Social work

 

 

Social work, as a profession or pursuit, originated in the 19th century. The movement began primarily in the United States and England. 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. The concept of charity goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in all major world religions.^[1] However, the practice and profession of social work has a relatively modern (19th century) and scientific origin.^[2] During the Middle Ages, the Christian church had vast influence on European society and charity was considered to be a responsibility and a sign of one’s piety. This charity was in the form of direct relief (for example, giving money, food, or other material goods to alleviate a particular need), as opposed to trying to change the root causes of poverty. After the end of feudalism, the poor were seen as a more direct threat to the social order,^{[citation needed]} and so the state formed an organized system to care for them. In England, the Poor Law served this purpose. This system of laws sorted the poor into different categories, such as the able bodied poor, the impotent poor, and the idle poor. This system developed different responses to these different groups.

The 19th century ushered in the Industrial Revolution. There was a great leap in technological and scientific achievement, but there was also a great migration to urban areas throughout the Western world. This led to many social problems, which in turn led to an increase in social activism.^[3] Also with the dawn of the 19th century came a great "missionary" push from many Protestant denominations. Some of these mission efforts (urban missions), attempted to resolve the problems inherent in large cities like poverty, prostitution, disease, and other afflictions. In the United States workers known as "friendly visitors", stipended by church and other charitable bodies, worked through direct relief, prayer, and evangelism to alleviate these problems.^[2] In Europe, chaplains or almoners were appointed to administrate the church's mission to the poor.

this time, rescue societies were initiated to find more appropriate means of self-support for women involved in prostitution.^{[citation needed]} Mental asylums grew to assist in taking care of the mentally ill. A new philosophy

of "scientific charity" emerged, which stated charity should be "secular,

rational and empirical as opposed to sectarian, sentimental, and dogmatic.^[4]"In the late 1880s, a new system to provide aid for social ills came in to being, which became known as the settlement movement.^[5] The settlement movement focused on the causes of poverty through the "three Rs" - Research, Reform, and Residence. They provided a variety of services including educational, legal, and health services. These programs also advocated changes in social policy. Workers in the settlement movement immersed themselves in the culture of those they were helping.

In America, the various approaches to social work led to a fundamental question – is social work a profession? This debate can be traced back to the early 20th century debate between Mary Richmond's Charity Organization Society (COS) and Jane Addams's Settlement House Movement. The essence of this debate was whether the problem should be approached from COS' traditional, scientific method focused on efficiency and prevention or the Settlement House Movement's immersion into the problem, blurring the lines of practitioner and client.^[6]

Even as many schools of social work opened and formalized processes for social work began to be developed, the question lingered. In 1915, at the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, Dr. Abraham Flexner spoke on the topic "Is Social Work a Profession?" He contended that it was not because it lacked specialized knowledge and specific application of theoretical and intellectual knowledge to solve human and social problems.^[7] This led to the professionalization of social work, concentrating on case work and the scientific method.

 

Social work knowledge building

The International Federation of Social Workers states, of social work today

"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 and behaviour and social systems to analyse complex situations and to facilitate individual, organizational, social and cultural changes."^[8]

The current state of social work professional development is characterized by two realities. There is a great deal of traditional social and psychological research (both qualitative and quantitative) being carried out primarily by university-based researchers and by researchers based in institutes, foundations, or social service agencies. Meanwhile, many social work practitioners continue to look to their own experience for knowledge. This is a continuation of the debate that has persisted since the outset of the profession in the first decade of the twentieth century.^[6] One reason for the gap between information obtained through practice, opposed to through research, is that practitioners deal with situations that are unique and idiosyncratic, while research concentrates on similarities. The combining of these two types of knowledge is often imperfect. A hopeful development for bridging this gap is the compilation, in many practice fields, of collections of "best practices" which attempt to distill research findings and the experience of respected practitioners into effective practice techniques.^{[citation needed]} Although social work has roots in the informatics revolution, an important contemporary development in the profession is overcoming suspicion of technology and taking advantage of the potential of information technology to empower clients.^[6]

 Qualifications for professional social work

Professional social workers are generally considered those who hold a professional degree in Social Work. Often these practitioners must also obtain a license or be professionally registered. In many areas of the Western world, social workers start with a Bachelor of Social Work (BA, BSc or BSW) degree. Some countries, such as the United States, also offer post-graduate degrees like the master's degree (MA, MSc or MSW) or the doctoral degree (Ph.D or DSW).

In the United Kingdom, often referred to as social services assistants or care workers, are social workers that are not professionally registered and often do not hold any formal social work qualification. Within the mental health sector in the UK, an additional qualification can be gained: an "Approved Social Worker". This enables the practitioner to assess and make an application to hospital for admission under the Mental Health Act 1983.

In a number of countries and jurisdictions, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are mandated qualifications.^[9] In other places, a professional association sets academic and experiential requirements for admission to membership. The success of these professional bodies' efforts are demonstrated in the fact that these same requirements are recognized by employers as necessary for employment.^[10]

References

_ Middle School Lesson Plans. Global Envision. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.

_ Huff, Dan. Chapter I. Scientific Philanthropy (1860-1900) The Social Work History Station. Boise State University. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.

_ Social Work History. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.

_ Huff, Dan. Chapter I.2 Missionaries & Volunteers. The Social Work History Station. Boise State University. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.

_ Huff, Dan. Chapter II. Settlements (1880-1900) The Social Work History Station. Boise State University. Retrieved on 2008-02-20.

_ Parker-Oliver, Debra; Demiris, George (April 2006)"Social Work Informatics: A New Specialty". Social Work 51 (2): 127-134. National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved on 2008-02-19. 

_ From Charitable Volunteers to Architects of Social Welfare: A Brief History of Social Work. University of Michigan. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.

_ Definition of Social Work. IFSW General Meeting in Montréal, Canada, July 2000. International Federation of Social Workers (04/10/2005). Retrieved on 2008-02-19.

_ The National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2005). NASW Fact Sheet. Retrieved November 15, 2006 from http://www.socialworkers.org.

_ _Catholic Social Workers National Association.

_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_services

what is social work

Social work is a discipline involving the application of social theory and research methods to study and improve the lives of people, groups, and societies. It incorporates and uses other social sciences as a means to improve the human condition and positively change society's response to chronic problems. Social work is the profession committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the enhancement of the quality of life, and to the development of the full potential of each individual, group and community in society. It seeks to simultaneously address and resolve social issues at every level of society and economic status, but especially among the poor and sick. Social workers are concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their human impacts. They work with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.

Social work as a defined pursuit and profession began in the 19th century. This was in response to societal problems that resulted from the Industrial Revolution and an increased interest in applying scientific theory to various aspects of study. Eventually an increasing number of educational institutions began to offer social work programs. The settlement movement's emphasis on advocacy and case work became part of social work practice. During the 20th century, the profession began to rely more on research and evidenced-based practice as it attempted to improve its professionalism. Today social workers are employed in a myriad of pursuits and settings. Professional social workers are generally considered those who hold a professional degree in social work and often also have a license or are professionally registered. Social workers have organized themselves into local, national, and international professional bodies to further the aims of the profession.