Discussion Response – Difference Between Rural and Urban Social Work

Discussion Response – Difference Between Rural and Urban Social Work

Response 1

Hello,

Great work with your post. Indeed, the differing characteristics between rural and urban social work present unique challenges and opportunities, which, therefore, require a comprehensive understanding of these settings. Focusing on rural social work, as you have mentioned, the tightly connected relationships in these areas can be beneficial or pose challenges. On the one hand, in a community where everyone knows everyone, a social worker will likely be viewed as an outsider, and individuals will be reluctant to receive help as they distrust strangers (Daley, 2019). Nonetheless, after forming a good rapport with the community, a social worker can learn about a client and their social relationships so as to analyze the problem(s) and administer appropriate interventions. After all, personal problems emerge from a mismatch between an individual and their environment. Still, maintaining the appropriate professional distance and explaining one’s role is critical to avoid conflicts and confidentiality issues, and this is part of rural ethical practice. Overall, rural social work necessitates enculturation, flexibility, and creativity.

References

Daley, M. R. (2019). Rural social work in the 21st century: Serving individuals, families, and communities in the countryside (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780190937690

Response 2

Hello,

This is a great post. To add to the differences between urban and rural social work, it is worth noting that social work in rural settings requires one to learn and apply other cultures, be adaptable, and use creativity when applying professional models and methods of social work (Daley, 2019). Indeed, social workers will likely be viewed as outsiders, and individuals may feel less comfortable working with them; therefore, building trust and forming relationships is vital. Additionally, individuals living in rural areas may view receiving help from outsiders as a weakness, and they may also oppose the idea of traveling to seek help from unknown sources. In this regard, Daley (2019) recommends that social workers first evaluate how clients would perceive their social work actions before implementing change strategies. Finally, concerning rural ethical practice, it is also important to assess a case thoroughly to identify possible concerns and/or conflicts, consult with colleagues to gain more perspectives about a case, use informed consent, and explain each party’s roles to avoid confidentiality issues.

References

Daley, M. R. (2019). Rural social work in the 21st century: Serving individuals, families, and communities in the countryside (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780190937690

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Please respond to these two discussion posts:
Discussion question: Discuss the difference between rural and urban social work. As an “outsider,” are you more effective or less effective? Is a relationship paramount when going into a rural community? Discuss what an ethical rural practice looks like. Is it the same for every community? Do you need to maintain ethics at all, or because “everyone knows everyone,e” do you need to worry about it?

Difference Between Rural and Urban Social Work

Note: Original post is attached. Thank You

Discussion response 1:

Kaneese Johnson (She/Her)
Social work in rural and urban settings presents unique challenges and opportunities due to the differing characteristics of these environments. Rural social work often involves working with smaller populations spread over geographic areas and limited access to resources. From my understanding, I would think southern areas such as King George, VA countryside of Maryland can be rural areas. On the other hand, urban social work typically deals with larger populations concentrated in smaller areas, higher levels of diversity, greater access to services, and complex social issues. I would consider Washington, DC, New York City, and Baltimore, MD, urban populations, just to name a few.

In rural areas, social workers may face challenges such as limited funding for services, lack of specialized professionals, transportation barriers for clients around seeking help due to close-knit communities where privacy can be a concern. On the other hand, urban social workers may encounter issues like high caseloads, overcrowded agencies, and cultural diversity requiring culturally competent practice.

As an outsider going into a rural community as a social worker, I would like to think there are pros and cons. While being looked at as an outsider may initially raise suspicion or resistance from community members who have high levels of familiarity and trust within their close-knit networks, it can bring fresh perspectives, new resources, and creative solutions to long-term problems. Building rapport is very important in both rural and urban settings; however, establishing trust in a rural community may require more time and effort due to the emphasis on personal connections and shared morals, values, and beliefs.

Ethical practice is essential in all social work settings, including rural communities. An ethical rural practice involves upholding the core values of social work – respect for individuals’ rights and dignity, promoting social justice, maintaining confidentiality, avoiding conflicts of interest, and ensuring competence in service delivery. However, ethical considerations in rural practice may require additional sensitivity to the unique dynamics of small communities where everyone knows each other.

Maintaining ethics is most important in rural social work despite the close-knit nature of these communities. Social workers must navigate potential dual relationships carefully to avoid conflicts of interest or breaches of confidentiality. Transparency about professional boundaries and ethical decision-making processes is crucial to building trust with your clients while respecting the interconnected relationships within the community.

While the principles of ethical practice remain consistent across different communities, the application of these principles may vary based on local norms, values, and cultural contexts. Each rural community has its own dynamics shaped by factors such as history, geography, economy, demographics, and traditions. Therefore, social workers must adapt their ethical practices to fit with the specific needs and expectations of each community they serve.

Discussion post 2:
E. Novar
Discuss the difference between rural and urban social work.

The practice of social work in rural and urban settings would be different because they both have their own distinct characteristics and issues. Rural communities are usually going to be smaller and be close-knit populations. Rural communities will also have fewer resources available. It would be hard for both social workers and clients to not be visible in rural communities and it would be very possible that the social worker will know the clients outside of the professional relationship (Daley, 2021). Urban communities will have a larger and more diverse population, and there will also be more resources and services available in urban communities. The social worker and client would be able to be less visible in the larger community (Daley, 2021). With social work in rural communities, there will be fewer available resources and services and people will have to travel further distances to access services, with many in rural areas already having transportation issues due to no public transportation or affordable ride share services. In urban areas, there are more services and resources available and more availability of specialized resources. There is usually affordable public transportation available to access services, such as a bus system. There will usually be rideshare services like Uber available. There are many differences in issues that people in rural and urban communities face that a rural social worker will face. Rural communities have issues related to isolation, and limited economic opportunities, and a lack of available healthcare, substance abuse counseling and mental healthcare because of the isolation of those communities. Urban communities have issues related to urban poverty, homelessness, crime, and substance abuse that a social worker would face.

As an “outsider” are you more effective or less effective? Is a relationship paramount when going in to a rural community?

As an outsider, a social worker would most likely face the challenge of people not trusting or accepting them at first in rural communities, which would influence how effective they are able provide services. If the social worker is an outsider, they will not be familiar with the local culture or language of the community. A social worker can be more effective in a community over time, because they will be introducing in different new resources and services to address barriers that were not available before to people in the rural community, which will help build trust and acceptance within that community. Trust and acceptance into the community is important for the social worker to be able to effectively help the client. Building relationships within a rural community will be important to help social workers understand the specific needs and strengths of the individual client as well as the rural community, to help create resources that can be sustained in the community (Daley, 2021).

Discuss what an ethical rural practice looks like.

A social worker’s ethics should be maintained by being transparent about their professional role and their limitations as a social worker in order to maintain integrity and to gain trust and credibility within the rural community. Ethical practice in rural communities involves maintaining professional boundaries and avoiding conflicts of interest, such as a social worker ensuring that personal relationships do not interfere with their professional responsibilities (Daley, 2021). Dual relationships are something that will have to be considered when working in a rural community, because sometimes they are unavoidable if the social worker is from the rural community they are working in. An example would be the social worker’s child and client’s child attending the same school or any outside events (Daley, 2021). In any situation that could lead to a dual relationship, a rural social worker would have to consider the ethical concerns and the potential consequences of a situation, setting appropriate boundaries, and then maintaining those boundaries (Daley, 2021).

Another consideration for social workers would be to protect themselves by always having good documentation of their visits, accurately documenting the beginning and end time that they met with the client, all of their discussions and disclosures with the client, because that can be used as protection for the social worker in case any client would have complaints about the social worker (Daley, 2021).

Confidentiality and not disclosing any client information will also be an important part of ethical rural social work, especially making sure there is client privacy in a community where everyone knows everyone (Daley, 2021). The rural social worker will need to have secure approaches to maintaining client confidentiality and consider how and where their cell phones or other technology is used while visiting clients (Daley, 2021).

Maintaining ethical standards is important, regardless of the community’s size, because it will ensure a professional and effective social work practice. Ethical practice in rural communities involves cultural competency, by understanding and respecting local customs, values, and traditions of the rural communities that the social worker is practicing in. Social workers will need to understand the community’s perspective on behaviors such as accepting small homemade gifts given to them by clients. Rural people sometimes give small tokens of appreciation, such as homemade jams or jellies, to people that help them, Not accepting these small gifts might be seen by clients as being rude or disrespectful (Daley, 2021). A social worker would have to consider if there would be damage to a professional-client relationship by rejecting the client’s offer of a homemade gift, or if accepting the small homemade gift would be seen as exploitation of the client or creating a conflict of interest (Daley, 2021). Ethical practice in rural communities will involve advocating for the availability and accessibility of necessary resources and services, and ensuring there is fair treatment and resource distribution within the community, so is also important that a social worker is not seen as giving or receiving any special favor or treatment as part of the professional relationship (Daley, 2021).

Source cited:

Daley, M. R. (2021). Rural Social Work in the 21st Century- Serving Individuals, Families, and Communities in the Countryside Second Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.