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Personal Values Paper

March 7, 2014
Wayne State University School of Social Work
Jeliann Carrillo
Dy6986

Many inherit values and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation.
Others follow those values and along the way adopt some of their own. There are many
experiences that mold your values and the ranking of importance of each value throughout your
life. Today my values can be honesty, humility, financial independence and happiness but those
are a reflection of my past experiences and my current situation.
My number one value is honesty. This value is important to me because it bridges
together other values like loyalty, credibility and trustworthiness. I am a very honest person and
although I have hurt people with my bluntness I believe honesty is the best policy. The truth is
that some people cannot handle the truth. I have learned to be more sensitive when expressing
truthful emotions, opinions or facts and I notice that people come to me because they know I will
tell them how it is and not what they want to hear. I have established this reputation where my
friends and family trust me because of my honesty to the point that this value has become
mindless to me. This is something I am accustomed to rather something I feel forced to do.
Another aspect of my life that I value is the Importance of embracing culture. I am
Hispanic. My parents migrated from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico over 20 years ago.
This is a part of my identity and with the culture comes many values and traditions that are
instilled in me that I will carry for generations to come. A value that most sticks out from my
culture is humility. Growing up I was always taught to be humble. My parent used to tell me a
Spanish saying humility is not thinking less of yourself its about thinking of yourself less. I
was taught to be selfless and think of the wellbeing of everyone collectively not just myself. This
is a value that has become mindless for me.

Another value that has been instilled in me over time was financial independence. I have
been employed since I was 15 and have provided for myself and my family since then. I was
always taught to take the necessary measures to provide for your family. My family has faced
difficult times teaching me lessons along the way. The importance of being able to fend for
myself became a necessity. This is a value I am mindful of
An important value for me is happiness. I live my life with a constant pursuit of
happiness. I value being happy because of the obvious definitions of feeling better but also
because my level of happiness influences how successful I become in both my personal life and
professional career. Doing things that make me happy gives positive results most of the time. I
have found that when Im happy the outcome on whatever it is that Im doing is so much more
positive. My sense of happiness is determined by my ability to perceive life experiences as
negative or positive. Not only does happiness make me feel better and give me positive results it
also has an influence on my emotional and physical health. In this lifestyle pursuing happiness I
have let go of the selfless behavior that was instilled in me by my parents. I learned that i have to
be selfish sometimes to obtain what makes me happy. This values of happiness is not something
that was instilled, it was a learned value that I am completely mindful of.
Lastly, I value friendship. I am in a stage in my life where relationships are vital.
Building life long friendships are important to me. Friendship puts to test many other values,
such as loyalty, honesty, respect and love. I have a very small circle of friends that I would trust
with my life. As a human, it is natural for me to feel accepted and seek relationships that
contribute to my happiness. The friends that I associate myself with have many of the same
values I live to exemplify.

When considering ifmypersonalvaluessupporttheNASWcodeofethicsthefirstvalue

thatcomestomindisintegrity.Thevaluestatesthatsocialworkersarecontinuallyawareofthe
professionsmission,values,ethicalprinciples,andethicalstandardsandpracticeinamanner
consistentwiththem.Socialworkersacthonestlyandresponsiblyandpromoteethicalpractices
onthepartoftheorganizationswithwhichtheyareaffiliated.Thisvaluealignswithmyfirst
valueofhonesty.Asafuturesocialworkeryourintegrityisputtotesteverydayandwhenthat
valueisviolatedyoumusttakeresponsibilityforyouractions.
AnothervaluethatalignswiththeNASWcodeofethicsistheimportanceofhuman
relationships.Thisvaluecoincideswithmyvalueforfriendship.Theimportanceofhuman
relationshipsvaluestatesthatsocialworkersshouldseektostrengthenrelationshipsamong
peopleinapurposefulefforttopromote,restore,maintain,andenhancethewellbeingof
individuals,families,socialgroups,organizations,andcommunities.Asasocialworkerthis
valueisimportantbecauseapersonswellbeingisoftenassociatedwiththestrengthofthe
personalrelationshipstheyhave.
Lastly,asIreadthroughtheNASWtherevisionmadein2008caughtmyattention.
Specifically,section1.05thataddressesCulturalCompetenceandSocialDiversity.Ithoughtthis
sectionisextremelyimportantinthediversesocietyweliveintoday.AsIdiscussed,oneofmy
valuesisculturalembrace.IamveryproudofmycultureandIthinkitisvitalforsocialworkers
tobeculturallysensitiveandcompetent.Sections1.05highlightstheimportanceofthisandthe
responsibilitysocialworkershavetoseektounderstandthenatureofsocialdiversityand
oppressionwithrespecttorace,ethnicity,nationalorigin,color,sex,sexualorientation,gender
identityorexpression,age,maritalstatus,politicalbelief,religion,immigrationstatus,and

mentalorphysicaldisability.AsafuturesocialworkermypersonalvaluesandhowstronglyI
feelaboutthemreflectonmyworkethic.Iknowmyvalueswillneverinterfereinsessionswith
clientsinfactIplantousemyvaluesasastrengthtoconnectwithclients.

References
NASW.(n.d.).CodeofEthics.RetrievedOctober28,2013,from
http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp