Marlynda Bishop
9/25/15
Weekly Reflection

“If social work practice is a house we build, then theory is its blueprint. Explicitly and implicitly, formally or informally, theory is ever present in our practice. Never the less, say the word “theory” to many social work practitioners and be prepared to hear its irrelevance outside the classroom” (Finn and Jacobson pg.164). What is Theory and what does it mean in relevance to my practice? In what situations do I choose theory over reality to solve a problem?

After reading this chapter I have learned that theory is used for everything to make sense of your practice. There are many definitions of theory but what stuck out to me the most was Robbins approach of theory. His approach was that theory is created socially from birth. The thing that we learn from birth to adult hood shapes our reality and everyone’s reality is different so that’s where different cultures come in to play. Every culture has different customs, values and beliefs and they raise their families under those core concepts.

By knowing that theory is what helps you make sense of your work and that it is socially constructed it helps me to make sense of what I need to do as a social worker and how I should operate. The problem that I believe I would have on my journey of learning the ins and outs of being a social worker is that professional aspect of it. I already have the skills of listening and helping with the resources that I know of or how to get to them but the way that I come off in explaining situations to my clients have to be professional. Meaning I can’t tell my clients how I feel about their situations or what I feel they should do etc. and it’s hard for me right now have that cut off in talking with someone you know and helping them, compared to talking to clients where you have a conduct book in which you have