What is Social Work?
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” No matter what amount of financial wealth, health or educational qualifications we possess, what matters is, how willing you are to help others in need using the resources you have. ‘Social-work’ refers to a deeper perspective of this motive.
Social Work, according to the IFSW (International Federation for Social Workers), refers to ‘ 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. The above definition may be amplified at national and/or regional levels.”
Social Work is often referred to as the ‘Art of Listening’ and the ‘Science of Hope’. It is practised as both an academic discipline and profession. It’s a multidimensional subject and involves the application of different social sciences such as psychology, sociology, community development, politics and economics. The practice of social work can be traced through the pages of history, through different organizations and individual social workers. However, social work has evolved itself to an advanced face and has grown to be a popular choice of profession in the recent years. Although ‘Social work’ is a much-generalized term that refers to both professional and amateur work, it is being followed as a paid profession with clearly defined academic qualifications and career orientation.
Career in Social Work
*Who are social workers?
Social workers are those working for the favour of people to help them handle their day-to-day life problems. They are also employed in research, teaching and various departments of the government. They work in offices, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, NGOs, military bases, child welfare departments, public-funded organizations and so on, performing tasks like assessing the needs of people (clients) they are engaging with, responding to situations like child abuse, assisting people who need resources or help, doing the necessary actions to help people get medical and financial assistance from the government and counselling people at times of mental or physical illnesses. They work with all age groups ranging from infants to old aged. They are expected to serve people who are dealing with illnesses, grief, addiction, disabilities etc. A social worker’s services are expected to follow certain core functions and values.
According to the authors of ‘Social Work, Social Welfare and American Society’, Popple and Leighninger, the seven core functions of a social worker are Engagement, Assessment, Planning, Implementation, Monitoring/Evaluation, Supportive Counseling and Graduated Disengagement. According to NFSW (National Association of Social Workers), the six core values include Service, Social Justice, Dignity and worth of the person, Importance of human relationships, Integrity and Competence. A professional social worker should also be able to apply critical thinking, possess be aware of the diversity among people and should have a clear understanding of social justice.
*Types of Social Workers
According to the crowd of clients they deal with and the type of work they do, social workers are divided into different categories. Some of them are:-
(1) Community Social Workers – They work about local population independently or in collaboration with nonprofit organizations. They conduct necessary assessments within the population, helps them reach out for government grants and provides them with mental counselling at times of distress.
(2) Child, family and school social worker – They handle cases involving youth. They help students get over mental trauma, provide counselling sessions to students and parents, helps teachers in analyzing the mental health of a student and supports students in the path of overcoming their problems.
(3) Public Welfare – Involves planning, administering and financing programmes while giving it all an organized, creative leadership.
(4) Policy and Planning – A social worker involved in policy and planning is expected to identify social issues with adequate data through research, studies etc. They study and analyze proposals and programs.
(5)Mental Health & Substance Abuse Social Worker – They work to help members of the society recover from the use of harmful substances. They help them with severe addiction and provide them with stability and support through a scientific approach.
(6) Palliative Care Social Worker – They take care of people who have contracted a severe terminal illness, assist them and provide the mental and physical relief.
(7) Health Care – There are professionally trained social workers who help people deal with illnesses. They work for individuals, families and small communities.
(8) Military and Veterans Social Worker – They help members of the military get overwork stress and professional or personal grief. They also work towards helping and supporting the families of the military personnel for issues like post-traumatic stress.
(9) Psychiatric Social Workers – They serve people who have undergone mental health services. Such social workers help the patients and their families get through stress, worries and anxiety. They also provide them with advice on associated legal formalities.
(10) Research – Many social workers engage themselves in research on their profession and study on effective practices that should be adopted.
Social work practice careers thus can broadly be divided into three levels, namely, Micro, Mezzo and Macro based on their place of work and the group of people that they work with In the micro-level, social workers work in contained systems, which include individuals, families and relationship. They deal with intra-personal and inter-personal relationship in this level. Counselling, helping people with health care or social services, lending out mental health support are some of the common activities undertaken by social workers at the micro-level. Micro-level social work is often offered by NGOs, different organizations or military.
The mezzo level of social work deals with medium systems that include neighbourhoods, schools, local organizations, communities and different groups of people. Mezzo level social work focuses on group issues and problems faced by communities. Mezzo level social workers help find problems with common issues that are related to a group of people, usually a unit with several families. It is carried out by social workers who have adequate knowledge in group psychology and often requires good tactical and problem-solving abilities.
Macro-level social work deals with large systems that include healthcare systems, policy, law and legislation, political subsystems and International associations. Social workers working in this level deal with systemic issues of a large group of people. It involves large-scale interventions affecting a large group of people that can be communities, district, states or countries. They also help in policy generation, organize campaigns and arrange for funds.
Every social worker, to execute their activities properly, must have a proper understanding of how the three levels of social workers interact with each other because they are often inter-related.
While following a career in social work, you should make sure that you are passionate about the work you do, because that counts a lot in the work a social worker is expected to do. Most social workers gain a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s degree. Although a Bachelor’s degree is enough to start a career in Social Work, you might be expected to hold a Master’s degree in social work to be a recognized, licensed social worker.
Some of the best universities offering courses in social work are Alice Salomon University (Germany), University of Kent (England) and Kingston University (London) and some top universities are from Indian Universities like TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Department of Social Work Delhi University, MSW, Loyola College of Social Sciences and Udaipur School of Social Work.
Famous Social Workers and their contributions
Jane Addams, who was a pioneer social worker in America, is known as ‘The Mother of Social Work’. She took strenuous efforts in educating the people through her speeches, raising money, nursing and supporting the needy mentally. She was an ardent feminist and academician. Her lectures at the summer session at the University of Wisconsin have been published as a book titled ‘Newer Ideals of Peace’. She, an advocate for immigrants, poor and women, became the second woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1931.
Mother Teresa, one of the most famous social workers of all times, was a nun who devoted her life to working for the underprivileged, destitute, ill and poor sections of the society. She dedicated her life to working for the welfare of people, built hospitals and ensured uniform access for everyone to medical facilities. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, “for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace”.
Another famous social worker is Harry Hopkins, an American social worker who took a keen interest in working for the underprivileged class of people. He also worked as an executive secretary for the Bureau of Child Welfare in New York, where he administered pensions to mothers with dependent children.
Other notable social workers include Frances Feldman who conducted a revolutionary study on the discrimination suffered by cancer patients in workplace, Grace Coyle who is known for popularizing social work through her activities, Mary Ellen Richmond who wrote the multidimensional book ‘Social Diagnosis’, Edith Abbot who worked as the President of the American Association of Schools of Social Work, Kiritkumar Mansukhlal Acharya-an Indian who contributed to the eradication of leprosy, Baba Amte who is the founder of the Lok Biradari Prakalp that works for the tribes and so-on.
Suggested Books on Social Work
- ‘Days in the Lives of Social Workers: 58 Professionals Tell “Real Life” Stories From Social Work Practice’(edited by Linda Grobman)
- ‘101 Careers in Social Work 1st Edition’ by Jessica A. Ritter
- ‘The Call to Social Work-Life ‘Stories by Craig Winston LeCroy
- ‘Empowerment Series: Social Work and Social Welfare 8th Edition’ by Rosalie Ambrosino -Joseph Heffernan -Guy Shuttlesworth -Robert Ambrosino etc.
