Social Work within an Organizational Context
Social work is very important to the people that need it, and it is often equally important to the people that work in that field. However, there are organizational issues that also have to be addressed. Looked at here will be the characteristics of a social care agency and some of the key factors, both internal and external, that influence change in social care organizations. This is a significant to discuss, because more and more people are utilizing the services of social care agencies, and this means that there will be more people involved with them. more people indicates a bigger organization, which means more change, more to look at, and more concerns for those that are employed in social work. Characteristically, social work or social care agencies are under-funded, and the people are overworked (Epstein, 1997). This is true throughout many countries that have social work programs in place. It seems as though, with more people needing social services, there is just not enough money to go around (Gordon, 1994). Traditionally, social work has been a low-paying
It is also clear that more funding is needed for these agencies, since they could pay their social workers better wages and also provide more services to more economically disadvantaged individuals with more funding (Gordon, 1994). Receiving this funding would be one external factor that would contribute to change within social service agencies, but there are other factors that would affect them as well. For example, the demographic makeup of the area that the agency serves also affects the agency. Agencies that are located in areas with low incomes, poor economic conditions, and many minority families often have more to do and work harder than those in cities or areas of cities that are more affluent (Epstein, 1999). The changing demographic makeup of the area, therefore, would be another external factor that could affect the agency and cause some form of change to be seen within it. As can be seen, the social care agency is a complex organization, generally staffed by low-paid, overworked, and very caring individuals that are often frustrated because their limited a
Some common words found in the essay are:
, social care, social care agencies, care agencies, gordon 1994, funicello 1993, change social, social care agency, epstein 1997, demographic makeup, social programs, care agency, external factor,
Approximate Word count = 728
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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