My time at this non-profit thus far has been slow, uneventful, yet still interesting. My supervisor is great and it's worth it just to get to know her. However, it only confirms what I already know, which is that I don't want to do social work - at least not this kind. Some of the clients we've been dealing with are just too far beyond my realm of comprehension and I don't know how to approach them or their situations. For instance, a client who lives in a public housing apartment, with her 3(?) children and her daughter's 3 children. We stopped by the other day to check on something she was supposed to do (and didn't). My supervisor, thank God, had prepped me for the visit, and when we left she looked at me and said "See what I mean???" I was just blown away by the fact that they didn't even turn the tv down when we showed up. I mean, we have connections to every social services person with whom they are currently in trouble - they should be trying desperately to give us a favorable impression of them and their family life. In addition, I've been doing interviews for the upcoming openings in the apartments. We have one applicant who has never turned in part of her file, one who has never called me back to schedule her second interview and one who completely failed to show up or call and cancel hers. Don't they realize that we can only help them to the extent that they are willing to cooperate???

As much as I've been trained to be suspicious of the "cycle of poverty" thesis, I can't help but see it being played out in the lives of these clients. There are a few who have taken the horse by the reigns and said "Enough! I want better for myself and my children, and I will make that happen" and they've done a damn good job. But, there are so many more who honestly don't even know how to proceed to improve their lives. It is sad and the only reason I can find is that no one ever taught them how to be a successful person. This is, in part, why I chose marriage and family sociology. Stable, healthy adults come from stable healthy families. How else are children to learn how to live their lives, pay their bills, get an education?? It's so frustrating because I don't want to be a "blame the victim" type of person - and I really see a lot of these people as victims of circumstances beyond their control (including who their parents are) - but there comes a day of reckoning, when you have to decide to change your life. When you have social service workers and community action agencies willing to go the limit with you, why won't you at least return their phone calls????

On a lighter note - my blogging friends (especially those employed in certain industries) may wish to read this article. I actually thought it was sort of humorous, they way it treats blogging like a serious activity, but I can see how some problems mentioned here are real.