The Meaning of Social Work - Essay Example

Reflective essay: Social work Social work fosters a positive change in the society through a number of ways that include but are not limited to solving the complications in the human relationships, empowering the people to enhance their well-being, and liberating them. “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being” (Sehgal, 2005, p. 1). Social work employs the theories of human behavior and intervenes at points of interaction between people and the environment. The principles of social justice and human rights form an integral part of the social work. Social work is executed in a variety of forms to address the complex and multifarious transactions that take place between the people and the respective environments in which they live. The prime mission of social work is to empower the people in such a way that they are able to develop their optimal potential to enrich their lives in all possible ways and avoid the possible dysfunctions. In the professional terms, social work is directed at bringing a positive change in the society and solving the problems of the people that constitute it. Social workers essentially play the role of agents of change in the society in general and in the lives of people in particular. Social work, as a whole, is a system in which theory, culture, and practices interrelate. Social work fundamentally emerged from the democratic and humanitarian ideals. The values of social work are primarily based on the respect for worth, integrity, and equality among all communities in the society. Although it existed in different forms since the ancient times, yet social work has thrived as a profession over the past century and has increasingly focused on meeting the needs of human beings and developing their potential. “[Social work] is an inevitable movement of the public mind, which may be compared with what is constantly happening in private life” (Bosanquet, 1901, p. 291). Some of the most important sources of justification and motivation for the action of social work are the social justice system and the human rights. The profession of social justice is based on the idea of alleviating poverty from the society and liberating the oppressed, disadvantaged, and vulnerable people with a view to promoting social inclusion. The values of social work are embodied in the national as well as the international code of ethics of the professions. The methodology of social work is based on a systematic body of knowledge retrieved from evidence derived from research as well as evaluation of practice. This knowledge is inclusive of the indigenous knowledge particular to the context. The knowledge identifies the variety of complex ways in which people interact with the environment, people’s tendency to change the multiple influences of the bio-psychosocial factors upon them, and their tendency to be affected by these factors. The profession of social work analyzes complex situations by drawing on the theories of human behavior, developmental systems, and the systems of society, and facilitates the organizational, cultural, social, and individual changes. Social work deals with the inequities, injustices, and barriers in the society. Social work responds to the emergencies, crises, and problems encountered by people in their everyday lives. A variety of skills, activities, and methodologies are used in the social work that are consistent with the interaction between people and their environments. The interventions made through social work have a vast range that covers the psychosocial processes focused on people and the involvement in the planning, development, and reforming of the society. These measures include but are not limited to the clinical social work, counseling, social pedagogy, teamwork, therapy, treatment and such other ways to assist the people in the obtainment of different kinds of resources and services in the community as well as in the society of which the community forms a part. Other works that are included in such interventions include community organization, administration of the agency, and involvement in the political and social action to have a positive impact on the development of the economy as well as the social policy. Although social work’s holistic focus is universal, yet the main preferences in the practice of social work differ from one country to another and also vary depending upon the time, and historical and cultural conditions. In social work, the importance of supervisory skills cannot be overemphasized. “Supervision is not, of course, unique to social work, but the function and process of supervision have achieved special importance in social work as contrasted with most other professions” (Kadushin and Harkness, 2002, p. 32). The significance of supervisory skills can be explained by means of certain unique aspects of the profession of social work, nature of the pattern of service delivery of social work, the issues addressed by the social work, the people who benefit from the social work, and the characteristic features of the social workers. In comparison to other professions, social work has conventionally made use of agencies to render services to the client groups. The social work coordinates and integrates the work of different people each of which performs a distinct task. The social agency needs a hierarchy of administrators. Since a vast majority of social workers execute their professional duties through some agency, they essentially function in a bureaucratic structure with the help of proper supervision that is a fundamental need of bureaucracy. To date, not many social workers have functioned as private practitioners or autonomously outside the agencies. However, the trend has started to change recently. Most of the social workers operate in the settings of bureaucratic organizations. “Having a longer history in an organizational context, it has had a more prolonged concern with supervision” (Kadushin and Harkness, 2002, p. 33). One of the most important points that social workers need to consider to optimize on their potential to be competent in their practice is to be aware of their responsibilities. The responsibilities of a social worker are quite evident from the very definition of a social worker; “Most often [a social worker] is a professional who works with people and helps them manage their daily lives, understand and adapt to illness, disability, and death, and obtain social services, such as health care, government assistance, and legal aid” (Kuther, 2012). The main responsibility of the social workers is to promote justice in the society at all levels. This essentially means that social workers assume the responsibility to challenge and defeat the negative discrimination in the society. Here, I have used the term “negative discrimination” rather than just “discrimination” because in certain countries, the word “discrimination” is used to refer to “positive discrimination” or the “affirmative action”. It is the social workers’ responsibility to raise their voice against the negative discrimination in the society based on such characteristic features as age, gender, ability, marital status, culture, political perspectives, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, physical features, beliefs, values, and even sexual orientation. Social workers assume the responsibility to recognize the diversity and respect the individualistic and collective differences of the various communities in the society on the basis of their ethnicity, culture, and way of life in general. Social workers are trusted with the ability to distribute the resources they have equitably. Social workers need to be able to critically assess the needs of all deserving communities in the society and distribute the resources among them according to the severity of their needs. Social workers should be aware of the underlying problems of the people in a society and should thus challenge the practices and policies that are unfair and unjust. It is the responsibility of the social workers to bring the shortage of resources in attention of the politicians, policy makers, employers, and the concerned authorities, and should have their say in where the resources need to be allocated so as to ensure their equitable distribution and optimal utilization. Social workers are obliged to work in solidarity so that they are able to deal with the social conditions and challenges in the society that are responsible for the subjugation of certain communities, stigmatization, stereotyping, and social exclusion and to promote the inclusiveness of the disadvantaged communities in the society. Social workers should be careful never to use their skills for such inhumane purposes as terrorism or torture. The behavior of social workers plays a fundamental role in their acceptance in the society, which imparts the need for the social workers to act with integrity. Social workers should abstain from abusing their trustworthy relationship with the people who render their services, and they should recognize and draw a balance between their personal and professional lives. Social workers must never take undue advantage of their position in the society to attain personal benefits.   References: Bosanquet, B. (1901, Apr.). The Meaning of Social Work. International Journal of Ethics. 11(3), 291-306. Kadushin, A., and Harkness, D. (2002). Supervision in Social Work. New York: Columbia University Press. Kuther, T. (2012). What Is a Social Worker? Retrieved from http://gradschool.about.com/od/alliedhealth/g/socialworkerdef.htm. Sehgal, A. (2005). Social work. Delhi: Isha Books. Read More