I found Ms. Kalimah Johnson’s presentation to the class to be very inspirational on many levels. For purposes of this reflection I would like to focus on two of them including her varied way of practicing social work and her response to my question about managing social work practice that intersects with our personal/private lives and experiences.

                Ms. Kalimah has a fascinating story not just because of some of the difficult experiences she has had, but because how it has informed her view of the world and avenue of practice. I think her story if a powerful example of how even difficult and painful experiences can be used as a force for good. Moreover, by sharing and forming relationship with others with similar experiences allows the group a louder and more effective sounding board for social change and justice work. I am strongly encouraged by how Ms. Kalimah has used her past to impact change in her life and community.

                Another aspect of Ms. Kalimah’s presentation that was meaningful to me (there are many more than discussed hereJ) was her response to my question about boundary setting with issues and clients that bring up personal experiences and feelings. Ms. Kalimah, an incest victim and survivor has been working with DV victims and survivors of abuse through her non-profit as well as collaboration with other community service providers and stakeholder. I asked how she sets appropriate boundaries with working with populations that have similar experiences and resonate personally. Her response is meaningful and critically important for social workers as they intersect with consumers in the point of need. Ms. Kalimah shared the importance of having self-awareness about the issues and areas of personal vulnerability. Moreover, Ms. Kalimah shared how important her supervision was to discuss ethical problems, transference, etc. Having boundaries are an important step to maintaining professional conduct with clients and avoiding poor decision-making.

                A few other aspects worth mentioning include Ms. Kalimah’s poetry and entrepreneurship as they were very informative and inspirational.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, Little Bee. I found Little Bee’s story to be very compelling. I found the book to very readable and difficult to put down. Little Bee’s harrowing experience seeking asylum from the horrors of her homeland effectively capture the unique challenges facing refugees. Little Bee has challenged many of my views related to immigration and the need for comprehensive changes to the system responsible for handling refuges and other foreign nationals.

I found myself disappointed with the ending of the book. Considering all of the obstacles that Little Bee overcame including, escaping the murderers in her country, fleeing to England, and her 2-year detention I was hoping for a happy ending. I was disappointed that Little Bee was caught and deported back to her homeland at the end of the book. As I reflected more about the ending, I found myself thinking maybe that was the point. Stories that have happy endings make us feel good, but the reality for many people especially refugees there are no happy endings. The reality of detention camps and deportation remain as difficult realities for those seeking refuge from foreign governments.

            Little Bee painfully brought home the reality of conditions in developing countries like Nigeria. The reality of resource wars, ethnic strife, gang rape, and murder are painful realities for many including asylum seekers. Little Bee’s character would constantly think about how she could quickly kill herself in various settings to avoid being a victim of the bad men like the ones that killed her sister, mother, and father. These types of circumstances are hard for many westerners to imagine. It does challenge our complacency as it relates to the realities of our foreign brother and sisters. Why should be care, because, “this is called, globalization?”

 

Some quotes from Little Bee to ponder…

“…a scar is never ugly…a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.” (p. 9)

“Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive.” (p. 9)

“Death, of course, if a refuge. It’s where you go when a new name, or a mask and cape, can no longer hide you from yourself. It’s where you run to when none of the principalities of your conscience will grant you asylum.” (p. 22)

“Horror in your country is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are no suffering from it.” (p.47)

“So when I say that I am a refugee, you must understand that there is no refuge.” (p. 46)

 “Truly, there is no flag for use floating people. We are millions, but we are not a nation. We cannot stay together. Maybe we get together in ones and twos, for a day or a month or even a year, but then the wind changes and carries the hope away.” (p. 80)

“How calm my eyes were, since that day on the beach in Africa. When there has been a low so fundamental I suppose that to lose just one more thing—a finger, perhaps, or a husband—is of absolutely no consequence at all.” (p. 91)

“…it seemed in that moment that we were all the same, just creatures in nature hanging without any great effort upon the vast warm wind of events that were greater than us.” (p. 115)

“…life is extremely short and you cannot dance to current affairs.” (p. 133)

“I am illegal, Sarah. The men can come any minute to send me back to my country.” (p. 137)

“To be well in your mind you have first to be free, you see?” (p. 147)

“…there are circumstances in which we will allow men to enter out bodies but not our homes.” (p. 165)

 “I work for central government, remember? Actually doing something is the mistake we’re trained to avoid.” (p. 206)

 “I can’t look at her without thinking how shallow my life is.” (p. 207)

 “There’s eight million people here pretending the other aren’t getting on their nerves. I believe it’s called civilization.” (p. 216)

“…in a street full of white faces, I was trapped because I knew I could never go unnoticed.” (p. 219)

“I realized, this is why the police do not carry guns. In a civilized country, they kill you with a click.” (p. 241)

“Peace is a time when people can tell each other their real names.” (p. 265)

    I learned the difference between NASW credentialing and state social work board licensing. I have wondered for sometime about the variety of credentialing differences listed after one’s name. I didn’t realize there were two different credentialing bodies. It seems redundant to have two similar accrediting bodies, not to mention the cost associated with getting licensed. I look forward to learning more about how to licensure distinctions that will assist with making me a more effective, versatile, and marketable social worker.

    I learned after reviewing the State of California’s licensing body website that the state’s accrediting body will suspend or deny a Social Worker’s licensure in the event the applicant has outstanding state tax obligations. I find this to be troubling. I think that if licensing is so important to career advancement and opportunity then the punitive suspension of licensure or denial of it limits one’s ability to secure gainful employment and enable them to pay off their tax obligations. This policy reminds me of the Friend of the Court policy than jails deadbeat dads for failure to pay child support, effectively ensuring that the dad will not pay any child support. I hope this policy doesn’t find its way into Michigan or any other state for that matter. However, I would be interested in applying this standard to politicians and other publicly paid officials. J

    I am familiar with the licensing process as I currently possess an LLBSW. I am up for my license renewal next month. I had planned on letting my license lapse due to seeking an MSW, but I would prefer to going from an existing LLBSW to a LLMSW following my expected graduation next year. The costs associated with securing one’s license as well as other work related expenses can be used to reduce one’s tax liability.

    It appears from reviewing Michigan’s licensing guidelines that the two social work licensing distinctions: clinical and macro have respective licensing exams. I know several people including my mentor as well as my department director at work that have dual or both clinical and macro licensing designations. I think I may pursue this dual designation as I desire to be clinically competent as well as macro trained. As mentioned in my 10-minute reflection following Dr. Smith’s economic development lecture, I am struggling to form a vision of how to accomplish both. Knowing people who have done both is encouraging as I think this may be the route I wish to take as well.

    I was not familiar with Social Work Examination Services (SWES) prior to this assignment. I have friends who are taking licensing exams in related fields like psychology and from what I can tell it can be a stressful time for people as many positions require licensure for billing purposes, grant requirements, etc. It is good to know that study helps and related resources are available to assist graduates with preparing for licensure exams. SWES offers a home-study program for all post-masters exam. This is of interest to me as it appears to include not just clinical preparations, but macro as well. I think I would benefit from this resource particularly the macro materials because I am pursuing clinical practice at Wayne and will likely receive little education or training with macro related concepts and skills.

    The above mentioned learning gains will assist me with securing my licensing renewal as well as front end preparation for the social work licensing exam required for full licensure. Moreover, I learned that tax delinquency can impact one’s ability to be licensed in California which will most likely negatively impact one’s employment prospects. I do not wish to seek employment in California. This assignment has helped me to think through what licensing designations I would like to secure and is a helpful reminder of why it is important. This assignment has also served as a vehicle to brainstorm how to accomplish my clinical licensure as well as seeking a macro licensure designation. It is possible, others have done it! The educational and study resources available to social worker planning to take a licensing exam will certainly help me to prepare for the exam and supplement my undergraduate and graduate learning process.

    I used the www.socialworkexam.com website for a sample/practice licensure exam. I decided to take the advanced generalist (macro) exam to get an idea of what kind of material and learning can be expected for a macro level social worker. My interest in development work is a recent development despite pursuing an interpersonal practice specialization. I found the exam to be mostly clinical related questions. I did not find them to be related to macro related concepts of social developmental concepts. I received a 56% or 17 out of 30 questions correct. This is not a passing score, although, I imagine that the actual licensure exam is much more than 30 questions. It appears that when selecting the flag button, your selections are not actually registered. I flagged several questions not realizing that they would not register to answer choice I had selected. As a result, I think I have an artificially lower score. I will take the exam another time to re-assess my performance although; I agree I am a bit rusty on many of the theory based questions. I think these practice exercises are critical to testing and refreshing one’s memory about social work concepts and practice situations.

    In conclusion, one of the practice test questions asked about when a helping professional experiences emotional transference of similar emotional conflict during professional practice. The correct answer is: You are ethically obligated to refer the client to someone who can best assist her and is not emotionally compromised. I found that during my undergraduate studies this point was discussed, but during a student-university controversy related to the student making a referral during ethical dilemma during field placement, the importance and primacy of referral making to protect the client and practitioner from harm was significantly compromised leading to confusion about making referrals due to ethical dilemmas and the professional lacking competence in a particular area.

                I found Dr. Richard Smith’s presentation to class to be most interesting. I learned many new ideas and concepts. I found the comparison of US welfare philosophy (need-based) versus European welfare policy (entitlement-based) to be very thought provoking. Some other concepts I learned about included social welfare as investment, absolute vs. relative poverty, and the Human Development Index.

                Dr. Smith discussed the common assumption that growth is always good. Before the lecture, I ascribed to this philosophy. I thought that any growth afforded the population the opportunity to have improved quality of life. The thought that all growth is good is also countered by the chapter of economic development is out textbook that rapid economic growth is often unsustainable and leads to other social and economic problems.

                I approached Dr. Smith after his lecture to inquire about his opinion regarding WSU-Department of Urban Planning’s Economic Development certificate. He mentioned that he is more familiar with the National Development Council’s professional development certificate program which he completed. I am very interested in this alternative certification as it seems more flexible and would require less time to complete. Not to mention Dr. Smith indicated it is widely recognized.

                Dr. Smith’ said that it would be unlikely to utilize clinical skills and economic development. You would use one while neglecting the other. This is a problem for me as I am pursuing interpersonal practice, but have a strong interest and passion for macro development and research. Dr. Smith mentioned that the US places much emphasis on mental health services and less on development and the reverse is often true globally. Considering my work prospects for clinical positions far outweigh development ones, I am seeking an interpersonal practice track. But, I still desire more education and understanding when it comes to development. I may just have to pursue a dual licensing endorsement for clinical and macro.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Smith’s presentation and information related to development. I am excited to see how macro practice can be incorporated into my graduate-level education.

 

~dgb

1. List and explain 3 things you learned from class today?

2. How do you see yourself using these 3 things in the development of becoming a well-rounded social worker and or international social worker?     

• The world has many complex socio-economic and political challenges. The rise and increasing need for international social workers has not been more pronounced. Crushing national debt burdens, ethnic strife and genocide, endless wars, terrorism, and many other forms of oppression demand an effective societal response. Employing an international social work perspective can engage these crises and provide competent and evidence-based practice and intervention that is so needed. I look forward to learning more why and where extreme forms of human suffering is occurring and what I can do about it as a social worker with an international perspective.
  

 

• My classmates and I have similar and varied interests. The quote that comes to mind when I think of how social workers can impact change is Margaret Mead’s quote: ““Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” As social workers we have tremendous power to join forces for good and seek justice nationally and internationally. Becoming more familiar with the interests on my peers is both enlightening and challenging. It is good to learn about what motivates my fellow classmates as we do not work for justice alone, but will need to rely on those working alongside of use. I am enjoying learning from my classmates and with my classmates the challenges facing social worker abroad and really domestically. For international problems do not occur in a vacuum, but impact our ever increasingly interconnected world. I am looking forward to becoming more equipped to speak competently about international issues and how they are relevant to our domestic concerns.

• There seems to be something special about Switzerland. I was going to select Switzerland as a top pick for a country to flee, but opted to seek more information before deciding. As several of my classmates also selected Switzerland it got me thinking, what is so appealing about Switzerland? For me, Switzerland’s appeal comes from the fact that the country was not invaded by Nazi Germany during World War 2. One of the explanations of this is that in Switzerland, gun ownership is widespread. In Switzerland it is common to see citizens traveling on buses and in the community with so called “assault rifles.” As a result of the widespread gun ownership, crime is low and threats from outside forces will likely be unsuccessful because of resistance from the armed public. Another aspect of Switzerland that is appealing to me is the low taxes and business-friendly environment. I think that free enterprise, the exchange of goods and services is the best means for raising the quality of life for the people. As a social worker, I want to advocate for public policy that enhances the common good for the most people. Seeing how policies in other countries like Switzerland have been successful is substance for policy pursuits and advocacy in other areas and communities.