Analysis Of Dubois Social Work: An Empowerment Profession

In chapter eight of DuBois Social Work: An Empowering Profession, I have gained an understanding that an empowerment-based practice is crucial in facilitating client’s strengths. That “If social work is to be an empowering profession, then the words, labels, and metaphors that social workers draw on to describe their work must promote strengths and facilitate empowerment” (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p. 196). Meaning, everything done within the profession can affect the client in either a positive or negative way. The most important thing in order to have an empowerment-based practice is for the social worker and the client to work together as collaborative partners (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p. 197). In doing so, the social worker must “respect clients’
205). Change is the primary goal of a social worker as they try and guide their client to being self-sufficient in finding their own resources. But if the client is focusing on their weaknesses and their mistakes, this may cause the client to shut down and makes it harder for the exchange of information between the client and social worker. Without good communication, social workers find it more difficult in trying to help connect their clients to right resources. Again, in order to promote clients strengths, social workers should encourage relationships that reflect empathy, promote communication that considers individual differences, and should seek solutions that encourage clients’ participation (Dubois & Miley, 2014,
The purpose of engagement “involves forming partnerships, articulating situations, and defining directions (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p. 198). Identifying client’s problems or concerns about situations helps the social worker and client’s to “discover interrelated sets of issues that they need to consider” (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p. 198). This gives a clearer understanding as to what particular challenges that the social worker and clients need to work towards to overcome them (10 (b)). After realizing specific issues, this clarifies “the preliminary purposes for their working relationship and respond forthrightly to preemptive crises” (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p. 202). In other words, having a preliminary goal makes it easier to discover resources that will ease reaching the goals. Then after identifying the preliminary goals, “through assessment, social workers and clients analyze information about the clients’ situations, select interventive strategies, and identify the resources needed to resolve the presenting issues” (Dubois & Miley, 2014, p.204). This allows both the social worker and client to collaboratively identify and frame resources that would benefit the client and strengthen solutions (10 (b)). Then the process of implementation is fulfilling the action plans that the client and social