Introduction to Social Work

Social Work Profession

 Features of Social Work Profession
• A contextualized discipline & profession

• Takes place in specific context.

• Dominated by the boundaries of the nation /state but often

transcends them to cater for internationalized social problems
like:
• international adoptions
• immigration
• human trafficking
 Social Work Profession
• Impact of globalization and market imperatives

• Wide range of employing agencies

• National international legislation and social policies

• Genocide

• International imprisonment

• Natural calamities
 Social Work Profession
• A profession with multiple accountabilities – to employers,
service users, policy makers, professionals in associated
disciplines like:
• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Law

• A constantly changing profession --- as it is subjected to

professional governmental regulation.
 Social Work Profession
• Constantly fragmenting boundaries & changing nature enable
social work activities to be appropriated by other professions
like:

• Psychology
• Care Management
• Mental Health
• Sociology
• Anthropology
 Social Work Profession
Challenges of Social Work Profession

•To secure its scientific basis, credibility & professional status

since its inception.

•Social work profession is staffed primarily by women whose

work was & still socially devalued.
 Social Work Profession
Challenges of Social Work Profession

•Professional identity.

•Focus is primarily on social relations rather than symptoms of

the problem.
 Social Work Profession
IFSW & IASSW

•AASW, IFSW, IASSW, CSWE

•IFSW -- over 1.5 million professional social workers located

in 84 countries and over 0.47 million members.

•IASSW -- 3000 schools of social work offering professional

qualifications.