Social Work and the Social Worker - Pearson

1 PART 1 Social work and theSocial WorkerSocial work is an indispensable profession in our complex and ever-changing society. But it is anoften misunderstood profession, as well, in part because it cannot be easily described or ex-plained. It is a profession characterized by diversity. Social workers engage in a broad range ofactivities within many types of settings and with many different people. Some work intenselywith individuals and families, while others work with small groups, organizations, or wholecommunities. Some deal primarily with children, while others deal with older persons. Some arecounselors and psychotherapists, while others are supervisors, administrators, program planners,or fund-raisers.

2 Some focus on family violence and others on how to provide housing or medicalcare to the poor. This variety is what makes Social work so challenging and stimulating. But it isbecause of this diversity of both clients and activities that it is so difficult to answer the simplequestion: What is Social work ?The task of concisely defining Social work in a manner that encompasses all of the activi-ties in which Social workers engage has challenged the profession throughout its history. At avery fundamental level, Social work is a profession devoted to helping people function at theirmaximum levels within their Social environments and, when necessary, to changing their envi-ronments to make that possible.

3 This theme of person-in-environment is clarified and illustratedthroughout this authors perspective of Social work is captured in the following three-part definition ofa Social Worker . A Social recognized professional education ( , knowledge, ethics, and competencies) and therequisite skills needed to provide services sanctioned by society, engage vulnerable populations ( , children, older people, the poor, minorities, per-sons with disabling conditions) and others in efforts to bring about needed change in them-selves, the people around them, or related Social institutions, that these individuals and groups are able to meet their Social needs, prevent or eliminatedifficulties, make maximum use of their abilities and strengths, lead satisfying lives, andcontribute fully to order to be a responsible professional, the Social Worker must understand and functionwithin the profession s accepted areas of expertise.

4 The primary resource the Social workerbrings to the helping process is his or her own capacity to develop positive helping relationshipsand assist clients to take actions that will improve the quality of their lives. Throughout its his-tory, Social work has been portrayed as both an art (one s personal characteristics) and a science(a base of knowledge required to be an effective professional). Part I, then, addresses the 11/15/10 11:20 AM Page 1fundamental elements of Social work practice the blending of the person and the profession in order to most effectively assist individuals, families or other households, small groups, or-ganizations, and communities as they work to prevent or resolve the complex Social problemsthat arise in their daily 1 Social work and the Social 11/15/10 11:20 AM Page 23 When a person sets out to help others, especially those most vulnerable to Social problems, he orshe assumes a serious responsibility.

5 The responsible professional must practice within his or herprofessional domain( , the profession s area of expertise, or its professional turf ) if clientsare to receive the services that the profession is sanctioned to provide. Indeed, professionalhelpers can harm clients if their activities extend beyond their professional boundaries becausethese boundaries establish the content of the profession s formal education and identify the serv-ices its members are best prepared to book is concerned with the profession of Social work and how Social workers assistpeople in addressing a variety of different issues that confront them. Social work is, indeed, a cu-rious name for a profession.

6 In times that emphasize image over substance, it is clearly a title thatlacks pizzazz. In fact, the use of the word work makes it sound burdensome and boring. It is atitle that many Social workers have wished they could change, possibly without understandingwhere it came from in the first title is attributed to Jeffrey Brackett (1860 1949) who served for nearly 30 years onthe Massachusetts Board of Charities and later became the first director of what is now theSimmons College School of Social work . In the early 1900s, Brackett argued that the wordsocialshould be part of this developing profession s title because it depicts the focus on people sinteractions with important forces that shape their lives, such as family members, friends, or amyriad of other factors, including their relevant cultural or ethnic group, school, job, neighbor-hood, community, and so on.

7 He added the word workto differentiate professional practice fromwhat he considered the often misguided and self-serving philanthropic activity of wealthy volun-teers. He believed including the word workin the profession s title emphasized that its activitieswere to be orderly, responsible, and disciplined not something to be engaged in by someoneunprepared for these work is an accurate title for a profession that applies helping techniques in adisciplined manner to address Social problems. During the years since Brackett convinced earlyhelping services providers to accept this title, the domain of Social work has expanded and itsapproach has been reshaped by the increasing knowledge generated by the Social and behavioralsciences.

8 Yet the title continues to describe this profession s central focus Social work DOMAINIt is important for the Social Worker to carefully examine the domain of Social work ( , to un-derstand its purpose, focus, scope, and sanction). This is especially important for students be-cause educational programs divide the study of Social work into units, or courses, and this canlead to familiarity with the parts without necessarily understanding the whole. CHAPTER 1 The Domain of the SocialWork 11/15/10 11:20 AM Page 34 Part 1 Social work and the Social WorkerOne reason for understanding of the Social work domain is to help guard againstprofessional drift: the neglect of the profession s traditional purpose and functions in favor ofactivities associated with another professional discipline.

9 This happens most often in clinical set-tings when Social workers align themselves too closely with models and theories used in medi-cine, psychology, and other disciplines, which tend to minimize Social policy and Social justiceissues. These practitioners may come to view themselves as psychotherapists first and socialworkers second or perhaps not as Social workers at all. Professional drift is also seen amongadministrators and managers who were trained as Social workers but are identified primarily withtheir specific organizations rather than the Social work profession. When professional drift oc-curs, it is a disservice to one s clients, employing Social agency, and community for it diminishesthe commitment, perspective, and competencies unique to Social precise and generally agreed-upon understanding of the boundaries that mark the severalhelping professions does not exist.

10 Different disciplines ( , Social work , clinical psychology,school counseling, and marriage and family therapy) have claimed their domains without collab-oration or mutual agreement about where one profession ends and another begins or where theyappropriately overlap. This problem is further complicated by the fact that each state that choosesto license the practice of these professions is free to establish its own descriptions of professionalboundaries. It is important, therefore, to approach learning about Social work s domain with therecognition that boundaries between professions are sometimes work s PurposeAn understanding of the Social work profession begins with a deep appreciation of humans associal beings.