Client Situations

What Clients May go Through

By Tammy Stevens on April 20, 2016 at 11:24am

What you may deal with as a social worker:

• Abused children
• Substance abuse 
• Single moms 
• Domestic Violence
• Mental illness                                      

Child abuse is a physical, cruel mistreatment of a child. According to "americanhumane.org" child abuse can take place in many different forms and each one has different percentages. These are the percentages of children who experienced maltreatment in 2005:

• Neglect 62.8%
• Physical abuse 16.6%
• Sexual abuse 9.3%
• Emotional/psychological abuse 7.1%
• Medical neglect 2.0%
• Other 14.3%

"In 2001, more than 903,000 children suffered from abuse or neglect, representing a rate of 12.4 maltreated children for every 1,000 children in the general population and nearly one-third of these children were younger than three." Knowing this information makes you realize how many innocent children are abused.  "naswdc.org" goes more in depth about abused children. This website also has recommendations for working with abused children as a social worker which can be really helpful. 

Working with abused children is not easy because they have had a traumatic experience. Abused children could have physical health concerns, development issues, scarring and permanent damage, and interpersonal and intrapersonal issues. These are few of the many other problems that an abused child can have. 

                            VIDEO!!!!

Domestic abuse is another concern that social workers deal with. Domestic violence is abusive behavior by one intimate partner against another this can include: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and emotional abuse. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone no matter race, background, or culture. There are many signs of a domestic abusive relationship according to "helpguide.org". These signs include:

• Your partner has a violent behavior 
• Your partner is controlling 
• Your partner belittles you 

If anyone is having these problems or other ones mentioned on this website they should seek help immediately. Social workers want to do all they can to help their clients in domestic violence and other types of situations like mental illness. 

Mental Illness has a wide range of mental conditions this can affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. Some mental illness examples include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors. Complications that people with a mental illness can have are legal and financial problems, poverty/homelessness, and self harm/ harm to others. Mental illnesses can cause many problems in your daily life such as school, work, or in relationships. Some mental illnesses can be treated with medication and psychotherapy. According to "newsweek.com" 42.5 million (18.2%) adults in the U.S. suffer from a mental illness every year whether its depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. Social workers who work with mentally ill clients do psycho social assessments. In order for a social worker to work with severe mental ill clients they need to have a masters degree.