMILIES

Families are as unique as the individuals who form them. While you may utilize the same or similar techniques while working with family systems (through the steps in the GIM and related practice skills), it is also important to recognize that each family has its own unique needs and experiences in the world. The empowerment perspective states that an essential aspect of working with individuals and families is to address their feelings of powerlessness and oppression. Empowerment is a process, and one part of that process is to gain an awareness of the oppressive structures evident in our society. Oppression, in the form of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia, can impact a family’s quality of life and ability to thrive. In this Discussion, you consider the many aspects of working with diverse families.

HELLO BEFORE STARTING THIS ASSIGNMENT PLEASE READ EVERYTHING TOP TO BOTTOM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. I HAVE PULLED SEVERAL ARTICLES FOR YOU TO USE AND REFERENCE FROM. I HAVE ALSO CHOSEN THE TOPIC TO USE WHICH IS HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN BELOW. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS A 250-WORD COUNT WITH REFERENCE

TO PREPARE

Select a family system working with barriers and challenges, such as those related to differences in sexual orientation, differences in race or ethnicity, substance abuse, food insecurity, or managing a disability. USE THIS Domestic violence OR intimate partner violence/VETERANS.

Think about how a social worker might address one of these barriers on an individual, family, organizational, group, or community level.

Next, visit the Walden Library to find information on barriers and social work roles for engaging with the family system. Support this post using information that you find, in addition to the assigned resources. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED ARTICLES AND READING

Walden Library recommends the following: ALL RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE GO TO ATTACHED ARTICLES

Navigate to the Social Work Research GuideLinks to an external site.. From the Library’s homepage, click on the blue button Research by Subject, then choose Social Work.

Use the gold-lined search box at the top of the pages to search thousands of social work journals. This is a great place to start your research.

Look at the results—especially the title and subjects—to see related concepts and keywords to add to your search.

Use OR between related terms, which means you will take either term. For example:

Domestic violence OR intimate partner violence

Add a second concept in Box #2 to focus your search. It helps to keep concepts separate, especially when multiple boxes are provided. For example:

Box #1: Domestic violence OR intimate partner violence

Box #2: Veterans

Refine your results based on what you find. Don’t be afraid to try other keywords or combinations of words.

Apply limits now. Scroll down in the left column to limit by date (last 5 years) and limit the results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals only.

To retrieve the full text of the article, click on the PDF or click on the Find@Walden button. Then, follow the prompts.

Other examples of searches:

Drug addiction OR drug abuse OR substance abuse

Senior citizen OR older people OR elderly OR aging

Suicide prevention OR suicide intervention

Adolescent OR youth OR teen AND anxiety

Post a response to the following:

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS BELOW

Provide a brief description of the family system you selected.

Explain potential barriers or challenges this family might encounter.

Explain how a social worker might address this barrier on an individual, family, organizational, group, or community level.

Support your post with examples from the course text and any other resources used to respond to this Discussion. Demonstrate that you have completed the required readings, understand the material, and are able to apply the concepts. Include a full reference of resources at the bottom of the post.