Social work

Social work is a professional and academic discipline committed to the pursuit of social welfare and social change. The field works towards research and practice to improve the quality of life and to the development of the potential of each individual, group and community of a society. Social workers perform interventions through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice and teaching. Research is often focused on areas such as human psychosocial development, social policy, public administration, program evaluation and international and community development. Social workers are organized into local, national, continental and international professional bodies. Social work, an interdisciplinary field, includes theories from economics, education, medicine, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology, as well as anti-oppressive and anti-racist discourse.

History

Social work has its roots in the struggle of society to deal with poverty and the resultant problems. Therefore, social work is intricately linked with the idea of charity work; but must be understood in broader terms. The concept of charity goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in all major ancient civilizations and world religions.

Contemporary professional development

The International Federation of Social Workers states, of social work today, that "social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge derived from research and practice evaluation, including local and indigenous knowledge specific to its context. It recognizes the complexity of interactions between human beings and their environment, and the capacity of people both to be affected by and to alter the multiple influences upon them including bio-psychosocial factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development, social theory and social systems to analyse complex situations and to facilitate individual, organizational, social and cultural changes." A hopeful development for bridging this gap is the compilation of collections of "best practices" which attempt to distill research findings and the experience of respected social work practitioners, educators and researchers into effective interventions. Another important contemporary development in the profession is overcoming suspicion of technology and taking advantage of the potential of information technology.

Qualifications

Professional social workers are generally considered those who hold a degree in social work. Often these practitioners must also obtain a license or be professionally registered. In some areas of the world, social workers education begins with a Bachelor of Social Work ( BA, BSc, BSSW or BSW and some university conduct Diploma in Social Work Programme) degree. Some countries offer post-Graduate degrees like the master's degree ( MA, MSc or MSW and Post Graduate Diploma in Social work) or the doctoral degree ( Ph.D or DSW). In a number of countries and jurisdictions, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are mandated .The National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2005). NASW Fact Sheet. Retrieved November 15, 2006 from http://www.socialworkers.org. In other places, a professional association sets academic and experiential requirements for admission to membership. The success of these professional bodies' efforts is demonstrated in the fact that these same requirements are recognized by employers as necessary for employment.

Professional associations

There are a number of associations for social workers, which exist to provide ethical guidance and other forms of support for their members and social work in general. These associations/organizations are distinguished in international, continental or semi-continental, national and regional. The main international ones are the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW).

Role of the professional

The main tasks of professional social workers can include a variety of services such as case management (linking users/clients with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs), counseling ( psychotherapy), human services management, social welfare policy analysis, policy and practice development, community organizing, international, social and community development, advocacy, teaching (in schools of social work), and social research.

References

External links

The New Social Worker Online
Definition of Social Work Adopted July 2000 by the International Federation of Social Workers. German translation also available at: Austrian National Federation of Social Workers
Social Work & Society - Online Journal for Social Work and Social Policy. Open Access and Non-Governmental

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