Exploring Worldviews: A Comparative Analysis of Personal, Christian, and Social Work Values - Paper Example

Description of My Worldview at this Point of Life Journey

Worldview describes the way we view life and the surrounding world. My current personal worldview revolves around cultural and ethical values, and I believe in critical moral values such as social justice, respect, competence, trustworthiness, and integrity. In my thinking, the world would be a better place if most people, if not all, have these values of ethics. But I still believe that having similar core values does not mean the same worldviews between different individuals. Due to several factors, other people will have distinct worldviews. For instance, an individual who believes in Christianity will perceive the world differently from a staunch believer in culture.

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I also believe that having these strong core values will make the world a place that everyone will fit despite your status, class, or any other form of existing differences. An example of world practices that I disagree with is the less fortunate or the weak's oppression. Many times, the strong happens to oppress and torture the weak. This is something that we should try to eliminate. The world should never be an uncomfortable place for anyone. Besides being a firm believer in the obedience of cultural and ethical values, I still believe that my parents have played a crucial role in shaping me to be a better person than I am today. Furthermore, our conscience should drive us to ensure that what we do does not affect the people around us. I also believe that anyone who goes against the social norms and values should be punished.

Comparison and Contrast of My Personal Worldview to the Christian Worldview with Answers to Sherwood's Outlined "Big Questions"

Christian worldview refers to the viewing of the world and what surrounds us based on the Biblical teachings and the understanding of faith in Jesus. According to Sherwood (2012), a Christian worldview challenges other theories and values, such as exploiting the less-fortunate by the powerful ones. Just like my personal view, Christians also have different worldviews. The Christian worldview teaches us that the Bible provides the best news irrespective of our tribes, cultures, origins, and places. It also teaches that opportunities are limited to no one (Taylor, 2010).

Christian worldview answers one of the "Big Questions" by Sherwood on whether we can sustain values without faith. According to Wagner (2016), the gospel is the route to all good morals. Without obedience to what the Bible says, it is impossible to acquire all the ethical values ultimately. It is possible to obtain moral values without having faith in Jesus Christ though will be an eventual fail to attain morality. Faith keeps us strong at all times, especially in times of temptations. Our dignity and value depend not on us being believers but instead lies on our faithfulness. Being just a believer in Christ doesn't make us dignified and of value, but having strong faith does.

Modernism has affected the perception of many people on Christianity (Kim et al., 2009). New inventions such as some scientific findings have led to the compromising of faith in Jesus. Consequently, this can be considered a significant problem since God was there before all these new research findings. I ultimately believe that God should remain to be honored, no matter what happens.

Comparison and Contrast of My Personal Values and Beliefs with the Core Values of Social Work Giving Reference to Specific Beliefs, Values, and Understanding

The NASW Code of Ethics includes six core values, i.e., social justice, service, competence, person's dignity and worth, human relationship importance, and integrity (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). Integrity encompasses utmost honesty and strong principles of morality thus should never be compromised. It is also important how we relate to the people around us. How we treat those around us will determine how they are going to respond to us. In that sense, I agree with the NASW Code of Ethics on why healthy human relationships are essential.

Additionally, belief and understanding of self-competence concur with social work's argument on the same. Being competent makes us in a position to strive for success in everything that we do. Competency also helps in improving weak areas, thus providing accuracy. In today's world, competition has become stiff; therefore, those who push to the limit are better positioned to land the available opportunities. In most cases, incompetent individuals are linked with failure.

Social justice ensures fairness across everyone in the society. I believe in social justice since it promotes equal distribution of opportunities irrespective of race, gender, age, and social class. It is also easier for anyone to participate in decisive processes such as decision-making, critical in society with social justice promoting social welfare. A perfect example is offering equal opportunities to children during specific programs.

Being a member of a particular social group, respecting a person's dignity and worth is fundamental thus must never be violated. In my view, it is vital to handle and treat people with care and respect. Differences in culture and ethnicity should not influence how we treat others. I understand that as social workers, we should aim to promote self-determination of clients with social responsibility. Our actions should be driven by love as a cornerstone. The Bible teaches more about love, so I believe it is significant in promoting these values.

References

Kim, D., Fisher, D., & McCalman, D. (2009). Modernism, Christianity, and business ethics: A worldview perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(1), 115–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0031-2

National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics. Socialworkers.Org. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English

Sherwood, D. A. (2012). The relationship between beliefs and values in social work practice: Worldviews make a difference, 85-103. https://www.nacsw.org/Download/CSW/Worldviews.pdf.

Taylor, B. (2010). Understanding worldviews: Being an effective witness to a multicultural campus, 1-10. https://www.cru.org/content/dam/cru/legacy/2012/02/Worldview.pdf

Wagner, M. (2016, October 3). Christianity vs. secular humanism: Worldview series (Part 3) – LeoGaumont.com. Leogaumont.Com. https://leogaumont.com/index.php/2016/10/03/christianity-vs-secular-humanism-worldview-series-part-3/‌