Deck 1: What Are Human Services? What Do Human Service Workers Do?

Question 1

What are some of the factors that might lead people like the father described in Kathy's paper into problem drinking? List and comment on at least four reasons why people might drink alcohol to excess.

Answer 1

• They were born with a genetic or biological predisposition to becoming an alcoholic. Sometimes alcohol abuse runs in families. But it is hard to know what is biological versus what is a reaction to stress or role-modeling in the person's family.
• They are in a high-stress occupation; alcohol temporarily relieves the stress.
• They begin drinking with a mate or a significant other who is addicted.
• They need to drink as part of their job. Perhaps they are expected to take clients out to lunch and offer them a drink, or socializing is a part of the technique of gaining potential customers or is used to influence VIPs.
• They need to bolster their self-confidence in social, educational or occupational situations where they feel overwhelmed or inhibited.

Question 2

Many people assert that alcohol, like narcotic drugs, should be made illegal. Give three arguments that support this position. Give three arguments that oppose it.
Support:

Answer 2

• It would be much harder to buy alcoholic beverages, especially for young people.
• It wouldn't be routinely served at social functions and family events. It would not seem so acceptable.
• Alcohol leads to more accidents than even drugs, especially when combined with driving.
• Alcohol abuse is often related to other kinds of crime, such as assault or domestic violence.
Oppose:
• We tried it during prohibition and it caused more problems than it solved.
• People have the right to ruin their lives if they choose to.
• If it was made illegal it would become even more attractive.
• The government could not guarantee the quality of what we were drinking because it wouldn't be inspected.

Question 3

Mention four strategies used by your community to deal with alcohol abuse. Mention any that were used in your high school. How effective did they seem to be? What are some of the activities that the Program Coordinator of the Drug and Alcohol program in this chapter organized for the campus-wide DRUGAHOL week? Does your college or university use similar strategies? How effective do they seem to be?

Answer 3

Examples:
1. SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving)
2. No-alcohol prom parties
3. Peer Education Programs
4. Lectures in health education classes
5. Monitoring school dances
 
Some of the activities the Program Coordinator of the Drug and Alcohol program, whose interview appeared in this chapter, organized for the campus-wide DRUGAHOL week.
• Faculty was asked to invite speakers on the topic to their classes.
• She set up an information table on campus with literature, a drug board and a chart to measure permissible alcohol intake.
• She displayed a totally wrecked car on the campus.
• She showed a video about a crash caused by a drunk driver.

Question 4

Name 10 of the 25 human service workers that Kathy encountered in her search for help through the three scenarios that you read. Describe the work of any human service workers you personally know. What kind of agency and what kind of population does she or he work for? Ask five members of your family or network of friends what they think about the choice of human services as a career. Briefly record what they say. To what extent do you agree or disagree with some of their opinions?

Question 5

Why do you think members of the public and politicians often have such a hard time understanding the variety and importance of work in the human services?

Question 6

When people are in emotional distress, they are most likely to act on a referral to a human service agency when it comes from:

A) Radio or TV advertisements.
B) A flyer on a bulletin board.
C) Their hairdresser, bartender or neighbor.
D) The phone book.

Question 7

The terms "social worker" or "human service worker" means that the person who holds the title has a uniform set of skills and experience.

Question 8

Human Service workers can be found in:

A) Hospital social service departments.
B) Public schools.
C) Community residences.
D) Citizen political action groups.
E) All of the above.

Question 9

Although we cannot accumulate reliable statistics to prove it, many experts in the mental health field assert that the largest source of human services are:

A) Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
B) Mental health clinics.
C) Private practitioners.
D) School guidance counselors.
E) Family doctors.

Question 10

Human service workers generally follow a theoretical model based on:

A) The theories of Sigmund Freud.
B) The twelve step approach of AA.
C) The work of Erik Erikson.
D) The counseling model of Carl Rogers.
E) An eclectic mix of many approaches.

Question 11

The hours and pay scale of all human service workers are basically the same.

Question 12

The mass media gives a full and accurate picture of human service work.

Question 13

The tendency to deny the gravity of a problem is an:

A) External Barrier
B) Internal Barrier

Question 14

The high cost of services is an:

A) External Barrier
B) Internal Barrier

Question 15

A human service worker who is trained to work in a variety of settings and use several strategies is called a:

A) Specialist.
B) Caseworker.
C) Psychologist.
D) Generalist.
E) Clinical social worker.