As a social worker, one has to meet quite a range of responsibilities associated with meeting clients’ needs, which is why the job of a social worker involves playing a range of roles, the main ones being those of a researcher and a mediator. By focusing on evidence-based problem resolution and the use of cross-cultural, compromise-oriented negotiation strategies, social workers will perform the functions of researchers and mediators successfully.
The social worker filling the roles of a researcher ands a mediator can help the client substantially by encouraging the development of a different perspective, as well as building a better understanding of the factors that prevent the patient from addressing the issue at hand. Specifically, as a mediator, a social worker can introduce the client to the crucial insights regarding the situation and the positive changes that the client can make. Furthermore, in case a client faces excessive constraints on the path toward successful management of specific issues, a social worker may serve as the mediator between the client and the seemingly unmanageable issue. By providing different perspectives and introducing new options, a social worker as a mediator will reduce the extent of complexity that the process of behavioral and attitudinal change will entail for the client (Okafor, 2021). In turn, as a researcher, social worker can identify common patterns and issues in the client’s responses and behaviors, thus, encouraging the development of the necessary insights in the patient (Okafor, 2021). For this reason, both roles are vital for a social worker.
Furthermore, the specified roles assist a social worker in the overall practice to a noticeable extent. Specifically, by performing the functions of a researcher, a social worker will infer the conclusions that can be further generalized to develop effective strategies for further practice. Namely, the outcomes of evidence-based research conducted in the social work field can be extrapolated to inform the choice of therapy approaches for other cases. Similarly, the role of a mediator will allow a social worker to acquire new and diverse communication skills that will help improve the quality of practice in the future. Specifically, as a mediator, a social worker will gain crucial knowledge concerning the strategies for guiding patients from diverse backgrounds to self-discovery. As a result, a social worker will be able to support a broader range of clients.
A case involving a social worker exploring a unique case and conducting evidence-based research in order to develop an appropriate strategy for assisting a client could eb an example of assuming the role of a researcher in a social work context. Specifically, in a scenario involving a cross-cultural dialogue, where a range of misunderstandings may occur, the introduction of evidence-based research is particularly important. In turn, a scenario involving a social worker providing a patient with options regarding the opportunity to reconnect with the family could eb seen as an example of a social worker playing the role of a mediator.
The incorporation of evidence-based approaches toward their research and clinical practice, as well as the emphasis on patient-oriented, compromise-based negotiation frameworks, will allow social workers to become effective researchers and mediators. The specified action reflects the connection between the functions of a social worker to those o a researcher and a mediator. Namely, the described strategy illustrates that a social worker must observe core changes within a patient, therefore, developing evidence-based insights that will guide the further practice. Furthermore, the integration of negotiation strategies based on compromise will allow a social worker as a mediator to guide the client toward the required behavior change.
Reference
Okafor, A. (2021). Role of the social worker in the outbreak of pandemics (a case of covid-19). Cogent Psychology, 8(1). Web.