Social Work is likely one of the more controversial professions in Illinois. This is due to the nature of working with different communities which feel as if they are in competition with one another.
The debate which arises from this is due largely to people's feelings regarding their own sense of stress and their perceptions of what luxuries that other communities are enjoying at their expense. This debate typically takes place between everyday people in social settings and behind closed doors. These debates can generate further anger and frustration which only furthers a sense of separation between communities.
One comment that can be made about these debates is that the frequency with which people argue with one another regarding Social Policy, as opposed to engaging in a political process to change it -demonstrates our lack of faith in our governmental processes. In other words, we have given up on politicians representing us -and have instead 'taken it to the streets'.
This sort of debate rarely takes place in other professional realms. For instance, many people do not seem to feel as if debating what a mechanic stated about their car is true, or correct, is a worthwhile debate. Nor do many people frequently debate what a doctor's motivations are when it comes to serving patients. In Social Services however, our motivations, reasonings, and diagnoses regarding social problems and their solutions -are constant sources of debate.
It seems as if few professions are afforded this level of care and attention by the general public. This is perhaps one of the more rewarding aspects of being a 'big-picture' Social Worker, and one of the more trying aspects to being a 'personal-agenda' social-worker. The ultimate mandate for a social worker ought to be to advocate for a better world first -and for a specific community second. Deviating from this perspective helps to feed into the "Us versus Them" mentality in which we feel victimized by our closest allies -those who monitor and criticize our actions. It is the criticism of social services which forces us to examine if what we are indeed doing is 'Best Practice' -and thus this criticism helps drive us to become more competent and more efficient at eventually creating one global community.
