Social work is an academic discipline and
profession that concerns itself with individuals,
families, groups and communities in an effort
to enhance health and social functioning and
overall well-being.
Social functioning refers to the way in which
people perform their social roles, and the
structural institutions that are provided
to sustain them.
Social work applies social sciences, such
as sociology, psychology, political science,
public health, community development, law,
and economics, to engage with client systems,
conduct assessments, and develop interventions
to solve social and personal problems; and
create social change.
Social work practice is often divided into
micro-work, which involves working directly
with individuals or small groups; and macro-work,
which involves working communities, and within
social policy, to create change on a larger
scale.
Social work developed in the 19th century,
with roots in voluntary philanthropy and grassroots
organizing.
However, the act of responding to social needs
have existed long before then, primarily from
private charities, and religious organizations.
The effects of the Industrial Revolution and
the Great Depression placed pressure on social
work to be a more defined discipline.
== Definition ==
Social work is a broad profession that intersects
with several disciplines.
Social work organizations offer the following
definitions: “Social work is a practice-based
profession and an academic discipline that
promotes social change and development, social
cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation
of people.
Principles of social justice, human rights,
collective responsibility and respect for
diversities are central to social work.
Underpinned by theories of social work, social
sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge,
social work engages people and structures
to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing."
International Federation of Social Workers
"Social work is a profession concerned with
helping individuals, families, groups and
communities to enhance their individual and
collective well-being.
It aims to help people develop their skills
and their ability to use their own resources
and those of the community to resolve problems.
Social work is concerned with individual and
personal problems but also with broader social
issues such as poverty, unemployment, and
domestic violence."
- Canadian Association of Social Workers Social
work practice consists of the professional
application of social work values, principles,
and techniques to one or more of the following
ends: helping people obtain tangible services;
counseling and psychotherapy with individuals,
families, and groups; helping communities
or groups provide or improve social and health
services; and participating in legislative
processes.
The practice of social work requires knowledge
of human development and behavior; of social
and economic, and cultural institutions; and
of the interaction of all these factors."-
National Association of Social Workers"Social
workers work with individuals and families
to help improve outcomes in their lives.
This may be helping to protect vulnerable
people from harm or abuse or supporting people
to live independently.
Social workers support people, act as advocates
and direct people to the services they may
require.
Social workers often work in multi-disciplinary
teams alongside health and education professionals."
- British Association of Social Workers
== History ==
The practice and profession of social work
has a relatively modern and scientific origin,
and is generally considered to have developed
out of three strands.
The first was individual casework, a strategy
pioneered by the Charity Organization Society
in the mid-19th century, which was founded
by Helen Bosanquet and Octavia Hill in London,
England.
Most historians identify COS as the pioneering
organization of the social theory that led
to the emergence of social work as a professional
occupation.
COS had its main focus on individual casework.
The second was social administration, which
included various forms of poverty relief – 'relief
of paupers'.
Statewide poverty relief could be said to
have its roots in the English Poor Laws of
the 17th century, but was first systematized
through the efforts of the Charity Organization
Society.
The third consisted of social action – rather
than engaging in the resolution of immediate
individual requirements, the emphasis was
placed on political action working through
the community and the group to improve their
social conditions and thereby alleviate poverty.
This approach was developed originally by
the Settlement House Movement.This was accompanied
by a less easily defined movement; the development
of institutions to deal with the entire range
of social problems.
All had their most rapid growth during the
nineteenth century, and laid the foundation
basis for modern social work, both in theory
and in practice.Professional social work originated
in 19th century England, and had its roots
in the social and economic upheaval wrought
by the Industrial Revolution, in particular
the societal struggle to deal with the resultant
mass urban-based poverty and its related problems.
Because poverty was the main focus of early
social work, it was intricately linked with
the idea of charity work.Other important historical
figures that shaped the growth of the social
work profession are Jane Addams, who founded
the Hull House in Chicago and won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1931; Mary Ellen Richmond,
who wrote Social Diagnosis, one of the first
social work books to incorporate law, medicine,
psychiatry, psychology, and history; and William
Beveridge, who created the social welfare
state, framing the debate on social work within
the context of social welfare prevision.
== Transtheoretical models ==
Social work is an interdisciplinary profession,
meaning it draws from a number of areas, such
as (but not limited to) psychology, sociology,
politics, criminology, economics, ecology,
education, health, law, philosophy, anthropology,
and counseling, including psychotherapy.
Field work is a distinctive attribution to
social work pedagogy.
This equips the trainee in understanding the
theories and models within the field of work.
Professional practitioners from multicultural
aspects have their roots in this social work
immersion engagements from the early 19th
century in the western countries.
As an example, here are some of the models
and theories used within social work practice:
== Profession ==
Abraham Flexner in a 1915 lecture, "Is Social
Work a Profession?", delivered at the National
Conference on Charities and Corrections, examined
the characteristics of a profession with reference
to social work.
It is not a 'single model', such as that of
health, followed by medical professions such
as nurses and doctors, but an integrated profession,
and the likeness with medical profession is
that social work requires a continued study
for professional development to retain knowledge
and skills that are evidence-based by practice
standards.
A social work professional's services lead
toward the aim of providing beneficial services
to individuals, dyads, families, groups, organizations
and communities to achieve optimum psychosocial
functioning.Its seven core functions are described
by Popple and Leighninger as:
Engagement — the social worker must first
engage the client in early meetings to promote
a collaborative relationship
Assessment — data must be gathered that
will guide and direct a plan of action to
help the client
Planning — negotiate and formulate an action
plan
Implementation — promote resource acquisition
and enhance role performance
Monitoring/Evaluation — on-going documentation
through short-term goal attainment of extent
to which client is following through
Supportive Counseling — affirming, challenging,
encouraging, informing, and exploring options
Graduated Disengagement — seeking to replace
the social worker with a naturally occurring
resourceSix other core values identified by
the National Association of Social Workers'
(NASW) Code of Ethics are:
Service — help people in need and address
social problems
Social Justice — challenge social injustices
Respect the dignity and worth of the person
Give importance to human relationships
Integrity — behave in a trustworthy manner
Competence — practice within the areas of
one's areas of expertise and develop and enhance
professional skillA historic and defining
feature of social work is the profession's
focus on individual well-being in a social
context and the well-being of society.
Social workers promote social justice and
social change with and on behalf of clients.
A "client" can be an individual, family, group,
organization, or community.
In the broadening scope of the modern social
worker's role, some practitioners have in
recent years traveled to war-torn countries
to provide psychosocial assistance to families
and survivors.Newer areas of social work practice
involve management science.
The growth of "social work administration"
for transforming social policies into services
and directing activities of an organization
toward achievement of goals is a related field.
Helping clients with accessing benefits such
as unemployment insurance and disability benefits,
to assist individuals and families in building
savings and acquiring assets to improve their
financial security over the long-term, to
manage large operations, etc requires social
workers to know financial management skills
to help clients and organisation's to be financially
self-sufficient.Financial social work also
helps clients with low-income or low to middle-income,
people who are either unbanked (do not have
a banking account) or underbanked (individuals
who have a bank account but tend to rely on
high cost non-bank providers for their financial
transactions), with better mediation with
financial institutions and induction of money
management skills.
Another area that social workers are focusing
is risk management, risk in social work is
taken as Knight in 1921 defined "If you don't
even know for sure what will happen, but you
know the odds, that is risk and If you don't
even know the odds, that is uncertainty."
Risk management in social work means minimising
the risks while increasing potential benefits
for clients by analysing the risks and benefits
in duty of care or in decisions.In the United
States, according to the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
a branch of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, professional social workers
are the largest group of mental health services
providers.
There are more clinically trained social workers—over
200,000—than psychiatrists, psychologists,
and psychiatric nurses combined.
Federal law and the National Institutes of
Health recognize social work as one of five
core mental health professions.Examples of
fields a social worker may be employed in
are poverty relief, life skills education,
community development, rural development,
forensics and corrections, legislation, industrial
relations, project management, child protection,
elder protection, women's rights, human rights,
systems optimization, finance, addictions
rehabilitation, child development, cross-cultural
mediation, occupational safety and health,
disaster management, mental health, psychosocial
therapy, disabilities, etc.
== Qualifications ==
The education of social workers begins with
a bachelor's degree (BA, BSc, BSSW, BSW, etc.)
or diploma in social work or a Bachelor of
Social Services.
Some countries offer postgraduate degrees
in social work, such as a master's degree
(MSW, MSSW, MSS, MSSA, MA, MSc, MRes, MPhil.)
or doctoral studies (PhD and DSW (Doctor of
Social Work)).
Increasingly, graduates of social work programs
pursue post-masters and post-doctoral study,
including training in psychotherapy.
In the United States, social work undergraduate
and master's programs are accredited by the
Council on Social Work Education.
A CSWE-accredited degree is required for one
to become a state-licensed social worker.
The CSWE even accredits online master's in
social work programs in traditional and advanced
standing options.
In 1898, the New York Charity Organization
Society, which was the Columbia University
School of Social Work's earliest entity, began
offering formal "social philanthropy" courses,
marking both the beginning date for social
work education in the United States, as well
as the launching of professional social work.A
number of countries and jurisdictions require
registration or licensure of people working
as social workers, and there are mandated
qualifications.
In other places, a professional association
sets academic requirements for admission to
the profession.
The success of these professional bodies'
efforts is demonstrated in that these same
requirements are recognized by employers as
necessary for employment.
=== Professional associations ===
Social workers have a number of professional
associations that provide ethical guidance
and other forms of support for their members
and for social work in general.
These associations may be international, continental,
semi-continental, national, or regional.
The main international associations are the
International Federation of Social Workers
(IFSW) and the International Association of
Schools of Social Work (IASSW).
The largest professional social work association
in the United States is the National Association
of Social Workers.
There also exist organizations that represent
clinical social workers such as The American
Association of Psychoanalysis in Clinical
Social Work.
AAPCSW is a national organization representing
social workers who practice psychoanalytic
social work and psychonalysis.
There are also a number of states with Clinical
Social Work Societies which represent all
social workers who conduct psychotherapy from
a variety of theoretical frameworks with families,
groups and individuals.
The Association for Community Organization
and Social Administration (ACOSA) is a professional
organization for social workers who practice
within the community organizing, policy, and
political spheres.
In the UK, the professional association is
the British Association of Social Workers
(BASW) with just over 18,000 members (as of
August 2015).
The Code of Ethics of the US-based National
Association of Social Workers provides a code
for daily conduct and a set of principles
rooted in 6 core values: service, social justice,
dignity and worth of the person, importance
of human relationships, integrity, and competence.
=== Trade unions representing social workers
===
In the United Kingdom, just over half of social
workers are employed by local authorities,
and many of these are represented by UNISON,
the public sector employee union.
Smaller numbers are members of the Unite the
Union and the GMB (trade union).
The British Union of Social Work Employees
(BUSWE) has been a section of the Community
(trade union) since 2008.
While at that stage not a union, the British
Association of Social Workers operated a professional
advice and representation service from the
early 1990s.
Social Work qualified staff who are also experienced
in employment law and industrial relations
provide the kind of representation you would
expect from a trade union in the event of
grievance, discipline or conduct matters specifically
in respect of professional conduct or practice.
However, this service depended on the good
will of employers to allow the representatives
to be present at these meetings, as only trade
unions have the legal right and entitlement
of representation in the workplace.
By 2011 several councils had realized that
they did not have to permit BASW access, and
those that were challenged by skilled professional
representation of their staff were withdrawing
permission.
For this reason BASW once again took up trade
union status by forming its arms length trade
union section, SWU (Social Workers Union).
This gives legal right to represent its members
whether the employer or Trades Union Congress
(TUC) recognizes SWU or not.
At 2015 the TUC was still resisting SWU application
for admission to congress membership and while
most employers are not making formal statements
of recognition until such a time as the TUC
may change its policy, they are all legally
required to permit SWU (BASW) representation
at internal discipline hearings etc.
== Social workers in literature ==
In 2011, a critic stated that "novels about
social work are rare," and as recently as
2004, another critic claimed to have difficulty
finding novels featuring a main character
holding a Master of Social Work degree.However,
social workers have been the subject of many
novels, including:
Bohjalian, Chris (2007).
The double bind: a novel (1st ed.).
New York: Shaye Areheart Books.
ISBN 978-1-4000-4746-8.
Cooper, Philip (2013).
Social work man.
Leicester: Matador.
ISBN 978-1-78088-508-7.
Barrington, Freya (2015).
Known to Social Services (1st ed.).
USA: FARAXA Publishing.
ISBN 9789995782870.
Desai, Kishwar (2010).
Witness the night.
London: Beautiful Books.
ISBN 978-1-905636-85-3.Fadiman, Anne (1997).
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:
A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the
Collision of Two Cultures.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
ISBN 978-0-37453-340-3.
Irish, Lola (1993).
Streets of dust: a novel based on the life
of Caroline Chisholm.
Kirribilli, N.S.W: Eldorado.
ISBN 1-86412-001-0.
Greenlee, Sam (1990) [1969].
The spook who sat by the door: a novel.
African American life.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
ISBN 0-8143-2246-8.
Konrád, György (1987).
The case worker.
Writers from the other Europe.
New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books.
ISBN 0-14-009946-8.
Henderson, Smith (2014).
Fourth of July Creek: A Novel.
ISBN 978-0-06-228644-4.
Johnson, Greg (2011).
A very famous social worker.
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse Inc.
ISBN 978-1-4502-8548-3.
Johnson, Kristin (2012).
Unprotected: a novel.
St. Butt, MN: North Star Press.
ISBN 978-0-87839-589-7.
Kalpakian, Laura (1992).
Graced land (1st ed.).
New York: Grove Weidenfeld.
ISBN 0-8021-1474-1.
Lewis, Sinclair (1933).
Ann Vickers (First ed.).
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company.
OCLC 288770.
Mengestu, Dinaw (2014).
All our names (First ed.).
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
ISBN 978-0-385-34998-7.
Sapphire (1996).
Push: a novel (1st ed.).
New York: Alfred A. Knopf; Random House.
ISBN 0-679-44626-5.
The basis of the movie Precious.
Smith, Ali (2011) There But For The, Hamish
Hamilton, Pantheon.
Ungar, Michael (2011).
The social worker: a novel.
Lawrencetown, N.S: Pottersfield Press.
ISBN 978-1-897426-26-5.
Weinbren, Martin (2010).
King Welfare.
Bakewell: Peakpublish.
ISBN 978-1-907219-18-4.
=== Fictional social workers in media ===
== See also ==
== 
References ==
== Further reading ==
== External links ==
Social Work, WCIDWTM - The University of Tennessee
Social Work Evaluation and Research Resources
