Choose a theoretical perspective fromSocial Work Theory and Practice and reflexively engage with your professionalidentity using. Demonstrate why this theory appeals to you. You can draw onyour...

Running Head: Social Work Theory and Practice
Social Work Theory and Practice
Social Work Theory and Practice
Table of Contents
Introduction    2
Theory used to reflect on values of social justice as per my social work professional identity and its representation    2
Conclusion    9
References    11
Introduction
    The following assignment is aimed to explain certain aspects of my professional identity as a mental health social worker and the theory that I have chosen to use for the same is Social Exchange Theory propounded by George Homans from Austria. Why I chose the theory as appropriate for my field of work has been explained later on including what influenced me to become a mental health social worker in the first place. I have also incorporated the use of Rolfe’s reflective theory, in this case, to show how whatever I have studied so far has helped me professionally and realise what is the ideal professional identity for me.
The theory used to reflect on values of social justice as per my social work professional identity and its representation
Some of my values as a mental health social worker and as a person have been about making sure to provide social justice to people of minority communities in Australia such as the people belonging to the race of Aboriginal Australians. This group has been seen to have undergone a lot of hardships not just to establish themselves economically but also socially since even today company employees distinguish people based on race and somehow consider the Aboriginals to be not up to the standard which is why they often do not get hired anywhere (Plater et al., 2020). Some of the important theories that reflect on social injustice are Social Exchange Theory propounded by George Homans from Austria. In short, this theory is all about bringing together many concepts from various disciplines showing how behaviours can be influenced (Zoller & Muldoon, 2018). I have also chosen to use Rolfe’s Reflective Model to decode my experience further since it is more or less very simple and straightforward but helps students like me to understand better what they have learnt so far. My experiences will be henceforth based under 3 categories that is what, so what and now what.
What: I have seen many cases of Aboriginal Australians suffering from social anxiety and depression due to the fact that people who were belonging to the so-called privileged races in Australia refused to accept them. I have often wanted to do something for them and I realised that being a social worker would be the best bet in this case since they are trained to be working as partners with people and using services, carers and their families so that involvement is optimised and collaborative solutions can be achieved. I have realised that I do not face most of the discrimination owing to the fact that I am part of the population that has British ancestry accounting for about 67.4 per cent of the population in Australia today. It has however come to light that as per the Australian Human Rights Commission about 409 cases of complaints have been received under the Racial Discrimination Act as of 2016-2017 (Conversation, 2018). The graph below shows that 32 per cent of the respondents to a survey were found to be having negative feelings towards Australians who are Muslims and about 22 per cent stated that their feelings were negative towards Australians of the Middle-Eastern lineage.
Figure 1: Feelings towards racial minorities or groups in Australia
(Source: Conversation, 2018)
    There are many categories of social work such as healthcare and mental health as per what I have realised. Social work is mainly all about enhancing the well-being of human beings with respect to people who are oppressed, vulnerable or may be living in poverty and mental health social work is all about empowering clients so that they can recover from and manage their mental health conditions (Online Master of Social Work, 2022). I want to be a part of the lives of clients who are on the path to being recovered from serious mental illnesses such as depression and personality disorders that can be a result of social injustice such as racism.
    So what: How is Social Exchange Theory related to social justice: Many critics have stated that social exchange theory is supposed to be one of the concepts based on the idea that relations between 2 people can be created by analysis of cost-benefits. One can also say...