Theories of Stages of Grief I have found a way to come to terms with the issue of clients lying to me, as per the previous post. I discussed it briefly with colleagues and all this can be reconceptualized as the client's "readiness to change", instead of truth detection per se. I now can do my work with an easier heart. * Today we talk about grief. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's model of grief is probably the most well-known, Homicidal thoughts me: i have finally acknowledged having homicidal thoughts about my clients, to myself friend: so late?me: yeah because the social worker professional ethics code forbids thinking that the client is bad.i don't think the ethics code is a good guide anymore seriously, there are people who will lie to a social worker just to get the financial support they want(they slip up when i ask them random Being Helpful I have previously written about how different people present themselves differently when coming to look for social workers, and how regardless of circumstances we try to assist the client. But this recent article in TOC bothers me enough that I need to write about it. Several allegations have been made in the main article as well as in the comments. I have no wish to polarize the comments as The Third Door There are no poor in this country. ------------- "Pity those who are somehow unable to open a third door in their hearts or their minds. No one believes them when they talk about ghosts. The fuss about the two NS deaths this week is already on its way to the third door, which will disappear the moment it has served its purpose. Goodbye. There's nothing wrong with Singapore. Despite A Pencil and Unconditional Positive Regard We always go out to the reception area to call the client in. I make use of all the customer service skills I've ever learnt in my short life, to welcome him (or her) once he has acknowledged his identity, and then walk a little in front to lead the client to my desk. He follows hesitantly, clutching his documents and hope. The corridor is narrow, so that I cannot walk beside him. This is the Ways to spend the Budget Surplus.... It could have been worse. More S'poreans eligible for public assistance with relaxed criteria. Poverty is Poison ... from the New York Times today. “Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain.” That was the opening of an article in Saturday’s Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As the article explained, neuroscientists have found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience () busy with work, not been reading blogs for the past month. Probably will continue that trend till mid-January. Not that it matters =) just thought to let you know. Philosophical Developments in Social Work (quoted) Entire section quoted from Early TJ and GlenMaye LF (2000), Social Work 45(2):118-127, 'Valuing Families: Social Work Practice with Families from a Strengths Perspective'. Supporting references have been deleted to improve readability. Philosophical Developments in Social Work Although the focus of social work throughout its history was primarily client problems and deficits, prominent Alternative Perspectives I write in response to the post by Loveless Summer, entitled "Singaporeans are scared sh*tless by gay people". I agree with his general theme. This post of mine is not to critique his argument point by point, because I am swamped with 335912838 things to do right now, but to add some comments in line with his general theme of the fear experienced by The Majority. Perhaps one of the reasons the Some Quotes from others on the Fallacy of the Majority, for my own reference 1. The Daily Backtrack: Applause and Thumping of Chairs "No, no, that's not the worst line, this is: "(A) heterosexual, stable family... it's what we teach in schools, what parents want to see, want their children to see... to set their expectations and encourage them to develop in this direction". From our own Prime Minister's mouth- and here's a coinage, we live in a country with a "Straight My Key Takeaways from the Repeal 377A Petition Over the course of these two weeks, I have publicized the existence of the Repeal 377A petition to many people. Over email, over MSN, and in real life. At all times, I have tempered my words and actions during these interactions because I value and respect their decision to sign or not sign. Whichever it may be. This may seem unusual - to fight for a cause is to be fully committed to it, which More on the 377A petition I have grown a large nice mushroom. Now we shall see. Open Letter to Repeal Section 377A http://www.repeal377a.com/letter/ Deadline is October 19th, after which it will be forwarded to the PM. Yes this is for real. Please sign if you support it. Mushrooms in a Fairy Ring A quick one: I was reading The World is Flat again while in Borders for the 20% discount sale they held this week; Thomas Friedman has come up with yet another revised edition (the Red Edition) with two additional chapters, the ones I was reading. They didn't add much to the overall story, merely expanded some anecdotes in the Green Edition of last year, except one thing: he said, and i Disclosure I think enough people know my real identity that I could not care less about being anonymous now. Anonymity hasn't furthered my cause in any way that I know of, in any case. Who likes talking to anonymous people who drone on and on about issues when they don't reveal enough about themselves to let others know why they talk about such issues? Nobody cares who I am and given how I write, I won't Education and the Theory of Comparative Advantage Sooner or later, every blogger worth his salt writes about the education system in Singapore. It makes sense; the topic is familiar to all in this country, giving an instant bloodthirsty audience, and (less cynically) it is worth reviewing how opinions are formed in youth, in the hope of affecting those opinions in the mature reader towards the goal of enhancing critical thinking in social and Selfishness and Altruism From The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand: "Yet the test should be so simple: just listen to any prophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice - run. Run faster than from a plague. It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice speaks of slaves and masters. And (for my own reference) Recognise gay rights, Ian McKellen urges Singapore http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2007/07/18/recognise_gay_rights_ian_mckelle.html Hundreds attend forum on decriminalisation of homosexual acts By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 15 July 2007 2147 hrs http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/288311/1/.html A short note: Be Happy Doing Nothing Last week I wrote about a young one asking me for advice on how to develop his interests. Today he wrote again to me, "I have no interests. What do I do now?" .... I told him to be happy doing nothing. Social work* is, after all, respecting the choices of the client. Apart from special situations of imminent harm or criminality, which are governed by our Codes of Ethics. I think this is How Do You Capture An Idea Or An Action Into Achievement I. From time to time, I start writing a post, and don't know what to say. So I was sitting here blankly after a two-month hiatus from blogging, and wondering that same thing. Everyone has ideas all the time, after all; walking is an idea, computer programming is an idea, and vegging out at home watching DVDs with your wife over the weekend is also an idea. My mother has a thousand and one ideas On the Notion of Free Will Work is falling on me like a ton of bricks. In lieu of a proper post, I offer you this, and note it for my own reference as well. =) Edward O. Wilson writes this in his book On Human Nature, p. 72: Consider the flip of a coin and the extent of the coin's freedom. On first thought nothing could seem less subject to determinism; coin flipping is the classic textbook example of a random process. Pearls Before Breakfast, from the Washington Post What if beauty is right before your eyes, and you walk past it unseeing? What would you be, then? Love Love. Sometimes known as Charity in other versions of the Christian Bible. I intend to talk about ministerial pay and social work pay, about just recompense for the fruits of one's labour and the effect of talent in achieving those, and the nature of public service for both ministers and social workers. Of course whether this intention has been realized in this article is not for me to judge, Faith (Part 2) This is a continuation of the previous post but it was written in January - some things had changed from Nov to Jan. It should be noted that "The finished Penal Code Amendments Bill, with adjustments for opinions from the public feedback consultation exercise, will be tabled for Second and confirmatory Third Reading in Parliament in the first quarter of 2007." Which is soon. :) The January Faith (Part 1) Ohaiyo :) I got no pithy quotes on Faith, unfortunately. Especially Faith in the context of this mini-anthology of Hope, Faith and Love. (1 Corinthians 13:13, Bible.) Religious faith however can be discussed in a tangential manner - today we write about homosexuality instead. Aaron had a hot discussion over at his blog a few days back, and Ben and Kitana had weighed in earlier as well, with Ben Hope Every year, at around this time, I have thoughts about my own mortality. Every year, without fail, someone somewhere out there will try his very best to kill me. I do not know who he is, nor who he will be, the next year and the year after that. Each year, I hope beyond all hope that it will not happen again, but I know better. And it's not only me, it's my entire family who's involved as well. CD's Priorities, and Reflections on Writing My present priorities in CD: (1) Pseudonymity(2) Expression of my thoughts and opinions on various matters(3) Tailoring my writing to an audience (what audience? Invisible, unknown, silent Some thoughts on Singapore Angle In my previous stub written while I was still on break, FO asked me why I was aghast at the thought that my blog appeared to be a Singapore Angle clone. I didn't reply then because I didn't want to have anything to do with the blogosphere at that point in time ;-) But it's a fair comment, and needs a reply. So. Singapore Angle is great, and et cetera et cetera et cetera. With every article it