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Research Paper:

The Issues Within the Social Work Institution

Juleah Morgan

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

RHET 1311: Composition I

Connor Pearce

17 November 2022
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Social work is a very diverse and important field of work. The need for social workers is

growing constantly, but the reason more people aren’t joining the field is due to the issues within

the institution. Social workers are understaffed, leading to more workloads, but at the same time,

they’re paid very poorly. Social workers have unpredictable schedules, along with unpredictable

situations they’re put into, making it a very stressful and difficult job.

Most people know that social workers don’t have a great salary. The salary for a social

worker with a BSW (bachelor’s in social work) in Arkansas ranges from $45,369 to $69,479,

with $45,369 being in the bottom 10% and $69,479 being in the top 90%. (Salary.com, 2022)

Social workers do a lot of strenuous work, so the combination of that and the very low paying

salary typically leads people away from becoming a social worker. The employment outlook for

social workers is 9%, which is higher than most jobs. (BLS.gov, 2022) It causes people to

wonder why social workers are paid so little when they’re so needed, and the profession is only

going to be higher in demand as time goes on because the population is growing. Social workers

also experience a very, very high rate of burnout at a shocking lifetime burnout rate of 75%.

(FSU Online, 2022) Social work as a whole is a very stressful environment, and on top of that,

social workers are very likely to experience secondary trauma. (FSU Online, 2022) The

secondary trauma that social workers may experience can be caused by many things ranging

from taking on cases of abuse to experiencing the death of a patient. Most social work

institutions do not provide anything to help their social workers with burnout or the experience

of secondary trauma. They’re expected to continue working, no matter how difficult the situation

may be.

Being a social worker can be completely unpredictable. Social workers are given

unpredictable schedules, they’re expected to work with the most vulnerable part of society,
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heavy caseloads/workloads, and they’re expected to face the fact that the majority of their time is

spent doing paperwork rather than being out in the field helping others. A recent study showed

that social workers spend 80% of their time doing paperwork rather than directly giving support

to those who need it. (Tradewind, 2019) This could all be extremely disheartening to someone

whose ultimate goal was to help others and make a difference in society. Oftentimes, social

workers aren’t aware of the amount of paperwork they’re required to do rather than actively

helping people. Although, paperwork is an extremely important aspect of the job and helps

people in higher-up positions make decisions about specific cases. Something else that can be

extremely disheartening to social workers again, is the unpredictable work schedule. Social work

is painted out to be a 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday job, but that just simply isn’t true.

Individuals experience crises throughout all hours of the day, and their crises don’t stop just

because the typical workday is over. Many social workers are expected to deal with these crisis

situations at any time during the day, and even on holidays. (Tradewind, 2019)

Although social work is a very challenging job, it is very rewarding. Social workers

experience a lot of awful things including low pay, secondary trauma, and burnout, along with

many other things, but at the end of the day, these people oftentimes go into this profession in

hopes of making the world a better place. These issues, though, could be prevented by the social

work institutions implementing resources for their employees to make the environment an

overall better and safer place.

References
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Salary.com, S. built by: (2022, October 27). Social Worker (BSW) salary in Arkansas.

Salary.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from

https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/social-worker-bsw-salary/ar

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022, September 8). Social Workers : Occupational

outlook handbook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm

Tradewind. (2019, September 24). 5 challenges you'll encounter as a social worker and

how to overcome them. Tradewind. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from

https://www.tradewindsocialcare.com/blogs/tradewind_socialcare_news/5-challenges-youll

-encounter-as-a-social-worker-and-how-to-overcome-them/

FSU Online June 13, 2019. (2022, November 15). Social work stressors. Florida State

University. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from

https://onlinemsw.fsu.edu/blog/2019/06/12/social-work-stressors