Social work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or perceived social injustices and violations of their human rights. Research is often focused on areas such as human development, social policy, public administration, program evaluation and international and community development. Social workers are organized into local, national, continental and international professional bodies.
Social work is a discipline within human services. Its main goal is to assist individuals and families with their needs and solve their problems using a multidisciplined approach. In order to be effective, social workers work closely with many agencies and professionals. Social work provides an important service to society. Individuals and families in need of help are the focus of it, and are referred to as clients. As social workers, our goal is to help clients live a productive life in their own community. In order to reach this goal, we often enlist the assistance of family members, relatives, local religious leaders, tribal leaders and elders, and other influential members of the community. Although institutionalization may be necessary at times, it is a temporary solution. The goal is to help clients return to normal life in a natural setting. Today, social workers are not only the bridge linking clients to other helpers, they also provide their clients with hope, and encourage their first steps towards a new life. Social workers usually stand in the front line, and reach out to the clients soon after problems occur. They provide an initial assessment of the situation and mobilize
Social work is usually a part of the Human Services Department of a government.It serves as a link between the government’s clients and other government resources,such as: manpower training leading to employment, welfare payments towards financial assistance, legal consultation in dealing with legal problems, food and water relief at times of drought, famine and war, etc.
History
The concept of charity goes back to ancient times, and the practice of providing for the poor has roots in many major ancient civilizations and world religions.
Social work has its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution, in particular the struggle of society to deal with poverty and its resultant problems. Because dealing with poverty was the main focus of early social work, it is intricately linked with the idea of charity work, but it must now be understood in much broader terms. For instance it is not uncommon for modern social workers to find themselves dealing with the consequences arising from many other 'social problems' such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination based on age or on physical or mental ability. Modern social workers can be found helping to deal with the consequences of these and many other social maladies in all areas of the human services and in many other fields besides.
Whereas social work started on a more scientific footing aimed at controlling and reforming individuals (at one stage supporting the notion that poverty was a disease), it has in more recent times adopted a more critical and holistic approach to understanding and intervening in social problems. This has led, for example, to the reconceptualisation of poverty as more a problem of the haves versus the have-nots rather than its former status as a disease, illness, or moral defect in need of treatment. This also points to another historical development in the evolution of social work: once a profession engaged more in social control, it has become one more directed at social empowerment. That is not to say that modern social workers do not engage in social control (consider for example statutory child protection workers), and many if not most social workers would likely agree that this is an ongoing tension and debate.
Social work uses a team approach and is multi-disciplined. Its goal is to provide a service to those who need help, especially the old, young, poor, abused, mistreated, handicapped, jobless, the sick and the homeless. Its approach is to use available resources to solve problems in order to empower clients to help themselves in the long term.
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