What if Jerry Maguire Had Been a Social Worker?

I recently watched the movie Jerry Maguire with my wife, who had never seen it, and it led to me thinking about our profession of social worker. It is not that I have not spoken out in the past about the views of our profession, but the beginning of the movie where he sat down and wrote a “mission statement” was a catalyst to leading to me speaking out more clearly, more bluntly in some ways and more softly in others.

“You and I are blessed, he said, “we do something that we love.”

As social workers I feel safe in saying most of us chose the profession due to some life event that led us to want to help and serve others in the creation of a better life. As I write this, I am slightly annoyed that my day went from packed with therapy appointments to having nothing for four and a half hours, but that is also something that I think most social workers would agree with when a similar situation presents itself. That is where many of the similarities between my thoughts and those of others diverge drastically in many cases.

We are losing our battle with all that is personal and real about our business.

That line resonates hugely with what I have sat here to write about. I look at the origins of where social worker began, those we call the parents of social work and we look to as an example and think people like Jane Addams would wonder how we got to where we are. I think in many ways she would look at our profession in disbelief that what it is like in modern times came from what she did and what her personal beliefs were. I think she would not be surprised that social work compared to many other professions is seen as a joke or in a poor light. Yes, I just said that.

Many remember an article I wrote a couple of years ago titled “Social Worker” Doesn’t Mean “Liberal”.

I was raked over the coals by hundreds of people for that article. Perhaps they thought that it was too curt and too outspoken to have come from someone in their profession, but it was intended in some ways to do exactly that. I lost people I called friends, had articles attacking me personally written by others, got hate mail, and even things akin to death threats in the aftermath of the release of the article. The major point of contention so many argued from was one that was totally flawed. So to paraphrase Captain Picard in Encounter at Farpoint, “I am to be damned, let me be damned for who I really am.”

“As a social worker there is no way you can understand those you are helping if you hold such beliefs.” That is a cleaner paraphrased version of what one person from my master’s program sent to me before unfriending me on Facebook.   This statement is something that many have chosen to say to me and used as kindling to build a fire to try and figuratively burn me at the stake for heresy. The problem with this statement is that I do not judge anyone that I work with, moreover do not see them from my beliefs, but meet them where they are at.   The grossly unconsidered point is the fact that what I am being told I cannot do and am being accused of doing is the exact thing that is being done to me. Our views should never enter into the work we do as a profession, no matter if we are conservative or liberal. We should not be siding with a political alignment, but instead be looking at each issue no matter with a person or with society from a fact based critical thinking assessment of the topic at hand.

As a conservative I will admit I do not think handouts are the answer, but our profession has taken the stance that a handout and free things are the answer to the problem and that they are a given right. We are a helping profession and the simple fact is that we are not about handouts, we are about a helping hand up that will allow the person to stand on their own without the aid of others. No none of us are an island to ourselves, and no asking for help is not weakness, but a strength. The thing is that if we are simply helping people by getting others to give them free things without helping them become self-reliant all we are doing is creating the social issue that we claim to be working to alleviate. Free is not freedom, free is a road to dependence.

The last and one of the biggest criticisms of our profession that we must change is the acceptance of wealth. In my circle of friends I am not viewed as rich, even by modern standards I am not even close to wealthy. That said I have the expectation of someday being in a position where I will not struggle and my children and wife will live a comfortable lifestyle not wanting for much of anything. Again this is a point of attack and contention from those in our profession and in fact is the prime reason, along with the low held view of our profession, that I never introduce myself as a social worker. I am a private practice therapist, I hold an undergrad and master’s in Social Work and Social Welfare, this is how I introduce myself. Other social workers when I tell them what I do look down their noses in disgust at me more often than not. Why do they do this? Well, I have asked and gotten one overarching answer to the question, “you don’t do real social work and don’t understand social work because you make too much money.” Compared to most social workers I do make more money, but I do so as the result of risk and sacrifice most have never taken. Bigger than the risk and sacrifice, I make more because I am damn good at what I do and the result of helping is the reward of being paid well in a private practice setting. SO WHAT!? Is my response. So what if I make more? So what if I am not in the trenches slugging it out with the system or driving hours to see a foster care child? So what that I am afford the luxury of making more? The end goal is to help individuals and families to be healthier, it is to help create self-determination, and to create CHANGE. That is exactly what I do, it is exactly what we all do that care about helping others. Never do we hate doctors for making six figure salaries or CEO’s for making that amount, so I ask why condemn social workers who are helping others and are making more than $40,000 a year

Like I said this was all brought to fruition by the movie Jerry Maguire so I feel I must end this in a similar way that he did which is to suggest change. We are a profession that was started by the wealthy to help others to move up from where they were, have happier lives, make progress towards their goals, and we must again become that profession. We cannot believe that we are somehow better than another who holds different views, not just with those we serve, but with others in our profession. We cannot believe that a continued handout and not a hand up is the answer, but must help those we work with grow and reach a point where help in the form of a handout is not needed when they are capable of doing so. We must not make excuses for a lack of self-reliance or self-motivation for our clients, but hold them accountable so they learn to hold themselves accountable. Lastly, if we as a profession want to be taken seriously and be respected, we must ourselves respect others in the field. We cannot tear down others in the profession and in turn expect those outside the profession to hold us in high esteem. To quote the lady from the e-surance commercial, “that’s not how it works, that’s not how any of this works. Let us again stand strong as a profession, stand united as a profession, and let us all reevaluate what we believe and why we believe it.

By: Justin Nutt

E-surance commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq_1l316ow8

Social Worker doesn’t mean liberal: http://www.socialjusticesolutions.org/2014/01/07/social-worker-doesnt-mean-liberal/