I am a social work major so my field isn’t typically associated with science. My particular focus of social work is in adult mental health. Ultimately, the goal is to work in a medical setting. In this case, my focus is more science related than other social work focuses. The article by Alters and Alters mentions the difficulties we are starting to run into with antibiotic resistant diseases. I run into these things a lot in my work at a hospital. I see patient’s demanding antibiotics despite the doctor explaining their condition is viral and antibiotics will not do any good, and in the long run cause harm. If I were doing discharge case work, I could use knowledge of these things to explain to a patient why we are taking the approach to their care that we are. So, knowledge of how things evolve and mutate would be beneficial.
Social work is all about connecting people with resources to better themselves. Human behavior and cultural aspects are important. We don’t go as deep as DNA to determine these things, though evolution can help to explain a lot about our current populations that we serve. I do think it is important to note that a significant number of social work services seem to be run by organizations based in Christian faith, and it is common in Christian faith to reject evolution as a theory. Intelligent design tends to fall more in line with those beliefs. Although I personally believe teaching evolution is important, one could argue that it isn’t required for the social work profession. Especially when there might be a large number in the field that don’t value it themselves. Alters and Alters mention how the theory is intertwined in other disciplines, such as psychology. Psychology is key to social work, as many social workers work as therapists. Therapists need to have an understanding of the brain and behavior in order to best assist their patients.
Social work relates to human variability by understanding that there are things that make us similar, but overall everyone needs to be respected as an individual. This profession stresses the importance of self-determination. Self-determination is an individual’s right to make decisions for themselves, and to ultimately decide their own path and goals. As professionals, we are not to tell them what to do or solve their problems for them. Understanding psychology and human behavior is key to this as well.
Overall, I wouldn’t say that the readings and videos made me think differently about my major. I had never considered the two in the same thought, and actually found it discouraging to do so. I don’t think that social work needs the concept of evolution to be successful, but at the same time I find evolution to be an important concept for everyone to learn. For it to seem almost irrelevant(for lack of a better word) to the profession was a bit depressing. I view it important in the way that math is important to my major. I think that both math and science teach logic and a way of thinking that is vital to all parts of life.