Social workers remain tasked with the responsibility of enhancing human well-being in addition to helping meet the various needs of vulnerable individuals, people living in poverty, and the oppressed. Given my role as a social care provider working with teenagers in foster care, I not only understand but also acknowledge and appreciate the challenges, as well as benefits associated with empowering vulnerable individuals in any given social setting. In response, I have chosen the dual nature of man as my research topic; given the theme’s relevance to my profession and religious philosophy. According to Emile Durkheim’s “Elementary Forms of Religious Life,” dualism refers to a distinct feature of human beings in which two opposite principles tend to confront each other: sensory appetite and moral activity, soul and body, and sensation and concept. In other words, every individual has Adam I and Adam II, the opposing sides of human nature, with the former and latter representing discernible and practical qualities and internal strengths and weaknesses, respectively.
The significance of the theme revolves around the fact that it recognizes and justifies the inherent inconsistency of any given individual. Equally important, dualism plays a central role in dividing all things, including our actions and behaviors as social workers into two: the profane, as well as the sacred. As we interact with the natural world, we lack the much-needed capacity to achieve complete internal harmony since an individual always strives to overcome evil through good deeds. Ultimately, I utilize this paper to discuss how the topic has defined my religious or spiritual philosophy, its relevance to social work values and application to a client, and the way it influences my philosophy of helping.
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Religious/Spiritual Philosophy
The dual nature of human beings explains the complexity of life, which remains characterized by a great deal of socio-political, cultural, emotional, and economic problems. In essence, dualism serves as a major determinant of ethics: what is right or wrong in society ( Durkheim & Yudin (2013 ). A historic, as well as defining a characteristic of social work revolves around its focus on not only ensuring individual well-being but also that of society. The fundamental aspect of social work involves the profession’s close attention to the various environmental forces, which play a central role in creating, contributing to, and addressing complicated and multifaceted problems in living.
My role as a social worker comprises the promotion and maintenance of social justice and associated change on behalf of individual clients. The term “clients” refer to vulnerable communities, individuals, organizations, families, and groups (Butler, 2012). In this context, clients constitute teenagers in foster care. Given my religious beliefs as a social worker, I remain sensitive to and aware of ethnic and cultural diversity and individual differences. For this reason, I often place great emphasis on ending any form of social injustices, such as poverty, discrimination, and oppression ( Durkheim & Yudin, 2013; Butler, 2012 ). Sensibly speaking, the activities in question take many forms, including research and evaluation, direct practice, consultation, advocacy, community organizing, political action, supervision, counseling, caregiving, policy development, and administration.
By engaging in the aforementioned justice-driven activities, I have so far aligned my personal objectives with the various religious teachings and doctrines: I make tireless efforts toward furthering God’s good deeds on earth ( Pelayo, 2016 ). In this respect, the duality of man has not only shaped but also defined my religious philosophy, which involves serving God’s very purpose on earth. Very simply, I strive to achieve this by enhancing the vulnerable teenagers’ capacity and encouraging them to inculcate and perpetuate ethical behaviors so that they can address each of their needs at the individual level.
Dualism and Social Work Values
Dual nature of man remains relevant to the various social work values because it presents social workers with the best possible opportunity to identify, understand, and address existing and potential boundary and relationship issues. Any given social worker, including foster care providers, tend to encounter a broad range of circumstances, which, in turn, pose potential, as well as actual boundary issues. According to Reamer (2003), the issues in question occurred when a social worker faces or experiences conflicts of interest, which often result from dual relationships. As a professional, I always enter into a variety of dual relationships because I become the client’s family member. In these complex relationships, social workers face different challenges; given they have to struggle with the profane and the sacred ( Durkheim & Yudin, 2013 ). In response to these challenges, the NASW Code of Ethics regulates behaviors and practice of social workers through ethical values and standards. The major social work values comprise service, social justice, and the importance of human relationships, dignity, competence, and integrity.
Boundary issues witnessed in the present-day social work include response to a variety of unanticipated circumstances, the pursuit of our emphasis on personal benefit, altruistic gestures, and dependency and emotional needs (Reamer, 2003). According to Durkheim and Yudin (2013), the dual nature of man serves as the primary factor for these issues. In essence, social workers, like any other human being, tend to find themselves in a challenging situation, such as dealing with aggressive and demanding clients. Like any other human being, a social worker might choose to avoid such teenagers because they are difficult to handle. In response, the theme of dualism plays a fundamental role in informing the Code since gaining a deeper understanding of the topic helps social workers to identify appropriate strategies to help them work with this category of clients. For example, a social worker in this situation would place much emphasis on establishing the root causes of the teenagers’ aggressive behavior (Butler, 2012). In this way, the social worker finds the opportunity to approach them differently with the aim of helping the clients behave ethically and maintain healthy and beneficial relationships with others.
In addition, the dual nature of manner explains other forms of relationships that play a pivotal role in producing different forms or dimensions of personal benefit. Reamer (2003) argues that personal benefit takes four major forms: monetary gain, useful information, goods, and services. Like any other human being with a broad range of flaws, the social worker’s sensory appetite typically fights his or her moral activity. For this reason, social workers with certain unmet needs are more likely to fall into the temptation of engaging their clients in a self-centered or self-serving manner (Weilen, Dunn, & Hammer, 2012). When dealing with a difficult client, for instance, a social worker may be tempted to overlook the client’s, especially when the care provider has other important tasks and missions to pursue. In this case, gaining a deeper understanding of dualism and appreciation of the Code allows the social worker to appreciate the fact that a child or teenager in foster care should be treated in a manner that improves their potential, while at the same time, taking into consideration that their parents are alive but incapable of looking after them.
Social workers must align their practice with the value of service, which requires care providers to prioritize the client’s well-being as opposed to the social worker’s personal interests (Aravind, Krishnaram, & Thasneem, 2012). Any given social worker should place great emphasis on the creation and maintenance of relatively brief, non-exploitative, as well as casual relationships with their individual clients concerning empowering themes. In essence, social worker-client interactions should not only revolve around traditionally hierarchical relationships but also facilitating therapeutic progress and enhancing the delivery of both nonclinical and clinical services.
Apart from utilizing their profession to fulfill or meet personal interests, boundary issues often arise when a social worker attempts to address their emotional needs. Although these issues tend to be subtle, others are not only egregious but also glaring (Reamer, 2003). For instance, a social worker tasked with the responsibility of serving neglected, as well as abused children might exploit the children’s vulnerability to cope with his or her problems. In this way, they undermine the professions’ emphasis on values of social justice. Although failure to overcome depression and associated emotions best explains how the dual nature of man is relevant to social work values, a social worker must embrace self-control when dealing with any client (Weilen, Dunn, & Hammer, 2012). In this respect, dualism presents social workers with the opportunity to identify their weaknesses and strengths when working with clients from different socioeconomic status (SES) and racial or ethnic and political backgrounds (Aravind, Krishnaram, & Thasneem, 2012). Accordingly, the topics relate perfectly well with the Code since it allows individual social workers to acknowledge and appreciate the significant role played by healthy human relationships in their client-centered profession.
Application of Topic to a Client
I have chosen to apply my understanding of the topic to a 19-year old girl who is good struggles with self-esteem issues. In our foster care center, we interact with teenagers with a variety of social and psychological problems, concluding those that lack the much-needed self –confidence (Park & Peterson, 2009). As stated earlier, the topic of dualism revolves around the fact that human beings typically strive to overcome opposing forces attributed to the body and soul. In this context, the girl has failed to acknowledge and appreciate her physical abilities, skills, and talent: she only places great emphasis on her weaknesses, low self-esteem.
Given my understanding of her dual nature, the weak and the strong aspects, I can adapt and integrate a number of change-driven strategies or interventions with the sole purpose of improving her self-confidence and performance abilities. First, I would prioritize offering the necessary counseling services to her. Utilizing compassionate listening, I would ensure she provides the much-needed information before addressing the issues raised systematically. In this way, I would learn the reason why she feels incapable. Equally important, I would encourage her to socialize with her peers, which, in turn, would play a vital role in positively improving her worldview or perspective about life. Interaction with fellow teenagers would also allow her to identify and appreciate the importance of individual differences, and how the disparities help us complement one another in different situations. (Park & Peterson, 2009). Concisely, an individual can choose to remain vulnerable to their weak self, meaning social workers should focus on bringing out the best out of their clients.
Dualism and Philosophy of Helping
Social workers remain engaged in direct, as well as indirect practice, which constitute actions aimed at helping people in need in addition to addressing the various social problems they encounter in life. Given this mission, the topic of dual nature of man has a far-reaching impact on my philosophy of helping people since I undertake beneficence-driven activities. In essence, I understand the duality of my clients, including their strengths, flaws, and physical abilities and appearances, and emotions. Beneficence is one of the unique concepts that involve the desire to identify with good deeds and not harming others (Sunday, 2016). With beneficence, I not only treat my clients professionally but also view them holistically. When dealing with teenagers in foster care, I address not only their medical problems but also mental and social issues, such as trauma, views on racism, and loneliness or depression. Briefly speaking, the topic has informed my social work practice through beneficence, which requires me to recognize and address the teenagers’ broader needs.
The theme has also shaped and defined how I work with the needy teenagers: I treat them equally having appreciated the important role played individual differences in any given social setting. In particular, some teenagers are dominant and independent, and others are more needy, competitive, passive, submissive, and passionate than others. For this reason, I often employ a change-driven approach to empowering each teenager based on their levels of need. When dealing with competitive and passionate clients, for instance, I engage them in challenging tasks with the sole purpose of ensuring they fully exploit their abilities in achieving the already established goals. Concerning passive, as well as submissive teenagers, I prioritize improving their self-esteem through counseling and socialization activities. Through compassionate listening, I approach the teenagers’ challenges with a great deal of diligence and compassion, challenging them to develop and maintain the much-needed positive attitude in life.
PYA Workshop
In addition to utilizing clients’ different perspectives in life to improve their well-being, I also use Preparing Youth for Adulthood (PYA) workshop to deal with dominant teenagers, as well as those with difficult personalities. Typically, individuals with domineering attitudes tend to align their arguments and social groups with racism and SES. Just like the PYA workshop adopted and used by the HeartShare St. Vincent’s Services (HSVS) agency, I strive to create a forum characterized by open discussions about any form of discrimination: racial, social, and economic. I bring the teenagers together with the sole purpose of encouraging them to talk directly, as well as openly about skin color and differences or views associated with the same. The young African American, white, and Latin women and men find the best possible opportunity to share their experiences with education, law enforcers, employment opportunities, drugs, and housing. By comparing and contrasting their perspectives about one another, teenagers learn to appreciate their differences, avoid aggressive behaviors. With this recognition, they start viewing each other as equals and individuals talented in different areas.
The dual nature of man means that each of the clients is talented in one way or another, meaning that their abilities remain complementary (Park & Peterson, 2009). For this reason, I have aligned my social work objectives with the requirements of social justice. I often achieve this by ensuring fair distribution of available resources, benefiting every teenager. For example, I pay close attention to each of their needs, regardless of their religious affiliation, SES, and associated ideologies. According to Sunday (2016), social justice emanates from equality, which means I focus my efforts on improving every teenager’s welfare and attaining the best from them. For instance, I work hand in hand with the teenagers in behavior improvement projects, therapy programs, and awareness creation activities, which also play a central role in ensuring their independence. By removing the hierarchical barrier and maintaining the necessary social distance, I work with them as partners in solving the various social problems.
References
Aravind, V., Krishnaram, V., & Thasneem, Z. (2012). Boundary crossings and violations in clinical settings. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 34 (1): 21-24.
Butler, J. (2012). Religious literacy in the social work profession. A Master Thesis . Retrieved Mar. 7, 2019 from https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/33128/research.pdf?sequence=2
Durkheim, E. & Yudin, G. (2013). The dualism of human nature and its social conditions. Russian Sociological Review, 12 (2): 133-144.
Park, N. & Peterson, C. (2009). Character strengths: Research and practice. Journal of College and Character, 10 (4).
Pelayo, A. (2016). Beliefs about religion and spirituality among social workers. Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations . Paper 334.
Reamer, F. (2003). Boundary issues in social work: Managing dual relationships. Social Work, 48 (1): 121-133.
Sunday, E. (2016). The use of self in social work practice. Social Work .
Weilen, W., Dunn, D., & Hammer, E. (2012). Psychology applied to modern life: Adjustments in the 21 st century . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
