Social Work in the Early 21st Century - Essay Example

Social work in the early 21st century is very much concerned with managing change, stress, uncertainty and complexity" Introduction There is a rise in demand for social work services in recent years. Social workers around the world are facing challenges and their roles in the society are changing. Therefore, the statement that “social work in the early 21st century is concerned with managing change, stress, uncertainties of various kind and also complexity”. This paper mainly intends to justify this statement and support it with relevant facts. With the changing expectations of people for more accessible, responsive public services of the highest quality, the roles of social workers are also changing. Today there are several families where the elderly people need care, children especially the disabled need support and increasing number of people are patients of AIDS and other STDs. Social workers are expected to reach out to these people in need as well as to those social problems such as abuse, family issues, rape, etc. The result is that social workers experience increasing pressure on a day to day basis. If we look into the professional roles of social workers it can be said that presently it is focused on managing access to available services rather than on helping people find solutions to their problems. As a result of this the trend is now that people have become passive recipients of services and are not much involved in participating in social care. A typical social worker needs to be dedicated, intelligent, and demonstrate leadership qualities, work with the team, and also requires a capacity for critical thinking. Professional social workers are committed to a value base and the British Association of Social Workers defines five basic values - “Social work practice should both promote respect for human dignity and pursue social justice, through service to humanity, integrity and competence” (ADSW, 2004). In fact these are the basic values that empower the behaviour of social workers while in the field. A professional approach is a must in working with individuals, families, social groups or communities, especially an unbiased approach. Today, many consider social work is a meaningful career, diverse, dynamic, challenging, and have a deep sense of satisfaction. This is the basic reason that social work has now become a subject that need to be specialised in before it is taken up as a profession. There are several qualities in particular the leadership qualities that need to be developed. It is expected that from the professional training, social workers get a wide range of knowledge on people’s needs and allow them to take holistic approach in solving problems. It is important for the social workers to have knowledge of the social policy, social systems and services that influence the people they work with (ADSW, 2004). In addition to the practical knowledge, social workers also need to develop specific skills that allow them to handle varied situations. Some of the skills essential for a social worker include: proper application of the acquired knowledge; interpersonal skills that can aid to improve relationship with clients to effect change; planning; identifying, assessing and managing risk; finding most appropriate solutions to problems and appropriate resources to satisfy the requirements; crisis intervention and conflict management; working with people who are reluctant to use their services; and the ability to coordinate with various other organizations (ADSW, 2004). For instance, in recent years the roles of social workers are well recognised in the medical field. Therefore it is important for them to have knowledge of how to approach these people especial those with mental health problems. In other words, it is important for a social worker to treat every individual with dignity, help them to make choices and have control of their lives; seeking and encouraging clients to achieve their potential; challenging inequity and promoting equality; and protecting people’s rights. These are some of the basic values required by a social worker for maintaining personal relationships. Take for example the case of obesity. It is a major problem today and many social workers are involved in helping obese people to reduce weight as well as creating awareness on healthy diet and habits among the general public. With the changing demands of society, social workers are under tremendous pressure and need to adapt to the changing situations. Their roles are changing and their responsibilities are increasing. There is also increasing pressure on existing social workers as the number of people taking up this profession is very less. The cost of demographic and societal changes are already being felt by social workers and will cause more and more challenge in future. For instance, with the development of good medical practices and facilities the average age of population has increased. As a result of this there is rise in the elderly population who require more time on assessment and care. Similarly, growing problems of alcohol and drugs again will need the support of social workers. With the help of the interpersonal skills processed by a social worker, they work with clients on a number of levels. They help them change their thoughts, emotions, relationships and also help them to use their own strengths in solve issues and change their physical circumstances. In fact in many cases social workers take up the role of advocates of their clients and help them to deal with conflict and crisis and also challenge injustice and discrimination. With the changing working environment social workers are challenged with various other problems such as increasing work pressure due to less number of skilled staff, more number of inexperienced staff and managing them, demand and recruitment difficulties, dealing with multifaceted areas of work, non-uniform distribution of work, longer waiting lists and an increase in problems of low morale, stress and absenteeism. It is becoming increasingly important that they have to make use of their skills in working with people to enable them to make use of their own resources and find their own solutions to problems as services become more targeted. Social workers will need to be more skilled at managing time and priorities without affecting their own personal life. Social workers who work overtime are often stressed and are faced with various other challenges in their own personal life. To be able to meet these challenges, it is essential that social workers are recognized and rewarded accordingly. This will motivate them and also give a sense of job satisfaction. The promotion of the welfare of disadvantaged or socially excluded individuals and groups, need to be valued and rewarded. Social work services are not an independent discipline. It is not possible for the social workers to work individually. Therefore the challenge here is to associate with other agencies to find a solution for a problem. In order to solve any problem they need to involve professionals, services and agencies from various public, private and voluntary organizations and work with them hand in hand. This kind of team work needs leadership skills. Identifying a good leader is challenging task. There are several parameters that need to be looked into while selecting a good leader especially in the field of social work. Leadership is all about building peak performing teams, teams focused on accomplishing goals and helping more and more people. Leaders in the social work need to effectively communicate and motivate the team to perform the set goals. Psychological research has discovered the following positive personality variables associated with strong leadership that includes warmth, friendliness, self-confidence, ability to stand up to pressure. These researches have also found that the absence of the negative qualities of arrogance, hostility, boastfulness, egotism, and passivity are correlated with positive leadership (Romney, 1996). Leaders are good listeners and this is one of the most important qualities required by a social worker. Additionally they are also good decision makers. A good social work leader, who is focused, authentic, courageous and emphatic, must also have the proper timing in making and executing decisions. Time management is the important parts of good leadership and is essential for people working in this field. In the 21st century there are unreasonable expectations of what social work services can do to sort out the problems of the society. A social worker deficient in confidence in their own skills and ambiguous about their distinctive contribution is a major challenge. There can be also situations when highly skilled professionals carrying out minor works that could be easily handled by an inexperienced worker. The decision making ability and professional independence of social work is yet another important aspect. Today the phrase change management has become a common term in management trainings, articles as well as newspapers (Ackoff, 1990, 427-440). In fact if we define this term it can be said that change management is the process by which an organization or an individual achieve their vision. While traditional planning processes outline the steps to achieve the vision, change management attempts help the faster and easier way to achieve the vision (Lorenzi and Riley, 2000). It is important that with the changing world, the need for social workers will also increase. According to Joyce Lishman, a professor and Head of the School of Applied Social Studies at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK, the non-verbal, symbolic, verbal and written communication skills required for social work practice are a must in the 21st century. Social workers need to apply these skills together with their basic knowledge and understanding to different purposes of social work such as relationship building and maintaining, listening, giving information and advice, making a contract and intervention to help clients problem-solve or change attitudes or behaviour (Lishman, 1994). Social work is a unique profession for those with a strong service mentality. They need to have strong desire to help improve people’s lives. Social workers live in the midst of uncertainties and complexity. They need to help people to cope with issues in their day to day lives, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problems. And each of these requirements will need special attention. There are many social workers who work simultaneously with different clients who face different problems. For instance they may work with people with a disability or a life-threatening disease or a social problem at the same time they may also be working with people with inadequate housing, unemployment, or substance abuse. When demands for the social service increase, social workers need to handle situations using various approaches simultaneously and it is a very complex process. Social workers also help families that have serious domestic conflicts. They are also involved in research, campaigner for improved services, engage in systems design or are involved in planning or policy development. There are also many social workers who specialize in serving only a specific segment of population or working in a specific setting. For instance, some of them work only with people having mental health problems or with people who are obese. The complexity is increasing day by day and needs specific approaches to handle each case (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008). Modern day social work is said to be in a state of crisis as it has always been a profession towards which society has displayed uncertainties. Additionally they also face the challenges of fewer funds and understaffed. As a result many of the organizations in the field of social work are often faced with complaints and dissatisfaction from the clients. It is essential that well trained individuals are invoiced in social work as it requires specific skills to solve different problems. According to author Richard L., Ed. Davies the social work profession attempts to function in an environment of obstructive administrative systems, ... severe financial restrictions and conflicting demands ..." (Davies, 1998, 9). "Because they deal in actual and emotional injustice, and actual and psychic injury, the reality for social workers much of the time is that while they may bring about some relief or improvement, the most that they may hope for is some damage limitation, particularly in areas such as child abuse and criminality" (Davies, 1998, 19). According to a survey cited in this book it was found that of 524 social workers, 96% found their jobs to be "stressful." 77 % reported awareness of stress-related physical symptoms, and 58 % felt they manifested physiological symptoms of stress (Davies, 1998, 159). Yet another major issue faced by social workers today is the definitions of ‘ethical dilemmas’ in social work practice. These have been comprehensively addressed in the literature, with the necessary agreement that for a ‘dilemma’ to exist, there must be a weighing up of competing principles in a circumstance of mutually limited courses of action (Reamer 1983; Rothman 1998; Congress 1999; Banks 2001). Additionally explanations has been given about the difference between technical, legal and ethical issues, with the latter relating to those difficult situations that in some way relate to rights, responsibilities and obligations that have a moral and value-based foundation (Banks 2001). With the rise in debate about ethics and practice standards within social work, it is recognized that what constitutes an ethical dilemma for one social worker, may not essentially be an ethical dilemma for another social worker. Therefore both of them may approach a problem in different angles even within the same workplace or in relation to the same practice situation. Therefore it is important then, to know that when a social worker becomes occupied in what they consider to be a moral dilemma, this can be an extremely personal experience that can affect once deep rooted personal values. Even though organisational directions and policies, legislative requirements and statutes, and professional ethical codes may have lay down expectations with regard to agency mandate, law and practice standards, social workers may respond to these guidelines from a position of moral independence. Therefore it is very essential that education and training for social workers in ethical decision-making have a strong foundation and can help them to make good decisions. Social work is a noble profession. In fact it is only recently that it is been recognized as a full fledged profession. Earlier for a few people it was a hobby. Modern day social work need professional approach and require well trained and experienced individual. Social workers deal with complex situations. For instance, they may assist help find foster homes for old and sick people or abused children, help single parents, arrange adoptions. Today this field is providing specialized training in various field for instance there are specific training for social workers in the medical field or mental health. Some specialize in services for senior citizens. There are social workers involved in counselling. These social workers may advise elderly people or family members about housing, transportation, long-term care, and other services and direct and supervise these services. They are also involved in organizations where they help employee to cope with various challenges. Social workers may help people cope with job-related pressures or with personal problems that affect the quality of their work. Social workers are also seen in the schools were they often serve as the link between students’ families and the school, functioning with parents, guardians, teachers, and other school officials to ensure students reach their academic and personal potential. Additionally they also address problems such as misbehaviour, absenteeism, teenage pregnancy and also conduct special training for teachers aiding to cope with difficult students. Social workers in the field of medical and public health provide psychosocial support to patients and their families to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, or AIDS (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008). They also advise family caregivers, counsel patients, and help plan the post-hospitalized needs of patients. Social workers in the field of mental health and substance abuse assess and treat individuals, including those people who are under the deadly trap of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. Finally, it can be said that the increasing roles and varied responsibilities of social workers is a major challenge in the 21st century. It is a profession concerned with managing change, stress, uncertainty and complexity. Therefore it is important that social workers undergo specialized training and are well equipped physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. There is hardly any other profession where people need to mingle with various complex situations as in the case of social work. There is an increasing demand for skilled social workers and it is also important to develop good leadership qualities through training and education. References Ackoff R.L. (1990) The management of change and the changes it requires of management. Syst Pract. Vol 3:(5): 427-440. Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW) (2004) 21st Century Social Work: Role of the social worker. [Online] Available from: [Accessed on 4 January 2008]. Banks, S. (2001), Ethics and Values in Social Work, London: McMillan Press. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Social Workers, [Online] Available from: [Accessed on 4 January 2008]. Congress, E. (1999), Social Work Values and Ethics: Identifying and Resolving Professional Dilemmas, Chicago: Nelson Hall. Davies, R. (1998) Stress in Social Work, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Lishman, J. (1994) Communication in Social Work (British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Practical Social Work) Palgrave Macmillan. Lorenzi, N.M. and Riley, R.T. (2000) Managing Change: An Overview, J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2000 Mar–Apr; Vol 7(2): 116–124. Reamer, F.G. (1983), Ethical Dilemmas in Social Work Practice, Social Work, January-February, 31-35. Romney, P. (1996), Being a Leader, [Online] Available from: [Accessed on 4 January 2008]. Rothman, J. (1998), From the Front Lines – Student Cases in Social Work Ethics, Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Read More