Blog 2

Many women are victims of violence whether it is voiced or not it remains an issue within society. There are many programs in the community for women victims of abuse, so women can tell their story and get the support that they need. One program that I found particularly interesting is Take Back the Night. Take Back the Night is a program that takes a stand against sexual violence, specifically against women. It first began in October of 1975 in Philadelphia because women walking home alone at night had become a community issue. Although 1975 was the first documented event, in 2001 a woman named Katie Koestner initiated a mission of Take Back the Night. She spoke on behalf of the program nationally and internationally about date rape. The mission statement of this program is as follows: To end sexual violence in all forms and support survivors of sexual violence  (Take Back The Night, 2009). Another part of Take Back The Night is a program called Shatter The Silence which is a group of survivors, supporters and advocates that tell their stories and try to eliminate violence against women within communities (Take Back The Night, 2009) Individuals all have different views on the reasoning for violence against women. Some research provided me with the following: women have suffered violence due to discrimination of their race, ethnicity, sexual identity, class, age and social status (cite website) Fortunately there are many programs aside from Take Back The Night that offer immediate support. Some programs include The National Sexual Assault Hot line, National Domestic Violence Hot line and many more that can be found on the Take Back the Night website. The wonderful aspect of Take Back the Nigh is that they put on events that show awareness and support the causes of sexual violence, while promoting to end violence against women. A successful program was a Take Back The Night Event at Georgia Southern University in 2010. This event was a rally to raise awareness of sexual assault. I have inserted a clip of the evening events.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhSjoj1BO-k

Both Brown and Homan talk about community awareness and coming together in their chapters. Homan spoke a lot about being a change agent. As a social worker the job entails taking a part in assisting with community change (Homan). Individuals in need look to social workers for change in their lives; social workers promote change for their clients to make a better life for them. Two topics that Homan discussed in the chapter that directly related to community change was research and education and community organization. .Research and education involves testing theories and discovering information to help explain issues within society to their clients that are in need. (Homan) Homan also talked about community organization which is defined as bringing people together to improve the inadequate conditions they face.  In the chapter Brown wrote he discussed groups and their responsibilities. One thing that he said that I really liked was that it takes an entire group to come together and be responsible for one individual to feel secure and that change is occurring. (Brown) He also talked about how it is important to help ones in need if possible. Many individuals do not realize it but helping others will only turn good in the end when you are the individual in need. It is on the same thought as giving back to the community.  Both Homan and Brown discussed community awareness with a lot of thought and explanation. As a student studying macro practice I feel that it is important to understand the community, why things happen and the benefit of coming together as a community to promote change.

Blog 1

Hi Everyone!
 My name is Audrey Keene I am 22 years old and I am a Senior!  I commute from Norton where I am currently living. I attended Bristol Community College right out of high school and obtained my Associates Degree in Human Services and then transferred to BSU to continue. Some things to know about me is that I love to help people, travel, read and scrapbook.

 I absolutely love social work and studying all the different areas of it. Growing up I wanted to be a teacher until I reached high school and my counselor told me that he thought social work would be a great place for me because I love and enjoy helping people with assisting them to make their lives a better place. I would have to say that the thing that interests me most about social work is how broad it is. When I first started I had the idea that social work was a person who helped take the kids away from their parents when the home life was bad. As I have gained more knowledge I have opened my eyes to the many opportunities social work can bring. It is a great degree of which you can do a lot with.

I am hoping to learn a lot this semester! In this class I am hoping to learn about the many outreach programs and groups available to clients. I am becoming familiar with some agencies at my internship currently but I would like to bring more ideas to my internship for my current clients. A great class consist of outgoing individuals who are supportive and ready to give new ideas. All of my social work classes have been great because each person has taught me something new to bring into the real world. I also believe that communication is a large part of a class being successful between the professor and the students. The number one thing about a class is for the material to be clear and for the assignments to be achievable.

There are so many problems within society today I wish there were solutions for them all. If I was able to fix one thing it would be the welfare system and the qualifications for it. More and more individuals are slipping below average income and are hitting the poverty status. I agree that there are many families that need to be on welfare what I do not agree with is when families remain on welfare and do not to try and better their life. For example, finding a job and continuing their education. In my eyes welfare should be a temporary assistance while the individual and/or family gets back onto their feet. I know that this is a long time coming but it is one thing that I feel needs improvement.

I am currently at the Brockton Public Schools as an intern under the school adjustment counselor. This has been the first internship and job that I have loved and realized that it is something that I want to pursue for the rest of my life. Saying this a school adjustment counselor within an inner city would be my dream job! If I had magical powers it would be turning into a fly to become a fly on the wall. Many stories that I hear at my placement are horrifying and there are times where we will speak with parents about their child and they respond that the issue is only at school and not at home. I would really like to be a fly on the wall in some of these homes to see the behind the scenes and what really happens when the child leaves school. At times I think it would be horrifying but defiantly an interesting experience.

I am excited for this semester and to meet everyone!