Safety and self-care are important considerations when evaluating one’s potential to engage in global and international practice. Explain these concepts and how they apply. What additional advice should people seeking a career in any of the world’s “trouble spots” heed? Is this an area in which you could work? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

As a general rule, to be effective professionals, social workers need to have first successfully addressed their own needs and safety concerns. Self-care refers to behaviors and actions that contribute to maintaining one’s own sense of wellness and health. But in international social work, in developing countries in particular, safety can be the foremost concern. The “cardinal rule” is to avoid dangerous places and situations. Social workers giving serious consideration to employment in any of the world’s trouble spots should seek appropriate oversight and supervision for your practice, especially in unstructured and fluid, undefined workplaces. One should identify one’s own motivations and vulnerabilities (e.g., emotional, health, and family) for working with international population groups. Self-analysis, professionally facilitated by a helping professional, may be useful and necessary. One should also identify one’s strengths and limitations concerning the kinds of expertise (e.g., language and knowledge of culture) that a social worker needs to develop to be effective. It is important to understand how foreign social workers may be viewed by the public as well as by professionals in the new location. Foreign social workers may be seen as being helpful or a hindrance. It is key to establish adequate support systems (e.g., colleagues, family, friends, employer, and in-country contacts) to support one’s involvement and be available for assistance in the event of difficulties.