Analyze how dimensions of diversity and intersecting identities may influence the experience of the population that your colleague identified.

Assignment Question

Read the direction below respond to the 2 post below answering based off the 2 bullets.

Analyze how dimensions of diversity and intersecting identities may influence the experience of the population that your colleague identified. Describe an area where a social worker may advocate on behalf of this population.

post 1

The population that I have interest in working with is the aging and older adults. Older adults are often defined as above 62 years of age and above. My interest derived from my paternal grandmother who raised me. She had adult children when I was born and dedicated most of her aging years to raising me and for that I am grateful. While there are many professional roles that a social worker may assume working with the aging population the first that comes to mind as commercials about Medicare are broadcast on television and radio is a “Healthcare Benefit Social Worker.” This social worker helps aging individual apply and sometimes qualify for affordable healthcare. While some aging individuals fit income requirements other aging individuals must creatively reallocate assets to qualify for benefits. A Healthcare Benefit Social Worker can help individual select the medical plan that best suits their needs and current medical status. When working with the aging population both ecological and systems theories can be applied. Ecological theory highlights how the aging adult is a part of and impacted by their social, familial, economic, governmental, and other environments one may belong or be impacted by. While aging individuals may have unique needs, their needs impact or affect others in their environment. Systems theory can be applied working with the aging and older adult population by recognizing the older adult as a system. Systems are complex and could not perform at its optimal level if there is a problem with one or more parts of the system. People are complex and have multiple needs including but not limited to mental, emotional, physical, environmental, economic and relational (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). Some steps that I will take to develop my knowledge of the older adult and aging population is read articles surrounding the experiences and challenges that they face. To further my knowledge, I will also interview and converse with the aging population to get as much information and insight, starting with my own family members. I will also learn how to get comfortable with silence and be patient when communicating; as some people age there may be processing delays in understanding information that is being received. I will also keep systems theory top of mind to recognize people are not exclusively the problem they may present with, I will dig deeper. As heard in the Ted Talk, the mission of Social Work is to promote and support individual and community wellbeing, and to fight social injustice. (A. Scheyett, 2015) my hope is to ensure the aging population continues to feel and be a part of their respective communities and fight against challenges that would prevent that ability.

post 2

Describe your population of interest. The population I am interested in working with is the reentry department in the prison system. The reason is that America has a mass incarceration problem. I witness a family member go to prison at the age of twenty for selling drugs to now being free at the age of forty and can only work in certain places due to his record. Not only that, but he also became an alcoholic with no support system. The statistics “According to information from the Burial of Justice the national repeated rate in the United States is 67.5 percent. As a prison social worker, I would investigate the reason the individual released from prison re-offends and returns to prison. I would like to see if they have support from the criminal justice system and from their family. And look at what is causing repeated offenders. Identify one professional role that a social worker may assume when working with this population. The professional role that would be assumed when working in a criminal justice environment would be a prison social worker, case manager, or correction social worker. Explain how you might apply ecological or systems theory when working with the population. According to Kirst, both systems play a vital role. “The important thing is that both emphasize interactions with the environment (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). I would apply the system theory to better understand the connection between the laws, the inmates, the jails, and the prison. There are many interrelated parts operating together for the goal and as a social worker, I would find out what type of goal is being promoted. The steps that I would take to develop knowledge of the prison population would be to first unbiased my mind. After I would read research, and look at methods, and statistics that were developed to help my population. Describe specific steps you will take to develop your knowledge of this population through critical thought and research. Identify the population support system. What state programs are available? And do they have family to assist in what they are going through? Investigation is important to figure out how I can help my clients, answering questions like why they went to prison, and when they will get out. Reading research available is fundamental in finding a solution to assist my population. Another crucial factor is looking up laws and regulation to advocate for changes if certain patterns array.

References Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Empowerment Series: Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). CENGAGE Learning U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. BJS Data Report. Washington, D.C.:The Bureau, 19871990. [https://bjs.ojp.gov/topics/recidivism-and-reentryLinks to an external site.Links to an external site.] (visited [November 2023])