"Social work is helping people cope more effectively with their world and helping the community meet the needs of its citizens" - Senior
"A generalist social worker is one who uses basic knowledge, skills, values, and ethics to assist people in becoming self-actualized and to assist the environment to function to its potential for the benefit of people." - Senior
"I think social work is for me because it involves a compassionate concern and respect for others from all kinds of ethnic, cultural, and lifestyle walks of life." - Junior
- Social Work is a dynamic, changing, and challenging profession with a vast array of career options and rich opportunities for deep personal satisfaction.
- Professional social workers are experts who help people obtain the resources they need to live with dignity.
- Social workers are also committed to making society more responsive to people's needs.
Social work's historical mission has been helping the disadvantaged, those who have been excluded from participation in the ideal of a just and equitable society. - Contemporary social workers also assist people from all walks of life, with all kinds of problems, in all kinds of settings--rich, poor, black or white, young or old, in hospitals, at home or at work.
- Social work is a profession for those with a spark of idealism, a belief in social justice and a natural love for working with people.
Social work offers a person a career with the chance to work with and for people of all kinds and needs.
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
Definition of Social Work
The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) define the social work profession as follows:
The social work profession promotes
social change,
problem solving in human relationships and
empowerment and liberation of people
to enhance well-being.
Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex transactions between people and their environments. Its mission is to all people to develop their full potential, enrich their lives, and prevent dysfunction. Professional social work is focused on problem solving and change. As such, social workers are change agents in society and in the lives of the individuals, families and communities they serve. Social work is an interrelated system of values, theory and practice.
Values
Social work grew out of humanitarian and democratic ideals, and its values are based on respect for the equality, worth, and dignity of all people. Since its beginnings over a century ago, social work practice has focused on meeting human needs and developing human potential. Human rights and social social justice serve as the motivation and justification folr social work action. In solidarity with those who are disadvantaged, the profession strives to alleviate poverty and to liberate vulnerable and oppressed people in order to promote social inclusion. Social work values are embodied in the profession's national and international codes of ethics.
Who are Social Workers?
Social Workers are professionals who care about people and the social conditions in which they live in. They are primarily dedicated to:
· assisting people to manage their problems more effectively
· improving social conditions
· advocating for change when change is necessary to better human lives
As professionals, they provide developmental, preventive and remedial intervention utilizing social work principles, knowledge, skills and ethics in discharging their responsibilities. This requires that the social worker attains a Degree in Social Work or a Graduate Diploma in Social Work or other accredited Social Work degree qualifications.
Where do social workers work?
- Wherever there are people, there are social workers to be found.
- They are in hospitals, working everywhere from the obstetrics unit to intensive care.
- There are social workers in the schools, helping children, teachers, and parents cope with a variety of problems.
- They work in mental health clinics and in psychiatric hospitals.
- There are social workers in the public agencies, from the employment office to the social services unit.
- Every private family service agency has social workers helping with everything from counseling to finding housing or transportation.
- Social workers are deeply involved in child welfare, providing essential foster care and adoption services. They are increasingly in the work place, helping employees solve personal problems and employers resolve personnel problems.
- There are social workers in the universities, teaching and doing research.
There are social workers helping the elderly and helping military personnel and their families. - They are in private practice, helping people of all ages cope with problems of daily life. Social workers are administrators of large government agencies as well as heads of philanthropic organizations.
- Social workers are increasingly elected to public office, from the local town council to the state legislature and even to the U.S. Congress.
- A useful way to see the social worker's role is as "the professional in the middle." On one side are the individual families with their concerns; on the other, the community and its resources.
- The social worker goes back and forth between the two--assessing, understanding, developing relationships, counseling, coordinating, mobilizing, and initiating--helping people build their own lives and helping the community create and deliver the services and supports that many people sometimes need.
Social Work: Is it for you?
In the final analysis, only you can really make the decision about whether you have what it takes to be a social worker and whether it is something you want to do. The following questions can hopefully assist you in making a determination about social work as a major and personal profession. For further help in making a decision about whether you are the ?social work type?, seek out professional social workers in the community, students who are majoring in social work, and the social work faculty to discuss your interests and aptitudes.
1. Are you genuinely interested in people of all kinds? Social workers are committed to helping people regardless of racial, economic, cultural, and other differences. Prejudice does not fit with the values of the profession.
2. Do you believe in human potential for growth and change? It is important to have faith that everybody has some inner strength and that people can change, given the chance.
"Social work to me is experiencing the glow of satisfaction in witnessing human growth and realizing I had some part in facilitating that growth!" - Senior
3. Do you have patience, perseverance, and the ability to follow through? The social worker should be hard to discourage, always resourceful in seeking new ways to help clients.
"Social work is involvement and commitment in working together with people and society in order to accomplish a goal. This means ?stick-to-it-ness." - Senior
4. Do you work well with people? Social workers need to get along with clients, colleagues and other professional workers. The ability to resolve conflicts constructively is essential for effective social work practice.
5. Are you interested in your own personal growth and well-being? Social workers must be aware of themselves and their own struggles so they do not get ?mixed up? with the clients troubles. Social workers must be willing to know themselves and take care of themselves.
"Social work is helping me to learn more about my own beliefs and values and how they affect my work with clients." - Junior
"Majoring in social work has shown me the importance of not only helping others to know themselves better, but the importance of learning to know myself better as well." - Senior
6. Are you interested in developing your problem-solving abilities? An interest in what makes people tick, in keeping posted on what's happening in the world each day, picking out key facts in a stack of data, and taking responsibility and making important decisions are important criteria for social workers.
7. Are you interested in the larger picture? A social worker cares about the state of the nation and of the world, sees each human problem in its relationship to the whole community, and works for better housing, better health services, better schools, and better wages.
"Social work is a combination of career competency and a sense of moral and social responsibility." - Senior
"I have a heightened awareness of social justice issues and have become socially alive through social work courses." - Senior
8. Are you interested in using scientific methods to work with people? A social worker bases his/her practice on established social work methods and uses scientific studies when possible.
