Paper Example: Helping in Human Services

It is a common phenomenon that people often expect something in return for assisting a person or after providing them with specific services (Woodside & McClam, 2014). Similarly, it is also common that people often what to give something back in return for specific helping services. This paper shall analyze the history of assisting within human services, the chronological change of helping services over time, the overall nature of the helping process as well as the role of direct and administrative functions in the helping process, among others.

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History of Helping Within Human Services

There have been noticeable dramatic changes in the field of helping the needy within human services in the United States. In the Middle ages, it was believed that mental illness could have been caused by evil spirits (Neukrug, 2018). As such, helping such a person involved trephining the skull to give room for the escape of the evil spirits. There were only a few professionals, such as Hippocrates, in the 3rd Century, who used scientific principles to help people with mental illnesses (Neukrug, 2018).

However, until the year 1500, the Catholic church became solely responsible for the provision of human services to the poor, the disabled, orphans, and the elderly (Woodside & McClam, 2014). The need for helping the poor was orchestrated by the decline of feudalism and the steady growth of commerce and industrialization in America.

Thus, in 1600, the colonialists realized that Elizabeth had developed weak laws regarding the provision of help to the needy (Neukrug, 2018). As such, they developed local practices to help the needy to counter Elizabeth's weak laws. At that point, relief was provided at the parish level, and the children were apprenticed by the artisans and farmers who took care of them.

The 19th Century was the main time of change in people's attitudes towards helping the needy. It was thought that offering public aid to the needy encouraged laziness (Woodside & McClam, 2014). This was demonstrated in the Poor Law Reform Bill of 1834, which aimed at limiting the services offered to poor people (Neukrug, 2018). However, in the 20th Century, America became concerned with the needy through the various legislations that declared support for needy Americans (Neukrug, 2018). The vulnerable populations such as the poor, needy children, unemployed, substance abusers, and the disabled were being recognized as people who need rehabilitation and social services. Since then, there have been deliberate legislations put in place for offering to help human services to humanity.

General Nature of the Helping ProcesThe five major stages of the helping process are comprised of the various components of the problem-solving process including the recognition of the problem, the establishment of the goals necessary for resolving the issue and the preparation required for the implementation of various strategies for helping the clients in the attainment of the goals (Neukrug, 2018). As such, the five major stages involved in the helping process include preparation, the arrival of the client, problem exploration, development of the intervention strategies, and lastly, the termination of the helping process.

The preparation stage involves the physical setting of the human service professional. It is essential to obtain background information regarding a client to create rapport, trust, and the basis for problem-solving (Neukrug, 2018). After the preliminary preparations, the client arrives, followed by a period of examination and exploration of the particular problem. Based on the findings from the exploration phase, amicable solutions for the issues are obtained, followed by the ultimate closure of the helping process.

The primary helping skills that should be possessed by a person include listening and observation. For instance, listening relates to the capturing and understanding of messages that are communicated by the clients. As such, it provides the raw material upon which the helpers establish verbal and non-verbal interventions (Woodside & McClam, 2014). The observation skills involve paying close attention to whatever is going on with the clients in terms of mannerisms and non-verbal behaviors necessary for the development of amicable intervention measures.

Role of Direct Service vs. the Roles of Administrative

Both social work and human services are essential in the world of social services, even though they may serve the needs of people in different ways. For instance, human service professionals have a more significant focus on helping in the planning of various programs geared towards addressing the needs of a particular population (Neukrug, 2018). As such, the professionals perform administrative roles, thus ensuring the smooth running of various social services agencies. Similarly, the social workers also perform administrative even though they may closely work with the clients through connecting and assisting them with necessary services, which may not be the case with the human service professionals (Woodside & McClam, 2014).

Ten Different Groups/Populations

There are various groups of people in my community being served by human service professionals. They include the orphans, persons with a disability, poverty-stricken individuals, the elderly, the expectant mothers, the widows, the displaced persons, drug addicts, persons living with trauma as well as persons with grief. In my opinion, the field of human services in my community is doing enough to adequately provide for the drug addicts and the persons living with trauma (Neukrug, 2018). For instance, there are adequately trained professionals within my community who are dedicated to counseling the substance addicts and those living with disabilities. They engage in daily counseling sessions with the affected persons. The population of the groups living with trauma as well as drug addicts continues to reduce each passing day, which is a clear indication of a positive in the human services within the community (Woodside & McClam, 2014).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the phenomenon that people often expect something in return for assisting a person or after providing them with specific services has been experienced over the ages. The paper has analyzed the history of helping within human services, the chronological change of assisting services to overtime, the overall nature of the helping process as well as the role of direct and administrative functions in the helping process, among others.

References

Neukrug, E. (2018). Counseling & Helping Skills: Critical Techniques to Becoming a Counselor. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/chs_books/13/

Woodside, M. R., & McClam, T. (2014). An introduction to the human services. Cengage Learning.