|
Main article: History of social work
Social work has its roots in the struggle of society to deal with poverty and its 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 many major ancient civilizations and world religions. Main article: Social work knowledge building
Social Work education begins in a systematised manner in higher educational institutes (universities, colleges etc), but is also an ongoing process that occurs though research and in the workplace. The International Federation of Social Workers states, of social work today, that
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. Main article: Qualifications for professional social work
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. The education of social workers begins with a Bachelor’s degree (BA, BSc, BSSW, BSW, etc) or diploma in Social Work. Some countries offer Postgraduate degrees in Social Work like Master’s (such as MSW , MA, MSc, MRes, MPhil etc) or PhD (doctoral studies). More and more graduates of social work continue to post-doctoral studies. It has been argued that social work education is supposed to be a lifelong process. In a number of countries and jurisdictions, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are mandated qualifications. 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. 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), International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Main article: Role of the professional social worker
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 - mainly common in US and UK), clinical social work (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 and political research.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Social work without accommodation to the elderly and disabled |
|||||
