Guerrilla Social Work

thinking that although the stability of social life depends on our ability to maintain certain norms, roles and statuses, our ability to be happy depends on knowing when to disregard those norms, roles and statuses.

“So, what happened??

“Well they were really loud and accusing and that’s just not acceptable behavior. “

“Well, you’re right, that would not be acceptable behavior for me or you in a 711, but for someone newly sober with a lot of other issues and in a detox centre, it might be”

Come on, start where the person is at. Make sure your expectations at the same level as your client and don’t expect more than they can give. For the most part I believe that it our job as social workers, (street outreach, addiction counselors etc.) to suck it up and tolerate a lot of shit. It is  our  job to bridge the gap between when the client is at and when they need to be. If someone is “acting out” then ask yourself, what can I do to support this person to get under control and learn some self management skills?  (We are assuming that everyone is safe here, no weapons, or violence)

I fully accept that there are people who are going to try and suck you in, manipulate and generally suck the life out of you. I hope that one of the skills you have developed is the ability to tell the difference, it really isn’t that hard if you’re paying attention.

Before you go to work tomorrow ask yourself “Am I a social worker or a social enforcer? If you answered the latter, maybe call in sick and start looking for a new career.

It is tradition to start a blog with a bit of an introduction.

Why a blog?

I needed a place to journal my learning as well as my practice. A blog let’s me share these thoughts and put it into a searchable database. It also allows me to get the discussion going around some of the ideas that I think are important.

Why the tittle Gorilla Social Work?

Let’s face it, we can go to school, learn theory, study evidence base practice, and memorize Aboriginal, or Feminist perspectives, but the reality is that most of our work involves working with people to solve problems. Most of the time that work is not done in an office or a policy meeting but in someone’s home, a grocery store or coffee shop. I have done social work just about everywhere, on the street, in a homeless shelter, in my car.

Most of us work in under resourced agencies and we have to work with the tools we have. We improvise, dance, negotiate in order to help our clients move forward. Sometimes we are at war with the system, sometimes we’re in a battle with ourselves.

So that’s why gorilla social work, we pull ideas, resources, solution etc out of our assess tool boxes to meet the client’s needs, create change and save the world.

If you have stories, thoughts or ideas from your battles to save the world, please put them in the comments or offer to guest post.