Paper Topic:

Social Work

The life of a social worker is not easy . Social workers are often exposed to threats and acts of violence . As found in a recent study that was conducted by the National Association of Social Workers on the issue of on the job safety issues , it was reported that over fifty-five percent (55 ) of the five thousand (5 ,000 ) licensed social workers were subjected to several personal safety issue during work (Beyerstein 2006 . These same figures also show that as of 2002 nineteen percent (19 ) had been victims of violence while sixty-three percent (63

) had been subjected to threats (Beyerstein 2006 . Given these statistics , it is not surprising that the violence has gone up another level with the reported killings of Sally Blackwell and Boni Frederick (Beyerstein 2006

The hazards that social workers are exposed to are numerous indeed . It has been said that social workers perform society 's most difficult and necessary work ' while not having the necessary protection that they need (Beyerstein 2006 . The dangers that abound in the work of social workers come from the people that these social workers are trying to help . The different patients and individuals a social worker meets during the course of work have a tendency to react violently in certain situations . The main problem here is that social workers have been the victims of cost cutting programs that have led to inadequate on the field training and also the lack of support from the local government and police enforcement authorities (Beyerstein 2006

In to address these issues , certain lawmakers from different states have proposed legislation that will penalize those who threaten social workers (Beyerstein 2006 . They have also proposed the enactment of measures that will improve the on the job safety of these social workers . Other suggestions include the implementation of Marty 's law which would require that social workers work in pairs to increase their safety (Jordan 2006 . These are steps which should be implemented in to increase worker safety , particularly in the field of social work

It is regrettable that people who have devoted their lives to helping others have fallen victim to the same people they are trying to help These lives should not have been given up in vain . The least that the government can do is to increase the aid in these sectors to help these dedicated social workers

References

Beyerstein , Lindsay (2006 ) Social workers unsafe on the job retrieved from HYPERLINK "http /majikthise .typepad .com /majikthise_ /2006 /10 /social_workers_ .html http /majikthise .typepad .com /majikthise_ /2006 /10 /social_workers_ .html last accessed on February 28 , 2008

Killing Of Texas Social Service Worker Raises Workplace Safety Issues (2006 ) retrieved from HYPERLINK "http /spewingforth .blogspot .com /2006 /03 /killing-of-texas-social-servic e-worker .html http /spewingforth .blogspot .com /2006 /03 /killing-of-texas-social-service -worker .html last accessed on February 28 , 2008

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